The Uozu bay area in Toyama, Japan had been historically submerged by sea-level rise, and appeared again by following sedimentation such as sand gravel and peat. A bogwood sample (Uozu bogwood) of
Cryptomeria japonica from there, dated at 1361 ± 33 - 1481 ± 31 yBP by
14C method, was chemically analyzed. The woody components such as holocellulose and lignin are almost same as those of extant wood. Partially changing by diagenesis, most sesquiterpene compounds of essential oils from extant wood still remained in Uozu bogwood. Those suggest that the maturation of Uozu bogwood is low, and the absorbed sea-water had little effect on the organic chemical components. Sodium was detected in ash by field emission-type scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy( FE-SEM/EDX). That is regarded as a suggestive evidence of the absorbed sea-water in historically submerged Uozu bogwood. By comparing with other inland bogwoods of same species, the relation between
14C age and the maturation calculated from the composition of sesquiterpene and diterpene compounds which are characteristic in the bogwoods was discussed. Uozu bogwood appears to have close correlation with Abu bogwood from Yamaguchi (
14C age:2950 ± 70 yBP) and Wakasa bogwood from Fukui (
14C age:6180 ± 60 yBP)
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