Fossil charcoal: techniques and applications

Sander, P. Martin; Gee, Carole T.

doi:10.1016/0034-6667(90)90104-q

Cited by 67 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Charcoal fragments were retrieved using a method adapted from Whitlock and Millspaugh (1996). Charcoal pieces were identified as brittle, black opaque fragments having a submetallic lustre and showing cellular structure (Sander and Gee, 1990). The total number of fragments/cm 3 sediment was tabulated to determine charcoal concentration (Brown and Hebda, 2002), according to three size categories: >500, 250-500, and <250 mm).…”

Section: Sampling Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Change in historic fire disturbance in a Garry oak (Quercus garryana) meadow and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) mosaic, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: A possible link with First Nations and Europeans

McDadi¹,

Hebda²

2008

Forest Ecology and Management

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Section: Sampling Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Change in historic fire disturbance in a Garry oak (Quercus garryana) meadow and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) mosaic, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: A possible link with First Nations and Europeans

McDadi¹,

Hebda²

2008

Forest Ecology and Management

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“…The residue that did not pass through the sieve was suspended in water in a gridded Petri dish and examined using a dissecting microscope at 40× magnification. Black fragments that were brittle and opaque with sub-metallic lustre and cellular structures were counted as charcoal (Sander and Gee, 1990). Charcoal flux (fragments cm −2 per year) was obtained by multiplying the number of fragments per 1 cm 3 of sediment (fragments cm −3 ) by the sedimentation rate (cm per year).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The geomorphic dynamics and environmental history of an upper deltaic floodplain tract in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, USA

Brown

Pasternack

2004

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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A multi-proxy approach was used to examine the geomorphic dynamics and environmental history of an upper deltaic floodplain tract in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California. Three long cores were collected from the McCormackWilliamson Tract (MWT) and these cores were analyzed for bulk density, loss-on-ignition, fine (clay and silt) content, Al concentration, magnetic susceptibility, pollen, and charcoal. Radiocarbon dates obtained for the cores were converted into calendar years and an age-depth model was constructed. Long-term vertical accretion and sedimentation rates were estimated from the age-depth model. Cross-core relations show that coarse sediment generally accumulates more rapidly and has greater magnetic susceptibility compared to fine sediment. Percentage fine and LOI data show a strong linear relationship that indicates flooding is the primary mechanism for the deposition of particular organic matter on the floodplain and that landscape wash load has contributed a highly consistent fraction of persistent organic matter averaging 5·5 per cent to the site. Down-core grain size profiles show two hydrological domains in the cores, namely millennial fine-coarse fluctuations superimposed on general up-core fining. Coarse sediment is viewed as channel or near-channel overbank deposits, whereas fine deposits are considered to be distal overbank flood deposits. The coarse-fine fluctuations are indicative of changing depositional settings as channels migrated laterally across MWT, whereas the upward fining trend reflects a combination of self-limiting overbank deposition as floodplain elevation increased and decreasing competence as sea-level rise reduced flood-pulse energy slopes. MWT has been cross-cut and incised numerous times in the past, only to have the channels abandoned and subsequently filled by fine sediment. The channels around MWT attained their modern configuration about 4000 years ago. MWT likely came under tidal influence at about 2500 cal BP. Wetlands have recently developed on MWT, but they are inorganic sediment dominated.

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“…Our calculation of particle volume assumed lengthto-breadth ratio of 2.0. The density of charcoal particles ranges from about 0.4 to 0.7 g cme3, depending mostly on porosity (Sander & Gee 1990) and less on the relative fractions of organic and elemental C (Goldberg 1985). We assumed a density of 0.5 g cme3 in our calculations to transform area estimates to mass fluxes.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pre-industrial particulate emissions and carbon sequestration from biomass burning in North America

Clark

Royall

1994

Biogeochemistry

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Abstract. Spatial trends in pre-industrial biomass burning emissions for eastern North America were reconstructed from sediment charcoal data. Petrographic thin sections were prepared from varved lake sediments along a transect of sites extending from NW Minnesota eastward to NE Maine. Results showed an exponential decline in charcoal abundance with distance east from the prairie/forest border. This result quantifies burning along the broad climate/vegetation gradient from xeric woodland to mesic eastern deciduous forest. Post-settlement charcoal accumulation showed no such geographic pattern, varying from site-to-site, likely reflecting local variability in land use and combustion sources. Results suggest the total emissions of large (> 10 pm diameter) charcoal particles decreased by a factor of three during the twentieth century.

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Fossil charcoal: techniques and applications

Cited by 67 publications

References 14 publications

Change in historic fire disturbance in a Garry oak (Quercus garryana) meadow and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) mosaic, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: A possible link with First Nations and Europeans

Change in historic fire disturbance in a Garry oak (Quercus garryana) meadow and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) mosaic, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: A possible link with First Nations and Europeans

The geomorphic dynamics and environmental history of an upper deltaic floodplain tract in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, California, USA

Pre-industrial particulate emissions and carbon sequestration from biomass burning in North America

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