Evidence of Late Quaternary Fires from Charcoal and Siliceous Aggregates, Eastern US 26FEB2020

 Evidence of Late Quaternary Fires from Charcoal and Siliceous Aggregates, Eastern US

It was pointed out to me that Ballard has a 2015 PhD Dissertation

Ballard, J.P., 2015. Evidence of Late Quaternary Fires from Charcoal

and Siliceous Aggregates in Lake Sediments in the Eastern USA.

PhD Dissertation, University of Tenneessee, Knoxville

https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/3492/

https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4871&context=utk_graddiss

The abstract in part states:

"A new microscopic charcoal record from Anderson Pond, Tennessee

revealed high fire activity from 23,000–15,000 cal yr BP when

conifers dominated, and during the Mid-Holocene Warm Period

(8000–5200 cal yr BP), when hardwoods dominated. Macroscopic

charcoal analysis of sediments from Pigeon Marsh, Georgia

showed high fire activity from 16,500–14,500 cal yr BP, below

a major hiatus. Jackson Pond, Kentucky and Cahaba Pond, Alabama

had low macroscopic charcoal concentrations during the late

glacial; largest charcoal peaks occurred around 5000 cal yr BP

 at Jackson Pond, and from 1370–640 cal yr BP at Cahaba Pond."

A related paper is:

Marlon, J.R., Bartlein, P.J., Walsh, M.K., Harrison, S.P., Brown, K.J.,

Edwards, M.E., Higuera, P.E., Power, M.J., Anderson, R.S., Briles,

C. and Brunelle, A., 2009. Wildfire responses to abrupt climate

change in North America. Proceedings of the National Academy

of Sciences, 106(8), pp.2519-2524.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/106/8/2519.full.pdf

The abstract reads in part.

"We also test the hypothesis that a comet impact initiated continental

-scale wildfires at 12.9 ka; the data do not support this idea, nor are

continent-wide fires indicated at any time during deglaciation. There

are, however, clear links between large climate changes and fire

activity. Biomass burning gradually increased from the glacial period

to the beginning of the Younger Dryas. Although there are changes

in biomass burning during the Younger Dryas, there is no systematic

trend. There is a further increase in biomass burning after the

Younger Dryas. Intervals of rapid climate change at 13.9, 13.2, and

11.7 ka are marked by large increases in fire activity. The timing of

changes in fire is not coincident with changes in human population

density or the timing of the extinction of the megafauna."

Yours,

Paul H.