CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
Search Results
Author : Cumming, B.F.; Enache, M.E.; Wilkinson, S.; and Moos, M.
Date : 2007.
Title : Insights into fire history from charcoal morphotypes in sediment cores.
Publication : CANQUA Ottawa 2007. Canadian Quaternary Association Conference, June 4-8, 2007. Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Issue :
Page(s) :
Abstract
Analysis of total charcoal in sedimentary profiles is a widely used technique to infer changes in fire histories over time. However, processes related to primary and secondary transportation and sedimentation of charcoal, among other factors, can complicate the interpretation of charcoal profiles from lake sediments. Recent studies suggest that valuable insights can be gained by separating total charcoal into distinct morphotypes, and that these morphotypes likely experience differences dispersal, transport and fuel source. For example, in a sediment sequence from a B.C. lakes, a fragile morphotype, termed ‘Type M’, was shown to be statistically related to known recent fires, whereas total charcoal was not. Further, on a variety of temporal scales over the last 6000 years, the type-M morphotype exhibited a strong covariation with independent proxies of temperature and drought, suggesting that the morphotype approach can yield additional insights on fire histories. Additionally, a recent study from northwestern Ontario show that charcoal morphotypes have distinctive patterns in mid Holocene in comparison to the last 200 years, suggesting that changes in fuel availability are reflected in charcoal morphology. The collective weight of these studies suggests that analysis of charcoal morphotypes in sediment cores can provide insights on fire history that are not possible from analysis of total charcoal alone.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology