Sediment Records Of Biomass Burning And Global Change (nato Asi Subseries I:)

Biomass burning profoundly affects atmospheric chemistry, the carbon cycle, and climate and may have done so for millions of years. Bringing together renowned experts from paleoecology, fire ecology, atmospheric chemistry, and organic chemistry, the volume elucidates the role of fire during global changes of the past and future. Topics covered include: the characterization of combustion products that occur in sediments, including char, soot/fly ash, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; the calibration of these constituents against atmospheric measurements from wildland and prescribed fire emissions; spatial and temporal patterns in combustion emissions at scales of individual burns to the globe. Front Matter....Pages I-XII An Introduction to Sediment Records of Biomass Burning....Pages 1-5 Front Matter....Pages 7-7 Proposed Bio-geological and Chemical Based Terminology for Fire-altered Plant Matter....Pages 9-22 Background and Local Charcoal in Sediments: Scales of Fire Evidence in the Paleorecord....Pages 23-48 Reconstruction Of Paleo-Fire Through Climate And Eco-System Models....Pages 49-69 The Culture of Fire: An Introduction to Anthropogenic Fire History....Pages 71-114 Front Matter....Pages 115-115 Characterization of Particulate Products of Biomass Combustion....Pages 117-143 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Sedimentary Records of Biomass Burning....Pages 145-166 Front Matter....Pages 167-167 Biomass Consumption and Behavior of Wildland Fires in Boreal, Temperate, and Tropical Ecosystems: Parameters Necessary to Interpret Historic Fire Regimes and Future Fire Scenarios....Pages 169-188 Biomass Burning Emissions and the Atmosphere....Pages 189-206 Atmospheric Transports of Particulate and Gaseous Products by Fires....Pages 207-250 Front Matter....Pages 251-251 Pre-Quaternary Records of Wildfire....Pages 253-270 Marine Sediments: A Reservoir for Black Carbon and their Use as Spatial and Temporal Records of Combustion....Pages 271-293 Reconstructing Environmental Impacts of Fire from the Holocene Sedimentary Record....Pages 295-311 The Sedimentary Record of Fire in Montane Meadows, Sierra Nevada, California, USA: a Preliminary Assessment....Pages 313-327 Late Quaternary Climate, Fire, and Vegetation Dynamics....Pages 329-346 Holocene records of fire from the boreal and temperate zones of Europe....Pages 347-365 Controls on Charcoal Distribution in Lake Sediments: Case Studies from Yellow-stone National Park and Northwestern Minnesota....Pages 367-386 Reconstruction of Fire Disturbance and Forest Succession from Fossil Pollen in Lake Sediments: Potential and Limitations....Pages 387-412 The contribution of humans to past biomass burning in the tropics....Pages 413-442 Lake Sediment Records of Fossil Fuel-derived Carbonaceous Aerosols from Combustion....Pages 443-459 Front Matter....Pages 461-461 Reports of Working/Discussion Groups at NATO Workshop: Sediment Records of Biomass Burning and Global Change....Pages 463-481 Cooperation of the Paleofire Science Community with Interdisciplinary Fire Research Programs....Pages 483-489 Back Matter....Pages 490-492