Sediment Records of Biomass Burning and Global Change [Paperback]

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.Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute Biomass Burning Emissions and Global Change , Held in Praia de Alvor Algarve, Portugal, October 1994Biomass 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.An Introduction to Sediment Records of Biomass Burning.- I -The Issues Addressed by Sediment Combustion Records.- Proposed Bio-Geological and Chemical Based Terminology for Fire-Altered Plant Matter.- Background and Local Charcoal in Sediments: Scales of Fire Evidence in the Paleorecord.- Reconstruction of Paleo-Fire Through Climate and Eco-System Models.- The Culture of Fire: An Introduction to Anthropogenic Fire Hilc1