Palaeozoic and Mesozoic palaeo–wildfires: An overview on advances in the 21st Century

Abstract

Fire is a major driver for the evolution of biodiversity throughout the Phanerozoic and occurs in continental palaeoenvironments since the advent of the first land plants in the Silurian. The detection of palaeo–wildfire events can be based on different proxies, and charcoal is widely accepted as the most reliable evidence for such events in sedimentary layers. Although the identification of sedimentary charcoal as the product of incomplete combustion was the subject of controversial scientific discussions, palaeobotanical data can be used to confirm the pyrogenic origin of such material. In an overview on Palaeozoic and Mesozoic charcoal remains, differences in the number of published records can be detected for individual periods; including phases with both, lower (Silurian, Triassic, Jurassic) and higher (Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Cretaceous) numbers of published evidences for palaeo–wildfires. With the aim to discuss selected advances in palaeo–wildfire studies since the beginning of the 21st Century, we present an overview on the published occurrences of charcoal for an interval from the Silurian up to the Cretaceous. It was possible to confirm that a lack of detailed palaeobotanical data on the subject is detected in some intervals and regions, despite the high potential of occurrences detected in form of pyrogenic inertinites by coal petrographic studies. Although such temporal and regional gaps can be explained by taphonomic and palaeoenvironmental biases, it also indicates the scientific potential of future studies in diverse palaeogeographical and temporal settings.

Palaeoenvironmental and stratigraphical implications of the palynoflora and macro–charcoal from the early Permian of the Chuperbhita Coalfield, Rajmahal Basin, Jharkhand, India

“…Uhl & Kerp, 2003;Uhl et al, 2004). The dominance of gymnospermous charcoal within all so far studied Permian coals from Gondwana (Jasper et al, 2021;Murthy et al, 2021) supports the assumption that the source vegetation which fuelled these fires had a considerable gymnosperm (i.e. glossopterids) components (Jasper et al, 2017).…”

“…Banerjee and D'Rozario (1990,1988) Fire is a common source of disturbance in many terrestrial ecosystems, not only in the present times, but also during large parts of the Phanerozoic (Scott et al, 2014). The oldest records of charcoal produced by wildfires come from the Silurian (Glasspool et al, 2004;Scott et al, 2014;Glasspool & Gastaldo, 2022, 2023 and since then there is more or less continuous fossil records of charcoal and other products of wildfires (e.g., Scott, 2000Scott, , 2010Brown et al, 2012;Abu Hamad et al, 2012;Scott et al, 2014;Jasper et al, 2021;Lu et al, 2021). From Gondwana, the first evidence of palaeowildfire, in the form of micro-and meso-charcoal, has been published from the late Permian of the Sydney Basin, Australia (Glasspool, 2000).…”

Vegetation and climate change at the southern margin of the Neo-Tethys during the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous): Evidence from Egypt

“…Additionally, vegetal assemblages as well as other palaeoclimate proxies indicate aridification, especially for Mid-Cretaceous (i.e., 125–90 Ma) terrestrial environments [ 5 ]. Moreover, during the Cretaceous, wildfire occurred frequently worldwide, as demonstrated by numerous charcoal shreds of evidence (see [ 6 , 7 ]), including the Cenomanian of the studied Gebel El Dist section, Bahariya Oasis [ 8 ]. These findings could point to widespread dry and hot (at least seasonally) conditions, at least in some regions, that contributed to setting the stage for a fiery hothouse world [ 5 ].…”

The possible adaption of the human respiratory system to past atmospheres

“…On the other hand, macro charcoal wildfire data (or lack of) do serve as an important proxy for paleoatmospheres. For example, when there is a ‘charcoal gap’ in the record, such as the Devonian from about 375 to 363 Mya, or the early Triassic (Jasper et al., 2021), and reliable proxies for the partial pressure of oxygen are available, the lack of macro charcoal from wildfires allows a limit for paleo sea‐level air pressure to be derived.…”