Study of the impact of ash fallout from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjöll (2010) on vegetation using MODIS data

Ifkirne, Mohammed; Beri, Quentin; Schaefer, Alex; Pham, Quoc Bao; Acharki, Siham; Farah, Abdelouahed

doi:10.1007/s11069-022-05544-z

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 41 publications

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“…The massive Hekla 3 eruption (the most severe Hekla eruption of the Holocene; ~3,010 a BP; Larsen, 1977;Larsen and Eiríksson, 2008), was likely the cause, or at least the trigger, of this abrupt shift at 3 ka BP in most SVID proxy records, particularly the ones related to primary production and erosion (Larsen et al, 2011). In fact, the volcanic fallout likely killed terrestrial plants by burning, root suffocation, and reduced photosynthesis (e.g., Ifkirne et al, 2022;Mack, 1981;De Schutter et al, 2015), and had likely similar effects on aquatic flora as well, also through increased turbidity and acidity of lake waters (e.g., Ayris and Delmelle, 2012). The subsequent reduced coverage of terrestrial plants likely exposed the soil to increased erosion, resulting in more terrestrial in-wash (as reflected by a sudden perylene peak), skewed toward the inorganic components of soil (as reflected by a sudden drop in TC and n-alkanes lasting roughly a century).…”

Section: 2 Ka Bp: Increased Erosion In a Cooling Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

A Holocene history of climate, fire, landscape evolution, and human activity in Northeast Iceland

Ardenghi,

Harning,

Raberg

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Abstract. Paleoclimate reconstructions across Iceland provide a template for past changes in climate across the northern North Atlantic, a crucial region due to its position relative to the global northward heat transport system and its vulnerability to climate change. The roles of orbitally driven summer cooling, volcanism, and human impact as triggers of local environmental changes in the Holocene of Iceland, remain debated. While there are indications that human impact may have reduced environmental resilience during Late Holocene summer cooling, it is still difficult to resolve to what extent human and natural factors affected Iceland’s Late Holocene landscape instability. Here, we present a continuous Holocene fire record of northeastern Iceland from proxies archived in Stóra Viðarvatn sediment. We use pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pyroPAHs) to trace shifts in fire regimes, paired with continuous biomarker and bulk geochemical records of soil erosion, lake productivity, and human presence. The molecular composition of pyroPAHs and a wind pattern reconstruction indicate a naturally driven fire signal that is mostly regional. Generally low fire frequency during most of the Holocene significantly increased at 3 ka and again after 1.5 ka BP, before known human settlement in Iceland. We propose that shifts in vegetation type caused by cooling summers over the past 3 kyr, in addition to changes in atmospheric circulation, such as shifts in North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) regime, led to increased aridity and biomass flammability. Our results show no evidence of faecal biomarkers associated with human activity during or after human colonisation in the 9th century CE. Instead, faecal biomarkers follow the pattern described by erosional proxies, pointing toward a negligible human presence and/or a diluted signal in the lake’s catchment. However, low post-colonisation levels of pyroPAHs, in contrast to an increasing flux of erosional bulk proxies, suggest that farming and animal husbandry may have suppressed fire frequency by reducing the spread and flammability of fire-prone vegetation (e.g., heathlands). Overall, our results describe a fire frequency heavily influenced by long term changes in climate through the Holocene. They also suggest that human colonisation had contrasting effects on the local environment by lowering its resilience to soil erosion while increasing its resilience to fire.

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Section: 2 Ka Bp: Increased Erosion In a Cooling Climatementioning

confidence: 99%

A Holocene history of climate, fire, landscape evolution, and human activity in Northeast Iceland

Ardenghi,

Harning,

Raberg

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

A Holocene history of climate, fire, landscape evolution, and human activity in northeastern Iceland

Ardenghi,

Harning,

Raberg

et al. 2024

Clim. Past

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Abstract. Paleoclimate reconstructions across Iceland provide a template for past changes in climate across the northern North Atlantic, a crucial region due to its position relative to the global northward heat transport system and its vulnerability to climate change. The roles of orbitally driven summer cooling, volcanism, and human impact as triggers of local environmental changes in the Holocene of Iceland remain debated. While there are indications that human impact may have reduced environmental resilience during late Holocene summer cooling, it is still difficult to resolve to what extent human and natural factors affected Iceland's late Holocene landscape instability. Here, we present a continuous Holocene fire record of northeastern Iceland from proxies archived in Stóra Viðarvatn sediment. We use pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (pyroPAHs) to trace shifts in fire regimes, paired with continuous biomarker and bulk geochemical records of soil erosion, lake productivity, and human presence. The molecular composition of pyroPAHs and a wind pattern reconstruction indicate a naturally driven fire signal that is mostly regional. Generally low fire frequency during most of the Holocene significantly increased at 3 ka and again after 1.5 ka BP before known human settlement in Iceland. We propose that shifts in vegetation type caused by cooling summers over the past 3 kyr, in addition to changes in atmospheric circulation, such as shifts in North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) regime, led to increased aridity and biomass flammability. Our results show no evidence of faecal biomarkers associated with human activity during or after human colonisation in the 9th century CE. Instead, faecal biomarkers follow the pattern described by erosional proxies, pointing toward a negligible human presence and/or a diluted signal in the lake's catchment. However, low post-colonisation levels of pyroPAHs, in contrast to an increasing flux of erosional bulk proxies, suggest that farming and animal husbandry may have suppressed fire frequency by reducing the spread and flammability of fire-prone vegetation (e.g. heathlands). Overall, our results describe a fire frequency heavily influenced by long-term changes in climate through the Holocene. They also suggest that human colonisation had contrasting effects on the local environment by lowering its resilience to soil erosion while increasing its resilience to fire.

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Study of the impact of ash fallout from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjöll (2010) on vegetation using MODIS data

Cited by 2 publications

References 41 publications

A Holocene history of climate, fire, landscape evolution, and human activity in Northeast Iceland

A Holocene history of climate, fire, landscape evolution, and human activity in Northeast Iceland

A Holocene history of climate, fire, landscape evolution, and human activity in northeastern Iceland

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