Towards the development of fire proxies in speleothems using geochemical signatures in ashes from bushfires

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dc.contributor.authorCampbell, Men_AU
dc.contributor.authorMcDonough, LKen_AU
dc.contributor.authorNaeher, Sen_AU
dc.contributor.authorTreble, PCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorGrierson, Pen_AU
dc.contributor.authorSinclair, Den_AU
dc.contributor.authorHoward, DLen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBaker, AAen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-30T21:58:38Zen_AU
dc.date.available2023-03-30T21:58:38Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2022-12-06en_AU
dc.date.statistics2023-03-28en_AU
dc.description.abstractOur knowledge of past fire regimes is limited by short observational records. Proxy archives (such as sediment cores, ice cores, speleothems, and tree scars) are used to extend these records and develop a better understanding of past fire regimes. Recently, stalagmites (i.e., cave deposits), have been shown to record past fire events, and it is possible that they include other attributes of the fire regime (e.g. burn severity). Stalagmite fire proxies are both chemical (e.g. oxygen isotope composition of calcite, and nutrient and trace metal concentrations), and physical (e.g. growth rate, fabric). Trace metals and nutrients are leached from ash and subsequently transported to the stalagmite via hydrological pathways. We collected ash from four Australian karst sites which experienced fires in recent years (2019 and 2022). Ash chemical composition was determined by analysis of leachates (inorganic chemistry) and by analysis of the ash itself (organic biomarker concentrations of a subset of the ash dataset). The concentrations of inorganic components (e.g. of trace metals strontium and magnesium) show a clear difference between more- and less-combusted materials, as inferred by ash colour. Common fire biomarker concentrations (e.g. polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and levoglucosan) showed no clear relationship with inferred burn severity. Together, this has implications for the use of both organic and inorganic fire proxies in stalagmites and other sedimentary proxy archives. Inorganic ash geochemistry results will be used to contextualise changes in stalagmite geochemistry from Western Australian stalagmites (as measured by LA-ICP-MS and Synchrotron micro-XFM) which experienced bushfires during the satellite era. We aim to determine whether stalagmite chemistry can be used as a proxy for burn severity.en_AU
dc.identifier.citationCampbell, M., McDonough, L., Naeher, S., Treble, P., Grierson, P., Sinclair, D., Howard, D., & Baker, A. (2022). Towards the development of fire proxies in speleothems using geochemical signatures in ashes from bushfires. Paper presented to the AQUA 2022 Conference, 6-8th December, Adelaide (pp. 31-32). Retrieved from: https://aqua.org.au/conference/aqua-2022/aqua-2022-conference-program-and-abstracts/en_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceenddate8 December 2022en_AU
dc.identifier.conferencenameAQUA 2022 Conferenceen_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceplaceAdelaideen_AU
dc.identifier.conferencestartdate6 December 2022en_AU
dc.identifier.otherABN 78458664047en_AU
dc.identifier.pagination31-32en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://aqua.org.au/conference/aqua-2022/aqua-2022-conference-program-and-abstracts/en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/14761en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherAustralasian Quaternary Association Inc.en_AU
dc.subjectAshesen_AU
dc.subjectCombustionen_AU
dc.subjectFiresen_AU
dc.subjectOxygen isotopesen_AU
dc.subjectCalciteen_AU
dc.subjectMetalsen_AU
dc.subjectCavesen_AU
dc.subjectChemistryen_AU
dc.titleTowards the development of fire proxies in speleothems using geochemical signatures in ashes from bushfiresen_AU
dc.typeConference Abstracten_AU
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