TY - JOUR

T1 - Five thousand years of fire history in the high North Atlantic region

T2 - natural variability and ancient human forcing

AU - Segato, Delia

AU - Villoslada Hidalgo, Maria Del Carmen

AU - Edwards, Ross

AU - Barbaro, Elena

AU - Vallelonga, Paul

AU - Kjaer, Helle Astrid

AU - Simonsen, Marius

AU - Vinther, Bo

AU - Maffezzoli, Niccolo

AU - Zangrando, Roberta

AU - Turetta, Clara

AU - Battistel, Dario

AU - Vesteinsson, Orri

AU - Barbante, Carlo

AU - Spolaor, Andrea

PY - 2021/7/20

Y1 - 2021/7/20

N2 - Biomass burning influences global atmospheric chemistry by releasing greenhouse gases and climate-forcing aerosols. There is controversy about the magnitude and timing of Holocene changes in biomass burning emissions from millennial to centennial timescales and, in particular, about the possible impact of ancient civilizations. Here we present a 5 kyr record of fire activity proxies levoglucosan, black carbon, and ammonium measured in the RECAP (Renland ice cap) ice core, drilled in coastal eastern Greenland, and therefore affected by processes occurring in the high North Atlantic region. Levoglucosan and ammonium fluxes are high from 5 to 4.5 kyr BP (thousand years before 2000 CE) followed by an abrupt decline, possibly due to monotonic decline in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. Levoglucosan and black carbon show an abrupt decline at 1.1 kyr BP, suggesting a decline in the wildfire regime in Iceland due to the extensive land clearing caused by Viking colonizers. All fire proxies reach a minimum during the second half of the last century, after which levoglucosan and ammonium fluxes increase again, in particular over the last 200 years. We find that the fire regime reconstructed from RECAP fluxes seems mainly related to climatic changes; however over the last mil-lennium human activities might have influenced wildfire frequency/occurrence substantially.

AB - Biomass burning influences global atmospheric chemistry by releasing greenhouse gases and climate-forcing aerosols. There is controversy about the magnitude and timing of Holocene changes in biomass burning emissions from millennial to centennial timescales and, in particular, about the possible impact of ancient civilizations. Here we present a 5 kyr record of fire activity proxies levoglucosan, black carbon, and ammonium measured in the RECAP (Renland ice cap) ice core, drilled in coastal eastern Greenland, and therefore affected by processes occurring in the high North Atlantic region. Levoglucosan and ammonium fluxes are high from 5 to 4.5 kyr BP (thousand years before 2000 CE) followed by an abrupt decline, possibly due to monotonic decline in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. Levoglucosan and black carbon show an abrupt decline at 1.1 kyr BP, suggesting a decline in the wildfire regime in Iceland due to the extensive land clearing caused by Viking colonizers. All fire proxies reach a minimum during the second half of the last century, after which levoglucosan and ammonium fluxes increase again, in particular over the last 200 years. We find that the fire regime reconstructed from RECAP fluxes seems mainly related to climatic changes; however over the last mil-lennium human activities might have influenced wildfire frequency/occurrence substantially.

KW - ICE-CORE RECORD

KW - BLACK CARBON

KW - ATMOSPHERIC LIFETIME

KW - CHARCOAL RECORDS

KW - HOLOCENE

KW - CLIMATE

KW - LEVOGLUCOSAN

KW - GREENLAND

KW - EASTERN

KW - EUROPE

U2 - 10.5194/cp-17-1533-2021

DO - 10.5194/cp-17-1533-2021

M3 - Journal article

VL - 17

SP - 1533

EP - 1545

JO - Climate of the Past

JF - Climate of the Past

SN - 1814-9324

IS - 4

ER -