Pyrogenic organic matter from palaeo-fires during the Holocene: A case study in a sequence of buried soils at the Central Ebro Basin (NE Spain) (original) (raw)

2018, Journal of environmental management

We studied the fire record and its environmental consequences during the Holocene in the Central Ebro Basin. This region is very sensitive to environmental changes due to its semiarid conditions, lithological features and a continuous human presence during the past 6000 years. The study area is a 6 m buried sequence of polycyclic soils developed approximately 9500 years ago that is exceptionally well preserved and encompasses four sedimentary units. The content and size distribution of macroscopic charcoal fragments were determined throughout the soil sequence and the analysis of the composition of charcoal, litter and sediments via analytical pyrolysis (Py-GC/MS). The high amount of charcoal fragments recovered in most horizons highlights the fire frequencies since the beginning of the Neolithic, most of which were probably of anthropogenic origin. In some soil horizons where charcoal was not found, we detected a distribution pattern of lipid compounds that could be related to biom...