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Wildfire, ecosystem, and climate interactions in the Early Triassic.

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Communications Earth & Environment
|October 24, 2025
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Early Triassic wildfires increased significantly after the Smithian-Spathian boundary, driven by cooling temperatures and vegetation changes. This suggests wildfire regimes influenced carbon cycling and future climate change.

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Area of Science:

  • Paleoclimatology
  • Geochemistry
  • Earth System Science

Background:

  • Wildfires significantly impact Earth's carbon cycling and understanding past fire dynamics is crucial for predicting future climate change.
  • The Early Triassic (Smithian and Spathian epochs, ~250 million years ago) is poorly understood regarding fire activity, despite significant carbon cycle perturbations, climate shifts, and biotic events.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To reconstruct Early Triassic wildfire dynamics using geochemical fire indicators.
  • To investigate the environmental conditions and biomass sources associated with increased wildfire activity during this period.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Spitsbergen shales as organic geochemical fire indicators.
  • Examination of diagnostic PAH ratios to infer the origin of combustion products (biomass vs. soil erosion, petrogenic carbon, or coal).

Main Results:

  • A notable increase in PAH abundance was observed in shales immediately following the Smithian-Spathian boundary.
  • PAH ratios indicated that the combustion products originated primarily from unaltered biomass, not soil erosion or coal combustion linked to Siberian Traps volcanism.
  • Wildfire activity increased as temperatures declined in the late Smithian, coinciding with less intense hydrological conditions and vegetation changes favoring fire.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides evidence for increased wildfire activity during the Early Triassic, linked to specific climatic and vegetation shifts.
  • These changing wildfire regimes likely influenced biogeochemical cycles and long-term carbon sequestration.
  • Understanding past wildfire-climate-vegetation interactions offers insights into potential consequences of future climate change.