Dansgaard-Oeschger climatic variability revealed by fire emissions in southwestern Iberia

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: Daniau, A.L., Sanchez Goni, M.F., Beaufort, D., Laggoun-Défarge, Fatima, Loutre, M.F., Duprat, J.
• Other Authors: De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Environnements et Paléoenvironnements OCéaniques (EPOC), Observatoire aquitain des sciences de l'univers (OASU), Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Sciences et Technologies - Bordeaux 1 (UB)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Centre Européen de Recherche et d'Enseignement des Géosciences de l'Environnement (CEREGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Sciences de la Terre d'Orléans (ISTO), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université d'Orléans (UO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut d'Astronomie et de Géophysique Georges Lemaître (UCL-ASTR), Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain (UCL), ECLIPSE and RESOLUTION (ESF-EUROCORES-EUROCLIMATE) projects and has been supported by the grant BDI CNRS-région Aquitaine and the BQR University Bordeaux1
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2007
• Subjects: marine sequence; microcharcoal; fire; Iberian Peninsula; Dansgaard-Oeschger oscillations; Heinrich events; [SDU.STU.GC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geochemistry; [SDE.MCG.CPE]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes/domain_sde.mcg.cpe; Greenland
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/hal-00137780; https://insu.hal.science/hal-00137780/document; https://insu.hal.science/hal-00137780/file/Daniau_etal_Corr.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2007.02.005

International audience Paleoenvironmental records in Europe describing paleofires extending back to the Last Interglacial have so far been unavailable. Here we present paleofire results from the combined petrographic and automated image analysis of microcharcoal particles preserved in marine core MD95-2042 retrieved off southwestern Iberia and covering the last climatic cycle. The variability of microcharcoal concentrations reveals that the variability of fire emissions is mainly imprinted by the 23 000 yrs precessional cycle. A focus on the Last Glacial Period further shows that paleofires follow the variability of Dansgaard-Oeschger oscillation and Heinrich events and, therefore, parallel the variability of atmospheric temperatures over Greenland detected in ice cores. There is no evidence for fire increase related to human activity. The variability of fire emission by-products for the Last Glacial Period is interpreted in terms of changes in biomass availability. Low fire activity is associated with periods of drought which saw the development of semi-desert vegetation that characterised stadial periods. Fire activity increased during wetter interstadials, related to the development of open Mediterranean forests with more woody fuel availability.