Daniau, Anne-Laure; Sanchez Goñi, Maria Fernanda; Martinez, Philippe; Urrego, Dunia H; Bout-Roumazeilles, Viviane; Desprat, Stéphanie; Marlon, Jennifer R (2015): Microcharcoal concentration and elongation, and age model of sediment core MD96-2098 [dataset publication series]. PANGAEA, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.845377, Supplement to: Daniau, A-L et al. (2013): Orbital-scale climate forcing of grassland burning in southern Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(13), 5069-5073, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1214292110
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Abstract:
Although grassland and savanna occupy only a quarter of the world's vegetation, burning in these ecosystems accounts for roughly half the global carbon emissions from fire. However, the processes that govern changes in grassland burning are poorly understood, particularly on time scales beyond satellite records. We analyzed microcharcoal, sediments, and geochemistry in a high-resolution marine sediment core off Namibia to identify the processes that have controlled biomass burning in southern African grassland ecosystems under large, multimillennial-scale climate changes. Six fire cycles occurred during the past 170,000 y in southern Africa that correspond both in timing and magnitude to the precessional forcing of north-south shifts in the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Contrary to the conventional expectation that fire increases with higher temperatures and increased drought, we found that wetter and cooler climates cause increased burning in the study region, owing to a shift in rainfall amount and seasonality (and thus vegetation flammability). We also show that charcoal morphology (i.e., the particle's length-to-width ratio) can be used to reconstruct changes in fire activity as well as biome shifts over time. Our results provide essential context for understanding current and future grassland-fire dynamics and their associated carbon emissions.
Project(s):
Coverage:
Latitude: -25.600000 * Longitude: 12.630000
Date/Time Start: 1996-10-16T00:00:00 * Date/Time End: 1996-10-16T00:00:00
Event(s):
MD96-2098 (MD962098) * Latitude: -25.600000 * Longitude: 12.630000 * Date/Time: 1996-10-16T00:00:00 * Elevation: -2910.0 m * Recovery: 32.24 m * Location: Lüderitz Transect * Campaign: MD105 (IMAGES II) * Basis: Marion Dufresne (1995) * Method/Device: Calypso Corer (CALYPSO) * Comment: Greenish white to dark olive green Nanno Foram biosiliceous Ooze. Section 6 (7.50 to 9.00 m) empty. Seems to be a good high resolution record.
License:
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC-BY-3.0)
Size:
2 datasets
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Datasets listed in this publication series
- Daniau, A-L; Sanchez Goñi, MF; Martinez, P et al. (2015): (Table S1) Chronostratigraphic age model for sediment core MD96-2098. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.845375
- Daniau, A-L; Sanchez Goñi, MF; Martinez, P et al. (2015): Microcharcoal concentration and elongation from sediment core MD96-2098 off Namibia 170-30 ka. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.845374