scholarly journals Soils in Karst Sinkholes Record the Holocene History of Local Forest Fires at the North of European Russia

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1268
Author(s):  
Nikita Mergelov ◽  
Dmitry Petrov ◽  
Elya Zazovskaya ◽  
Andrey Dolgikh ◽  
Alexandra Golyeva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Soil Morphology ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
The North ◽  
Peat Deposits

Despite the abundance of charcoal material entrapped in soils, they remain relatively less studied pyrogenic archives in comparison to the sedimentary paleofire records (e.g., lacustrine and peat deposits), and that is especially the case in most of Russia’s territory. We report here on the deep soil archives of the Holocene forest fires from the Pinega District of the Arkhangelsk region (64.747° N, 43.387° E). Series of buried soil profiles separated by charcoal layers and clusters were revealed in specific geomorphological traps represented by the active and paleokarst subsidence sinkholes on sulfate rocks overlaid by glacial and fluvial deposits. We combine the study of soil morphology and stratigraphy with a set of radiocarbon data on charcoal and soil organic matter, as well as the anthracomass analysis, to extract a set of paleoenvironmental data. A total of 45 radiocarbon dates were obtained for the macrocharcoal material and the soil organic matter. The maximum temporal “depth” of archives estimated from the radiocarbon dating of macrocharcoal reached 10,260 ± 35 cal yr BP. Soil formation with Podzols established at the inter-pyrogenic stages repeatedly reproduced within the period of ten thousand years, while the dominant tree species was Pinus sp. According to the macrocharcoal data, the intervals between fires have shortened in the last thousand years. Dendrochronological estimates suggest the occurrence of fires in almost every decade of the 20th and early 21st centuries. This is the first study of the millennia-scale soil record of forest fires in this particular region of Russia.

Soil record of the Holocene paleofires at the north of European Russia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikita Mergelov ◽  
Dmitry Petrov ◽  
Andrey Dolgikh ◽  
Elya Zazovskaya
Keyword(s):  
Kola Peninsula ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
14C Dating ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Arkhangelsk Region ◽  
The North

<p>Soils and sediments serve as complementary sources of detailed information on paleofires in various ecosystems. Despite the abundance of charcoal material entrapped in soils they remain relatively less studied pyrogenic archives in comparison to the sedimentary paleofire records (e.g. lacustrine and peat deposits), and that is especially the case for the most territory of Russia. We report here on the numerous soil archives of the Holocene forest fires at the Kola Peninsula (66.347°N, 37.948°E) and the north of Arkhangelsk region (64.747°N, 43.387°E) in Russia. Series of buried Podzols (up to ten successive profiles) separated by the distinct charcoal layers were revealed in specific geomorphological traps like the thermokarst depressions inherited from the early stages of moraine sediments formation (Kola Peninsula), as well as in active and paleokarst sinkholes in carbonate and sulfate rocks (Arkhangelsk region). The maximum temporal depth of archives was estimated as 10261±40 cal yr BP for the key site in Arkhangelsk region, with up to 12 major pyrogenic events recorded at the local scale. Soil formation at the inter-pyrogenic stages maintained a uniform direction for at least 10 thousand years and profiles of Podzols were regularly replicated at all the key sites. We employ here a combination of soil morphological hierarchical analysis, study of geomorphological processes leading to the burial of pyrogenic carbon, 14C dating of charcoal and TOC derived from the soil organic matter, carbon and nitrogen isotope ratio mass spectrometry and anthracomass concentrations analysis to extract a set of paleoenvironmental information from these soil archives. The study of complementary pyrogenic archives in the three-component system of the karst landscape (including bottom and slopes of the funnels, as well as the flat elevated areas between them) helped to mitigate overestimation or underestimation of the anthracomass concentration and allowed to acquire a detailed dataset on paleopyrogenic events at the local scale. This study is supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Project No. 19-29-05238.</p>

The long-term impact of low-intensity surface fires on litter decomposition and enzyme activities in boreal coniferous forests

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kajar Köster ◽  
Frank Berninger ◽  
Jussi Heinonsalo ◽  
Aki Lindén ◽  
Egle Köster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Enzymatic Activity ◽  
Litter Decomposition ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Fire Disturbance ◽  
Coniferous Forests ◽  
Long Term Impact

In boreal forest ecosystems fire, fungi and bacteria, and their interactions, have a pronounced effect on soil carbon dynamics. In this study we measured enzymatic activities, litter decomposition rates, carbon stocks and fungal and microbial biomasses in a boreal subarctic coniferous forest on a four age classes of non-stand replacing fire chronosequence (2, 42, 60 and 152 years after the fire). The results show that microbial activity recovered slowly after fire and the decomposition of new litter was affected by the disturbance. The percent mass loss of Scots pine litter increased with time from the last fire. Slow litter decomposition during the first post-fire years accelerates soil organic matter accumulation that is essential for the recovery of soil biological activities. Fire reduced the enzymatic activity across all the enzyme types measured. Carbon-degrading, chitin-degrading and phosphorus-dissolving enzymes showed different responses with the time elapsed since the fire disturbance. Microbial and enzymatic activity took decades before recovering to the levels observed in old forest stands. Our study demonstrates that slower post-fire litter decomposition has a pronounced impact on the recovery of soil organic matter following forest fires in northern boreal coniferous forests.

scholarly journals Twenty-Five Years of Radiocarbon Dating Soils: Paradigm of Erring and Learning

Radiocarbon ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. Scharpenseel ◽  
Peter Becker-Heidmann
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Solvent System ◽  
Total Carbon ◽  
Earthworm Casts ◽  
Initiation Point ◽  
Organic Matter Fractions ◽  
Soil Dating

Soil organic matter sequesters close to three times the carbon existing totally in the living biomass and nearly the same for the total carbon in the atmosphere. Models, such as Jenkinson's or Parton's Century model, help to define soil organic matter fractions of different functions, based on residence time/14C age. Rejuvenation of soil carbon was felt to be the principal impediment to absolute soil dating, in addition to the ambiguity of the initiation point of soil formation and soil age. Recent studies, for example, of Becker-Heidmann (1989), indicate that a soil 14C age of >1000 yr cannot have >0.1% rejuvenation in the total soil organic matter compartments/fractions to be possible and sustainable. Always problematic in earlier observations were age vs. depth increases, in 14C profile curves showing an inflection of reduced age in the deepest samples, i.e., from the rim of the organic matter containing epipedon. We attribute this phenomenon, in mollic horizons, to earthworm casts in the terminal part of the escape tube. Becker-Heidmann (1989) has shown, in thin layer soil profile dating, a highly significant correlation between the highest 14C ages and the highest clay content. Thus, optimization of soil dating is, to a lesser degree, related to the applied extracting solvent system than to soil texture fractions. Such observations allow us to mitigate error ranges inherent in dating dynamic soil systems.

scholarly journals Hamburg University Radiocarbon Dates II

Radiocarbon ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
H W Scharpenseel ◽  
H Schiffmann
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Soil Organic Matter Fractions ◽  
Single Screw ◽  
Organic Matter Fractions

Radiocarbon measurements mainly on soil samples and soil organic matter fractions are being continued. Sample benzene preparation follows Scharpenseel & Pietig (1969; 1970a). Radioactivity is measured in single screw cap quartz vials using a Packard Tri-Carb 3075 as well as a Berthold Betaszint BF 5000.

scholarly journals Combination of Numerical Dating Techniques Using 10Be in Rock Boulders and 14C of Resilient Soil Organic Matter for Reconstructing the Chronology of Glacial and Periglacial Processes in a High Alpine Catchment during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene

Radiocarbon ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 537-552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippo Favilli ◽  
Markus Egli ◽  
Dagmar Brandova ◽  
Susan Ivy-Ochs ◽  
Peter W Kubik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Chemical Characterization ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Parent Material ◽  
Surface Dynamics ◽  
Exposure Dating ◽  
Minimum Age ◽  
Absolute Dating

Glacier fluctuations and paleoclimatic oscillations during the Late Quaternary in Val di Rabbi (Trentino, northern Italy) were reconstructed using a combination of absolute dating techniques (14C and 10Be) and soil chemical characterization. Extraction and dating of the stable fraction of soil organic matter (SOM) gave valuable information about the minimum age of soil formation and contributed to the deciphering of geomorphic surface dynamics. The comparison of 10Be surface exposure dating (SED) of rock surfaces with the 14C ages of resilient (resistant to H2O2 oxidation) soil organic matter gave a fairly good agreement, but with some questionable aspects. It is concluded that, applied with adequate carefulness, dating of SOM with 14C might be a useful tool in reconstructing landscape history in high Alpine areas with siliceous parent material. The combination of 14C dating of SOM with SED with cosmogenic 10Be (on moraines and erratic boulders) indicated that deglaciation processes in Val di Rabbi were already ongoing by around 14,000 cal BP at an altitude of 2300 m asl and that glacier oscillations might have affected the higher part of the region until about 9000 cal BP. 10Be and 14C ages correlate well with the altitude of the sampling sites and with the established Lateglacial chronology.

scholarly journals Forest fires in Canadian permafrost region: the combined effects of fire and permafrost dynamics on soil organic matter quality

2019 ◽  
Vol 143 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Aaltonen ◽  
Kajar Köster ◽  
Egle Köster ◽  
Frank Berninger ◽  
Xuan Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Permafrost Region ◽  
Combined Effects ◽  
Organic Matter Quality ◽  
Soil Organic Matter Quality

scholarly journals The influence of C<sub>3</sub> and C<sub>4</sub> vegetation on soil organic matter dynamics in contrasting semi-natural tropical ecosystems

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (16) ◽  
pp. 5041-5059 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Saiz ◽  
M. Bird ◽  
C. Wurster ◽  
C. A. Quesada ◽  
P. Ascough ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Carbon Isotopic Composition ◽  
Precipitation Gradient ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Tropical Ecosystems ◽  
Carbon Isotopic

Abstract. Variations in the carbon isotopic composition of soil organic matter (SOM) in bulk and fractionated samples were used to assess the influence of C3 and C4 vegetation on SOM dynamics in semi-natural tropical ecosystems sampled along a precipitation gradient in West Africa. Differential patterns in SOM dynamics in C3/C4 mixed ecosystems occurred at various spatial scales. Relative changes in C / N ratios between two contrasting SOM fractions were used to evaluate potential site-scale differences in SOM dynamics between C3- and C4-dominated locations. These differences were strongly controlled by soil texture across the precipitation gradient, with a function driven by bulk δ13C and sand content explaining 0.63 of the observed variability. The variation of δ13C with soil depth indicated a greater accumulation of C3-derived carbon with increasing precipitation, with this trend also being strongly dependant on soil characteristics. The influence of vegetation thickening on SOM dynamics was also assessed in two adjacent, but structurally contrasting, transitional ecosystems occurring on comparable soils to minimise the confounding effects posed by climatic and edaphic factors. Radiocarbon analyses of sand-size aggregates yielded relatively short mean residence times (τ) even in deep soil layers, while the most stable SOM fraction associated with silt and clay exhibited shorter τ in the savanna woodland than in the neighbouring forest stand. These results, together with the vertical variation observed in δ13C values, strongly suggest that both ecosystems are undergoing a rapid transition towards denser closed canopy formations. However, vegetation thickening varied in intensity at each site and exerted contrasting effects on SOM dynamics. This study shows that the interdependence between biotic and abiotic factors ultimately determine whether SOM dynamics of C3- and C4-derived vegetation are at variance in ecosystems where both vegetation types coexist. The results highlight the far-reaching implications that vegetation thickening may have for the stability of deep SOM.

Aliphatic carboxylic acids in buried Ah horizons in Alberta, Canada as paleoenvironmental indicators

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 859-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Dormaar
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
Carboxylic Acids ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Aliphatic Acids ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Aliphatic Carboxylic Acids ◽  
Paleoenvironmental Indicators

In southern Alberta, a buried Ah horizon is frequently present beneath Mazama tephra (ca. 6600 years BP). Drainage conditions during the formation of such buried Ah horizons may determine the quality of the aliphatic carboxylic acids in the soil organic matter. The spectrum of aliphatic acids extracted from a number of buried Ah horizons indeed suggests either well drained or poorly drained conditions during soil formation regardless of the mode of deposition of materials before or after the soil-forming interval. The climate required for development of the well drained paleosols was inferred to be similar to the climate under which surficial Black Chernozemic Ah horizons were formed.

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