Abstract
The presence of charcoal in the geological record offers a new approach to assessing oxygen levels in palaeoatmospheres. Charcoal is formed by the incomplete combustion of woody tissues. The combustion of wood is supported by the generation of the combustible gases carbon monoxide and methane during the pyrolysis process. As the combustion ranges of these gases are restricted with decreasing oxygen availability to a level below which no combustion will occur, the production of charcoal and its appearance in the geological column constitute a record of changing oxygen availability through time. We show here that the occurrence of charcoal in rocks from the Lower Carboniferous onwards suggests that atmospheric oxygen never fell below 0.3 of present atmospheric level (PAL) during this time. Detrital charcoal formed by forest fire must have contributed an appreciable fraction to inert carbonaceous matter in sediments (kerogen) during post-Devonian time.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Komarek, E. V. Proc. a. Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. Conf. 8, 169–197 (1968).
Komarek, E. V. in Fire and Ecosystems (eds Koslowski, T. T. & Ahlgren, C. E.) 251–277 (Academic, New York, 1974).
Cohen, A. D. Miami geol. Soc. Mem. 2, 213–218 (1974).
Hollick, A. Proc. Staten Isl. Ass. Arts Sci. 21–23 (1906).
Chaloner, W. G. & Sheerin, A. Special Papers in Palaeontology 23, 145–161 (1979).
Banks, H. P. Evolution and Plants of the Past (Macmillan, London, 1970).
Stopes, M. C. Fuel 14, 4–13 (1935).
Stopes, M. C., Proc. R. Soc. B 90, 470–487 (1919).
Alvin, K. L. Palaeontology 17, 587–598 (1974).
Hollick, A. & Jeffrey, E. C. Mem. N. Y. Bot. Gdn 3 (1909).
McGinnes, E. A., Szopa, P. S. & Phelps, J. E. Scanning Electron Microscopy/1974 469–476 (IIT Research Institute, 1974).
Hickling, H. G. A. & Marshall, C. E. Trans. Instn Min. Engng 84, 13–23 (1932).
Beall, F. C. & Eickner, H. W. U.S.D.A. Forest Res. Pap. 130 (1970).
Komarek, E. V. Proc. a. Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. Conf. 12, 219–240 (1972).
Brown, A. A. & Davis, K. P. Forest Fire: Control and Use (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1973).
Komarek, E. V. Proc. a. Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. Conf. 3, 139–183 (1964).
Komarek, E. V. Proc. a. Tall Timbers Fire Ecol. Conf. 11, 473–511 (1971).
Frondel, C. Dana's System of Mineralogy Vol. 3 (Wiley, New York, 1962).
Coward, H. F. & Jones, G. W. Bull. U. S. Bur. Mines 503 (1952).
Towe, K. M. Nature 274, 657–661 (1978).
Berkner, L. V. & Marshall, L. C. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. 53, 1215–1226 (1965),
Tappan, H. Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol. 4, 187–210 (1968).
I. C. C. P. International Handbook of Coal Petrography (CNRS, Paris, 1963).
Harris, T. M. Meddr Grønland 68, 45–147 (1926).
Harris, T. M. Proc. R. Soc. B147, 289–308 (1957).
Harris, T. M. J. Ecol. 46, 447–453 (1958).
Cloud, P. Palaeobiology 2, 351–387 (1976).
Scott, A. C. & Collinson, M. E., in Scanning Electron Microscopy in the Study of Sediments (ed. Whally, B.) 137–167 (Geo-Abstr., Norwich, 1978).
Warg, J. B. & Traverse, A. Geosci. Man 7, 39–46 (1973).
Brooks, J. & Shaw, G. Origin and Development of Living Systems (Academic, London, 1973).
Smith, D. M., Griffin, J. J. & Goldberg, E. D. Nature 241, 268–270 (1973).
Herring, J. R. thesis, Univ. California (1977).
Burgess, J. D. Spec. Pap. geol. Soc. Am. 153, 19–30 (1974).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cope, M., Chaloner, W. Fossil charcoal as evidence of past atmospheric composition. Nature 283, 647–649 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/283647a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/283647a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Inertinite in coal and its geoenvironmental significance: Insights from AI and big data analysis
Science China Earth Sciences (2024)
-
Increased fire activity under high atmospheric oxygen concentrations is compatible with the presence of forests
Nature Communications (2022)
-
A comparison of Barremian–early Aptian vertebrate assemblages from the Jehol Group, north-east China and the Wealden Group, southern Britain: the value of microvertebrate studies in adverse preservational settings
Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments (2016)
-
Evolution of an old mining district between 725 and 1630 ad at the boundary between Thüringen and Bayern, SE Germany, using mineralogical and chemical markers, radio-carbon dating, and coal petrography of slags
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences (2013)
-
Phanerozoic concentrations of atmospheric oxygen reconstructed from sedimentary charcoal
Nature Geoscience (2010)