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Pre-industrial particulate emissions and carbon sequestration from biomass burning in North America

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Abstract

Spatial trends in pre-industrial biomass burning emissions for eastern North America were reconstructed from sediment charcoal data. Petrographic thin sections were prepared from varved lake sediments along a transect of sites extending from NW Minnesota eastward to NE Maine. Results showed an exponential decline in charcoal abundance with distance east from the prairie/forest border. This result quantifies burning along the broad climate/vegetation gradient from xeric woodland to mesic eastern deciduous forest. Post-settlement charcoal accumulation showed no such geographic pattern, varying from site-to-site, likely reflecting local variability in land use and combustion sources. Results suggest the total emissions of large (> 10 μm diameter) charcoal particles decreased by a factor of three during the twentieth century.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Duke University, 27706, Durham, NC, USA

    J. S. Clark

  2. Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, 37996, Knoxville, TN, USA

    P. D. Royall

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  1. J. S. Clark
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  2. P. D. Royall
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Clark, J.S., Royall, P.D. Pre-industrial particulate emissions and carbon sequestration from biomass burning in North America. Biogeochemistry 24, 35–51 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00001306

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00001306

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