Falkland Island peatland development processes and the pervasive presence of fire

Dmitri Mauquoy*, Richard J. Payne, Kirill V. Babeshko, Rebecca Bartlett, Ian Boomer, Hannah Bowey, Chris D. Evans, Fin Ring-Hrubesh, David Muirhead, Matthew O'Callaghan, Natalia Piotrowska, Graham Rush, Thomas Sloan, Craig Smeaton, Andrey N. Tsyganov, Yuri A. Mazei

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Palaeoecological analyses of Falkland Island peat profiles have largely been confined to pollen analyses. In order to improve understanding of long-term Falkland Island peat development processes, the plant macrofossil and stable isotope stratigraphy of an 11,550 year Falkland Island Cortaderia pilosa (‘whitegrass’) peat profile was investigated. The peatland developed into an acid, whitegrass peatland via a poor fen stage. Macrofossil charcoal indicate that local fires have frequently occurred throughout the development of the peatland. Raman spectroscopy analyses indicate changes in the intensity of burning which are likely to be related to changes in fuel types, abundance of fine fuels due to reduced evapotranspiration/higher rainfall (under weaker Southern Westerly Winds), peat moisture and human disturbance. Stable isotope and thermogravimetric analyses were used to identify a period of enhanced decomposition of the peat matrices dating from ∼7020 cal yr BP, which possibly reflects increasing strength of the Southern Westerly winds. The application of Raman spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analyses to the Falkland Island peat profile identified changes in fire intensity and decomposition which were not detectable using the techniques of macrofossil charcoal and plant macrofossil analyses.

Original languageEnglish
Article number106391
JournalQuaternary Science Reviews
Volume240
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jul 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
RJP secured funding for this research from the Quaternary Research Association , University of York and the Russian Science Foundation (19-14-00102). We thank Paul Brickle and other members of the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute for their help with logistics, David Large for valuable discussions about Falkland Islands peat and all landowners for access permission. This work is dedicated to Richard J. Payne who was tragically killed while climbing Peak 6477, a previously unclimbed subsidiary peak of Nanda Devi (Garhwal Himalayas) in May 2019.

Funding Information:
RJP secured funding for this research from the Quaternary Research Association, University of York and the Russian Science Foundation (19-14-00102). We thank Paul Brickle and other members of the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute for their help with logistics, David Large for valuable discussions about Falkland Islands peat and all landowners for access permission. This work is dedicated to Richard J. Payne who was tragically killed while climbing Peak 6477, a previously unclimbed subsidiary peak of Nanda Devi (Garhwal Himalayas) in May 2019.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Charcoal
  • Falkland Islands
  • Fire
  • Holocene
  • Raman spectroscopy
  • Southern westerly winds
  • Testate amoebae
  • Thermogravimetric analysis
  • Vegetation dynamics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Global and Planetary Change
  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Archaeology
  • Archaeology
  • Geology

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