Articles | Volume 15, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1063-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1063-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 Jun 2019
Research article |
| 19 Jun 2019
| 19 Jun 2019
Evidence for fire in the Pliocene Arctic in response to amplified temperature
Tamara L. Fletcher
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana,
Missoula, Montana 59812, USA
Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied
Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, Liaoning 110164, China
Lisa Warden
Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal
Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (North Holland), and Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59,
1790 AB Den Burg, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Jaap S. Sinninghe Damsté
Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal
Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (North Holland), and Utrecht University, P.O. Box 59,
1790 AB Den Burg, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, University of
Utrecht, Utrecht, 3508, the Netherlands
Kendrick J. Brown
Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, Victoria, British Columbia V8Z
1M5, Canada
Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographic Science, University
of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, British Columbia V1V 1V7, Canada
Natalia Rybczynski
Department of Palaeobiology, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Ontario K1P
6P4, Canada
Department of Biology & Department of Earth Sciences, Carleton
University, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada
John C. Gosse
Department of Earth Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2,
Canada
Ashley P. Ballantyne
College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana,
Missoula, Montana 59812, USA
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Short summary
The last time atmospheric CO2 was similar to the present was 3–4 million years ago. The Arctic was warmer compared to the global average, and the causes are not fully known. To investigate this, we reconstructed summer temperature, forest fire and vegetation at a 3.9 Ma fen peat in Arctic Canada. The summer temperatures averaged 15.4 °C, and charcoal was abundant. Interactions between vegetation and climate were mediated by fire and may contribute to high Arctic temperatures during the Pliocene.
The last time atmospheric CO2 was similar to the present was 3–4 million years ago. The Arctic...
