Fire and vegetation changes recorded in Alaskan ice cores
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By Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
August 3, 2022
The past decade has comprised major fires in central Alaska and Siberia. Fire histories from ice cores in the North Pacific (Denali National Park and the Juneau Icefield) record interactions between changing temperature, precipitation, and biomass burning. We aim to quantify what vegetation burned in the past (hardwoods versus softwoods versus grasses) using ratios of levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan, and their relationship with a changing climate. We will integrate these results with atmospheric transport models.
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An ideal ice core site is the highest, flattest glacier in a region. In 2016, a transect of 7-9 m ice cores was drilled on the Matthes Glacier, Juneau Icefield to determine if recent fires are affecting the glacier surface. (Photo: Lucas Foglia, used with permission)
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
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Smoke plumes from forest fires can travel semi-hemispheric distances and affect air quality thousands of kilometers from their source
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
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Remote image Url
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Media
Remote image Url
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Smoke from Siberian fires traveling towards Alaska. This satellite image was collected by NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) on July 29 (U.S. half) and July 30 (Siberian half), 2019. The red points in Siberia and Alaska denote actively burning fires. Image Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
Did we start the fire? Drought, Fire and Humans
The past decade encompasses some of the most extensive fire activity in recorded history. An area the size of Vermont (~24,000 km2) burned in a single Siberian fire in the summer of 2019 (Kehrwald et al., 2020 and references therein) while Australia, Indonesia and the Amazon have all experienced their most intense fires in recorded history (van Wees et al, 2021 and references therein). As more...
Hydroclimate, fire, and human interactions in southwestern US tree ring records
We have identified areas of the southwestern US that do not contain paleorecords of precipitation, fire, and/or human activity. These records may be missing because, for example, lakes and forests are few and far between in much of the southwestern US. However, other sites exist that do not yet have paleorecords, but do have potential for providing lake cores and tree ring records.
Fire, human activity, and drought records in southwestern US sediments
This research aims to determine if drought, temperature variability, or human activity was the primary driver of fire activity in southwestern Colorado.
The past decade has comprised major fires in central Alaska and Siberia. Fire histories from ice cores in the North Pacific (Denali National Park and the Juneau Icefield) record interactions between changing temperature, precipitation, and biomass burning. We aim to quantify what vegetation burned in the past (hardwoods versus softwoods versus grasses) using ratios of levoglucosan, mannosan and galactosan, and their relationship with a changing climate. We will integrate these results with atmospheric transport models.
Media
An ideal ice core site is the highest, flattest glacier in a region. In 2016, a transect of 7-9 m ice cores was drilled on the Matthes Glacier, Juneau Icefield to determine if recent fires are affecting the glacier surface. (Photo: Lucas Foglia, used with permission)
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Media
Smoke plumes from forest fires can travel semi-hemispheric distances and affect air quality thousands of kilometers from their source
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Media
Remote image Url
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Media
Remote image Url
Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details
Smoke from Siberian fires traveling towards Alaska. This satellite image was collected by NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) on July 29 (U.S. half) and July 30 (Siberian half), 2019. The red points in Siberia and Alaska denote actively burning fires. Image Courtesy: NASA Worldview, Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS).
Did we start the fire? Drought, Fire and Humans
The past decade encompasses some of the most extensive fire activity in recorded history. An area the size of Vermont (~24,000 km2) burned in a single Siberian fire in the summer of 2019 (Kehrwald et al., 2020 and references therein) while Australia, Indonesia and the Amazon have all experienced their most intense fires in recorded history (van Wees et al, 2021 and references therein). As more...
Hydroclimate, fire, and human interactions in southwestern US tree ring records
We have identified areas of the southwestern US that do not contain paleorecords of precipitation, fire, and/or human activity. These records may be missing because, for example, lakes and forests are few and far between in much of the southwestern US. However, other sites exist that do not yet have paleorecords, but do have potential for providing lake cores and tree ring records.
Fire, human activity, and drought records in southwestern US sediments
This research aims to determine if drought, temperature variability, or human activity was the primary driver of fire activity in southwestern Colorado.