The mineral magnetic signatures of fire in the Kromrivier wetland, South Africa

Purpose Almost 50 % of wetland types in South Africa are regarded as critically endangered. Erosion is extensively present in many wetlands and has been primarily attributed to human activities. However, many researchers have suggested that the erosion of some wetland types is a long-term naturally...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of soils and sediments 2017-04, Vol.17 (4), p.1170-1181
Main Authors: Pulley, Simon, Lagesse, Juliette, Ellery, William
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Combustion
Diagenesis
Earth and Environmental Science
Environment
Environmental Physics
Fires
High temperature
Lake sediments
Magnetic properties
Magnetism
Minerals
Sec 2 • Physical and Biogeochemical Processes • Research Article
Sediments
Soil erosion
Soil Science & Conservation
Water table
Wetlands
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Summary:Purpose Almost 50 % of wetland types in South Africa are regarded as critically endangered. Erosion is extensively present in many wetlands and has been primarily attributed to human activities. However, many researchers have suggested that the erosion of some wetland types is a long-term naturally recurring process and may be preceded by fire events. Wetland sediments are highly affected by processes of dissolution diagenesis, so that very little evidence of catchment processes would be expected to be preserved by their magnetic signatures. However, previously published research has shown that the magnetic signatures of fire can be preserved in some wetland and lake sediments. Materials and methods The mineral magnetic properties of sediment cores were examined to attempt to identify the signatures of historical fires in the Kromrivier wetland, a palmiet dominated wetland in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. This wetland has recently been burnt by a large fire event in 2011. The burning of catchment soils and sediments in controlled laboratory experiments was used to replicate the processes of magnetic enhancement taking place in the wetland. Results and discussion The majority of wetland sediment was very weakly magnetic due to processes of dissolution diagenesis. However, deposits of extremely magnetic sediment were found within the wetland. These deposits were attributed to the high temperature combustion of the wetland magnetically enhancing the fine-grained (
ISSN:1439-0108
1614-7480
DOI:10.1007/s11368-016-1577-0