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K.L. Alvin et al. (1981): Anatomy and palaeoecology of Pseudofrenelopsis and associated conifers in the English Wealden. PDF file, Palaeontology, 24: 759-778.
Now recovered from the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! S. Archibald et al. (2018): Biological and geophysical feedbacks with fire in the Earth system. Open access, Environmental Research Letters, 13.
See especially Box 4 (PDF page 11): Evolution of plant-fire feedbacks at geological timescales.

P.L. Ascough et al. (2010): Charcoal reflectance measurements: implications for structural characterization and assessment of diagenetic alteration. PDF file, Journal of Archaeological Science. About charcoal, reflectance, Raman spectroscopic measurements, oxidative degradation, black carbon, diagenesis.

Eleni Asouti, School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool: Charcoal Analysis Web. Bibliographic suggestions and information about methodology and interpretation as well as links to databases and research centres and wood reference collections. Go to:
A short history of charcoal analysis (regrettably without results and progress in palaeobotany and geology/palaeontology, e.g. W.G. Chaloner, A.C. Scott, M.E. Collinson, T. Jones).
! See also: Cecilia A. Western Wood Reference Collection Archive: The Wood Anatomy Notebooks. Descriptions (typewriter, in PDF) and images (jpg). Mainly species from Southwest Asia and Southeast Europe, donated to the Institute of Archaeology by Cecilia A. Western.

S.J. Baker et al. (2022): CO₂-induced biochemical changes in leaf volatiles decreased fire-intensity in the run-up to the Triassic–Jurassic boundary. Free access, New Phytologist, 235: 1442–1454.

S.J. Baker et al. (2017): Charcoal evidence that rising atmospheric oxygen terminated Early Jurassic ocean anoxia. In PDF, Nat Commun., 8: 15018. See also here.

M. Barbacka et al. (2022): Early Jurassic coprolites: insights into palaeobotany and the feeding behaviour of dinosaurs. In PDF, Papers in Palaeontology.
See also here.

C.M. Belcher and V.A. Hudspith (2017): Changes to Cretaceous surface fire behaviour influenced the spread of the early angiosperms. New Phytologist, 213: 1521–1532.

! C.M. Belcher and V.A. Hudspith (2016): The formation of charcoal reflectance and its potential use in post-fire assessments. In PDF, International Journal of Wildland Fire, 25: 775-779. See also here.

Claire M. Belcher et al. (2010): Increased fire activity at the Triassic/Jurassic boundary in Greenland due to climate-driven floral change. In PDF, Nature Geoscience, 3: 426-429. See also here (abstract).

J.R.W. Benicio et al. (2019): Recurrent palaeo-wildfires in a Cisuralian coal seam: A palaeobotanical view on high-inertinite coals from the Lower Permian of the Paraná Basin, Brazil. Open access, PloS one, 14: e0213854.

M.I. Bird et al. (2008): X-ray microtomographic imaging of charcoal. In PDF, Journal of Archaeological Science, 35: 2698-2706. See also here (abstract).

C. Blanco-Moreno et al. (2022): Quantitative plant taphonomy: the cosmopolitan Mesozoic fern Weichselia reticulata as a case study. Open access, Palaeontology, 65.
Note figure 7: Taphonomic model proposed for Weichselia reticulata.

C. Blanco-Moreno et al. (2022): Quantitative plant taphonomy: the cosmopolitan Mesozoic fern Weichselia reticulata as a case study. Open access, Palaeontology, 65.
Note figure 7: Taphonomic model proposed for Weichselia reticulata.
"... In the case of the specimens of Weichselia reticulata included in this work, charred remains are the most frequent preservation type ..."

C. Blanco-Moreno et al. (2020): New insights into the affinities, autoecology, and habit of the Mesozoic fern Weichselia reticulata based on the revision of stems from Bernissart (Mons Basin, Belgium). In PDF, 7: 1351-1372.
See also here.
Note figure 1: Representation of all the reconstructions of Weichselia reticulata to date.

! B. Bomfleur et al. (2023): Fossil mosses from the Early Cretaceous Catefica mesofossil flora, Portugal–a window into the Mesozoic history of Bryophytes. In PDF, Fossil Imprint, 79: 103–125.
See likewise here.
"... A diverse assemblage of mosses from the Early Cretaceous Catefica mesofossil flora, Portugal, is described based on fragments of charcoalified and lignitized gametophytes and a single spore capsule ..."

J.R. Boutain et al. (2010): Simplified procedure for hand fracturing, identifying, and curating small macrocharcoal remains. In PDF, IAWA Journal, 31: 139-147.

! D.M.J.S. Bowman et al. (2009): Fire in the Earth System. PDF file, Science, 324: 481-484. See also here (abstract).

! S.A.E. Brown et al. (2012): Cretaceous wildfires and their impact on the Earth system. In PDF, Cretaceous Research, 36: 162-190.
See alo here.
Note figure 2: Fire products from surface and crown fires.
Figure 3: Geographic distribution of charcoal mesofossil assemblages and inertinite (charcoal in coal) at three Cretaceous time intervals.
Table 1: Geographic distribution of charcoal mesofossil assemblages and inertinite (charcoal in coal) at three Cretaceous time intervals.

B.A. Byers et al. (2014): First known fire scar on a fossil tree trunk provides evidence of Late Triassic wildfire. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 411: 180-187. See also here.

Y. Cai et al. (2024): Charcoal evidence traces diverse fungal metabolic strategies to the Late Paleozoic. Free access, iScience. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2024.110000.
"... This study documents the early occurrences of multiple wood-rotting types during the Late Paleozoic and provides insights into the range of fungal metabolic strategies employed during this period ..."

D.K. Carpenter (2016): Charcoal, forests, and Earth's palaeozoic geochemical oxygen cycle. In PDF, Dissertation, 293 p. University of Southampton.

The Field Museum, Chicago, IL:
Focus: Fossil Plants. See especially:
! Mesofossils.

! Ilit Cohen-Ofri et al. (2006): Modern and fossil charcoal: aspects of structure and diagenesis. PDF file, Journal of Archaeological Science, 33: 428-439.

Margaret E. Collinson et al. (2008): Discussion on the production and fate of charcoals following a heathland and peatland fire in Surrey, UK. Abstract, 18th Plant Taphonomy Meeting, Vienna, Austria. Now provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! M.E. Collinson (2002): The ecology of Cainozoic ferns. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 119: 51-68.
See also here.
! Note table 1: Summary of key conclusions concerning the ecology of Cenozoic ferns.

! M. Conedera et al. (2009): Reconstructing past fire regimes: methods, applications, and relevance to fire management and conservation. In PDF, Quaternary Science Reviews, 28: 555-576.
See also here.
Note figure 1: Components of the fire-regime concept.
Table 6: Chemical substances used as chemical markers and fire proxies in fire history reconstruction.
Figure 4: Reconstructing fire history from lake sediments.

! M.J. Cope and W.G. Chaloner (1980): Fossil charcoal as evidence of past atmospheric composition. Abstract, Nature 283: 647-649.

! W.K. Cornwell et al. (2009): Plant traits and wood fates across the globe: rotted, burned, or consumed? PDF file, Global Change Biology, 15: 2431-2449.
See also here.
Note figure 1: The five major fates for woody debris.
Table 2: Stem anatomy differences across woody and pseudo-woody plant clades.

! B. Crair (2023): The Fossil Flowers That Rewrote the History of Life. Free access, The New Yorker.
"... Instead of breaking rocks, she crumbled soft sediments into a sieve, washed away the sand grains in water, and saved the tiny specks of charcoal that were left behind.
[...] Fresh discoveries, she added, could radically change the known history of flowers.
[...] “A day in the field can be years of work in the laboratory.” ..."

A.J. Crawford et al. (2018): Fossil charcoals from the Lower Jurassic challenge assumptions about charcoal morphology and identification. Free access, Palaeontology, 61: 49–56.

A.J. Crawford and C.M. Belcher (2014): Charcoal morphometry for paleoecological analysis: The effects of fuel type and transportation on morphological parameters. Open access, Applications in Plant Sciences, 2: 1400004. See also here (in PDF).

! W.L. Crepet et al. (2004): Fossil evidence and phylogeny: the age of major angiosperm clades based on mesofossil and macrofossil evidence from Cretaceous deposits. Free access, American Journal of Botany, 91: 1666-1682.
! Beautifully preserved charcoalified flowers!

! Walter L. Cressler (2001): Evidence of Earliest Known Wildfires. In PDF, Palaios, 16: 171-174.
See also here.

Charles Daghlian (Dartmouth College, Hannover, NH) and Jennifer Svitko, Paleobotanical Holdings at the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University: Paleoclusia 3D Reconstructions. Movies from CT scans done on the Turonian fossils. See also here (W.L. Crepet and K.C. Nixon 1998, abstract and photos).
These expired links are available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! S. Dai et al. (2020): Recognition of peat depositional environments in coal: A review. Free access, International Journal of Coal Geology, 219.
! See especially fig. 5: Overview of the progression of plant and fungal tissues and burned material from the peat surface through peatification and coalification to produce the major maceral groups.
Fig. 6A: Coprolitic macrinite in a chamber in wood (now fusinite); the coprolites were charred along with the wood.
Note also fig. 10D: Fusinite in a Cretaceous coal.
Fig. 11C: Degraded inertinite in coal. Fusinite- and semifusinite-like reflectances indicating the charring of degraded material of woody origin.

! S. Dai et al. (2021): Modes of occurrence of elements in coal: A critical evaluation. Free access, Earth-Science Reviews, 222.

I. Degani-Schmidt and M. Guerra-Sommer (2016): Charcoalified Agathoxylon-type wood with preserved secondary phloem from the lower Permian of the Brazilian Parana Basin. Abstract, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 226: 20-29. See also here (in PDF).

I. Degani-Schmidt et al. (2015): Charcoalified logs as evidence of hypautochthonous/autochthonous wildfire events in a peat-forming environment from the Permian of southern Paraná Basin (Brazil). Abstract, International Journal of Coal Geology, 146: 55–67. See also here (in PDF).

! G. De Lafontaine et al. (2011): Permineralization process promotes preservation of Holocene macrofossil charcoal in soils. Abstract, Journal of Quaternary Science, 26. See also here (in PDF).

! X. Delclos et al. (2023): Amber and the Cretaceous Resinous Interval. Free access, Earth-Science Reviews, 243.
Note figure 2 (palaeogeographical maps): Distribution of resiniferous forests based on known amber-bearing localities and known occurrences of potential coniferous resin-producing tree families throughout the Cretaceous.
Figure 4: Oxygen (O₂) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) atmospheric composition, temperature, and Large Igneous Province (LIP) activity throughout the Cretaceous.
"... Here we discuss the set of interrelated abiotic and biotic factors potentially involved in resin production during that time. We name this period of mass resin production by conifers during the late Mesozoic, fundamental as an archive of terrestrial life, the ‘Cretaceous Resinous Interval’ (CREI) ..."

! C.F.K. Diessel (2010): The stratigraphic distribution of inertinite. In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 81: 251–268. See also here (abstract).

! W.A. DiMichele and H.J. Falcon-Lang (2011): Pennsylvanian "fossil forests" in growth position (T⁰ assemblages): origin, taphonomic bias and palaeoecological insights. PDF file, Journal of the Geological Society, London, 168: 585-605. See also here.
Note fig. 14 (PDF page 17), Animals using hollow Sigillarian stumps as refuges from fire.

! W.A. DiMichele et al. (2004): An unusual Middle Permian flora from the Blaine Formation (Pease River Group: Leonardian-Guadalupian Series) of King County, West Texas. In PDF, J. Paleont., 78: 765-782.
See also here.
Paper awarded with the Winfried and Renate Remy Award 2005 (Paleobotanical Section), Botanical Society of America.

Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, UK: Research activities,
Taphonomy of charcoal,
Charcoals in volcanics,
History and impact of fire: Pre-Quaternary, and
History and impact of fire: Recent.
These expired links are now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Helena Eklund et al. (2004): Late Cretaceous plant mesofossils from Table Nunatak, Antarctica. PDF file, Cretaceous Research, 25: 211-228. Charred and structurally preserved plant remains.
Snapshot provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

DIANNE EDWARDS and LINDSEY AXE: Anatomical Evidence in the Detection of the Earliest Wildfires. Abstract, Palaios; 2004; v. 19; no. 2; p. 113-128.

H. El Atfy et al. (2019): Repeated occurrence of palaeo-wildfires during deposition of the Bahariya Formation (early Cenomanian) of Egypt. Open access, Journal of Palaeogeography, 8.
See also here (in German).

H. El Atfy et al. (2019): Pre-Quaternary wood decay ‘caught in the act’ by fire – examples of plant-microbe-interactions preserved in charcoal from clastic sediments. Abstract, Historical Biology.

H.J. Falcon-Lang et. al. (2016): The oldest Pinus and its preservation by fire. Abstract, Geology, 44: 303-306. See also here (in PDF).

H.J. Falcon-Lang et al. (2004): Palaeoecology of Late Cretaceous polar vegetation preserved in the Hansen Point Volcanics, NW Ellesmere Island, Canada. PDF file, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 212: 45-64.
Charred woods from the Hansen Point Volcanics.

! H.J. Falcon-Lang et al. (2001): Fire-prone plant communities and palaeoclimate of a Late Cretaceous fluvial to estuarine environment, Pecínov quarry, Czech Republic. PDF file, Geol. Mag., 138: 563-576. See also here.
Note figure 3: Angiosperm wood charcoal.

A. Feurdean and I. Vasiliev (2019): The contribution of fire to the late Miocene spread of grasslands in eastern Eurasia (Black Sea region). Open access, Scientific Reports, 9.

The Field Museum, Chicago: Fossil Plants Collections Mesofossils. Mid to late Cretaceous plant fossils in charcoal preservation.

! I. Figueiral and V. Mosbrugger (2000): A review of charcoal analysis as a tool for assessing Quaternary and Tertiary environments: achievements and limits. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 164: 397–407.

! The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations: Industrial charcoal making: Chapter 2. Wood carbonisation and the products it yields.
"... Carbonisation is a particular form of that process in chemical technology called pyrolysis that is the breakdown of complex substances into simpler ones by heating. ..."
! Worth checking out: 2.5 The stages in charcoal formation.

! E.M. Friis et al. (2014): Three-dimensional visualization of fossil flowers, fruits, seeds, and other plant remains using synchrotron radiation X-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM): new insights into Cretaceous plant diversity. In PDF, Journal of Paleontology, 88: 684–701. See also here (abstract).

! E.M. Friis et al. (2013): New Diversity among Chlamydospermous Seeds from the Early Cretaceous of Portugal and North America. Free accesss, International Journal of Plant Sciences, 174: 530–558.
"... The material is based on numerous charcoalified and lignitic specimens recovered from Early Cretaceous mesofossil floras [...]
! Attenuation-based synchrotron-radiation x-ray tomographic microscopy (SRXTM) and phase-contrast x-ray tomographic microscopy (PCXTM) were carried out [...]
! Volume rendering (voltex), which provides transparent reconstructions, was also used for the virtual sections ..."

Else Marie Friis, Kaj Raunsgaard Pedersen and Peter R. Crane (2010): Diversity in obscurity: fossil flowers and the early history of angiosperms. PDF file, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, 365: 369-382. Some of the specimens are charcoalified and have retained their original three-dimensional shape. See also here.

! J.M. Galloway and S. Lindström (2023): Wildfire in the geological record: Application of Quaternary methods to deep time studies. Open access, Evolving Earth, 1.
! Note figure 1: Summary figure of changes in atmospheric O₂ [...] and important events in Earth’s history, climate state, selected extinction events.

! I.J. Glasspool and R.A. Gastaldo (2024): Through fire, and through water, an abundance of Mid-Devonian charcoal. Open access, Palaios, 39: 301–322.
Note figure 15: Uncalibrated and luminosity modified, oil immersion, reflected light images of Trout Valley mesofossil; see especially figure E:
! The internal anatomy of a hooked-appendage shaft showing cell-wall lamination and separation, and with many cells show brittle fracture bogen structures.
"... Charcoalified mesofossils recovered from the Emsian–Eifelian Trout Valley and St. Froid Lake formations of Maine are direct evidence of wildfires
[...] we provide a reconstruction of this Middle Devonian landscape and its flora in which lightning generated by post-dry season storms ignited wildfires that propagated through an extensive psilophyte-dominated litter ..."

I.J. Glasspool and R.A. Gastaldo (2022): A baptism by fire: fossil charcoal from eastern Euramerica reveals the earliest (Homerian) terrestrial biota evolved in a flammable world. Open access, Journal of the Geological Society.
Note figure 12: Fuel-fire burn model illustrating fire initiation by lightning, burning of Prototaxites as the fire nucleus and the charring of the peripheral vegetation.

! I.J. Glasspool and R.A. Gastaldo (2022): Silurian wildfire proxies and atmospheric oxygen, Open access, Geology.
! Note figure 3: Silurian–Devonian charcoal plotted against three common models of Paleozoic pO₂ and back-calculated measurements.
"... The frequency of charcoal data from Silurian sequences indicates that fires were not rare but an established part of the terrestrial biome from at least the Wenlock onward. ..." Also worth checking out:
International Spotlight Shines on Colby Geologists (by Bob Keyes, July 7, 2022, Colby News).

I.J. Glasspool et al. (2015): The impact of fire on the Late Paleozoic Earth system. In PDF, Frontiers in PlantScience. See also here.

! I.J. Glasspool and A.C. Scott 2010): Phanerozoic concentrations of atmospheric oxygen reconstructed from sedimentary charcoal. In PDF, Nature Geoscience, 3: 627-630.
See also here.
Additional information in: ScienceDaily and phys.org.
! "... We estimate that pO₂ was continuously above 26% during the Carboniferous and Permian periods, and that it declined abruptly around the time of the Permian–Triassic mass extinction. During the Triassic and Jurassic periods, pO₂ fluctuated cyclically, with amplitudes up to 10% and a frequency of 20–30 million years. Atmospheric oxygen concentrations have declined steadily from the middle of the Cretaceous period to present-day values of about 21%. ..."

H. Hagdorn et al. (2015): 15. Fossile Lebensgemeinschaften im Lettenkeuper. - p. 359-385, PDF file, in German.
! Charcoal from the germanotype Lettenkohle (Ladinian). See especially "Wildfeuer im Ökosystem des Lettenkeupers" on PDF page 5.
In: Hagdorn, H., Schoch, R. & Schweigert, G. (eds.): Der Lettenkeuper - Ein Fenster in die Zeit vor den Dinosauriern. Palaeodiversity, Special Issue (Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart).
! You may also navigate via back issues of Palaeodiversity 2015. Then scroll down to: Table of Contents "Special Issue: Der Lettenkeuper - Ein Fenster in die Zeit vor den Dinosauriern".
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.

! S.P. Harrison et al. (2010): Fire in the Earth system. PDF file, In: Dodson, J. (ed.), Changing Climates, Earth Systems and Society. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 21-48.

C. Hartkopf-Fröder et al. (2011): Mid-Cretaceous charred fossil flowers reveal direct observation of arthropod feeding strategies. Open access, Biol. Lett., 8: 295–298.

Christoph Hartkopf-Fröder, Geologischer Dienst Nordrhein-Westfalen, Krefeld: Das Erbe des Feuers: Was sagen schwarze Steine über die Umwelt der letzten 360 Millionen Jahre? PDF file, in German.
Snapshot provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

! Z. Hermanová et al. (2021): Plant mesofossils from the Late Cretaceous Klikov Formation, the Czech Republic. Open access, Fossil Imprint, 77.
"... The fossils are charcoalified or lignitised, and usually three-dimensionally preserved. ..."

! J. Hilton et al. (2016): Age and identity of the oldest pine fossils: COMMENT. Geology, 44. See also:
! Reaffirming Pinus mundayi as the oldest known pine fossil: REPLY. By H.J. Falcon-Lang et al., 2016.
Please take notice:
The oldest Pinus and its preservation by fire. Abstract, by H.J. Falcon-Lang et al., 2016.

T.P. Hollaar et al. (2024): The optimum fire window: applying the fire–productivity hypothesis to Jurassic climate states. Free access, Biogeosciences, 21: 2795–2809. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-2795-2024.
"... we test the intermediate fire–productivity hypothesis for a period on Earth before the evolution of grasses, the Early Jurassic, and explore the fire regime of two contrasting climatic states: the cooling of the Late Pliensbachian Event (LPE) and the warming of the Sinemurian–Pliensbachian Boundary (SPB) ..."

! F. Hua et al. (2024): The impact of frequent wildfires during the Permian–Triassic transition: Floral change and terrestrial crisis in southwestern China. Free access, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
Note figure 1a: Palaeogeographic configuration and the position of the South China Plate.
Figure 7: Schematic model illustrating possible relationships between the wildfires and floral changes during the P–T transition in southwestern China.

V.A. Hudspith et al. (2018): Does fuel type influence the amount of charcoal produced in wildfires? Implications for the fossil record. Free access, Palaeontology, 61: 59–17.

! V.A. Hudspith and C.M. Belcher (2017): Observations of the structural changes that occur during charcoalification: implications for identifying charcoal in the fossil record. In PDF, Palaeontology, 60: 503–510. See also here (abstract).

V.A. Hudspith et al. (2015): Latest Permian chars may derive from wildfires, not coal combustion. Reply, in PDF, Geology, 43.

V.A. Hudspith et al. (2014): Latest Permian chars may derive from wildfires, not coal combustion. In PDF, Geology, 42: 879-882. See also here (abstract).

! V. Hudspith et al. (2012): Evaluating the extent to which wildfire history can be interpreted from inertinite distribution in coal pillars: An example from the Late Permian, Kuznetsk Basin, Russia. In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 89: 3–25.

! V. Iglesias et al. (2014): Reconstruction of fire regimes through integrated paleoecological proxy data and ecological modeling. Front Plant Sci, 5.

International Journal of Coal Geology (Elsevier).
The International Journal of Coal Geology deals with fundamental and applied aspects of the geology, petrology, geochemistry and mineralogy of coal, oil/gas source rocks, and shales.
The scope of the journal encompasses basic research, computational and laboratory studies, technology development, and field studies.

! A. Jasper et al. (2021): Palaeozoic and Mesozoic palaeo–wildfires: An overview on advances in the 21^st Century. Journal of Palaeosciences, 70: 159–171.
See likewise here.

A. Jasper et al. (2016): Indo-Brazilian Late Palaeozoic wildfires: an overview on macroscopic charcoal. In PDF, Revista do Instituto de Geociências - USP Geol. USP, Sér. cient., São Paulo, 16: 87-97.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
See also here.

A. Jasper et al. (2016): Fires in the mire: repeated fire events in Early Permian "peat forming" vegetation of India. Abstract, Geological Journal.
See also here.

! A. Jasper et al. (2013): The burning of Gondwana: Permian fires on the southern continent - a palaeobotanical approach. In PDF, Gondwana Research, 24: 148-160.
See also here.

A. Jasper et al. (2011): Upper Paleozoic charcoal remains from South America: Multiple evidences of fire events in the coal bearing strata of the Paraná Basin, Brazil. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 306: 205-218.
See also here.

A. Jasper et al. (2011): Charcoal remains from a tonstein layer in the Faxinal Coalfield, Lower Permian, southern Paraná Basin, Brazil. An. Acad. Bras. Ciênc., 83.

André Jasper et al. (2008): Palaeobotanical evidence of wildfires in the Late Palaeozoic of South America. Early Permian, Rio Bonito Formation, Paraná Basin, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 26: 435-444.

Tim Jones, Particle Research Group, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University: Images of a soot-encrusted piece of charcoal from the K-T boundary and of one of the largest piece of naturally produced charcoal (recent) from the Yellowstone National Park, USA.

! T.P. Jones and W.G. Chaloner (1991): Fossil charcoal, its recognition and palaeoatmospheric significance. Abstract.

K.-P. Kelber, (2007): Die Erhaltung und paläobiologische Bedeutung der fossilen Hölzer aus dem süddeutschen Keuper (Trias, Ladinium bis Rhätium).- In German. PDF file, pp. 37-100; In: Schüßler, H. & Simon, T. (eds.): Aus Holz wird Stein - Kieselhölzer aus dem Keuper Frankens.- (Eppe), Bergatreute-Aulendorf. Go to PDF page 9:
! Charcoal from the germanotype Upper Triassic.

K. Koldas (2021): Charred Fossils Provide Clues about Early Terrestrialization. ColbyNews.

Michael A. Kruge, Dept. of Geology Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale, IL: Chemistry Of Fossil Charcoal In Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Strata, Arroyo El Mimbral, Mexico.

! J. Lehmann et al. (2011): Biochar effects on soil biota - a review. In PDF, Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 43: 1812-1836. See also here (abstract).

! G. Li et al. (2022): Quantitative Studies on Charcoalification: Physical and Chemical Changes of Charring Wood. In PDF, Fundamental Research. See also here.
Note fig. 8: Alterations in various wood physical and chemical factors.
"... Data suggests that the charcoal formation temperatures were concentrated around 400-500 C ..."

B. Liu et al. (2022): Evidence for the repeated occurrence of wildfires in an upper Pliocene lignite deposit from Yunnan, SW China. In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 250.
See also here.
"... Different types of wildfire occurred in this paleomire with a predominance of low-temperature surface fires, as indicated by mean inertinite reflectance (Ro) values ranging from 1% to 2% in most samples. High-temperature fires are less recorded ..."

! E.R. Locatelli (2014): The exceptional preservation of plant fossils: a review of taphonomic pathways and biases in the fossil record. PDF file, In: M. Laflamme et al. (eds.): Reading and Writing of the Fossil Record: Preservational Pathways to Exceptional Fossilization. The Paleontological Society Papers, 20.

! M. Lu et al. (2021): A synthesis of the Devonian wildfire record: Implications for paleogeography, fossil flora, and paleoclimate. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 571. See also here (in PDF).

M. Lu et al. (2019): Geochemical Evidence of First Forestation in the Southernmost Euramerica from Upper Devonian (Famennian) Black Shales. Free access, Scientific Reports, 9.
"... Plant residues (microfossils, vitrinite and inertinite) and biomarkers derived from terrestrial plants and wildfire occur throughout the stratigraphic section, suggesting widespread forest in the southern Appalachian Basin, a region with no macro plant fossil record during the Famennian. Inorganic geochemical results, as shown by increasing values of SiO2/ Al2O3, Ti/Al, Zr/Al, and the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) upon time sequence, suggest enhanced continental weathering that may be attributed to the invasion of barren lands by rooted land plants. ..."

D.-W. Lü et al. (2024): A synthesis of the Cretaceous wildfire record related to atmospheric oxygen levels? Open access, Journal of Palaeogeography, 13: 149-164.
"... In this study, we comprehensively synthesize a total of 271 published Cretaceous wildfire occurrences based on the by-products of burning, including fossil charcoal, pyrogenic inertinite (fossil charcoal in coal), and pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Spatially, the dataset shows a distinctive distribution of reported wildfire evidence characterized by high concentration in the middle latitudinal areas of the Northern Hemisphere ..."

! S.Y. Maezumi et al. (2021): A modern analogue matching approach to characterize fire temperatures and plant species from charcoal. Free access, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 578.

! J. Manfroi et al. (2023): “Antarctic on fire”: Paleo-wildfire events associated with volcanic deposits in the Antarctic Peninsula during the Late Cretaceous. Free access, Front. Earth Sci., 11: 1048754. doi: 10.3389/feart.2023.1048754.
"... This indicates that fire and active volcanism were significant modifiers of the ecological niches of austral floras, because even in distal areas, the source of ignition for forest fires often came from contact with a hot volcanic ash cloud, where the vegetation was either totally or partially consumed by fire ..."
Note figure 4: Detailed field photographs of part of the Price Point deposition showing the two carbonaceous levels (lenses of charcoal in tuffite).
Figure 6: Paleoenvironmental reconstruction of austral areas under the influence of paleo-wildfires promoted by the Campanian active volcanism.

J. Manfroi et al. (2015): Extending the database of Permian palaeo-wildfire on Gondwana: Charcoal remains from the Rio do Rasto Formation (Paraná Basin), Middle Permian, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 436: 77-84.

! L. Marynowski et al. (2014): Molecular composition of fossil charcoal and relationship with incomplete combustion of wood. Abstract, Organic Geochemistry, 77: 22–31. See also here (in PDF).

! L. Marynowski and B.R.T. Simoneit (2009): Widespread Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic wildfire records from Poland: Evidence from charcoal and pyrolytic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. In PDF, Palaios, 24: 785–798. See also here.
"... Laboratory tests indicate that 15% O₂, instead of 12%, is required for the propagation of a widespread forest fire
[...] The most extensive wildfires occurred in the earliest Jurassic and their intensities successively decreased with time ..."

J.R. Marlon (2009): The geography of fire: A paleo perspective. PDF file.

C. Mays et al. (2022): End-Permian burnout: The role of Permian–Triassic wildfires in extinction, carbon cycling, and environmental change in eastern Gondwana. In PDF, Palaios, 37: 292–317.
See also here.
! Note figure 14: Artist’s reconstruction of the humid temperate but fire-adapted glossopterid biome during the end-Permian extinction interval (c. 252.1 Ma). Note the vegetative regeneration along the scorched trunks of the canopy-forming Glossopteris.
"... we conclude that elevated wildfire frequency was a short-lived phenomenon; recurrent wildfire events were unlikely to be the direct cause of the subsequent long-term absence of peat-forming wetland vegetation, and the associated ‘coal gap’ of the Early Triassic. ..."

! L.C. McParland et al. (2010): Is vitrification in charcoal a result of high temperature burning of wood? Abstract, Journal of Archaeological Science, 37: 2679–2687. See also here (in PDF).

K.L. Minatre et al. (2024): Charcoal analysis for temperature reconstruction with infrared spectroscopy. In PDF, Front. Earth Sci., 12:1354080. doi: 10.3389/feart.2024.1354080.
See likewise here.

Limnological Research Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis:
LRC Core Facility, Floral and faunal components, Charcoal counting (sieve method). Procedure writeup (PDF file).
These expired links are available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

D.P. Mishra et al (2021): Palaeobotanical evidence for Artinskian wildfire in the Talcher Coalfield, Mahanadi Basin, India. In PDF, Journal of the Palaeontological Society of India, 66: 303-314.

! I.P. Montañeza (2016): A Late Paleozoic climate window of opportunity. In PDF, PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113. See also here (abstract).

O.M. Moroeng et al. (2018): Characterization of coal using electron spin resonance: implications for the formation of inertinite macerals in the Witbank Coalfield, South Africa. Free access, Int. J. Coal Sci. Technol., 5: 385–398.

! M. Moskal-del Hoyo et al. (2010): Preservation of fungi in archaeological charcoal. In PDF, Journal of Archaeological Science, 37: 2106-2116. See also here.

C. Mouraux et al. (2022): Assessing the carbonisation temperatures recorded by ancient charcoals for δ13C-based palaeoclimate reconstruction. Open access, Scientific Reports, 12.

S. Murthy et al. (2022): New Evidence for Palaeo-wildfire in the Early Permian (Artinskian) of Gondwana from Wardha Valley Coalfield, India Jour. Geol. Soc. India, 98: 395-401. See also here.

! G.E. Mustoe (2018): Non-Mineralized Fossil Wood. Open access, Geosciences, 8.
Note fig. 23: Silification of charred wood.

J.D. Napier and M.L. Chipman (2022): Emerging palaeoecological frameworks for elucidating plant dynamics in response to fire and other disturbance. Free access, Global Ecology and Biogeography, 31: 138–154.
"... we highlight emerging opportunities in palaeoecology to advance our understanding about how disturbance, especially fire, impacts the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of terrestrial plant communities.
[...] apply “functional palaeoecology” and the synergy between palaeoecology and genetics to understand how fire disturbance has served as a long-standing selective agent on plants ..."

! National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Washington, DC. NOAA Paleoclimatology. NOAA Paleoclimatology operate the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology which distributes data contributed by scientists around the world. Paleo data come from natural sources such as tree rings, ice cores, corals, and ocean and lake sediments, and extend the archive of climate back hundreds to millions of years. Go to:
International Multiproxy Paleofire Database (IMPD). The IMPD is an archive of fire history data derived from natural proxies (including data from tree scars and charcoal in sediment records).

! K.H. Orvis et al. (2005): Laboratory Production of Vouchered Reference Charcoal from Small Wood Samples and Non-woody Plant Tissues. Abstract, Palynology, 29: 1–11.

! I.C. Osterkamp et al. (2017): Changes of wood anatomical characters of selected species of Araucaria during artificial charring: implications for palaeontology. In PDF, Acta Botanica Brasilica.
See also here and there,
"Above a charring temperature of 300 °C cell walls of all three taxa became homogenized, colour changed to black and a silky sheen developed, comparable to observations from previous studies on different taxa".

J.T. Parrish et al. (2004): Jurassic "savannah"-plant taphonomy and climate of the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic, Western USA). In PDF, Sedimentary Geology, 167: 137-162.
See likewise here.

! W.A. Patterson et al. (1987): MICROSCOPIC CHARCOAL AS A FOSSIL INDICATOR OF FIRE. PDF file, Quaternary Science Reviews, 6: 3-23.

J.G. Pausas and D. Schwilk (2012): Fire and plant evolution. Free access, New Phytologist, 193: 301-303.

! J.G. Pausas and J.E. Keeley (2009): A burning story: the role of fire in the history of life. PDF file, BioScience, 59: 593-601.

H.I. Petersen and S. Lindström (2012): Synchronous Wildfire Activity Rise and Mire Deforestation at the Triassic-Jurassic Boundary. In PDF.

S.F. Piper et al. (2018): Fire in the Moor: Mesolithic Carbonised Remains in Riverine Deposits at Gleann Mor Barabhais, Lewis, Western Isles of Scotland. Journal of the North Atlantic, 35: 1-22. See also here.

! M.K. Putz and E.L. Taylor (1996): Wound response in fossil trees from Antarctica and its potential as a paleoenvironmental indicator. PDF file, IAWA Journal, 17: 77-88. See also here.

F.K. Rengers et al. (2023): The influence of large woody debris on post-wildfire debris flow sediment storage- Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23: 2075–2088.
"... we explored new approaches to estimate debris flow velocity based on LWD [large woody debris] characteristics and the role of LWD in debris flow volume retention.

S. Riehl et al. (2015): Plant use and local vegetation patterns during the second half of the Late Pleistocene in southwestern Germany. In PDF, Archaeol. Anthropol. Sci.
See also here.

S.M. Rimmer et al. (2015): The rise of fire: Fossil charcoal in late Devonian marine shales as an indicator of expanding terrestrial ecosystems, fire, and atmospheric change. In PDF, American Journal of Science, 315: 713-733.

Paul Rincon, BBC News Online: Fossils reveal oldest wildfire.

V. Robin and O. Nelle (2011): Main data and general insights of recent soil charcoal investigations on nine sites in Central Europe. In PDF.

! B.E. Robson et al. (2015): Early Paleogene wildfires in peat-forming environments at Schöningen, Germany. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 437: 53-62. See also here.

Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London: Wildfire in Deep time.

A.C. Rozefelds et al. (2024): Born of fire, borne by water – Review of paleo-environmental conditions, floristic assemblages and modes of preservation as evidence of distinct silicification pathways for silcrete floras in Australia Gondwana Research, 130: 234–249.
See also here.
Note figure 3: Schematic diagram showing the stages involved in preservation of a mould of a branch of Proteaceae or Casuarinaceae wood and leaves.
Figure 6: Schematic diagram comparing pathways of silicification of plant tissues in sub-basaltic and fluvial silcretes.

A. Santa Catharina et al. (2022): Timing and causes of forest fire at the K–Pg boundary. Open access, Scientific Reports, 12.
"... and charred tree trunks. The overlying mudstones show an iridium anomaly and fungal and fern spores spikes. We interpret these heterogeneous deposits as a direct result of the Chicxulub impact and a mega-tsunami in response to seismically-induced landsliding. ..."

! F.H. Schweingruber and A. Börner (2018): Fossilization, permineralization, coalification, carbonization and wet wood conservation. PDF file, pp. 183-192.
In: F.H. Schweingruber and A. Börner:
! The Plant Stem. A Microscopic Aspect. Open access!

A.C. Scott (2024): Carboniferous wildfire revisited: Wildfire, post-fire erosion and deposition in a Mississippian crater lake. In PDF, Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 135: 416-437.
See likewiswe here.
Note figure 6c–e. Scanning electron micrographs of charred Metaclepsydropsis.
! Figure 13f-h: Scanning electron micrograph of charcoalified pteridosperm leaf dissolved from Pettycur Limestone block.

! A.C. Scott (2024): Thirty Years of Progress in Our Understanding of the Nature and Influence of Fire in Carboniferous Ecosystems. In PDF, Fire, 7. 248. https://doi.org/10.3390/fire7070248.
See here as well.
Note figure 7: The interpretation of the Viséan East Kirkton environment highlighting the role of wildfire.
"... One of the basic problems was the fact that charcoal-like wood fragments, so often found in sedimentary rocks and in coals, were termed fusain and, in addition, many researchers could not envision wildfires in peat-forming systems. The advent of Scanning Electron Microscopy and studies on modern charcoals and fossil fusains demonstrated beyond doubt that wildfire residues may be recognized in rocks dating back to at least 350 million years ..."

! A.C. Scott (2010): Charcoal recognition, taphonomy and uses in palaeoenvironmental analysis. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 291: 11–39. See also here (abstract).

! A.C. Scott (2009): Forest Fire in the Fossil Record. PDF file, In: Cerdà, A., Robichaud, P. (eds). Fire Effects on Soils and Restoration Strategies. Science Publishers Inc. New Hampshire.
See also here.

! Andrew C. Scott and Freddy Damblon (2010): Charcoal: Taphonomy and significance in geology, botany and archaeology. Abstract.

Andrew C. Scott et al. (2009): Scanning Electron Microscopy and Synchrotron Radiation X-Ray Tomographic Microscopy of 330 Million Year Old Charcoalified Seed Fern Fertile Organs. PDF file, Microsc. Microanal., 15: 166-173.
See figure 4, SEM of charcoalified pteridosperm ovule from the mid-Mississippian (Carboniferous). See also here.

Andrew C. Scott and Ian J. Glasspool (2006): The diversification of Paleozoic fire systems and fluctuations in atmospheric oxygen concentration. PDF file, PNAS, 103: 10861-10865. See also here.

! A.C. Scott (2002): Coal petrology and the origin of coal macerals: a way ahead? In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 50: 119-134. The definition of fusinite !

! A.C. Scott (2000): The Pre-Quaternary history of fire. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 164: 297–345. See also here (in PDF).

! A.C. Scott (1998): The legacy of Charles Lyell: advances in our knowledge of coal and coal-bearing strata. In PDF, Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 143: 243-260. See also here.

! A.C. Scott and T.P. Jones (1991): Fossil charcoal: a plant-fossil record preserved by fire. In PDF, Geology Today, 7: 214-216. See also here.

! A.C. Scott (1990): 3.10 Anatomical Preservation of Fossil Plants. PDF file, scroll to page 263! Provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
Article in: Derek Briggs and Peter Crowther (eds.): Paleobiology: A Synthesis. Navigate from the contents file (PDF).

Andrew C. Scott and Freddy Damblon, discussion paper: Discussion on (and formation of?) an International Association for Charcoal Research (IACR). PDF file. Including a useful bibliography.

Andrew C. Scott, Research Group in Plant Palaeobiology, Applied Palaeobotany, Palynology and the Study of Fossil Fuels, Geology Department, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey: History and impact of fire: Pre-Quaternary.
These expired links are now available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Megan Sever, Geotimes: Charcoal clues in dinosaur debate. Web Extra Friday, January 9, 2004.

! L. Shao et al. (2024): Inertinite in coal and its geoenvironmental significance: Insights from AI and big data analysis. In PDF, Science China Earth Sciences, 67: 1779-1801. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-023-1325-5
See there as well.
Note figure 1: Annual publications about inertinite and palaeowildfire from 2000 to 2023.
Figure 6: Trends in atmospheric oxygen content since the Silurian.
Figure 9: Changes of inertinite and palaeoclimatic parameters in geological history.
Figure 17: Schematic model illustrating possible relationships between frequent and intense forest fires and catastrophic sediment erosion, river transport systems, and their potential consequences for the terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
"... The distribution of inertinite in coals varied over different geological periods, being typified by the “high inertinite content-high atmospheric oxygen level” period in the Permian and the “low inertinite content-low atmospheric oxygen level” period in the Cenozoic. This study has proposed a possible model of the positive and negative feedbacks between inertinite characteristics and palaeoenvironmental factors ..."

! Shu-zhong Shen et al. (2011): Calibrating the End-Permian Mass Extinction. In PDF, Science, 334.
Snapshot provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here (abstract).

Wenjie Shen et al. (2011): Evidence for wildfire in the Meishan section and implications for Permian-Triassic events. PDF file, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 75: 1992-2006.
Website outdated. The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

C. Shi et al. (2022): Fire-prone Rhamnaceae with South African affinities in Cretaceous Myanmar amber. In PDF, Nature Plants, 8: 125–135.
See also here.
"... We report the discovery of two exquisitely preserved fossil flower species, one identical to the inflorescences of the extant crown-eudicot genus Phylica and the other recovered as a sister group to Phylica, both preserved as inclusions together with burned plant remains in Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar (~99 million years ago) ..."

T.G. Sim et al. (2023): Regional variability in peatland burning at mid-to high-latitudes during the Holocene. Free access, Quaternary Science Reviews, 305.

M.W. Simas et al. (2013): An accurate record of volcanic ash fall deposition as characterized by dispersed organic matter in a lower Permian tonstein layer (Faxinal Coalfield, Paraná Basin, Brazil). In PDF, Geologica Acta, 11: 45-57.

S. Slater (2020): Charcoal in the fossil record. Springer Nature Research Communities.

B.J. Slater et al. (2015): A high-latitude Gondwanan lagerstätte: The Permian permineralised peat biota of the Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. In PDF, Gondwana Research, 27: 1446-1473. See also here (abstract).

C.R. Smith (2004): Florida Harvester Ants and Their Charcoal. In PDF, Electronic Thesis, Florida State University Libraries.
"Pogonomyrmex harvester ants collect and deposit pebbles, charcoal, glass, etc. atop their mounds".

Smithsonian Science: Fungi still visible in wood charcoal centuries after burning.
The link is to a version archived by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

D.C. Steart et al. (2007): The Cobham Lignite Bed: the palaeobotany of two petrographically contrasting lignites from either side of the Paleocene-Eocene carbon isotope excursion. PDF file, Acta Palaeobotanica 47: 109-125.
This expired link is available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

J. Stevenson and S.G. Haberle (2005): Macro Charcoal Analysis: A modified technique used by the Department of Archaeology and Natural History. Free access, PalaeoWorks Technical Report, 5.
Still available via Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
See also here.

Y. Sun et al. (2017): Evidence of widespread wildfires in a coal seam from the middle Permian of the North China Basin. In PDF, Lithosphere. See also here.

! I. Suárez-Ruiz et al. (2012): Review and update of the applications of organic petrology: Part 1, geological applications. In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 99: 54-112.

! S.C. Sweetman and A.N. Insole (2010): The plant debris beds of the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) Wessex Formation of the Isle of Wight, southern England: their genesis and palaeontological significance. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 292: 409-424.

L.H. Tanner et al. (2012): Fossil charcoal from the Middle Jurassic of the Ordos Basin, China and its paleoatmospheric implications. In PDF.

! I. Théry-Parisot et al. (2010): Anthracology and taphonomy, from wood gathering to charcoal analysis. A review of the taphonomic processes modifying charcoal assemblages, in archaeological contexts Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 291: 142–153.
See also here.

T. Theurer et al. (2022): Assessing Modern Calluna Heathland Fire Temperatures Using Raman Spectroscopy: Implications for Past Regimes and Geothermometry. Free access, Frontiers in Earth Science, 10: 296-6463.

A. Tosal et al. (2022): Plant taphonomy and palaeoecology of Pennsylvanian wetlands from the Erillcastell Basin of the eastern Pyrenees, Catalonia, Spain. In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 605.
See also here.
"... A specimen of C. undulatus (50 cm long and 5 cm wide) was found charred and in an upright position within a pyroclastic bed intercalated in these shales ..."
Note figure 6; Plant taphonomic features. See especially:
Figure 6C: Charred Calamites undulatus stem crossing an ignimbrite deposit.

D. Uhl et al. (2022): Evidence for wildfires during deposition of the late Miocene diatomites of the Konservat-Lagerstätte Lake Saint-Bauzile (Ardèche, France) – preliminary results. Open access, Fossil Imprints, 78: 329–340.

D.Uhl and A. Jasper (2021): Wildfire during deposition of the “Illinger Flözzone” (Heusweiler-Formation, “Stephanian B”, Kasimovian–Ghzelian) in the Saar-Nahe Basin (SW-Germany). Open access, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 101: 9–18.

D. Uhl and A. Jasper (2020): Wildfire during deposition of the “Illinger Flözzone” (Heusweiler-Formation, “Stephanian B”, Kasimovian–Ghzelian) in the Saar-Nahe Basin (SW-Germany). Open access, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments.

D. Uhl et al. (2020): Woody charcoal with traces of pre-charring decay from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) of Norken (Westerwald, Rhineland-Palatinate, W Germany). In PDF, Acta Palaeobotanica, 60: 43–50.

D. Uhl (2013); article start on page 433:
The paleoflora of Frankenberg/Geismar (NW-Hesse, Germany) - a largely unexplored "treasure chest" of anatomically preserved plants from the Late Permian (Wuchiapingian) of the Euramerican floral province. PDF file; In: Lucas, S.G., et al. eds., The Carboniferous-Permian Transition. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. Bulletin, 60, 433-443. See also here.

D. Uhl et al. (2012): Wildfires in the Late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic of the Southern Alps - The Late Permian of the Bletterbach-Butterloch area (Northern Italy). Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 118: 223-233.
See also here.

D. Uhl et al. (2012): Charcoal in the Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) of Western and Central Europe - palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental significance. In PDF, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 92: 329-341.
See also here.

! D. Uhl et al. (2008): Permian and Triassic wildfires and atmospheric oxygen levels. PDF file, 1st WSEAS International Conference on Environmental and Geological Science and Enginering, Malta.

University World News (August 08, 2010): New technique estimates past oxygen levels.

V. Vajda et al. (2020): End-Permian (252 Mya) deforestation, wildfires and flooding—An ancient biotic crisis with lessons for the present. Free access, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 529.

M. von Balthazar et al. (2007): Potomacanthus lobatus gen. et sp. nov., a new flower of probable Lauraceae from the Early Cretaceous (Early to Middle Albian) of eastern North America. The charcoalified fossil flower Potomacanthus lobatus. Open access, American Journal of Botany, 94: 2041-2053.

S. Wang et al. (2021): Coal petrology of the Yimin Formation (Albian) in the Hailar Basin, NE China: Paleoenvironments and wildfires during peat formation. In PDF, Cretaceous Research, 124.
See also here.

M.L. Wan et al. (2021): Wildfires in the Early Triassic of northeastern Pangaea: evidence from fossil charcoal in the Bogda Mountains, northwestern China. In PDF, Palaeoworld, 30: 593-601. See also here.

R. Whitau et al. (2018): Home Is Where the Hearth Is: Anthracological and Microstratigraphic Analyses of Pleistocene and Holocene Combustion Features, Riwi Cave (Kimberley, Western Australia). Free access, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 25: 739–776.

! C. Whitlock and C. Larsen (2001): Charcoal as fire proxy. PDF file, In: Smol, J.P., Birks, H.J.B. and Last, W.M. (eds): Tracking Environmental Change Using Lake Sediments: Volume 3: Terrestrial, Algal, and Siliceous Indicators.
Now provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Inertinite.
Charcoal.
Fossil record of fire.

L. Xiao et al. (2023): Maceral and Organic Geochemical Characteristics of the No. 6 Coal Seam from the Haerwusu Surface Mine, Inner Mongolia, China. Open access, Geologica Acta, 18.12, 1-11.

L. Xiao et al. (2020): Wildfire evidence in the sedimentary rock of the Middle and Late Permian from Hanxing Coalfield, North China Basin. In PDF, Geologica Acta, 18.12, 1-11.
See also here.

H. Yang et al. (2005): Biomolecular preservation of Tertiary Metasequoia Fossil Lagerstätten revealed by comparative pyrolysis analysis. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 134: 237-256.
See also here.

J. Yans et al. (2010): Carbon-isotope analysis of fossil wood and dispersed organic matter from the terrestrial Wealden facies of Hautrage (Mons Basin, Belgium). In PDF, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 291: 85-105.

! P. Zhang et al. (2023): Significant floral changes across the Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic transitions induced by widespread wildfires. Open access, Front. Ecol. Evol., 11: 1284482. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2023.1284482.
Note figure 2: Global paleogeography during Permian-Triassic (A) and Triassic-Jurassic (B) transitions, including the location of the Large Igneous Province and wildfires around the world.
Figure 3: Extinction mechanisms. (A, B), Summary of the volcanically triggered extinction mechanisms inferred from the geochemical, sedimentary, and paleontological record of the Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic mass extinctions and their recorded effects on biota in the ocean/lake.

! P. Zhang et al. (2022): Volcanically-Induced Environmental and Floral Changes Across the Triassic-Jurassic (TJ) Transition. In PDF, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
",,, The record of sedimentary mercury reveals two discrete CAMP eruptive phases during the T-J transition. Each of these can be correlated with large, negative C isotope excursions [...}, significantly reduced plant diversity (with ca. 45 and 44% generic losses, respectively), enhanced wildfire (marked by increased fusinite or charcoal content), and major climatic shifts toward drier and hotter conditions (indicated by the occurrence of calcareous nodules, increased Classopollis pollen content, and PCA analysis). ..."

C. Zhao et al. (2923): Paleoclimate-induced wildfires in a paleomire in the Ordos Basin, Northern China during the Middle Jurassic greenhouse period. In PDF, Chemical Geology, 637.
See also here.
"... This study analyzed the distribution of charcoal and aromatic biomarkers in a coal seam from the Middle Jurassic Yan'an Formation in the Ordos Basin, China. The results showed very high content of pyrogenic inertinite (38%–62%) and common occurrence of pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the studied coal seam, suggesting that wildfires occurred frequently during the period of peat accumulation ..."

! E.L. Zodrow et al. (2010): Medullosalean fusain trunk from the roof rocks of a coal seam: Insight from FTIR and NMR (Pennsylvanian Sydney Coalfield, Canada). In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 82: 16-124.

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