Home / All about Upper Triassic / Triassic Charcoal

A.M.B. Abu Hamad et al. (2014): Wood remains from the Late Triassic (Carnian) of Jordan and their paleoenvironmental implications. In PDF, Journal of African Earth Sciences, 95: 68-174. See also here.

Abdalla Abu Hamad et al. (2013): Charcoal Remains from the Mukheiris Formation of Jordan - the First Evidence of Palaeowildfire from the Anisian (Middle Triassic) of Gondwana. In PDF, Jordan Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences.

! A.M.B. Abu Hamad et al. (2012): The record of Triassic charcoal and other evidence for palaeo-wildfires: Signal for atmospheric oxygen levels, taphonomic biases or lack of fuel? In PDF, International Journal of Coal Geology, 96–97: 60–71.
See also here (abstract).

! 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.

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.

C.M. Belcher et al. (2010): Burning Questions - how state of the art fire safety techniques can be applied to answer major questions in the Earth Sciences. In PDF.
See also here (the slides). Go to PDF page 22: "East Greenland 200 Million years ago".
See also there (Linklist: Fire Safety Engineering in the UK: The State of the Art. University of Edinburgh).
These expired links are still available through the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

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).

C. Bos et al. (2023): Triassic-Jurassic vegetation response to carbon cycle perturbations and climate change. Free access, Global and Planetary Change, 228.

B.A. Byers et al. (2020): Fire-scarred fossil tree from the Late Triassic shows a pre-fire drought signal. Free access, Scientific Reports, 10.

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.S. Cardoso et al. (2018): Wildfires in the Triassic of Gondwana Paraná Basin. In PDF, Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 82: 193–206. See also here.

M.G. Chapman et al. (2002): INVESTIGATING CAUSES OF WIDESPREAD WILDFIRE AND ASSOCIATED DINOSAUR DEATHS IN THE UPPER TRIASSIC SNYDER QUARRY SITE OF NEW MEXICO: PRELIMINARY RESULTS. Abstract, Geological Society of America: GSA Annual Meeting, October 27-30, 2002, Denver, CO.

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

C.P. Fox et al. (2020): Flame out! End-Triassic mass extinction polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons reflect more than just fire. Abstract, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 584. 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 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%. ..."

! A.E. Götz and D. Uhl (2022): Triassic micro-charcoal as a promising puzzle piece in palaeoclimate reconstruction: An example from the Germanic Basin. Free access, Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, 92.
See also here.
"The Triassic has long been regarded as a period without evidence of wildfires; however, recent studies on macro-charcoal have provided data indicating their occurrence throughout almost the entire Triassic. Still, the macro-palaeobotanical record is scarce ..."
[...] Comparison with the global record indicates that charcoal occurrence corresponds to warming phases and thus is vital in Triassic climate reconstruction. ..."
Note figure 1: Stratigraphic framework of charcoal discoveries in the Germanic Basin.
! Figure 4: First-order warming cycles based on Tethyan surface open-marine temperatures inferred from the conodont record of stratigraphic sections of the central and western Tethyan realm.

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.

P. Havlik et al. (2013): A peculiar bonebed from the Norian Stubensandstein (Löwenstein Formation, Late Triassic) of southern Germany and its palaeoenvironmental interpretation. Abstract, Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen, 321-337.

T.P. Jones et al. (2002): Late Triassic charcoal from Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, USA. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 188: 127-139.

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.-P. Kelber (2001): Preservation and taphonomy of charcoal from the Upper Triassic of southern Germany. Abstract, 12th Plant Taphonomy Meeting, 26th of October 2001, Altlengbach, Austria. See also here.
Snapshot taken by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.

K.-P. Kelber (1999): Der Nachweis von Paläo-Wildfeuer durch fossile Holzkohlen aus dem süddeutschen Keuper. In German. Abstract, 69. Jahrestagung der Paläontologischen Gesellschaft in Zürich vom 20.9.-26.9.1999; Terra Nostra, 99/8: 41; Zürich.

R. Kubik et al. (2015): Evidence of wildfires during deposition of the Upper Silesian Keuper succession, southern Poland. In PDF, Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, 85: 685-696.

M. Kumar et al. (2011): Charcoalified plant remains from the Lashly Formation of Allan Hills, Antarctica: Evidence of forest fire during the Triassic Period. In PDF, Episodes, 34.
Snapshot provided by the Internet Archive´s Wayback Machine.
See also here and there (in PDF).

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. 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 ..."

Y. Na et al. (2024): Fossil charcoal from the Upper Triassic Karamay Formation in the Junggar Basin, NW China, and its geological implications. In PDF, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 321.
See likewise here.
"... The presence of fossil charcoal in Junggar Basin suggests that the paleoatmospheric oxygen level in northwest China during Late Triassic was above 13% or 15%, which is the minimum required for sustained burning of natural wildfires. This finding is in accordance with the paleoatmospheric oxygen concentration models on the basis of variations in inertinite content and Phanerozoic wildfire history combined with the phosphorus cycle ..."

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

M. Pole et al. (2018): Fires and storms—a Triassic–Jurassic transition section in the Sichuan Basin, China. Abstract, Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments, 98: 29–47. See also here (in PDF).

! 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.

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

! 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 ..."

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.

Yi Song et al. (2020): Distribution of pyrolytic PAHs across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in the Sichuan Basin, southwestern China: Evidence of wildfire outside the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. Abstract, Earth-Science Reviews, 201. See also here (in PDF).
"... Sharp increases in the abundances of pyrolytic PAHs normalized to total organic carbon were found during the Rhaetian Stage (R1 and R2) and at the Tr-J boundary. The ratios of pyrolytic PAHs (PPAHs) to methylated homologues document the combustion origin of PPAHs from methylated PAHs during these intervals of increased wildfire frequency. ..."

V. Soni and D. Singh (2013): Petrographic evidence as an indicator of volcanic forest fire from the Triassic of Allan Hills, South Victoria Land, Antarctica. In PDF, Current Science, 104.
See also here.

L.H. Tanner and S.G. Lucas (2016): Stratigraphic distribution and significance of a 15 million-year record of fusain in the Upper Triassic Chinle Group, southwestern USA. Abstract, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. See also here (in PDF).

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 and M. Montenari (2010): Charcoal as evidence of palaeo-wildfires in the Late Triassic of SW Germany. Abstract, Geological Journal, 46: 34-41.
See also here (in PDF).

Dieter Uhl et al. (2010): Evidence of paleowildfire in the early Middle Triassic (early Anisian) Voltzia Sandstone: The oldest post-Permian macroscopic evidence of wildfire discovered so far. Abstract, PDF file, Palaios, 25: 837-842. 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.

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.

K.E. Zeigler et al. (2005): Taphonomic analysis of a fire-related Upper Triassic vertebrate fossil assemblage from north-central New Mexico. PDF file; New Mexico Geological Society, 56^th Field Conference Guidebook, Geology of the Chama Basin, 2005, p.341-351.

P. Zhang et al. (2024): Different wildfire types promoted two-step terrestrial plant community change across the Triassic-Jurassic transition. Free access, Front. Ecol. Evol., 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2024.1329533.

! 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). ..."