Speaker: Tyler Karp, Assistant Professor for Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago
Wildfire is a critical process in the earth system that has major effects on carbon cycling, climate, and ecosystems. Understanding how fire dynamics have changed though time is critical to better constraining how terrestrial ecosystems may respond to current shifts in climate. Molecular tools such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)—compounds produced by incomplete biomass combustion— can be used in concert with other terrestrial biomarkers to constrain how fire interacted with both climate and vegetation community in ancient systems. Karp will present several case studies examining fire feedbacks using PAHs to reconstruct past changes in fire activity. Karp will also walkthrough efforts to address mixing and taphonomic constraints on PAHs that increase certainty in fire interpretations based on this proxy.