PLoS ONE (Jan 2021)

The significance of pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Borneo peat core for the reconstruction of fire history.

  • Sher-Rine Kong,
  • Masanobu Yamamoto,
  • Hasrizal Shaari,
  • Ryoma Hayashi,
  • Osamu Seki,
  • Norhayati Mohd Tahir,
  • Muhammad Fais Fadzil,
  • Abdullah Sulaiman

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256853
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 9
p. e0256853

Abstract

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The reconstruction of fire history is essential to understand the palaeoclimate and human history. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been extensively used as a fire marker. In this work, the distribution of PAHs in Borneo peat archives was investigated to understand how PAHs reflect the palaeo-fire activity. In total, 52 peat samples were analysed from a Borneo peat core for the PAH analysis. Pyrogenic PAHs consist of 2-7 aromatic rings, some of which have methyl and ethyl groups. The results reveal that the concentration of pyrogenic PAHs fluctuated with the core depth. Compared to low-molecular-weight (LMW) PAHs, the high-molecular-weight (HMW) PAHs had a more similar depth variation to the charcoal abundance. This finding also suggests that the HMW PAHs were mainly formed at a local fire near the study area, while the LMW PAHs could be transported from remote locations.