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

Kong SR 1 , Yamamoto M 2 , Shaari H 1 , Hayashi R 3 , Seki O 2 , Mohd Tahir N 4 Show all authors , Fadzil MF 4 , Sulaiman A 5

Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
  • 2 Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
  • 3 Lake Biwa Museum, Kusatsu, Japan
  • 4 Institute of Oceanography and Environment, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
  • 5 Department of Mineral and Geoscience, Kedah, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia
PLoS One, 2021;16(9):e0256853.
PMID: 34495997 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256853

Abstract

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.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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