Investigating the Effect of Oxidants on the Quantification and Characterization of Charcoal in Two Southeast Australian Sedimentary Records

This study examined the effects of commonly used oxidants in sedimentary macroscopic charcoal analysis on two sediment cores from Thirlmere Lakes National Park, Southeast Australia. The cores, Lake Werri Berri (WB3) and Couridjah (LC2), span ~900 years 135,000 years, respectively. Charcoal Accumulation Rate (CHAR) for both area count was quantified using four different chemical treatments compared to a control only water. We also Charring Intensity (CI) isolated fragments, proxy severity/intensity fire, determined FTIR spectral characteristics remaining after each treatment. found significant differences number particles across all cores. Significantly, we substantial CI between treatments, with few formed low-severity fire (e.g., below ~400 °C or 3.0 °C.s.106) groups treated an oxidant. In contrast, group displayed wider range values contained lightly pyrolyzed particles. suggests that methods oxidant concentrate are potentially biasing records towards high-intensity -severity fires. suggest consideration should be when choosing laboratory based hypotheses being tested.