Fire Phenomena and the Earth System

Claire M. Belcher is Senior Lecturer in Earth System Science at the University of Exeter. Prior to this she held a unique joint position as a Marie Curie Fellow at the School of Geosciences and BRE Centre for Fire Safety Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. Her research is internationally recognised for integrating state-of-the-art modern experimental methods into studies of Earth’s ancient past. She is not only seen as a leader in her field but also as an innovator and facilitator of interdisciplinary research within fire science, an approach which is reflected in this book.

Contributors, vii

Foreword, ix

Preface, xii

Acknowledgements, xv

PART 1 FIRE BEHAVIOUR, 1

1 An Introduction to Combustion in Organic Materials, 3
Jose L. Torero

2 Smouldering Fires and Natural Fuels, 15
Guillermo Rein

3 Experimental Understanding of Wildland Fires, 35
Albert Simeoni

4 Wildfire Behaviour and Danger Ratings, 53
Eulalia Planas and Elsa Pastor

5 Satellite Remote Sensing of Fires, 77
David P. Roy, Luigi Boschetti and Alistair M.S. Smith

PART 2 FIRE AND THE BIOSPHERE, 95

6 Understanding Fire Regimes and the Ecological Effects of Fire, 97
G. Matt Davies

7 Plant Adaptations to Fire: an Evolutionary Perspective, 125
Jeremy J. Midgley and William J. Bond

8 Fire and the Land Surface, 135
Stefan H. Doerr and Richard A. Shakesby

9 Identification of Black Carbon in the Earth System, 157
Karen Hammes and Samuel Abiven

PART 3 FIRE AND THE EARTH’S PAST, 177

10 Identifying Past Fire Events, 179
Ian J. Glasspool and Andrew C. Scott

11 A 21 000-Year History of Fire, 207
Mitchell J. Power

12 A 450-Million-Year History of Fire, 229
Claire M. Belcher, Margaret E. Collinson and Andrew C. Scott

PART 4 FIRE AND THE EARTH SYSTEM, 251

13 Evaluating the Atmospheric Impact of Wildfires, 253
Solene Turquety

14 The Dependence of Flame Spread and Probability of Ignition on Atmospheric Oxygen: an Experimental Investigation, 273
Andrew J. Watson and James E. Lovelock

15 Fire Feedbacks on Atmospheric Oxygen, 289
Timothy M. Lenton

16 Biochar and Carbon Sequestration, 309
Ondøej Mašek

Index, 323

Colour plate section 1 falls between pages 16 and 17

Colour plate section 2 falls between pages 192 and 193