Fires in the mire: repeated fire events in Early Permian ‘peat forming’ vegetation of India

Abstract

Macro-charcoal, as direct evidence of palaeo-wildfires, is a common constituent throughout an Early Permian (Cisuralian) inertinite-rich coal seam from the Dhanpuri Coal Mine (Barakar Formation, Sohagpur Coalfield, Madhya Pradesh, India). The continuous presence of macro-charcoal within this particular seam demonstrates that fires occurred repeatedly in the source vegetation of the seam. Based on these macro-charcoal remains, an anatomical assessment of the diversity and taxonomic composition of the vegetation, which experienced wildfires and contributed to the formation of peat/coal, is provided. The vegetation that experienced regular fires was dominated by gymnosperms, with a minor component of pteridophytes. The results also support previous studies, which suggest a pyrogenic origin for the high inertinite contents of many Permian coals within Gondwana. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.