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Reconstructing Wildfire Regime During The Warm Paleocene-Eocene Climate Using Molecular Biomarkers From The Chuckanut Formation In Northwest Washington, U.S.A., Alexandra Thompson
Reconstructing Wildfire Regime During The Warm Paleocene-Eocene Climate Using Molecular Biomarkers From The Chuckanut Formation In Northwest Washington, U.S.A., Alexandra Thompson
WWU Graduate School Collection
Wildfires are expected to increase in frequency and severity as climate changes in the Pacific Northwest of North America. To better understand the effect of warming climate on wildfire regimes, I present the first reconstruction of past wildfire frequency and severity during the Paleocene-Eocene transition in northwest Washington state, U.S.A. The Chuckanut Formation is a late Paleocene to Eocene sedimentary unit with a robust paleobotanical record showing the existence of subtropical forests in northwest Washington during the Paleocene, transitioning to a relatively cooler Eocene, dominated by temperate mixed forests. Geochemical records of environmental change coinciding with Paleocene-Eocene climatic change in …