A novel proxy for energy flux in multi-era wildfire reconstruction.

Escalations in wildfire activity are of significant global concern, particularly within vulnerable wetland ecosystems integral to natural carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation. Our understanding and management of future wildfire activity may be better contextualised through the study of historic and ancient fire records, independent of human influence. Methods of study include 'geothermometry' - approximating ancient fire intensity from temperature-dependent changes in the chemistry of fossil charcoal.