13C-depleted charcoal from C4 grasses and the role of occluded carbon in phytoliths

The 13C values of plants and corresponding charred materials from wood, C3 and C4 grasses, derived from natural burning and laboratory combustion were obtained to determine whether there was a significant difference in 13C of grass-derived char (C3 and C4) compared with wood-derived (C3) char. Our d...

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Main Authors: Krull, E, Skjemstad, J, Graetz, D, Grice, Kliti, Dunning, William, Cook, G, Parr, J
Format: Journal Article
Published: Pergamon-Elsevier 2003
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42404
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author Krull, E
Skjemstad, J
Graetz, D
Grice, Kliti
Dunning, William
Cook, G
Parr, J
author_facet Krull, E
Skjemstad, J
Graetz, D
Grice, Kliti
Dunning, William
Cook, G
Parr, J
author_sort Krull, E
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The 13C values of plants and corresponding charred materials from wood, C3 and C4 grasses, derived from natural burning and laboratory combustion were obtained to determine whether there was a significant difference in 13C of grass-derived char (C3 and C4) compared with wood-derived (C3) char. Our data showed that there is an up to 8% 13C-depletion in C4-derived chars from natural burning but there was no significant isotopic change in chars from wood or C3 grasses. We suggest that this 13C-depletion in C4-derived chars is due to protected organic matter in silicate structures (phytoliths), which were found to be depleted by up to 9%. Analysis of this protected carbon by Py-GCMS indicated the presence of low relative amounts of n-alkanes. However, 13C-NMR data suggested that a significantportion of the phytolith-occluded material was composed of simple carbohydrates (O-alkyl carbon) and that alkyl carbon (lipid material) constituted a minor fraction.These isotopic and spectroscopic data have important implications for the calculation of the proportions of C3- versus C4-derived charred organic matter in modern as well as geological studies.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-424042017-09-13T15:59:40Z 13C-depleted charcoal from C4 grasses and the role of occluded carbon in phytoliths Krull, E Skjemstad, J Graetz, D Grice, Kliti Dunning, William Cook, G Parr, J The 13C values of plants and corresponding charred materials from wood, C3 and C4 grasses, derived from natural burning and laboratory combustion were obtained to determine whether there was a significant difference in 13C of grass-derived char (C3 and C4) compared with wood-derived (C3) char. Our data showed that there is an up to 8% 13C-depletion in C4-derived chars from natural burning but there was no significant isotopic change in chars from wood or C3 grasses. We suggest that this 13C-depletion in C4-derived chars is due to protected organic matter in silicate structures (phytoliths), which were found to be depleted by up to 9%. Analysis of this protected carbon by Py-GCMS indicated the presence of low relative amounts of n-alkanes. However, 13C-NMR data suggested that a significantportion of the phytolith-occluded material was composed of simple carbohydrates (O-alkyl carbon) and that alkyl carbon (lipid material) constituted a minor fraction.These isotopic and spectroscopic data have important implications for the calculation of the proportions of C3- versus C4-derived charred organic matter in modern as well as geological studies. 2003 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42404 10.1016/S0146-6380(03)00100-1 Pergamon-Elsevier restricted
spellingShingle Krull, E
Skjemstad, J
Graetz, D
Grice, Kliti
Dunning, William
Cook, G
Parr, J
13C-depleted charcoal from C4 grasses and the role of occluded carbon in phytoliths
title 13C-depleted charcoal from C4 grasses and the role of occluded carbon in phytoliths
title_full 13C-depleted charcoal from C4 grasses and the role of occluded carbon in phytoliths
title_fullStr 13C-depleted charcoal from C4 grasses and the role of occluded carbon in phytoliths
title_full_unstemmed 13C-depleted charcoal from C4 grasses and the role of occluded carbon in phytoliths
title_short 13C-depleted charcoal from C4 grasses and the role of occluded carbon in phytoliths
title_sort 13c-depleted charcoal from c4 grasses and the role of occluded carbon in phytoliths
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/42404