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.