Talk:Fossil record of fire

A fact from Fossil record of fire appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 28 April 2009 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that wildfires have occurred on the Earth for over 420 million years?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2009/April.

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Expansion[edit]

There is much more information in Scott 2000 which could be incorporated into the article. Let me know if you would like access to the article. Martin (Smith609 – Talk) 14:22, 24 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The article should explain the difference between fossil evidence of wildfire, and evidence of fire in fossil coal beds. --Una Smith (talk) 15:21, 24 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

What exactly do you mean by 'evidence of fire in fossil coal beds'? Martin (Smith609 – Talk) 15:24, 24 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Coal beds can burn (Google "coalbed fire"); how do you distinguish the products of wildfire deposited after burning, from the products of burning after deposition? --Una Smith (talk) 16:16, 24 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Does the revised first paragraph of 'fossil evidence' clarify the difference? Martin (Smith609 – Talk) 19:05, 24 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Slightly. However, the second paragraph mentions soot as evidence of wildfires in the fossil record. --Una Smith (talk) 20:00, 24 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Okay, now the article specifies "soot-rich layers in strata deposited by deltas", which is an improvement. However, in river deltas there are two broad classes of depositional environment that are relevant here. Crudely speaking, above and below sea level; coastal plain and offshore. The soot here is (I presume) deposited offshore. To support this, can you provide a source that describes this process happening within human history? In the Amazon basin, perhaps? --Una Smith (talk) 02:42, 25 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Citation style[edit]

For performance reasons Wildfire and {{Origin of fire}} have switched to the {{vancite book}} citation template family, which uses Vancouver system format, and for consistency this page should switch to this citation format too. I'll volunteer to do it if nobody else wants to. Eubulides (talk) 04:05, 2 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wiki Education assignment: BIO 476 - Paleoecology[edit]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 16 January 2024 and 26 April 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Cornelius-Nic (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Corduroycopepods, LeonardoVillacis.

— Assignment last updated by IceAgeDoc (talk) 19:09, 15 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]