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Pyrolysis GC-MS as a rapid screening tool for determination of peat-forming plant composition in cores from ombrotrophic peat |
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| Authors: | Erin L McClymont Elizabeth M BinghamChris J Nott Frank M ChambersRichard D Pancost Richard P Evershed |
| Institution: | a Organic Geochemistry Unit, Bristol Biogeochemistry Research Centre, School of Chemistry, University of Bristol, Cantock’s Close, Bristol BS8 1TS, UK b School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 1RU, UK c Centre for Environmental Change and Quaternary Research, Department of Natural and Social Sciences, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham GL50 4AZ, UK |
| Abstract: | Peat cores provide decadal to centennial records of climatic and environmental change, including evidence for human/environment interaction. Existing palaeoenvironmental proxies (macrofossils, pollen, humification, testate amoebae, lipid composition) require multiple laboratory preparation steps and may be subject to differential preservation that can limit production of a continuous time series. The potential for pyrolysis gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) to be applied to bulk peat samples is investigated here. The only preparatory step required was freeze drying. Analysis of a range of important peat-forming plants demonstrates that Sphagnum moss species are unique in containing the pyrolysis product of sphagnum acid, 4-isopropenylphenol. In contrast, non-Sphagnum species are rich in lignin pyrolysis products, which are absent from Sphagnum. The presence of these pyrolysis markers is reflected in bulk peat composition and tested here using archives from Bolton Fell Moss and Butterburn Flow (UK), Kontolanrahka (Finland) and Bissendorfer Moor (Germany). A ratio between 4-isopropenylphenol and two lignin pyrolysis products is proposed as a proxy for total Sphagnum input to peat archives and shows potential for use as a rapid screening tool for characterising bulk peat composition before more intensive analysis. |
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