Multiproxy-based evidence of wildfire occurrence in the Lower Permian coal-bearing Rio Bonito Formation, Paraná Basin, Brazil

Abstract

Coals from southern Brazil are preserved in the Lower Permian postglacial Rio Bonito Formation of the Paraná Basin. Previous studies on the Candiota Coalfield have shown intervals with significant accumulations of inertinite macerals in the Banco Louco and S9 coal seams. Aiming to understand the causes of these anomalous inertinite accumulations, this study analyzed coal samples from the anomalous inertinite-rich interval and underlying carbonaceous siltites from the top of the Candiota Coal Superior (CCS), Banco Louco (BL), S9, and overlying S8 seams (post-anomalous) obtained from two borehole cores. The samples were analyzed using organic petrology, SEM, palynology, and biomarker (PAH) techniques. The results indicate that inertinite macerals accumulated in the paleoswamp in alternating small cycles, with general inertinite enrichment (fusinite, semifusinite, and inertodetrinite) towards the top of each coal seam analyzed. Macrocharcoal was present in all coal seams as charred wood, leaf fragments, and one reproductive structure. The peak of the inertinite-rich interval occurs at the S9 seam with the dominance of microcharcoal dispersed in fine-grained sediments and completely black palynomorphs, suggesting a significant wildfire event affecting the interval. Inertinite reflectance measurements indicated the predominance of ground and surface fire events with the rare occurrence of crown fires. Combustion of organic matter is also marked by the dominant presence of 3–5 ring PAHs and local occurrence of 6-ring PAHs (including coronene). The peatland flora was mainly composed of hygrophilous lycopsids and filicopsids, with subordinate elements represented by sphenopsids, mesophilous glossopterids, and meso-xerophilous conifers. The frequent oscillations in the vegetation composition were potentially related to climate changes and related environmental conditions, varying from hygrophilous to meso-hygrophilous and mesophilous, indicating that the vegetation composition adapted to environmental/climate changes as recognized by the alteration in the pollen-spore-producing flora towards the top of BL seam and their expansion in the overlying seams at the top of the anomalous interval. In the middle of the S9 seam, the completely dark palynomorphs and phytoclasts, plus a high abundance of pyrogenic biomarkers including 6-ring PAHs, point to significant fire events linked to the peak of the inertinite-rich interval during drier, warming intervals, which contributed to modifying the paleoecological patterns of the peatland. The paleo-wildfires of the Asselian age (ca. 298 Ma) Candiota Coalfield are the oldest record of wildfires in peat-forming environments of southern Brazil, being coeval with a warming period at the end of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age in Western Gondwana.