Intensified wildfire activity due to volcanism across the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in northwestern China
Hu W. Luo Q. Chen J. Fang L. Lu M. Junussov M. Du T. Liu X. Pan X. Wang G. Yan F.
12 February 2026Elsevier B.V.
International Journal of Coal Geology
2026#315
Wildfires play a pivotal role in shaping Earths ecosystems and provide key insights into interactions among the environment, climate and vegetation dynamics. The Triassic–Jurassic (T–J) transition saw a notable increase in wildfire activities, largely attributed to climate shifts and intensified greenhouse effects associated with the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province eruptions (CAMP). However, direct comparisons between volcanic activity and wildfire patterns at high paleolatitude during the T–J transition remain limited. Here, we reconstruct co-temporal changes in wildfire activity and volcanism in the Haojiagou section in the Junggar Basin of northwestern China, a high-paleolatitude region (∼70°N), using charcoal abundance, combined with previously published pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), palynology, mercury/total organic carbon (Hg/TOC), and Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA). High contents of inertinites were observed in the samples, which indicates the occurrence of extensive wildfires during the T–J transition. The overall low inertinite reflectance and the low coronene index values in the samples suggest the wildfires were primarily low-temperature fires, ranging from 330 °C to 446 °C, with only minor occurrences of small-scale high-temperature fire (> 559 °C). Additionally, our findings reveal that peaks in wildfire frequency closely correspond to volcanic events, climate fluctuations and shifts in vegetation, inferring that volcanic activity drove intense wildfires by altering climate and vegetation. This heightened wildfire activity in response to climate warming highlights the increasing wildfire risk associated with current human-induced climatic change.
Charcoal , Coronene index , Inertinite , Triassic–Jurassic boundary , Volcanisms , Wildfires
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Hainan Institute of China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Sanya, 572025, China
College of Geoscience, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), Beijing, 102249, China
School of Mining and Geosciences, Nazarbayev University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Geologic Party No. 216, China National Nuclear Corporation, Xinjiang, Urumqi, 830011, China
CNNC Geological Exploration Group Co., Ltd., Beijing, 100013, China
Hainan Institute of China University of Petroleum (Beijing)
College of Geoscience
School of Mining and Geosciences
Geologic Party No. 216
CNNC Geological Exploration Group Co.
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