For this project, I traced the transport of levoglucosan through the atmosphere and the water column to investigate how well sedimentary levoglucosan records reflect continental biomass burning events. Furthermore, the levoglucosan proxy was compared with other biomass burning proxies such as charcoal and historically documented fires. I also compared the levoglucosan proxy, determined from well-dated lacustrine and marine sediment cores, with records of vegetation, regional or local climate and human history. The development and application of this tracer for biomass burning revealed new insights into the complex dynamics between fire, vegetation, climate and humans.

Laura Schreuder, PhD student at NIOZ Texel under supervision of Stefan Schouten, is working on development of a novel proxy for biomass burning. Before joining the NIOZ, she got her Masters degree in Earth Sciences and the VU University in Amsterdam.