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It is common practice to count charcoal particles alongside pollen and non‐pollen palynomorphs in palynological samples. The classification of material as charcoal is dependent upon a number of morphological criteria which, in certain geological zones like granitic and metamorphic areas, could be misclassified. In a preliminary study we tested the effects of different preparation techniques on the count result of charcoal from the same samples of Greenlandic lake sediments.
We demonstrate that the use of hydrofluoric acid has a major impact on the number of recorded charcoal particles. However, the results demonstrate that a potential error of >30% remains in the calculation of charcoal even when prepared with HF. We show that detrital biotite is responsible for a large fraction of particles that were misclassified as charcoal and suggest a way to minimize inaccuracy. The overall results could have a significant impact on the interpretation of past fire events or human activity as wrongly identified charcoal particles actually relate to other natural processes than burning.
