[Terrapreta] TP origins

[rukurt at westnet.com.au]

Janice Stettler wrote:
> .  Approximately ninety  to a hundred years ago, based on the fire scar on some of my older trees, there was a brush fire that swept across my land.  Slash burns in forested land frequently produce underground fires that smolder for days, feeding on ancient intact root systems without above grou
>  nd stumps to suggest their existence--a natural charcoal kiln. 
>   
Recent bushfires here in the state of Victoria involved a particularly 
bad situation. The ground was so dry that fire smouldered along 
underground roots and crossed firebreaks to cause new outbreaks in areas 
thought safe. This sort of thing is a problem in swampy areas and parts 
of the Sunshine Coast, near where I live (peat fires in this case), but 
has not commonly been a problem in bushfires, until the present drought 
made things much drier than usual.

Kurt