The ecosystem at that time, where traces of the 'oldest wildfire in history' 430 million years ago are discovered, is also revealed

Geologists have announced that the two mines in Wales and Poland in southwestern England have the oldest 'traces of a 430 million-year-old wildfire' ever detected. It is included in the Silurian period , which belongs to the Paleozoic era, and traces of wildfires provide hints on what life was like on Earth at that time.

Silurian wildfire proxies and atmospheric oxygen | Geology | GeoScienceWorld
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/doi/10.1130/G50193.1/614348/Silurian-wildfire-proxies-and-atmospheric-oxygen

Scientists Have Found The Oldest Wildfires on Record, Dating Back 430 Million Years
https://www.sciencealert.com/430-million-year-old-wildfires-are-the-oldest-ever-found-and-have-lots-to-teach-us

According to the Silurian period, which is about 443.7 million years ago to about 416 million years ago, the breeding of plants is highly dependent on water fields, and plants did not grow in dry areas throughout the year. I can think of it. According to a paper published in Geology, researchers believe that ancient nature was mainly covered by prototaxites , a large fungus that grows up to 8-9 meters, rather than trees. The Welsh geological survey discovered 'burnt prototaxites' 430 million years ago, which also contained minerals found in charcoal. Traces of wildfires of similar ages have also been found in Poland, showing regional similarities in mid- and late Silurian air conditions and vegetation.

'The wildfire discovered this time is considered to be a very short vegetation, burning prototaxites rather than trees,' said Ian Grasspool, a paleobotanist at the University of Colby . The evidence can be analyzed to be in close agreement with the vegetation evidence of the time shown by fossils of land plants, 'says the significance of the traces of wildfires.

'Although wildfires are an essential process in establishing the system of the Earth, their role has almost certainly not been emphasized for a long time,' Grasspool added. I'm repeating this. 'The Silurian landscape must have needed enough vegetation to spread and leave traces of wildfires,' said Robert Gusdaldo, a paleontologist at Colby College, who co-authored the paper. We can identify the process of vegetation and growth at that time. '

The paper also claims that the Earth's atmospheric oxygen levels were at least 16%, with charcoal remaining as a trace of wildfires. Oxygen in the atmosphere today is about 21%, but it is possible that the oxygen level in the atmosphere 430 million years ago was higher than that, and how life evolved in that case. Or is expected to give insight into whether it has become mass extinct.