Fig. 1: The theoretical combustion continuum.
From: Questions remain about the biolability of dissolved black carbon along the combustion continuum
The combustion continuum ranges from mildly thermally altered biomolecules to highly condensed and graphitic structures and describes the formation, composition, and reactivity of different carbon fractions. Arrows indicate the direction of increase. Peak photolability is expected for the condensed aromatic fraction of dissolved black carbon (DBC). The presumed analytical windows for levoglucosan, benzenepolycarboxylic acid (BPCAs), and chemothermal oxidation (CTO) methods are also shown. Data in Qi et al. (2020) suggest CTO captures more than just graphitic DBC, therefore we have expanded the range for this method and included a question mark to denote that further research is needed to understand the breadth of this DBC fraction.
