Peatlands have three chief characteristics that distinguish them from other landscapes ; the presence of H2O at or near the surface, alone dirts frequently with low O content and the presence of workss adapted to turn in these anoxic conditions ( Charman, 2002 ) . Peatlands are different to mineral wetlands due to the presence of thick beds of semi-decomposed organic works remains overlain by a life works bed, therefore it can be said that it is the presence of peat that is the most of import & A ; lsquo ; ingredient ‘ to a peatland ( Charman, 2002 ) . Peat has the singular ability to hive away archives of chronological information about palaeoconditions of the peatland and features of the peat itself. This information can be recovered to help in the Reconstruction and apprehension of the peatland history ( Charman, 2002 ) , a ground why palaeoenvironmental surveies have become progressively of import in peat surveies.
Within a peat profile, there are two different zones within the peat, changing with deepness. These two countries are the & A ; lsquo ; Acrotelm ‘ and the & A ; lsquo ; Catotelm ‘ ( SHOWN IN FIGURE? ) . The acrotelm is the top bed straight beneath the surface to a deepness of around 100-150mm ( Evans, 2009 ) . This is the aerophilic country of the peat. There are exchanges of atmospheric and local H2O in this country, with fluctuations in the H2O tabular array ensuing in altering wet content. The hydraulic conduction ( ability to go through H2O ) of this top bed is high ( 10-3 ( Evans, 2009 ) ) , diminishing with deepness. Due to the aerophilic nature, there will be a presence of aerophilic bacteriums, helping the decomposition of the flora and peat formation. The acrotelm includes the surface flora screen found on top of the peat.
The catotelm is the layer beneath the acrotelm. This is the anaerobiotic bed of the peat sub-strata. This bed of minimum H2O table degree alteration has a really low wet exchange with the environing stuff. The hydraulic conduction is a batch lower than that of the acrotelm ( 10-8 ( Evans, 2009 ) ) . Atmospheric O has no entree to the dirt in this bed, which can be shown by the deficiency of aerophilic microorganisms and hence deficiency of organic decomposition.
Charman ( 2002 ) outlines that there is a common categorization strategy for depicting peatlands globally, taking into history factors such as the form of the peat sedimentation and the land beneath, site hydrology, flora, H2O chemical science and peat stratigraphy. This is known as a & A ; lsquo ; hydromorphological categorization ‘ . The figure below shows typical & A ; lsquo ; bog ‘ and & A ; lsquo ; fen ‘ categorization diagrams.
Two chief quag types exist in the categorization. A minerotrophic peatland is one Federal by mineral input. Good illustrations of these are basin or vale quags. The surface flora and sub-strata are easy influenced by groundwater, which if it has flowed through stones, could increase the Waterss foods.
As a contrast, a quag that has been & amp ; lsquo ; fed ‘ entirely by atmospheric input is called an Ombotrophic peatland. These are frequently characteristic of cover or raised bogs.
