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Peat in Lewis, Scotland. Peat forms when plant material does not fully decay in acidic and anaerobic conditions. It is composed mainly of wetland vegetation: principally bog plants including mosses, sedges and shrubs.
Peat formation typically initiates as a paludification of a mineral soil forests, terrestrialisation of lakes, or primary peat formation on bare soils on previously glaciated areas. [3] A peatland that is actively forming peat is called a mire.
Peat formation is a natural carbon sink; because the decomposition of the organic matter is slower than its production rate, the surplus accumulates as peat. Their stability has important implications for climate change ; they are among the largest near-surface reserves of terrestrial organic carbon. [ 2 ]
The process is characterized by peat initialization on previously drier and vegetated habitats over inorganic soils, with no fully aquatic phase. [1] Thus the paludification process includes a shift from forests, grassland or long exposed bare land to peatland. [2]
Blanket bog on the Yell, Shetland Islands, with some peat working. Blanket bog or blanket mire, also known as featherbed bog, is an area of peatland, forming where there is a climate of high rainfall and a low level of evapotranspiration, allowing peat to develop not only in wet hollows but over large expanses of undulating ground.
moss bog) is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bog or peatland, and is a standard term in Canada and Alaska. The term became common in these areas because it is of Cree origin; maskek (ᒪᐢᑫᐠ) meaning "low-lying marsh". [1]
The term raised bog derives from the fact that this type of bog rises in height over time as a result of peat formation. They are like sponges of peat moss, full of water, that form a more or less dome shape in the landscape. In Germany, the term Hochmoor (lit. ' high bog ') strictly refers only to the classical, lens-shaped bogs of northwest ...
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. [1] [2] It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. [2] The unique water chemistry of fens is a result of the ground or surface water input.