Authors:
Monika Mętrak, Małgorzata Suska-Malawska
Book:
Proceedings of the 14th International Peat Congress
Venue:
Stockholm
Keywords:
geochemistry, paleoenvironment, peat
Documentfile:
Mętrak, Suska-Malawska 2012: Simple Geochemical Characteristics of Peat in Reconstructing Peatland History
Summary:
Theme I. Inventory, stratigraphy and conservation of mires and peatlands
SUMMARY
Thanks to their unique physical, chemical and biological properties, peat deposits are considered archives of past hydrological and vegetational changes on the peatland and in its surroundings. To infer about such changes palynomorphs and macrofossils are frequently used as biomarkers. Yet there are several drawbacks of this approach, making easy to obtain geochemical parameters of peats a worthy alternative. Results obtained with geochemical parameters used in this study were in good agreement with macro- and microfossil record. Therefore, even such simple features of peat can be potentially used as markers of paleoenvironmental changes.