Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 8.4
Chemical properties of (Sarawak) tropical
peat (
after
Melling and Hatano, 2003).
Property
Top soil (0-25 cm)
pH (H
2
O)
3.7
C:N
1:40
Ash content (%)
1.16
Exch. Ca (me/100 g)
6.91
Exch. Mg (me/100 g)
6.17
Exch. K (me/100 g)
0.84
CEC (me/100 g)
154.1
Available P (ppm)
185.73
Available Cu (ppm)
13.27
Available Zn (ppm)
48.36
Available B (ppm)
4.5
Table 8.5
Physico-chemical properties of natural pore water of peats (
after
Asadi,
2010).
Parameter
H3 peat water
H5 peat water
H7 peat water
Water temperature (
◦
C)
31
31
31
pH
5.3
5.8
6.1
Sodium (mg l
−
1
)
0.76
0.85
1.2
Calcium (mg l
−
1
)
0.98
1.4
1.6
Magnesium (mg l
−
1
)
0.3
0.3
0.23
Potassium (mg l
−
1
)
0.1
0.3
0.2
8.4 PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF PEAT PORE FLUID
Most laboratory tests follow standards and are performed at room temperature with
distilled water as the pore fluid; however, in the
in situ
condition, local environmental
conditions can influence results significantly (Asadi et al. 2011d, 2011g) . Asadi (2010)
characterized peat pore fluids. The fluid can be extracted from disturbed peat using a
vacuum pump and filter paper. A motorized extraction machine can be used to extract
the peat water from the surface of peat (Figure 8.2). The concentrations of cations can
be measured using an atomic absorption spectrometer (Figure 8.3).
The physico-chemical characteristics of the peat pore fluids are given in Table 8.5.
The pH ranges between 5.3 and 6.1 (Asadi, 2010).
Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid which is being deformed by either
shear stress or extensional stress. It is a property of a fluid that offers resistance to flow.
The viscosity of the peat water is measured with a viscometer (Figure 8.4).
The viscosity of peat water is about 2.2 cP at 24.6
◦
C (Figure 8.5). The results
show that the viscosity of peat water is low and there are no pronounced differences
compared with water (Asadi, 2010).
