Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Development of peat land and types
of peat
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Peat represents an accumulation of disintegrated plant remains which have been pre-
served under conditions of incomplete aeration and high water content. It accumulates
wherever the conditions are suitable, that is, in areas with excess rainfall and poorly
drained ground, irrespective of latitude or altitude. It forms when plant material, usu-
ally in marshy areas, is inhibited from decaying fully by the acidic conditions and
an absence of microbial activity. For example, peat formation can occur along the
inland edge of mangroves, where fine sediments and organic material become trapped
in the mangrove roots. Nonetheless, peat deposits tend to be most common in those
regions with a comparatively cool wet climate. Physico-chemical and biochemical pro-
cess cause this organic material to remain in a state of preservation over a long period
of time. In other words, waterlogged poorly drained conditions not only favour the
growth of a particular type of vegetation but also help preserve the plant remains.
Peat is found in many countries throughout the world. It is found in 42 states of
the USA, with a total acreage of 30 million hectares (Mesri and Ajlouni, 2007). Canada
and Russia are the countries with the largest areas of peat: 150 and 150 million hectares
respectively. Table 2.1 shows the distribution of peat deposits throughout the world.
The total area of tropical peat swamp forests or tropical peat lands in the world
amounts to about 30 million hectares, two thirds of which are in Southeast Asia.
In Malaysia, some 3 million hectares (about 8%) of the country's land area, is
covered with peat (Figure 2.1). It is found in several states in Malaysia, including
Perak, Selangor, Johor, Terengganu, Penang, Sarawak and Sabah. Sarawak has the
largest area of peat in the country, covering about 1.66 million hectares and consti-
tuting 13% of the state. This is followed by Peninsular Malaysia which has about
984,500 hectares, comprising 7% of its total area, while Sabah has 86,000 hectares,
representing 1% of the state. Of the 1.66 million hectares in Sarawak, 1.5 million are
deep peat. In peninsular Malaysia, approximately 0.8 million hectares (or 89%) are
deep peat. Table 2.2 shows the peat soil distributions in Malaysia.
In Indonesia, peat covers about 26 million hectares of the country's land area, with
almost half of the total in Kalimantan (Figure 2.2). Peat is also found in many other
parts of Asia, such as Japan, Bangladesh and China.
In Japan, peat is widely distributed throughout Hokkaido, which is the north-
ernmost of Japan's four main islands, with an area of approximately 2,000 km 2
(Figure 2.3), approximately 6% of the flat area on the island. The peat in Japan,
 
 
 
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