As glacier receded, it left flat outwash plains, and shallow depressions. Mineral-rich groundwater filled low areas and created wetlands and bogs.
Poor drainage and mineral-rich groundwater created shallow pools of standing water. These bogs soon filled with reeds, sedges, horsetails, hypnum mosses, alders, and many other plants that thrived in these wet environments.
When the plants died, they fell into the still ground water and built up layer upon layer. Because the water contained very little oxygen, bacteria and fungi could not completely break down the dead plants into compost. Year after year, more dead plants settled on top of the older layers. Over thousands of years, the plant material slowly decomposed while absorbing minerals from the surrounding groundwater.
Compressed layers of dead plants formed lowland black peat. Rich in natural carbon, plant matter, humic and fulvic acids, and mineral nutrients from ground water, it remains soft and earthy because it is the youngest stage in this natural formation process and has experienced the least amount of heat and pressure.
Not All Peat Is The Same
THE KEY IS HOW IT IS FORMED
UPLAND PEAT
- Forms on elevated, poorly drained land
- Fed only by rain water
- Nutrient poor
- Highly acidic
- Does not have humic and fulvic acids
- Made mostly for sphagnum moss and other acid loving plants
LOWLAND PEAT
- Forms in valleys and depressions
- Fed by mineral rich ground water
- Nutrient rich
- Nutral to slightly alcaline
- High in natural humic and fulvic acids
- Made of reeds, sedges, alders, and other nutrient-loving plants