UNITED STATES MINERAL RESOURCES 



PEAT 



By Cornelia C. Cameron 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Abstract of conclusions 505 



Introduction 505 



Classification 506 



The world peat industry 507 



The U.S. peat industry 507 



Peat deposits 510 



Geologic and physiographic factors that control qual- 

 ity and quantity 511 



Resource potential and outlook 512 



References cited 513 



FIGURE 



62. Map showing peat mines in operation in 1971 508 



TABLES 



97. 

 98. 

 99. 



101. 



102. 



103. 



Page 



Location of the world's peat resources, 1963 — 507 



World peat production in 1970 507 



Peat produced in the United States in 1970, by 

 type 509 



Production and commercial sales of peat in the 



United States, by States, 1970 509 



Peat moss imported for consumption in the 



United States, by grade and by country, 1970 509 



Commercial sales of peat produced in the 



United States, in 1970, by use 510 



Approximate magnitude of potential resources 



of peat estimated for each State 512 



ABSTRACT OF CONCLUSIONS 



Peat is no longer used as fuel in the United States. It is 

 used for agricultural and horticultural purposes, and a de- 

 mand is appearing for its use in environmental control. The 

 physical characteristics of peat that are important to modern 

 uses are related to the geologic and physiographic settings 

 of the deposits; therefore, research on methods of prospect- 

 ing for peat focuses on establishing geologic controls for the 

 types of peat defined in the classification adopted by the 



American Society for Testing and Materials in 1969. This 

 new classification is designed principally to characterize dif- 

 ferent types of peat by means of such physical properties as 

 amount, kind, and size of fibers and quantity of ash. One or 

 more types of peat occur in all but about 8 of the 50 States 

 in magnitudes ranging from hundreds of thousands to tens 

 of billions of tons. 



The demand for specific physical qualities in peat related 

 to modern uses and to standards for sales is largely respon- 

 sible for national consumption of more peat than is produced 

 domestically. In 1970, more than 525,000 tons of air-dried 

 peat was produced and sold in the United States for almost 

 $6,000,000 and 283,211 tons valued at $13,502,000 was im- 

 ported, chiefly from Canada and West Germany. The fore- 

 cast range of U.S. demand for peat in the year 2000 is from 

 1,200,000 to 2,400,000 short tons. 



INTRODUCTION 



Peat consists of partly decayed vegetable matter, 

 inorganic minerals, and water in varying propor- 

 tions, the usual being 10 percent solid matter to 90 

 percent water. Depending upon the amount of water 

 contained, peat ranges from 0.1 to 1.6 in specific 

 gravity and weighs 7-65 pounds per cubic foot. 

 Hardly any two peat deposits contain material hav- 

 ing the same physical properties. Differences are due 

 mostly to the variety of plants from which peat is 

 formed and to differences in climate, age of the 

 deposit, water-level regime, and quantity of sedi- 

 ment deposited during accumulation of peat. Color 

 ranges from light yellow through various shades of 

 brown to jet black, the color representing a measure 

 of the degree of decomposition of the peat. Peat 

 that is newly exposed or has been well protected 

 from the air is usually light yellow or brown. Well- 

 decomposed humified peat is jet black. On drying 

 in the air, most peat becomes lighter in color, except 

 for very light varieties, which usually change to 

 dark brown or black after being shredded and dried. 



One of the chief substances formed by plants 

 during their growth is cellulose which consists 

 largely of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. If plant 

 debris falls upon drained soil, it is vigorously at- 



U.S. GEOL. SURVEY PROF. PAPER 820 



505 



