

* 



19*73 FORSAITH—ALLOCTHOXOUS PEAT 201 



instrument through the tangled cypress logs and roots, which resisted 

 decay more than the dicotyledonous trunks and settled through 

 the oozelike mass below. Although these structures are not general 

 in peat beds, they are by no means uncommon, and in all probabil- 

 ity have homologues in coal beds, a fact which has led to the idea 

 that they are indicative of an autocthonous origin for coal. Like 

 all other megascopic evidence, however, the interpretation of these 

 structures is open to question, since conditions like those in the bog 

 just mentioned might have prevailed in the past, and fallen logs 

 settled through the unresisting lake peats below the growing 

 stratum. 



It must be apparent that allocthonous peats in this region are 

 vastly predominant over those laid down in place, which is quite 

 in accord with the statement of Davis (15), namely, "the fact [is] 

 that at the present time peat deposits of this type [lacustrine] are 

 numerically more important than any other in regions w r here peat 

 formation is common." The even more pronounced dearth of 

 accumulated generations of plants in situ in this region than is usual 

 in the more northern bogs is without doubt due to climatic condi- 

 tions, which in w r armer localities are more favorable to the destruc- 

 tive action of fungi. Since Florida now has a climate similar to 

 that generally ascribed to the coal-forming periods, it seems logical 

 to infer that strictly in situ depositions were equally scarce during 

 ancient times. This phenomenon is well illustrated, in fact, by 

 several swamps in Florida where the sandy floors do not present 

 any quantity of autocthonous peat. For example, in an extensive 

 swamp near Gainesville there appears a dense growth of cypress, 

 pine, and dicotyledonous trees growing up through an almost 

 impenetrable tangle of fallen trunks in all stages of decay. One 

 can hardly imagine a more favorable location for the accumulation 

 of autocthonous peat, but in spite of this, an examination showed 

 but a few inches of humus-like substance derived from comminuted 

 plants. 



Although these Florida peats present conditions of environment 

 more like those which formerly prevailed over the entire earth, 

 some attention should be paid to the more northern deposits, as in 

 all discussions of the problem of coal formation, they are mentioned 



