Ash Contents of Costa Rican Peat Deposits

摘要

Fourteen sites within 6 Costa Rican peat localities were sampled using MacCaulay samplers and soil augers. Sample localities included high mountain (>2500 meters), river floodplain, and Gulf coastal plain. Peat deposits ranged from as thin as 20 cm to greater than 460 cm. Within the peat deposits, ash (that material which will remain following combustion) occurs both dispersed within the peat layers and as layers containing nearly 100% inorganic material interstratified with the peat layers. Ash in Costa Rican peats includes material derived from both organic and inorganic origins. The predominant inorganically derived material is volcanic and may result from direct volcanic ashfall into the peat environment or as detritus transported into the peat areas. Volcanic ash is rapidly altered within the peats, leaving little if any relict structures. Alteration products are pedominantly kaolin and smectite clays and gibbsite. Unaltered minerals identified by x-ray diffraction include quartz, cristobalite, plagiolase feldspar, and anatase. Hematite and bassanite (identified by x-ray diffraction) are present but result from the alteration of iron-bearing minerals and organic sulfur or gypsum during sample preparation. Pyrite is present as a very minor component of some Costa Rican peats. Organically-derived ash constituents in Costa Rican peats include siliceous diatoms, siliceous sponge spicules, and silica phytoliths. The type and abundance of ash constituents within Costa Rican peats can be evaluated based on geographic location of the peat deposits, the geologic conditions affecting their deposition, and the plant communities existing during deposition. 6 refs., 11 figs., 3 tabs. (ERA citation 10:025177)