ALBERT

Description: Current estimates of carbon (C) storage in peatland systems worldwide indicate tropical peatlands comprise about 15% of the global peat carbon pool. Such estimates are uncertain due to data gaps regarding organic peat soil thickness and C content. Indonesian peatlands are considered the largest pool of tropical peat carbon (C), accounting for an estimated 65% of all tropical peat while being the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions from degrading peat worldwide, posing a major concern regarding long-term sources of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. We combined a set of indirect geophysical methods (ground penetrating radar, GPR, and electrical resistivity imaging, ERI) with direct observations from core samples (including C analysis) to better understand peatland thickness in West Kalimantan (Indonesia) and determine how geophysical imaging may enhance traditional coring methods for estimating C storage in peatland systems. Peatland thicknesses estimated from GPR and ERI and confirmed by coring indicated variation by less than 3% even for small peat-mineral soil interface gradients (i.e. below 0.02°). The geophysical data also provide information on peat matrix attributes such as thickness of organomineral horizons between peat and underlying substrate, the presence of wood layers, buttressed trees and soil type. These attributes could further constrain quantification of C content and aid responsible peatland management in Indonesia.

Description: : Better understanding of field-scale unsaturated zone transport mechanisms is required if the fate of contaminants released at the surface is to be predicted accurately. Interpretation of results from direct tracer sampling in terms of operative hydraulic processes is often limited by the poor spatial coverage and the invasive nature of such techniques. Cross-borehole electrical imaging during progress of saline tracer migration is proposed to assist investigation of field-scale solute transport in the unsaturated zone. Electrical imaging provides non-destructive, high density and spatially continuous sampling of saline tracer transport injected over an area of the ground surface between two boreholes. The value of electrical imaging was tested at a field site on an interfluve of the UK Chalk aquifer. Improved understanding of active transport mechanisms in the unsaturated zone of the UK Chalk is required to predict its vulnerability to surface pollutants. In a tracer experiment in May 1996, a conductive saline tracer was infiltrated over 18 m2 at an average rate of 47 mm day-1 for 56 hours. Cross-borehole images obtained during and after infiltration show a large, homogenous, resistivity reduction in the top 3 m, no change between 3 m and 6 m depth, and smaller, inhomogeneous, resistivity reductions below 6 m depth. The resistivity has reduced at down to 15 m depth less than 2 days after tracer infiltration began. Hydrological interpretation of a sequence of electrical images obtained prior to, during, and up to three months after tracer injection suggests: (1) rapid tracer entry into the soil zone and upper 2 m of weathered Chalk, (2) intergranular transport of the bulk of the tracer, (3) a significant fissure flow component transporting tracer to at least 15 m depth in 31 hours, and (4) vertical changes in transport mechanisms possibly caused by interception of fissures by marl layers. The results of this experiment suggest that electrical imaging can assist the description of unsaturated zone hydraulic mechanisms through visual identification of spatial and temporal variations in transport processes.

Description: Northern Peatlands cover more than 350 million ha and are an important source of methane (CH4) and other biogenic gases contributing to climate change. Free phase gas (FPG) accumulation and episodic release has recently been recognized as an important mechanism for biogenic gas flux from peatlands. It is likely that gas production and groundwater flow are interconnected in peatlands: groundwater flow influences gas production by regulating geochemical conditions and nutrient supply available for methanogenesis while FPG influences groundwater flow through a reduction in peat permeability and by creating excess pore water pressures. Water samples collected from three well sites at Caribou Bog, Maine, show substantial dissolved CH4 (5–16 mg L−1) in peat waters below 2 m depth and an increase in concentrations with depth. This suggests substantial production and storage of CH4 in deep peat that may be episodically released as FPG. Two minute increment pressure transducer data reveal approximately 5 cm fluctuations in hydraulic head from both deep and shallow peat that are believed to be indicative of FPG release. FPG release persists up to 24 h during decreasing atmospheric pressure and a rising water table. Preferential flow is seen towards an area of relatively lower hydraulic head associated with the esker and pool system. Increased CH4 concentrations are also found at the depth of the esker crest suggesting that the high permeability esker is acting as a conduit for groundwater flow, driving a downward transport of labile carbon, resulting in higher rates of CH4 production.

Description: Northern peatlands cover more than 350 million ha and are an important source of methane (CH4) and other biogenic gases contributing to climate change. Free-phase gas (FPG) accumulation and episodic release has recently been recognized as an important mechanism for biogenic gas flux from peatlands. It is likely that gas production and groundwater flow are interconnected in peatlands: groundwater flow influences gas production by regulating geochemical conditions and nutrient supply available for methanogenesis, while FPG influences groundwater flow through a reduction in peat permeability and by creating excess pore water pressures. Water samples collected from three well sites at Caribou Bog, Maine, show substantial dissolved CH4 (5–16 mg L−1) in peat waters below 2 m depth and an increase in concentrations with depth. This suggests production and storage of CH4 in deep peat that may be episodically released as FPG. Two min increment pressure transducer data reveal approximately 5 cm fluctuations in hydraulic head from both deep and shallow peat that are believed to be indicative of FPG release. FPG release persists up to 24 h during decreasing atmospheric pressure and a rising water table. Preferential flow is seen towards an area of relatively lower hydraulic head associated with the esker and pool system. Increased CH4 concentrations are also found at the depth of the esker crest, suggesting that the high permeability esker is acting as a conduit for groundwater flow, driving a downward transport of labile carbon, resulting in higher rates of CH4 production.

Description: Current estimates of carbon (C) storage in peatland systems worldwide indicate that tropical peatlands comprise about 15% of the global peat carbon pool. Such estimates are uncertain due to data gaps regarding organic peat soil thickness, volume and C content. We combined a set of indirect geophysical methods (ground-penetrating radar, GPR, and electrical resistivity imaging, ERI) with direct observations using core sampling and C analysis to determine how geophysical imaging may enhance traditional coring methods for estimating peat thickness and C storage in a tropical peatland system in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Both GPR and ERI methods demonstrated their capability to estimate peat thickness in tropical peat soils at a spatial resolution not feasible with traditional coring methods. GPR is able to capture peat thickness variability at centimeter-scale vertical resolution, although peat thickness determination was difficult for peat columns exceeding 5 m in the areas studied, due to signal attenuation associated with thick clay-rich transitional horizons at the peat–mineral soil interface. ERI methods were more successful for imaging deeper peatlands with thick organomineral layers between peat and underlying mineral soil. Results obtained using GPR methods indicate less than 3% variation in peat thickness (when compared to coring methods) over low peat–mineral soil interface gradients (i.e., below 0.02°) and show substantial impacts in C storage estimates (i.e., up to 37 MgC ha−1 even for transects showing a difference between GPR and coring estimates of 0.07 m in average peat thickness). The geophysical data also provide information on peat matrix attributes such as thickness of organomineral horizons between peat and underlying substrate, the presence of buried wood, buttressed trees or tip-up pools and soil type. The use of GPR and ERI methods to image peat profiles at high resolution can be used to further constrain quantification of peat C pools and inform responsible peatland management in Indonesia and elsewhere in the tropics.