Changes in Raised Bog Relief During the Holocene Case Study: Polish Carpathian Mountains

Abstract

Less attention has been paid to peat bog growth during the Holocene than to contemporary human impact on peat bogs (e.g. Bower 1961, Mallik et al. 1984, Evans 1989, Shaw et al. 1997, Bragg and Tallis 2001, Bindler 2006, Coggins et al. 2006). The research literature states that in order for peat bogs to grow, certain geomorphological, hydrographic, hydrogeological and climate-related conditions must be satisfied (Tolpa 1949, Maksimov 1965, Grosse-Brauckmann 1974, Lowe and Walker 1997, Tobolski 2000, Chairman 2002, Ilnicki 2002). Research studies have identified several types of peat bogs: limnogenous/river-fed, topogenous, soligenous and ombrogenous, all of which differ in terms of relief (Żurek & Tomaszewicz 1996, Tobolski 2000, Ilnicki 2002). In areas with precipitation barely exceeding evaporation, which includes mountain areas, peat bog development is determined by stable groundwater outflows that foster the continuous expansion of hydrogenic sites (Łajczak 2007, 2011). Groundwater outflows create wetlands that foster the development of low bogs. Once low bogs have formed, minerotrophic contact becomes less significant at the bog surface, which leads to oligotrophi‐ cation and acidification. Both processes then lead to the development of a raised bog (Gore 1983, Tobolski 2000, Ilnicki 2002). The first researcher to note the difference between a low bog and a raised bog as well as their hydrological determinants was Senft (1862).