Relationships Between Dry Density, Moisture Content, and Decomposition of Some New Brunswick Peats

Abstract

The New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources has carried out a detailed inventory of the peatlands in the Province. The compiled information includes estimates of the in situ volumes of peat in each deposit. When a peat mining development is being considered, it is often desirable to convert these “measured resource” estimates to tonnes of fuel peat or standard bales of horticultural peat. The quantity of dry solids for a given in situ volume (that is, dry density) should be known for reliable conversions to be made. In the present study the relationships between dry density, moisture content, and degree of humification (decomposition) have been investigated to determine the reliability of predicting dry density on the basis of these variables. Representative sites for sample collection were selected using the inventory information. At each site a sample core was recovered for the entire thickness of the deposit and subdivided into intervals according to changes in botanical composition and degree of humification (von Post scale). The results obtained were grouped according to dominating peat type and degree of humification. The relationships for both moisture content versus humification and dry density versus humification had relatively weak correlations. A strong correlation between dry density and moisture content was observed, the degree of humification having little influence on the relationship.