Stratigraphy and Pollen Analysis of Southern Pennine Blanket Peats
Stratigraphy and Pollen Analysis of Southern Pennine Blanket Peats
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奔宁山脉南部泥炭地层学和花粉分析
DOI：
10.2307/2256982
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发表时间：
1954
影响因子：
5.5
通讯作者：
V. M. Conway
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
V. M. Conway
很少有人能第一次看到严重的泥炭侵蚀而不感到惊讶，好奇的人会想，当泥炭显然暴露在如此破坏性的力量下时，为什么还会剩下任何东西。这个问题引出了其他问题，比如泥炭层的年龄，开始侵蚀的日期，侵蚀的原因，侵蚀的速度，以及当所有泥炭消失后留下的表面的性质。同样，人们可能会问，泥炭的形成和泥炭的侵蚀是否以一种循环的方式交替发生，或者目前一些不寻常的条件是否正在导致长期存在的泥炭层的破坏。那些对土地利用问题感兴趣的人会问，泥炭侵蚀是否可以而且应该得到遏制，或者是否应该以某种方式加快或修改泥炭侵蚀，以使表面至少具有一定程度的生产力。最后这些问题最好的答案是实验，但如果基于对泥炭形成的植被过去和现在行为的合理理解，实验将是最有成效的。彭宁山有很大面积的平坦或略有倾斜的地面，海拔在1500英尺以上。(460米)，在这些表面上可能有比不列颠群岛任何其他山区都更大的深度和严重侵蚀的泥炭。这种高地类型的泥炭毯提出的一些历史问题是1943年开始的一项调查的主题。详细的研究仅限于谢菲尔德附近的宾宁山脉南部地区，其中一些结果已经发表在一篇关于环状泥炭的论文中(Conway，1947)。本文件介绍了其余的数据。花粉分析似乎可以用来给出，第一，泥炭开始形成的日期，第二，侵蚀开始的日期，一个很可能表明侵蚀原因的年代。关于第一个问题，Woodhead&Erdtman(1926)提供了一些早期证据，他得出结论说，宾宁南部的泥炭形成始于‘大西洋’时代。这一结论受到Godwin&Clark(1934)相互矛盾的证据的质疑，但后来从Ringinglow泥炭获得的结果表明，冲突可以如何解决(Conway，1947)，并支持Woodhead&Erdtman的观点。
Few people can see severe peat erosion for the first time without a sense of astonishment, and the curious-minded will wonder why there is any peat still left when it is evidently exposed to such destructive forces. This question leads to others, such as the age of the peat beds, the date when erosion set in, the cause of erosion, the rate of it, and the nature of the surface which will be left when all the peat has vanished. Again, one may ask whether peat formation and peat erosion have alternated in a cyclic way or whether some unusual conditions are at present bringing about the destruction of long-established peat layers. Those with an interest in problems of land use will ask whether peat erosion can and should be checked or whether it should be hastened or modified in some way to give a surface with at least some small degree of productivity. These last questions are best answered by experiments, but experiments will be most fruitful if based on a sound understanding of past and present behaviour of the peat-forming vegetation. The Pennine hills have very large areas of level or slightly sloping ground at altitudes above 1500 ft. (460 m.), and on these surfaces there are probably greater expanses of deep and heavily eroded peat than can be found in any other mountain region of the British Isles. Some of the historical questions presented by this upland type of peat blanket were the subject of an investigation started in 1943. The detailed work was confined to that part of the southern Pennines within reach of Sheffield, and some of the results have already been published in a paper dealing with the Ringinglow peats (Conway, 1947). The present paper presents the rest of the data. It seemed that pollen analysis could be used to give, first, the date when peat formation began, and secondly, the date when erosion set in, a dating which might well indicate the cause of erosion. Some earlier evidence about the first of these questions was given by Woodhead & Erdtman (1926), who concluded that peat formation in the south Pennines began in 'Atlantic' times. This conclusion was brought into question by the conflicting evidence of Godwin & Clark (1934), but results later obtained from peats at Ringinglow indicated how the conflict could be resolved (Conway, 1947) and gave support to the view of Woodhead & Erdtman.