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Tepui Peatlands: Setting and Features

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Peatlands of the Western Guayana Highlands, Venezuela

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 217))

Abstract

Peat deposits have been recognized in the Venezuelan Guayana over a large altitudinal range from lowland plains below 200 m a.s.l. to the table-shaped mountains known as tepuis at more than 2,000 m a.s.l. In the highlands, peat types and patterns are strongly related to the peculiar geomorphic landscape that has developed from sandstones–quartzites on tepui mesetas but also from granitic rocks on dome-shaped hills. The weathering of the bedrocks has conduced to a variety of karst-like relief forms, including small pans and large depressions in which organic materials have accumulated. This chapter focuses on the physical setting of the peat deposits, characterizing the rock substratum and geomorphic landscape that control peatland features in terms of spatial distribution, configuration, and hydrology, and determine peat types and patterns. Peat cover on tepui summits shows essentially a discontinuous, mosaic pattern. Peat occurs in discrete landscape units surrounded and fragmented by rock outcrops. There is a variety of landscape positions where peat occurs: in depressions, on slopes, in small valleys, in narrow tectonic crevices and fissures, and on narrow floodplains. The peat mantle is thicker in bogs (up to 2 m deep) than on slopes. Slope peats are unstable and exposed to fragmentation through differential sliding. The extent of the bogs varies from a few square meters in the case of small alveoli to several hectares in the case of polje-like depressions. The surface area of the larger bogs is about 0.5–3 ha. Karren micro-topography under the peat mantle is very irregular, with sharp highs and narrow troughs. The buried sandstone profile is more indented than the granite profile.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, 6, 7500 AA, Enschede, The Netherlands

    J. A. Zinck

  2. Urb. San Luis, Empresa EDELCA (Electrificaciόn del Caroní), Av. Principal, Residencias Torreana, El Cafetal, Caracas, 1060, Venezuela

    P. García

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  1. J. A. Zinck
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Correspondence to J. A. Zinck .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. and Earth Observation (ITC), International Institute for Geo-Informat, Enschede, 7500 AA, Netherlands

    Joseph Alfred Zinck

  2. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuel, Apartado 2156, Caracas, 1010, Venezuela

    Otto Huber

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Zinck, J.A., García, P. (2011). Tepui Peatlands: Setting and Features. In: Zinck, J., Huber, O. (eds) Peatlands of the Western Guayana Highlands, Venezuela. Ecological Studies, vol 217. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20138-7_4

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