Study of geochemical aspects of the peat bog genesis in eutrophic marshes in West Siberia by neutron activation analysis

Siberian peat bog are the largest in the world. Collecting of data on contaminating elements in Siberian peat deposits is important because no quantitative information has been available till recently. As a rule, the distribution of the concentrations of elements over the vertical profile of the stratigraphic column is used to study the evolution of pollutants in the environment. Using neutron activation analysis the concentrations of nearly 33 elements in 23 layers of peat deposits were determined. The thickness of the deposit is 8.4 m. The results provide a possibility for studying the geochemical aspects of the peat bog genesis down to 10 000 years ago. (author)