The relation between movement of subsurface water and gaseous methane in a basin bog with a novel instrument

Abstract

A tubular metallic probe was built. Water and gases released into the sample chamber of the probe from the 45- to 60-cm depth could be collected in 1-min segments without exposure of the peat surface in the hole to the atmosphere. The evolved gases were identified and concentrations measured by gas chromatography. The water movement into the hole was found to vary by 3 orders of magnitude, apparently depending on whether the probe pierced a significant pocket of trapped (occluded) methane, or was close to, or away from any such pocket. It was concluded that the instrument developed would be suitable for characterizing the occurrence and movement of the gas-fluid mixture in peatland layers which would facilitate the development of new or modified mathematical models of gas and water transmission in peatlands. The study also indicated that methane, but not carbon dioxide, is occluded in the gaseous phase in amounts significant enough to influence water movement. Key words: Water movement, methane, bog