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Bog

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geology and geophysics

   Lütt-Witt Moor, a bog in Henstedt-Ulzburg in northern Germany.
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   Lütt-Witt Moor, a bog in Henstedt-Ulzburg in northern Germany.

                A bog is a form of wetland. For a summary of the
                distinguishing features of the various kinds of wetland
                see Wetland types.

   A bog is a wetland type that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead
   plant material. The term peat bog in common usage is not entirely
   redundant, although it would be proper to call these sphagnum bogs if
   the peat is composed mostly of acidophilic moss (peat moss or Sphagnum
   spp.). Lichens are a principal component of peat in the far north.
   Moisture is provided entirely by precipitation, and for this reason bog
   waters are acidic and termed ombrotrophic (or cloud-fed), which
   accounts for their low plant nutrient status. Excess rainfall outflows,
   with dissolved tannins from the plant matter giving a distinctive tan
   colour to bog waters. See also blackwater river.
   A wider view of another portion of Lütt-Witt Moor.
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   A wider view of another portion of Lütt-Witt Moor.

Distribution and extent

   Bogs are widely distributed in cold, temperate climes, mostly in the
   northern hemisphere ( Boreal). The world's largest wetlands are the
   bogs of the Western Siberian Lowlands in Russia, which cover more than
   600,000 square kilometres.

   Sphagnum bogs were widespread in northern Europe. Ireland was more than
   15% bog; Achill Island off Ireland is 87% bog. There are extensive bogs
   in Canada and Alaska (called muskeg), Scotland (called mosses), the
   Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Estonia, Finland (26% boglands), and
   northern Germany. There are also bogs in the Falkland Islands.
   Ombrotrophic wetlands - that is, bogs - are also found in the tropics,
   with notable areas documented in Kalimantan; these habitats are
   forested so would be better called swamps. Extensive bogs cover the
   northern areas of the U.S. states of Minnesota and Michigan, most
   notably on Isle Royale in Lake Superior. The Pocosin of the
   south-western United States is like a bog in that it is an acidic
   wetland but it has its own unusual combination of features.

Bog habitats

   Virgin boreal acid bogs at Brown's Lake Bog, Ohio. The tree cover is
   not typical of a bog.
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   Virgin boreal acid bogs at Brown's Lake Bog, Ohio. The tree cover is
   not typical of a bog.

   Bogs are recognized as a significant habitat type by a number of
   governmental and conservation agencies. For example, the United Kingdom
   in its Biodiversity Action Plan establishes bog habitats as a priority
   for conservation. Bogs are challenging environments for plant life
   because they are low in nutrients and very acidic. Carnivorous plants
   have adapted to these conditions by using insects as a nutrient source.
   The high acidity of bogs and the absorption of water by sphagnum moss
   reduce the amount of water available for plants. Some bog plants, such
   as Leatherleaf, have waxy leaves to help retain moisture. Bogs also
   offer a unique environment for animals. For instance, English bogs give
   a home to the boghopper beetle and a yellow fly called the hairy
   canary.
   Sphagnum bog vegetation, Tříjezerní slať, Šumava.
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   Sphagnum bog vegetation, Tříjezerní slať, Šumava.

Uses of bogs

Industrial uses

   A bog is a very early stage in the formation of coal deposits. In fact,
   bogs can catch fire and often sustain long-lasting smouldering blazes,
   producing smoke and carbon dioxide, thus causing health and
   environmental problems. After drying, peat is used as a fuel. More than
   20% of home heat in Ireland comes from peat, and it is also used for
   fuel in Finland, Scotland, Germany, and Russia. Russia is the leading
   producer of peat for fuel at more than 90 million metric tons per year.
   Ireland's Bord na Móna (peat board) was one of the first companies to
   mechanically harvest peat.

   The other major use of dried peat is as a soil amendment (sold as moss
   peat or sphagnum) to increase the soil's capacity to retain moisture
   and enrich the soil. It is also used as a mulch. Some distilleries,
   notably Laphroaig, use peat fires to smoke the barley used in making
   scotch whisky. These industrial uses of peat threaten the continued
   existence of bogs and thereby biodiversity. More than 90% of the bogs
   in England have been destroyed.

Other uses

   Bog Huckleberry at Polly's Cove, Nova Scotia
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   Bog Huckleberry at Polly's Cove, Nova Scotia

   Blueberries, cranberries, cloudberries, huckleberries and lingonberries
   are harvested from the wild in bogs. Bog oak, wood that has been
   partially preserved by bogs, has been used in manufacture of furniture.

   Sphagnum bogs are also used for sport, but this can be damaging.
   All-terrain vehicles are especially damaging to bogs. Bog snorkelling
   is popular in England and Wales and has even produced the associated
   sport of mountain bike bog snorkelling. Llanwrtyd Wells, the smallest
   town in Wales, hosts the World Bog Snorkeling Championships. In this
   event, competitors with mask, snorkel, and scuba fins swim along a
   60-meter trench cut through a peat bog. Current champion is Chris
   McGarr from Ireland.

Archaeology

   In parts of Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom, peat bog
   conditions exist where the subsurface chemistry of moisture combined
   with an anaerobic environment, such that remarkable preservation of
   animal organisms can result. Some bogs have preserved ancient oak logs
   useful in dendrochronology, and they have yielded extremely
   well-preserved bog bodies, with organs, skin, and hair intact, buried
   there thousands of years ago after apparent Germanic and Celtic human
   sacrifice. Excellent examples of such human specimens are Haraldskær
   Woman and Tollund Man in Denmark. In the Iron Age culture of Denmark, a
   discovery of several victims of ritual sacrifice by strangulation was
   recorded. The corpses were thrown into peat bogs where they were
   discovered after 2000 years, perfectly preserved down to their facial
   expressions, although well-tanned by the acidic environment of the
   Danish bogs. The Germanic culture has similarities to the
   characteristics of the probably Celtic Lindow man found at Lindow
   Common and with the Frisian culture described in the story of St.
   Wulfram.

Fiction and song

   Gothic Fiction is commonly set on a moor, a type of landscape common in
   Great Britain and Ireland which often has extensive bogs. One example
   is " The Hound of the Baskervilles", a Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur
   Conan Doyle which is largely set on Dartmoor and contains the fictional
   bog Grimpen Mire, said to have been based on Fox Tor in Devon.

   Several comic book characters are based on the idea of a
   half-plant/half-human creature living in a bog, notably The Heap, Swamp
   Thing, Man-Thing, and Solomon Grundy.

   German industrial band Bigod 20 had their biggest hit with 1990's " The
   Bog", in which the narrator, a fell creature living within the bog or
   perhaps the bog itself, describes how he's swallowing the listener's
   body. American post-punk band be your own PET also has a song called
   "Bog", where the singer mentions having drowned her boyfriend in a bog.

Trivia

     * The last Sunday in July is International Bog Day
     * Bog is also a British and Irish slang word for toilet. Toilet paper
       is called a bog roll
     * The phrase bog standard is often used to describe something that is
       ordinary or regular issue
     * The Mysterious Bog People is a travelling museum exhibition
       organized by the Drents Museum, Assen, The Netherlands, the
       Niedersachsisches Landesmuseum, Hannover, Germany, the Canadian
       Museum of Civilization, Gatineau-Ottawa, Canada and the Glenbow
       Museum, Calgary, Canada

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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