Athro, Limited Gubik Field Trip Section 20 Peat

You are standing at the top of the cliff (blue arrow), looking in the direction of the green arrow.

Peat

Just below the top of the cliff is a peat layer. Peat can be a precursor to coal. Immediately overlying the peat are a few centimeters of fine grained yellow sediments. Growing on top of these at the very top of the cliff are lichens and sparse plants characteristic of the dry tops of hummocks in the tundra. The edge of the permafrost here at the top of the cliff is eroding, spilling lumps of peat as float onto the underlying silts. Because of this process, it is not clear from these surface exposures whether there is just one bed of peat here, or several.

Detail of Peat

Below the peat are silts with local concentrations of pebbles. The peat suggests an environment much like the present wet tundra. The local concentrations of pebbles suggest running water.

You can dig a trench in the peat to expose a fresh section in this slumped exposure.