The Characterization of the Arifiye peat

Abstract

There is a fortune of the peat resources in Turkey, particularly around Lake Sapanca in Sakarya. There has been increasingly attention to peatlands in technological uses and agricultural applications. The Arifiye peat is a new resource. It needs to be elucidated by characterization of its chemical and physical properties. The objective of this study was to characterize a number of samples collected from fifteen different profiles of the peat (sapric) by measuring cation exchange capacity, water holding capacity, humic acid, fulvic acid, organic matter, organic carbon. In addition, the spectroscopic analysis suggested that the functional groups and molecular structure of the Arifiye peat resemble those of peatlands described previously in the literature.