Peat
Peat - up close (Photograph by Kelly)
The photograph above show a peat that has been dried and ready to be burnt as fuel. I must get out and take a replacement photo and I apologise for the one above, it was a bitterly cold day and I had left my tripod at home so camera shake was terrible :-(
I have seen peat cut to all shapes and sizes but they all seem to have a mind of their own as to what their final shape will be when they are completely dry. The shape show above is the most typical which is slightly wider towards the top and rather less dense than towards the bottom.
I can only assume that this shape is due to the nature of peat and the creation process. Peat forms in wetlands from the decaying of the vegetation. The process of decay is very slow due to the relative acidity of the ground. In the Hebrides the peat is created by the decay of heather, sphagnum moss and grasses. As the material rots it becomes more dense and darker in colour. At first it is light brown and as you go deeper it goes from brown to black (peat is an early stage in the creation of coal).
Towards the top the peat has more moss content and is therefore "fluffier" lower down it is almost the consistency of clay and is very wet - it therefore dries denser and therefore smaller in volume than the top.
Back to : - Peat Cutting - Hebridean Fuel
