Home – Home – Jornals – Russian Geology and Geophysics 2001 number 4

Academician A. L. Yanshin, who paid much attention to studies and use of mineral products of agrochemical purpose, appreciated the works on bog phosphates started in the early 1980s. He treated them and other mineral accumulations in peats as a serious basis for improving the structure of soils and increasing the fertility of Siberian lands.
In recent years, high contents of bog phosphates, bog carbonates (alm), and sapropel have been found in lowland peat deposits in Siberia, which is the largest peat territory of the world.
Prediction studies including analysis of the composition of peats, their substrate, underground waters feeding peat deposits, and other characteristics provided insignt into the geochemical processes of bog lithogenesis and the character and sequence of peat mineral formation.
Assessment-prospecting and exploration works have been carried out in the revealed promising areas and some objects. The assessed and predicted resources of bog phosphates, alm, and sapropel indicate that West Siberia is rich in organic mineral products, which might compensate for a deficiency of phosphorus and calcium in Siberian soils and improve their structure. The lines for judicious usage of resources are suggested.