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the time. At a study site in Wyoming, Sturges (1968) found that <br />in both 1964 and 1965, ground water kept the water table at or <br />slightly above the peat surface until about September 1. At that <br />site it was also observed that surface water entered the area <br />only for a short period during snowmelt. At the Sacramento site <br />it was noted that following rain storms the surface of the <br />peatland became saturated, however within a few days the water <br />table had again fallen to below the surface. <br />As mentioned in sections 1.2 and 4.1, the peatland column is <br />divided into the fibric, hemic, and sapric zones on the basis of <br />fiber content. Fiber content, because it effects the size of the <br />pore spaces, is directly related to storage capacity and <br />hydraulic conductivity. Both storage capacity and flow are <br />higher and more dynamic in the upper, more porous, and less <br />decomposed fibric zone, than in the hemic or sapric zones. <br />Several researchers (Sturges 1968b, Boelter 1964, Boelter 1969, <br />Verry and Boelter 1978) have reported an inverse relationship <br />between bulk density and fiber content. Figure 3, from Boelter <br />(1969), shows the relationship of hydraulic conductivity to fiber <br />content and bulk density. Figure 4, also from Boelter (1969), <br />shows the relationship of fiber content and bulk density to water <br />content at different water tensions. <br />Storage in the fibric zone is very dependant upon the <br />initial height of the water table. Available storage capacity is <br />at its greatest when the water table is low, and is zero when the <br />water table is at the peat surface. From this, Carpenter and <br />34 • <br />