Monitoring Greenhouse Gases in the Peat Deposits of Swamps in Gornyi Altai

The results from surveying swamps in the Altai Republic at permanent stations from 2010 to 2014 are presented. The hydrothermal and gas regimes, as well as carbon dioxide and methane emissions, have been investigated at observation stations located in the Turochak, Kutyushskoe, and Balanak swamps. It is pointed out that, throughout all the years of investigation, the levels of swamp water remained close to the surface and the humidity did not fall beyond the limit 0.8 of total moisture capacity. The extreme values of CO2 and CH4 concentrations in the mesotrophic peat deposit varied from 0.05-1.10 mmol/dm(3) to 0-0.62 mmol/dm(3), respectively. In the eutrophic deposit, these values were higher: 0.07-1.40 for CO2 and 0-0.65 mmol/dm(3) for CH4. It is established that different weather conditions are not the determining factor for the dynamics of the gas regime in the peat deposit of eutrophic and mesotrophic genesis. A significant role is played by other factors that have been neglected. It is found that the concentration of greenhouse gases in peat deposits of a different genesis varies within small limits, and their dynamics under different weather conditions have an unstable regime, but with a general increasing trend towards the underlying rock. It is confirmed that mountain swamps are not a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Extreme losses of CO2 and CH4 in total for the summer period were 29.7 to 76.6 g/(m(2) x summer period) in the Turochak Swamp and 42.1 to 80.9 g/(m(2) x summer period) in the Kutyushskoe Swamp, which is a factor of 15-43 smaller than the net primary production.