The Botany of Iceland - 01.12.1914, Page 69

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
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and a larger amount of ash.1 Afterwards, many different species of
plants were analyzed and compared with Swedish plants and the
main result arrived at was very similar.2 P. Feilberg writes:
“Iceland is the land of the Cyperaceæ and of the coarser species
of grass, but the slieep and the cattle which through generations
have accustomed themselves to this coarse food, thrive well on it.
The chemical contents of the fodder show that this is also possible,
nor is there any reason why it should be otherwise.”
In a damp and cold climate such as the Icelandic, the chemical
changes in the material of the soil take place more slowly than
the formation ol’ vegetalile matter, which accumulates and absorbs
water where this is copiously present; thus the entrance of air is
prevented, and heat is not generated. These circumstances give rise
to tlie production of acid, boggy humus as in other northern coun-
tries with a cold and damp climate. Considerable areas in Iceland
are covered with boggy soil, and there are also the very best con-
ditions for the formation of peat and bogs. In some parts of the
lowlands there are vast extents of bogs and swamps, as e. g. in
Mvrar and Andakíll at the head of Faxaflói, and in Flói, Ölfus,
Holt, etc. in the southern lowland tract; while larger and smaller
swampy areas are found almost everywhere. In the lower-lying
parts of the plateau there are also wide stretches of boggy land,
e. g. Tvídægra, north-east of Langjökull; Miklumýrar, north of
Hreppar, and many other places. In the majority of the districts
the area of wet grassland, covered wifh Cyperaceæ and mosses,
exceeds by far that of the dry grassland, but unfortunately as yet
no measurements are to hand as regards the extent of the bogs.3
There are considerable peat-formations in the Icelandic bogs, but
their thickness, distribution, plant-remains, etc. have not yet been
investigated. In Skaftafellssyssel where glacier-rivers and volcanic
1 Josep J. Björnsson: Um heygædi (Thjóðólfur, 1886, No. 40). P. Feilberg:
Uræsbrug paa Island, Kbhavu., 1897, pp. 14—17.
1 St. Stefánsson and H. G. Söderbaum: Islandska foder- och betesváxter
(Meddelanden frán kgl. Landbruks-Akademiens experimentalfált. Nos. 74 og 83, Stock-
holm, 1902 and 1904). Also in Búnaðarrit, XVI. 1902, pp. 179—196; XVII, 1903,
pp. 25—66; XXIV, 1910, pp. 1—48.
8 M. Graner’s “Die Bodenkultur Islands,” Berlin, 1912, came to my notice
after I wrote tbe above; in it he estimates the entire bog area of Iceland at
10,000 square km. or about 10 °/o of the entire area of the island. According to
this, as regards the extent of its bog area, Iceland is reckoned to be third among
the Scandinavian countries (Finland 27.2 °/c, Sweden 12.6 %, Iceland 10 %, Den-
mark 5 °/o and Norway 3.7 %).
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