Guinness World Records 2018

paddies. Unfortunately, the acidic, nutrient-poor

soil was unsuitable for rice growth. The project

was abandoned in 1998, having produced an

insignificant amount of rice.

Reed bed

The Danube River Delta, which is located in

Romania and Ukraine, formed some 6,500 years

ago by the action of sediments washing into the

Black Sea. It consists of natural canals, lakes and

ponds, and is growing by around 24 m (78 ft 8 in)

per year into the Black Sea. The Danube Delta

is also home to a reed bed that covers an area

of 1,563 km^2 (603 sq mi), and the delta as a

whole hosts more than 300 species of birds

and 45 species of freshwater fish.

Unbroken intertidal mudflats

The Wadden Sea stretches along some 500 km

(310 mi) of the northern European coastline from

the Netherlands to Denmark. Its shallowness

gives it a rich diversity of habitats including tidal

channels, sea-grass meadows, sandbars, mussel

beds and salt marshes. It covers the area between

the shore and the Frisian Islands archipelago,

and is some 10,000 km^2 (3,860 sq mi) in size.

The Wadden Sea is a key area for migratory birds:

10–12 million pass through each year, with up to

6.1 million present at any one time.

Indoor swamp

Occupying 0.1 ha (0.25 acres) and containing

almost 160,000 US gal (605,665 litres) of water,

the most extensive indoor swamp lies in the

53 - ha (130.9-acre) grounds of the Henry Doorly

Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. It is home to

38 species of swamp-dwelling animal, including

nine specimens of the American alligator

(Alligator mississippiensis). One of these is a

rare white or leucistic alligator, of which there

are thought to be fewer than 15 in the world.

Swamps, Bogs & Mangroves

EARTH

OLDEST

BOG BODY

Koelbjerg Man was

discovered in 1941

in a peat bog near

Odense in Denmark.

Only the skull and

a few bones were

found. Radiocarbon

dating suggests

that he lived around

8000 bce, as part of

the Maglemosian

culture in northern

Europe. At the time

of his death, he was

about 25 years old.

His remains exhibit

no signs of violence,

and it is possible that

he simply drowned.

The many types of

wetland include:

Bogs

Higher than the

surrounding land, a

bog receives most of

its water from rain.

Marshes

Usually permanently

waterlogged. They

flood at high tide, or

during wet seasons.

Swamps

Found in flat, low-

lying areas; shallow

and can support tree

growth. Often found

along rivers.

Found everywhere on Earth, from equatorial latitudes to frozen climes,

wetlands account for around 6% of the world’s terrestrial surface.

The chemistry of bogs in

northern Europe – particularly

their high acidity and low

oxygen content – means

that objects buried in the

soil are preserved. This gives

historians access to intact

ancient artefacts made of

wood, leather and metal...

and even human flesh.

Barrels of butter (“butyrellite”)

• often dating back thousands
  of years – have been found in
  bogs in the UK and Ireland

Dead bodies are typically

mummified by bog soil,

which preserves the skin

and soft tissues

An entire Bronze Age village

was unearthed from a bog

in Cambridgeshire, UK, in

2016; among the remnants

were cooking pots with

meals still inside

Medieval swords, shields

and garottes have been

found preserved in

bogs – often next to

a human victim

Bog butter

Human bodies

Settlement

Weapons

Canoe

Oldest bog butter

Butyrellite is a man-made butter-like, waxy

substance that can be found buried in wooden

containers within peat bogs. It is thought to be

an ancient example of food preservation, one

that makes use of the cool, acidic, low-oxygen

environment in peat bogs. Found mainly in Ireland

and the UK, these reserves are either dairy-based

or composed of animal fats, with the appearance

and texture of paraffin wax. The oldest known

example was found at Ballard Bog in Tullamore,

County Offaly, Ireland, in 2013. Some 5,000 years

old, it still had a dairy smell when unearthed.

The butter was found in a wooden vessel 1 ft

(30.4 cm) wide, almost 2 ft (60.9 cm) high and

weighing more than 100 lb (45.3 kg).

LARGEST...

Peatland

The West Siberian Plain lies between the Ural

Mountains to the west and the Yenisei River

to the east. It covers an area of approximately

2.6–2.7 million km^2 (1–1.04 million sq mi) –

around four times larger than the US state of

Texas – of which peatlands occupy 603,445 km^2

(233,000 sq mi). The peat here can be 10 m ( 32 ft

9 in) deep and formed in cool, wet conditions

where dead plants do not fully decompose.

Bog

The Great Vasyugan Mire is in the central West

Siberian Plain. Covering around 55,000 km^2

(21,235 sq mi) – larger than Switzerland – it

accounts for around 2% of all peat bogs.

Frozen peat bog

The western Siberian sub-Arctic region is a

frozen peat bog covering some 1 million km^2

(386,100 sq mi). Scientists discovered in 2005

that this region is beginning to thaw for the first

time since its formation some 11,000 years ago.

Peatland reclamation project

The Mega Rice Project was a disastrous scheme

introduced by the Indonesian government in

1996. The aim of the project was to transform
      vast amounts of land from peatland to paddies
      for large-scale rice farming to feed Indonesia’s
      growing population. Nearly 1 million ha
      (2,471,050 acres) of peatland – around
      the same size as the island of
      Hawaii – was drained for

Q: What name was given

to the moist, rich land

including Mesopotamia

that is seen as one of the

birthplaces of civilization?

A: The Fertile Crescent

OLDEST WORKABLE WOOD

The coniferous tree Agathis australis, best known by its

Maori name kauri, is one of New Zealand’s largest trees.

Prehistoric kauri can be found buried in peat, which has

preserved both the wood and sometimes the

bark and seed cones. These “swamp

kauri” are usually c. 3,000 years

old, but some excavated trees have

been radiocarbon-dated to around

50,000 years old. The wood itself is

often in excellent condition and, once

dried, can be used to make furniture.

The grain in ancient kauri pieces is

termed “whitebait”, as it is thought

to be similar to the shimmering effect

created when sunlight strikes a moving

shoal of these fish. Shown here is a

“whitebait” serving platter.

BOG FINDS

Book

In 2006, a leather-bound,

still-readable Book of

Psalms was discovered in a

bog in Ireland; it is thought

to date back to 800–1,000 ce

The Pesse canoe was

found by road workers in

Hoogeveen, Netherlands, in

1955; some 2.98 m (9 ft 9 in)

long, it has been radiocarbon-

dated to 8040–7510 bce