Toxic gases evolving from the soil in urbanized peatland regions constitute a serious hazard since buildings may be subject to the direct ingress of volatiles into the structures. Peat formed in swamp and rarely exposed to subaerial conditions has been associated with the development of the folded foreland of the Quaternary Kayseri pull-apart basin. The peat deposit is extensively urbanized but so far no studies have evaluated the extent of the ground gas hazard. In this paper, the geology, petrography and chemical variation of the Kayseri peat deposit have been studied in order to predict the public health risk from the land gases’ behaviour, especially in soil gases. The main volatile species detected are methane (CH4), hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2), all of which are highly toxic. The primary means of gas entry is directly from the ground through the floors, walls, and especially subsurface telephone cable pipes. Indoor vents emit 1000–70,000 ppm CH4, 330–49,000 ppm CO2 and 3.8–6.5 ppm H2S in soil and subsurface pipes; concentrations high enough to present an acute respiratory hazard to persons close to the vents.
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ŞENER, M., KORKANÇ, M., FURKAN ŞENER, M. et al. Toxic gas emissions from the Kayseri peat deposit, central Anatolia, Turkey. J Earth Syst Sci 121, 1305–1315 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-012-0226-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-012-0226-2