For reclamation purposes such distinctions are relevant and they are dealt with under the appropriate heading in Chapter 4. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. These smouldering fires can burn undetected for very long periods of time (months, years, and even centuries) propagating in a creeping fashion through the underground peat layer. Using peat effectively is often harder than it seems. [36] Due to 2010 forest and peat fires, the Russian government is under heavy pressure to finance re-flooding of the previously drained bogs around Moscow. About 5% of Ireland is covered by peat Peat is cut from bogs, either blanket bogs or raised bogs. The depth of peat attributes to the amount of carbon stored and types of plants that can grow on it. Most of the time, however, peat is a unique material. The situation remained critical until the end of August 2010. /* ]]> */ Peat is a soil that is made up of the partially decomposed remains of dead plants which have accumulated on top of each other in waterlogged places for thousands of years. With the accretion of new layers of peat soil, the lower layers become biologically less active; the number of microorganisms in the lower layers decreases sharply, and the soil becomes less fertile as it is transformed into peat-forming soil. Peat moss is a mixture of sphagnum moss and peat, a special type of decomposed soil. /*