Abstract: The subject of this study is the peatlands of the Seymchan-Buyunda depression, in particular the composition of gases contained in the permafrost peatlands and ice-wedge ice. Special attention is paid to conditions of the peat formation, features of the Seymchan-Buyunda depression climate and the Magadan region in general, the characteristics of the main types of vegetation, soil cover and landscape. The trend of changes in the average annual air temperature in the area of Seymchan town is considered. To estimate the time of formation of ice-wedge ice, the composition of spring pollen rain during the accumulation of the ice wedges was reconstructed. The composition of trapped gases in peatlands is established. Determination of gas composition was carried out using the chromato-mass-spectrometer Hitachi M-80. There are high methane content in frozen peat bog Chokachi and lake water on the surface of the peat bog; it was discovered that the lake on the surface of the peatland is both, a trap for gases released from the thawing peat and a depositing medium, in which the processes of reduction of hydrocarbons take place intensively; in the composition of gases trapped in the frozen peatland there is a high content of hydrogen, which is one of the mandatory conditions for the life of methane-forming bacteria.