Salt marshes in cumbria

Salt marshes in CUMBRIA

Eskmeals

Millom

East of Millom but very close to the terraced housing in Millom Road

The area is very flat with easily identifiable pans [sticking up] and creeks [draining the salt water]. Notice the stepped cross-Section of the creek profile.

The other beck is called Crook Pool – what does this suggest about the gradient and shape?

This is located near Delph Bridge

What is the relief like?How extensive is the area?Any clues of other processes at work?

SD1854

Look at the area from satelliteNotice how small the Delph Bridgetriangle is compared to the rest of the Duddon Estuary

• http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/643534

• Copyright Andrew Hill

• Creative Commons

• The view from further up the estuary showing how extensive the drainage becomes

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/643520Copyright Andrew HillCreative Commons

Can you identify the main channel? Are any distributaries obvious?Notise how the pan is very square as the drainage has become trellised Why do we think it runs like this?

Esk Meals SD 0994

What clues do we have that the area is very flat?Can you identify an area of salt marsh?

Look carefully at the different colours

How do these represent different environments?

Therefore how do the aboticfactors influence plant types?

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1059464 Nigel Chadwick

Creative commons

Look at this image by Nigel Chadwick can you identify different ecological niches?

View up the Esk Valley towards Hard Knott and Scafell

The creek is far better defined here with no stepping, why do you think this is?Can you identify different species habitats?How does the area compare with Millom?

Don’t forget the mud and silt

This view southwards shows how quickly the stepped profile moves away up from the flood plain

The ripples indicate how the tide migrates, notice how odd clumps coagulate initially at the water edge.

See also in the distance how eventually bushes and trees establish themselves

A nice shot bringing together:

creek

pan,

drainage

and main channel

Remember also that fluvial [river] water drains across the salt marsh moving load and depositing this in its channel

Finally – can you identify different species?

Synthesis

• Tide rises and falls exposing land twice daily

• Lower altitude flats are largely barren [mainly mud and silt] but trap debris

• Species at the fringes are salt loving

• Gradually these morph in groups to plants which like less and less salt

• Soil is produced and bushes and trees establish

• Produced by Mark OLLIS