Silver Tarn, Hollas and Harnsey Mosses Site of Special Scientific Interest
The Silver Tarn, Hollas and Harnsey Mosses Site of Special Scientific Interest is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cumbria , England . The area comprises three small bodies of water between Nethertown and Breystones on the Cumbrian coast. The area has a size of 5.3 hectares .
The Silver Tarn and Hollas Moss are shallow swampy lowlands, the Harnsey Moss is the largest body of water and the only open body of water in the group. All three bodies of water are dead ponds that formed in the bed load clay when glaciers retreated . The group is one of the very few still intact dead lake groups in Great Britain and a rare wetland of this type in the intensively used agricultural area.
The Silver Tarn, which is divided into two halves, called the East Silver Tarn and West Silver Tarn, are kept constantly moist by groundwater sources as well as precipitation and surface water runoff. The eastern part is particularly humid and forms a so-called rocking bog. While the Silver Tarn has a very low acid value, the Hollas Moss is sometimes very acidic, but in places especially in the middle of the lowland the precipitation is noticeable through a lower acid value.
Harnsey Moss is a typical lake with a high nutrient content and has vegetation typical of this type of lake. Callitriche stagnalis and knotweed pondweed and floating pondweed are represented in the lake .
Web links
Silver Tarn, Harnsey and Hollas Mosses on SSSI List at Natural England
Coordinates: 54 ° 26 '50.5 " N , 3 ° 32" 54.9 " W.