This geology trip was organised by Manchester Museum and was fantastic.
About the area
This area contains siltstone and sandstone (British Geological Survey, 2013): Castleton Bedrock
The bedrock is the oldest rocks (British Geological Survey, 2013) and these do not move relative to the landscape: Bed Rock
The superficial rocks are the youngest and were laid down in the glacial age (British Geological Survey, 2013) and are the rock that is moving relative to the landscape: Superficial Bedrock
There are no boreholes at this site (British Geological Survey, 2013): Bore holes
The old road is built from spoil from Odin Mine (Peak District National Trust, 2009): Mam Tor Constituents
There is no risk of flooding in any capacity (Environment Agency, 2013): Risk of Flooding
Nor is there a Flood and Coastal Risk Management strategy (Environment Agency, 2013). The Water Framework Directive prescribes for management plans for inland waters. There is a timetable for the Water Framework Directive with 2015 being the deadline for water management plans. This area requires a management plan given that it is where one river begins and from Mam Tor to its North West and there are three rivers to the foot of Mam Tor at North East (Street Map, 2012): Rivers.
Apparently this area does not contain any groundwater! (Environment agency, 2013). I find this quite surprising given that there is an underwater river ride too.
For Conservation and Historic importance the Conservation Area Appraisal provides a very good description.
This illustrates that Mam Tor is not part of the conservation catchment. In 2010 the proposed conservation area was closer to it but it remains separate. The site is a Special Protected Area it if contains peat. The area is unlikely to be sustainable in peat as it does not grow trees which can replenish peat over decades.
Image 1 shows Mam Tor Scar in the distance. A scar is a cliff-slope of uncovered rock. The scar of Mam Tor is oval-shaped because of landslides and in this image there appears to be a dry alluvial fan digressing from it. The water drains away underground mostly. The bedding planes are the horizontal features and are composed of sedimentary rock containing eroded igneous and metamorphic rocks shale, sandstone and limestone.
1. Mam Tor
Image 2 beautifully illustrates luscious agricultural grass most likely containing soluble minerals from the underlying rock; phosphate (PO), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca). The minerals act as a natural adenosine triphosphate (ATP) buffering and fertilizing the root systems of the contents within the agricultural plane.
2. Road to Mam Tor
Image 3 is the end of a public footpath which junctions off in different directions. The junction was interesting as it shows the road which is dimpled from ground movements and topside weathering both eroding it. The soil beneath my feat was muddy, brown and sticky- indicating the rocks when eroded are argillaceous and contain hydrocarbons.
3. T-junction
Image 4 shows one of a small number of dead hawthorn trees, though not by obvious disease, pest infestation or old age. Again the surrounding area is lush however it is worth noting that the life span of grass is much less than a hawthorn’s as is growth rate. So this could show a past trauma, either to the root system from land movement or to rhizobium in root nodules and ultimately starving the tree. Notably this tree is covered in small clumps of healthy Map lichen and what looks like Black Shields. The presence of Black shields indicates air borne salts from the minerals. Mam Tor used to be mined for lead (Pb), Zinc (Zn), Fluorine (F), Calcium Fluorite (CaF2) and Calcite/Calcium- Carbonate (CaCO3) and so it could be the weathering of bare rocks containing these where the salts are deriving from. Alternatively this area is renowned for historic land movement at the scar which was once a B-road to London. The growth of lichen could be a result of improved localised air from reduced particulate matter of when the road was closed to traffic.
4. T-junction
5 & 6. T- junction
Image 7 is a stream at the junction containing a bed of mud. I would have liked to test the conductivity, total dissolved solids, pH and temperature of this stream to establish if mineralogy richness contains positive feedback loops correlating upon available oxygen given that mud can retain heat. The surrounding flora includes Soft Rush Juncus effuses and so indicates that this site contains the characteristics of a mini wetland and one whose water content fluctuates seasonally. If so, is ground water movement from the stream the cause of the dimpling in the adjacent road in Image 3 and not land movement from Mam Tor?
7. Stream
Image 8 is a wonderful example of sheep faeces at the initial stages of decomposition. These sheep may be vaccinated as there are no Culicoide dipteran on these lumps orvisible larvae. However I forgot to gently tap the faeces to disturb any internal residents and who would have emerged when investigating the cause of their disturbance. There were two Culicoides dipteran at the top of this hill which I caught on my Vine Tomato- a fruit these flies are unable to resist and which will capture them each time whether there is wind flow or not yet not harm the flies. Only capturing two illustrates that this area contains far less Culicoides than usual in this type of area. These flies have complete metamorphosis and my tomato illustrates that one life cycle stage is much reduced.
The method in which the dipteran would have located my bitten into tomato is through its sensory organs. These sensory organs are attached, eventually to muscles, and it is the activity of the muscles which physically alters the behaviour (Tinbergen, 1980) and so it is possible that the dipteran saw the redness of the tomato. Karl Von Frisch proved bees are not colour-blind and explained his experiment in brief when collecting his Nobel Prize (Von Frish, 1973). Bees are an insect that has compound eyes, just as dipteran do and so consequently it is possible that the dipteran ‘saw’ the tomato. Other sensory organs include sensory hairs on feet which taste and it is the receptors in those hairs which help the fly to decide whether to eat the food it has landed upon (Tinbergen, 1980). I do not know whether the dipteran had time to eat any of the tomato with its proboscis as the wings became trapped in the juice of the tomato. I carefully lifted it out and placed the fly on to a nearby blade of grass of which it grabbed with its feet.
The rocks are limestone and shale, not showing sulphides, and will alter the pH of the faeces as it decomposes rendering it inhabitable to dipteran. In addition the ground at the top of the hill was sun and wind baked which is impossible for dipteran larvae to move through. As a result any dipteran laying eggs at the top of the hill would need to find a more suitable habitat for eggs.
8 & 9. Sheep Faeces
Image 10 evidences that this area contains Dwarf Gorse Ulex minor, a favourite food of butterflies.
10 & 11. Dwarf Gorse
Images 11 & 12 are my failed attempt at photographing a bush cricket Tettigoniidae. These images show the habitat they were in. The males were ‘singing’ to attract females. The song is a vibration noise emanating from the wings and legs and is attractive to female bush crickets. They fell quiet when I approached.
11 & 12 Bush Cricket habitat
Images 13 & 14 shows prevalence of Bracken Pteridium aquilinum. I did want to identify whether there was any buckler fern but I was unable to get too close as they were sporing. Both of these plants like acidic dry soils and so would neutralise the rain as it runs down the hill to the resultant land below.
13 & 14. Bracken
Image 15 is a view from where I was on the hillside. Because of the amount of bracken I was unable to identify if the hillside was hummocky, though the land below is. Hummocks illustrate ground movement. Because the hummocks in the field are far apart from each other this illustrates that it has been a long time since the last land movement in this area. This is confirmed by the trees which are vertical.
15. View
Image 16 shows what could be shale but I didn’t take a lens to view it. It is easy to see the layers having been built up. However if we’d used Hydrochloric Acid 5% there may have been fizzing if there is any lime within the stone.
16. Stone
Images 17 and 18 show foxglove Digitalis purpurea in flower and Image 18 is foxglove in fruit. Foxgloves like acid soils.
17. Foxglove flower
18. Foxglove fruit
Image 19 is Harebell Campanula rotundifolia whose habitat is calcareous and acid yet must be dry. This particular location is high upon a hillside and so indicates that the soil contains good drainage in the form of stone particles. If the stones contain fluorite (CaF2) the drainage will be soluble in sulphuric acid (H2SO4) however given that there is no stream at this altitude it is unlikely that there will be enough time for this to occur even if the rain is acidic. This suggests to me that mostly drainage is deeper within the rock and not top drainage where these plants are. If drainage is deeper there could be a directional pull heading in a different direction to the topographic gradient flow.
19. Harebell
Images 20, 21 and 22 are my attempts at photographing swallows. Images 23 and 24 are feathers that were located beneath where the birds flew. The birds did not stop twittering and included the occasional twit even when in aerial display which was very impressive. The birds swooped much lower to the ground at this height and were not at all hesitant of nearing people, though this was brief as they were so fast.
Image 25 depicts the richness in this location. Also note that each of the plants, that are alive, thrive in acidic soils, below pH 7. Whereas hawthorn trees like alkaline soils, pH above 7 and so provides an alternative solution as to why the hawthorn has died in Image 4.
25. Richness
Image 26 demonstrates a dead ground beetle Carabidae belonging to the Nebria family and is quite possibly Nebria brevicollis which likes to hide beneath stones and rocks. I suggest this as the legs and antenna are brown, a visual trait of Nebria, though a microscope and key would be able to confirm or oppose my suggestion.
26. Ground beetle
The following images are from the journey to the top of the ridge, up to the summit and down to the base of Mam Tor. They include fox faeces, common shrew Sorex araneus, flying ant, Soldier Fly Stratiomyidae, Common Wasp Vespula, Stinging nettle Urtica doica and Creeping thistle Cirsium arvense.
The butterfly is magnificent and because it is a regional variation. At first glance it appears to be a Pieridae but the overlapping of the forewings dismisses this. The shape of the hind wings is incorrect for any type of white- though the hooping markings on the front wings within the veins are an attribute. With this habitat being nutrient rich I wonder whether hooping markings are a result of nutrients? I then considered it to be a Nymphalidae because of the shape of the antenna and colouration of the body. I think this is a female Lycanidae blue butterfly because of the markings in the antenna which do not tend to change. There are also ants in the area which this butterfly relies upon.
Image 49 is of a butterfly. On its wings there are aposematic eyes on the wings, warning colours (University of British Columbia). The wings are well developed but unfortunately from this angle it is impossible to use the key to establish whether the Lepidoptera has jugal lobes (University of British Columbia). However I know this is likely to be a butterfly because the wings are held tight and in a vertical and not horizontal position (Newland, Tomlinson, Still, & Swash, 2010). There are five British butterfly families (Lewington, 2009).
The first is Hesperiidae. This butterfly is not a Chequered Skipper as the underside of the wings does not contain enough eye spots. It is not a Grizzzled, Dingy, Essex, Large, Lulworth or Silver-spotted Skipper because the wings are the incorrect shape.
The second is Papilionidae of which there is only one type in Britain and Ireland (Newland, Tomlinson, Still, & Swash, 2010), Swallowtail that has tail streamers. The butterfly in the image does not have tail streamers.
The third is Pieridae. The butterfly is not a Green-veined White or Brimstone as there is no green on the underside of the wings. It is not an Orange-tip, White Bath, Black-veined, Marbled, Réal’s Wood or Wood White as there is no white on the underside of the wings. It is not a Large or Small White as the eye spot is not black. It is not yellow because its colouration is brown.
The fourth is Lycaendidae. This butterfly does not have tails on its hindwings and so is not a Black, Purple, Brown or Green Hairstreak. Nor is it a Small or Large Copper as it does not have dot markings. It does not have enough dot or eyespot markings to be Adonis, Chalkhill, Common, Holly, Large or Small Blue or a Duke of Burgundy.
The final type is Nymphalidae. This butterfly is a Meadow Brown because wings are the correct shape, sloping at gradient on the underbelly. Also the eyespot contains a ring and there is orange on the top of the forewing. The adults first appear between June to August (Sterry, 2008) and continue to around the end of September (Lewington, 2009). It is currently August and so this butterfly is within its imago life stage of the complete metamorphosis life cycle. The habitat is grassland though obviously at high altitude.
49. Meadow Brown
Image 50 is of a mole hill.
50. Mole hill
Image 51 is a favourite image of the trip, a ground nesting bee Bombus Lapponicus. This lovely little hibernating insect is a British alpine insect also associated with the Swiss Alps.
51. Ground nesting bee Bombus lapponicus
And finally I got to the top and looked at the fantastic views of my childhood where my granddad, bless him, used to take me on our trips around England each weekend.
52. South Facing
53. East Facing
54. North Facing
55. West Facing
56. Top of Mam Tor
57.
58.
59. Grass Herbage
60. Gatekeeper
61. Stropharia semiglobat
63. L to R- Blue John, Limestone, Rust or sulphide.
64. Crinoidea- Echinodermata
There are different types of Crinoid and unfortunately the fossil within the rock does not provide us with that information. The image within the picture is a component of the stem, a plate of the stalk. The image also shows us that the roots are held within the rock. The hole of the ‘polo’ is part of the digestion system of this animal. Because it is an animal that lived under water in abundance it is likely that there are many more of these underneath this location. Unlike many living animals this creature did not have a brain (Peterson, Arenas-Mena, & Davidson, 2000). The presence of this indicates that this is a bed of limestone and is likely to be derived from an organic source.
65. Lichen and shells
66. Iron ore and moss
67. Lichen
68. Hogweed Heracleum sphondylium
69. Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
70. Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
71. Recentish landslippage
72. Recentish landslippage
73. Lichen
74. Small Tortoiseshell Algais urticae
76. Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina on Common Ragwort Senecio jacobaea
77. Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina on Common Ragwort Senecio jacobaea
78. 2 Small Tortoiseshell Algais urticae
79. Mountain Renglet Erebia epiphron
80. Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum
81. Lesser water boatman Corixa
82. Brachiopoda
The plants in the pond include Yellow Iris Iris pseudacorus. This pond does not appear to be connected to any other water body. The water bodies near to Low Hall are and provide a magnificent abundance of flora and fauna including Common Blue Butterfly Polyommatus icarus, Brown Hawker Aeshna grandis, Buzzard Buteo buteo and Kestral Falco tinnunculus and could be used as a case study of how easy it is to interact the ecosystems with their wildlife.
Brown Hawker
Buzzards
Common Blue Butterfly
Kestrals
More information of the site near Low Hall shall be provided soon on this blog site.
My conclusion
The management action plan needs to include carnivorous plants where there is livestock. These plants will need to be protected so that they are not eaten by the livestock. The planting of these will not require planning consents outside of the conservation area though Natural England can advise further.
Images 3 to 7 require a larger area for the water to escape into and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology will be able to advise on this.
In general the walk could benefit from a few benches so that people can admire the views whilst they eat their sandwiches and rest.
In areas that were grassy the addition of Bird’s Foot Trefoil could increase the number of invertebrates in addition to Common Blue Polyommatus icarus . As this food plant was not visible on my trip. Other plants I would plant include Garlic Mustard Alliaria petiolata, Lady’s Smock Cardamine pratensis, Sweet Violet Viola odorata, Hairy Violet Viola hirta and Early Dog Violet Viola reichenbachiana in grassland. Near the bracken Heathdog Violet Viola canina. Together these will attract a wide variety of butterflies and moths to the area and provide food for other birds and amphibians as these were not witnessed on this visit.
Grasses included Common Bent Agrostis capillaris, Rye Grass, and Purple Moor Grass Molina caerulea common to acid soils and livestock land, none of which provide food to butterflies or moths. I would like to have seen more Glaucous Sedge Carex flacca, Hairy Sedge Carex hirta, Meadow Foxtail Alopercurus pratensis, Cock’s-foot Dactylis glomerata and Yellow Oat-grass Trisetum flavescens as these would attract day moths too.
At the Mam Tor top there were few alpine plants amongst the grasses and so the alpine invertebrates were feeding from creeping thistle. By including correct food stuffs this area could create its own honey for retail in the Castleton shops.
There was water emerging from the foot of Mam Tor where the road is closed off. I would investigate whether this area could become a series of ponds containing Reed Beds with a view to increasing the number of invertebrates in to the area. This may require on-going remedial works to Mam Tor to remove excess water/gases/soil-rock air space and so compact the heap and so reduce its slippage and creep.
Bibliography
British Geological Survey. (2013). Digital Geology – Bedrock theme. Retrieved August 18, 20`3, from British Geological Survey: http://www.bgs.ac.uk/products/digitalmaps/digmapgb_solid.html
British Geological Survey. (2013). Geology of Britain Viewer. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from British Geological Survey: http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.html?location=Mam%20Tor
British Geological Survey. (2013). Geology of Britain: Borehole Scans. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from British Geological Survey: http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.html?mode=boreholes
British Geological Survey. (2013). Geology of Britian Viewer. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from British Geological Survey: http://mapapps.bgs.ac.uk/geologyofbritain/home.html?location=Mam%20Tor
Environment Agency. (2013, August 15). Flood and Coastal Risk Management Strategy. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from Environment Agency: http://maps.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/wiybyController?topic=fcrmschemes&layerGroups=default&lang=_e&ep=map&scale=11&x=412973.6041666664&y=383510.5833333335
Environment agency. (2013, August 15). Groundwater. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from Environment agency: http://maps.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/wiybyController?topic=groundwater&layerGroups=default&lang=_e&ep=map&scale=11&x=412973.6041666664&y=383510.5833333335
Environment Agency. (2013, August 15). Risk of flooding from rivers and seas. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from Environment Agency: http://maps.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/wiybyController#x=412974&y=383511&lg=1,&scale=11
Lewington, R. (2009). Pocket guide to the butterflies of Great Britian and Ireland. Dorset: British Wildlife Publishing.
Newland, D., Tomlinson, D., Still, R., & Swash, A. (2010). Britiain’s Butterflies: a field guide to the butterflies of Britain and Ireland. Hampshire: Wildguides Ltd.
Peak District National Trust. (2009). About Mam Tor. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from Peak District National Trust: http://peakdistrict.nationaltrust.org.uk/mam-tor
Peterson, K. J., Arenas-Mena, C., & Davidson, E. H. (2000). The A/P axis in echinoderm ontogeny and evolution: evidene from fossils and molecules. Evolution & Development, 93-101. Available from: http://mcb.berkeley.edu/courses/mcbc245/MCBC245PDFs/apaxis1.pdf
Sterry, P. (2008). What is that? The complete guide to Britain’s wildlife, plants and flowers. London: HarperCollins Publishers.
Street Map. (2012). Great Britain Street and Road Map: OS. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from Street Map: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?x=412799&y=383598&z=120&sv=53.349126,-1.809186&st=7&mapp=map.srf&searchp=ids.srf
Tinbergen, N. (1980). Animal Behaviour . Alexandria, Virginia: Life-Time Books.
University of British Columbia. (n.d.). Order LEPIDOPTERA (Moths & Butterflies): Key and Description of Families: Glossary of Terms. Retrieved August 17, 2013, from University of British Columbia: http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/bclepetal/order%20lepidoptera%20et%20al%20text%20files/order_lepidoptera.htm#top_of_page
University of British Columbia. (n.d.). Order LEPIDOPTERA (Moths & Butterflies): Key and Description of Families: Key to families. Retrieved August 17, 2013, from University of British Columbia: http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/bclepetal/order%20lepidoptera%20et%20al%20text%20files/order_lepidoptera.htm#Key_to_Families
Von Frish, K. (1973, December 12). DECODING THE LANGUAGE OF THE BEE. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from University of Yale: http://jacknife.med.yale.edu/nsci590/pdfs/vonfrisch1973.pdf
jjoannegreen 
You must be logged in to post a comment.