Tarns of the Lake District: Difference between revisions

As already mentioned, tarns come in a variety of different shapes and forms, the product of different processes. There are other types of natural tarns that can be seen across the Lake District, created at the same time of the Last Glacial Period, but are neither the cirque or areally scoured variety of tarns. They are at home in the upper reaches of the fells as well as the wider, open lowlands, in many cases located in barren, boggy and sometimes challenging to reach places. Rock ledge tarns ([[Broadcrag Tarn]] - the highest tarn in Lakeland), summit tarns, and saddle tarns (located in the dips between summits) are amongst these. Additionally, there are tarns with natural dam features, created by alluvial deposits, rocks falls and landslides. Examples of these include [[Overwater]], which has extensive sedimentary build up from Dale Gill and the River Ellen, and [[Greendale Tarn]], which has been held back by extensive rock debris.<ref>Smith, ''Small Lakes and Tarns'', pp.77-79</ref> Tarns in kettle holes reside in the depressions and hollows of glacial deposits, usually small in size and clustered in groups.<ref>Smith, ''Small Lakes and Tarns'', p.94</ref> Tarns in drumlin fields are featured in depressions between small elliptical-shaped hills (drumlins) that are aligned with the flow of ice.<ref>Smith, ''Small Lakes and Tarns'', p.103</ref> The latter two are situated in the lowland areas, some of which are either partially, of wholly, outside the boundary of the National Park.