Banc-y-Warren
Also within
Climate exposure
This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.
Peat habitats store centuries of carbon and depend on a stable, waterlogged water table. Warmer, drier summers dry out peat, making it far more vulnerable to wildfire and to carbon release — a pressure that can undo years of restoration work regardless of how well the site is otherwise managed.
Geology & landscape
Landscape processes: Glacial, Peatland / Mire
Description
Description This is an important site for fluvioglacial landforms and sediments. The origin of the sands and gravels which make up the hummocky terrain in this area, and the massive mound of Banc-y-Warren itself, is much disputed; sections in the gravel pit and in sandpits hereabout have long-provided detailed sedimentological evidence that has been used to interpret the deposits and landforms. Three main theories of formation have been suggested. First, the sand and gravels may have accumulated as kames within the ice-sheet; second, they may have been deposited by meltwater streams as a spread or ‘sandur’ in front of the ice-sheet; finally, there is some evidence that part of the succession, at least, accumulated in a lake as a delta deposit. Marine shell fragments and occasional peat lenses within the sands and gravels have been dated using both radiocarbon and amino acid techniques, suggesting that the sequence was deposited from an Irish Sea ice-sheet of Late Devensian age.