Llyn y Fan Fawr

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Llyn y Fan Fawr
Llyn y Fan Fawr.jpg
Powys UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Llyn y Fan Fawr
Location Powys, Wales
Coordinates 51°52′52″N3°42′0″W / 51.88111°N 3.70000°W / 51.88111; -3.70000
Type natural
Primary outflows Nant y Llyn, tributary of River Tawe
Basin  countriesUnited Kingdom
Surface elevation605 m (1815 feet)

Llyn y Fan Fawr ( Welsh for 'great lake (near) the peak') [1] is a natural lake in the county of Powys, Wales. It lies at the foot of Fan Brycheiniog, [2] the highest peak of the Black Mountain (Y Mynydd Du) range within the Brecon Beacons National Park. Created as a result of glacial action, [3] it is one of the largest glacial lakes in southern Wales. [4]

The lake from a small beach Llyn y Fan Fawr from a small beach.jpg
The lake from a small beach

Shoreweed and quillwort are found here whilst greater water-moss occurs on boulders at the water's edge. Freshwater limpets, caddisflies and leeches are also recorded. However, as regards fish, a C17th manuscript asserts that it "hathe no fishe attaile in't nither will any fish being put into it live, but as soon as they have tasted of this water turne up their silver bellies and suddenly dey." [5] [6]

The surface of Llyn y Fan Fawr lies at about 1815 feet or 605m above sea level. [7] [8] Its primary outflow is to the River Tawe. [9] Much of the land around the lake is peaty and thus wet underfoot. The main route of the Beacons Way runs along the ridge above the lake whilst its low-level alternative wraps around the lake's eastern margin.

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This article describes the geology of the Brecon Beacons National Park in mid/south Wales. The area gained national park status in 1957 with the designated area of 1,344 km2 (519 sq mi) including mountain massifs to both the east and west of the Brecon Beacons proper. The geology of the national park consists of a thick succession of sedimentary rocks laid down from the late Ordovician through the Silurian and Devonian to the late Carboniferous period. The rock sequence most closely associated with the park is the Old Red Sandstone from which most of its mountains are formed. The older parts of the succession, in the northwest, were folded and faulted during the Caledonian orogeny. Further faulting and folding, particularly in the south of the park is associated with the Variscan orogeny.

The bedrock geology of Carmarthenshire in west Wales consists largely of Palaeozoic age sedimentary rocks. Unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age in Carmarthenshire include a dissected cover of glacial till, valley floor alluvium and some scattered peat deposits in both upland and lowland settings. There are extensive beach and tidal flat deposits along the Carmarthenshire coast. The exploitation of the county's mineral riches, particularly coal and limestone, was a key part of the local economy through much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

References

  1. Owen, Hywel Wyn; Morgan, Richard (2007). Dictionary of the Place-names of Wales (First ed.). Llandysul: Gomer Press. p. 300. ISBN   9781843239017.
  2. Andrew Davies; David Whittaker (9 September 2010). Walking on the Brecon Beacons. Cicerone Press Limited. pp. 191–. ISBN   978-1-84965-346-6.
  3. Geological Survey of Great Britain (1932). Memoirs. England and Wales: Explanation of Sheet. H.M. Stationery Office.
  4. Derek Ratcliffe (26 January 2012). A Nature Conservation Review: Volume 1: The Selection of Biological Sites of National Importance to Nature Conservation in Britain. Cambridge University Press. pp. 236–. ISBN   978-0-521-20329-6.
  5. Mullard, Jonathan (2014). The New Naturalist Library: Brecon Beacons. London: HarperCollins. pp. 226–227. ISBN   9780007367696.
  6. Mullard, Jonathan (2014). The New Naturalist Library: Brecon Beacons. London: HarperCollins. pp. 226–227. ISBN   9780007367696.
  7. Hans Luther; Julian Rzóska (1971). Project Aqua: A Source Book of Inland Waters Proposed for Conservation . International Biological Programme. ISBN   978-0-632-08730-3.
  8. Ordnance Survey Explorer map OL12 'Brecon Beacons National Park: western area'
  9. Bye-gones: Relating to Wales and the Border Counties. Printed at the Caxton works. 1894. pp. 504–.