The Silver Flowe, Galloway, Scotland

Abstract

The Silver Flowe is a series of bogs, ranging from "blanket bog" to "raised bog" in a valley at 750 feet to 900 feet O.D. in Southern Scotland. The topography and vegetation vary from bog to bog, but each has an area of pool and hummock complex. This complex is shown to be in its 1st generation and to have developed from a uniform bench of humified Sphagnum -Molinla peat accumulated to a depth of about 4 m since the early Atlantic period. The relation of this pool and hummock complex to "regeneration complex" is discussed and a comparison is made with other bogs with concentric pool patters. The Silver Flowe pools are thought not to be erosion features in the main, but to result from a recent rise in water table in the bogs, possibly as a result of increased run-off from the hills consequent on deforestation. On the surface of the bogs, however, direct human interference is negligible and the natural vegetation is described with particular reference to the water table and recent stratigraphical history.