BROWN MOSS and the other mosses and meres.
Brown Moss is a peat bog in North Shropshire. Although there is no hard rock exposed at most of these sites they are still classed as geological. It is just that the geology is very recent relative to many of the sites in the south or west of the county (thousands of years rather than millions of years).		The peat has formed from the decay of plants over the last 10,000 thousand years or so, since the last Ice Age. The peat is what would become our future fossil fuel, as over time it would convert to coal. The mosses and meres are constantly evolving through natural processes but they are also being changed dramatically by the activities of man. It is now a haven for wildlife.

The natural evolution of the mosses and meres can be seen at various stages throughout North Shropshire. The succession runs like this:

	1). A mere with open water. This would have been formed during the last Ice Age (see geomorphology section).
2). As sediment builds up in the bottom of the mere it begins to fill in from the edges and becomes much more swampy. Sometimes vegetation will spread over the water producing a bouncy bog known as 'swingemore'.
	3). Eventually the swamp starts to dry out as larger shrubs and trees such as alder and birch become established.

The action of man can alter this succession as the removal of peat can create areas of clear water but at the same time it creates drainage channels so the surrounding areas are drained and dry out much quicker.

click an icon to find out more about the geology of this site.