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Cwm Idwal
Cwm Idwal is a cirque (or corrie) in the Glyderau range of mountains in northern Snowdonia, the national park in the mountainous region of North Wales. Its main interest is to hill walkers and rock climbers, but it is also of interest to geologists and naturalists, given its combination of altitude (relatively high in UK terms), aspect (north-facing) and terrain (mountainous and rocky). In a 2005 poll conducted by Radio Times, Cwm Idwal was ranked the 7th greatest natural wonder in Britain. Geology Cwm Idwal is a spectacular product of glaciation, surrounded by high crags, screes, moraines and rounded rocks, with a lake on its floor ( Llyn Idwal). Cwm Idwal comprises volcanic and sedimentary rock which was laid down in a shallow Ordovician sea, and later folded to give rise to the distinctive trough-shaped arrangement of strata known today as the Idwal Syncline. This fold in the rock is visible today, thanks to the layering of the sedimentary rocks. The area was then eroded by ...
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Sedimentary Rock
Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles to settle in place. The particles that form a sedimentary rock are called sediment, and may be composed of geological detritus (minerals) or biological detritus (organic matter). The geological detritus originated from weathering and erosion of existing rocks, or from the solidification of molten lava blobs erupted by volcanoes. The geological detritus is transported to the place of deposition by water, wind, ice or mass movement, which are called agents of denudation. Biological detritus was formed by bodies and parts (mainly shells) of dead aquatic organisms, as well as their fecal mass, suspended in water and slowly piling up on the floor of water bodies ( marine snow). Sedimentation may also occur as dissolved minerals precipita ...
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Capel Curig
Capel Curig (; meaning "Curig's Chapel") is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Historically in Caernarfonshire, it lies in the heart of Snowdonia, on the River Llugwy, and has a population of 226, reducing slightly to 206 at the 2011 census. It lies at the junction of the A5 road from Bangor and Bethesda to Betws-y-Coed with the A4086 road from Caernarfon, Llanberis, Pen-y-Pass and Pen-y-Gwryd. It is surrounded by hills and mountains, including Moel Siabod and Pen Llithrig y Wrach. Name Capel Curig takes its name from the little St Julitta's Church in the ancient graveyard by the river bridge on the Llanberis road. This, confusingly, has been known for over 100 years as St Julitta's Church, and is currently being restored by the "Friends of Saint Julitta". Tradition claims this chapel to be the 6th-century foundation of St Curig, a Celtic bishop. Centuries later, probably when the present ancient church was built, the name appears to have been La ...
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Snowdon
Snowdon () or (), is the highest mountain in Wales, at an elevation of above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (') in Gwynedd (historic county of Caernarfonshire). On 17 November 2022, the Snowdonia National Park Authority announced they are to use the Welsh name ''Yr Wyddfa'' for ''Snowdon'' and ''Eryri'' for ''Snowdonia'' in all circumstances and capacities, in English and Welsh. It is the busiest mountain in the United Kingdom and the third most visited attraction in Wales; in 2019 it was visited by 590,984 walkers, with an additional 140,000 people taking the train. It is designated as a national nature reserve for its rare flora and fauna. The rocks that form Snowdon were produced by volcanoes in the Ordovician period, and the massif has been extensively sculpted by glaciation, forming the pyramidal peak of Snowdon and the arêtes of Crib Goch and Y Lliwedd. Th ...
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many List of islands of the United Kingdom, smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between ...
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Gagea Serotina
''Gagea serotina'', synonym ''Lloydia serotina'', is an Arctic–alpine flowering plant of the lily family. It is widespread across the mountainous parts of western North America, from Alaska to New Mexico, and in Europe is found in the Alps and Carpathians, as well as in Great Britain. It is also native to much of Central Asia, Siberia, China, Nepal, Mongolia, Korea and Japan. It was originally known as mountain spiderwort, but is now known in Great Britain as the Snowdon lily, or in Welsh as ' (meaning "rush-leaves of the mountain"). In North America, it is called the common alplily. It is also known as Snowdon alplily. Description For most of the year, the plant is visible only as long, curving, stiff, grass-like leaves, often protruding through cushions of other plants. The flowers appear from June onwards (despite the name ''serotina'', meaning "late-flowering"), and are borne at the end of long stalks. The flowers themselves are white, with purple or reddish veins alo ...
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Micranthes Nivalis
''Micranthes nivalis'' is a plant species in the saxifrage family. It is commonly called snow saxifrage or (ambiguously) alpine saxifrage. ''Micranthes nivalis'' is a perennial plant which grows on damp, shady, base-rich rocks and cliffs where it normally occurs in crevices and on ledges in locations where it cannot be crowded out by competing plants. In Britain the highest altitudes are recorded in Scotland, from at Quiraing in the Western Isles,to on Ben Lawers in Perth & Kinross. However it has been claimed as high as in the Cairngorms. It grows to a height of with a leafless, hairy stalk. The flower is greenish white turning reddish as it ages with 5 petals and 5 sepals. The leathery, greyish green, rhomboidal leaves make up a rosette at the base of the stem and lie close to the soil surface, and are only sparsely haired. The Latin specific epithet ''nivalis'' means "as white as snow', or "growing near snow". This species is also found in Norway, Ireland, Svalbard, n ...
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Tufted Saxifrage
''Saxifraga cespitosa'', the tufted alpine saxifrage or tufted saxifrage, is a flower common to many arctic heights. It appears further south in mountainous areas of the Alps, Norway, Scotland, Wales, Iceland, Siberia, western North America and Greenland. Densely tufted from a stout taproot, the plant has very short stems with withered, dead leaves at the base. The leaves have three to five lobes; both leaves and calyx exhibit trichomes in the form of glandular hair. Flowering stems range from 5–10 cm, with one or two flowers per stem. Its petal Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usuall ...s are white, twice the length of the calyx lobes. Smaller specimens, with shorter stems and smaller, yellowish-greenish petals (with uniflorous variants), are rather frequent. The ...
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Saxifrage
''Saxifraga'' is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 473 species of holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages or rockfoils. The Latin word ''saxifraga'' means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin ' ("rock" or "stone") + ' ("to break"). It is usually thought to indicate a medicinal use for treatment of urinary calculi (known as kidney or bladder stones), rather than breaking rocks apart. Description Most saxifrages are small perennial, biennial (e.g. '' S. adscendens'') or annual (e.g. '' S. tridactylites'') herbaceous plants whose basal or cauline leaves grow close to the ground, often in a rosette. The leaves typically have a more or less incised margin; they may be succulent, needle-like and/or hairy, reducing evaporation. The inflorescence or single flower clusters rise above the main plant body on naked stalks. The small actinomorphic hermaphrodite flowers have five petals and sepals and are usually white, but red to yellow in some sp ...
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Moss Campion
''Silene acaulis'', known as moss campion or cushion pink, is a small mountain-dwelling wildflower that is common all over the high arctic and tundra and in high mountains of Eurasia and North America (Alps, Carpathians, southern Siberia, Pyrenees, British Isles, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Rocky Mountains). It is an evergreen perennial flowering plant in the carnation family Caryophyllaceae. It is also called the compass plant, since the flowers appear first on the south side of the cushion. ( Various other plants also have this name.) Description right Moss campion is a low, ground-hugging plant. It may seem densely matted and moss-like. The dense cushions are up to a foot or more in diameter. The plants are usually about 2" tall but may be as high as 6". The bright green leaves are narrow, arising from the base of the plant. The dead leaves from the previous season persist for years, and pink flowers are borne singly on short stalks that may be up to 1" long, but are usually m ...
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Glacial
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate between glacial periods. The Last Glacial Period ended about 15,000 years ago. The Holocene is the current interglacial. A time with no glaciers on Earth is considered a greenhouse climate state. Quaternary Period Within the Quaternary, which started about 2.6 million years before present, there have been a number of glacials and interglacials. At least eight glacial cycles have occurred in the last 740,000 years alone. Penultimate Glacial Period The Penultimate Glacial Period (PGP) is the glacial period that occurred before the Last Glacial Period. It began about 194,000 years ago and ended 135,000 years ago, with the beginning of the Eemian interglacial. Last Glacial Period The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period ...
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