Vol. 51.] MR. J. E. MARR ON THE TARNS OE LAKELAND. 



43 



Fig. 8. — Plan of Burn- 

 moor Tarn. 



suddenly ends in an interesting cirque-like cliff of rock at the head 

 of the narrow valley which forms the head of Miterdale. Looking 

 at this cirque from above, I at once believed that I had at last 

 found a case of a true rock-basin, for the 800-foot contour-line runs 

 in the middle of this cliff, and as the lake is 31 feet deep and only 

 832 feet above sea-level, the moraine-matter did not appear to 

 extend to a sufficiently low level to block up the valley and form 

 the tarn. On descending the walls of the cliff, however, I found 

 a drift-filled gorge in its centre, running down the cliff from top 

 to base, and only about 10 paces 

 across. Through this gorge the 

 drainage of the upper part of Miter- 

 dale no doubt once ran ; it is now 

 dry, the only stream here coming in 

 at the west side of the cirque. As 

 the col of drift between this cirque 

 and tbe tarn is only about 20 feet 

 above the tarn-level, it simply re- 

 quires a thickness of about 50 feet 

 of moraine-matter to form the lake. 

 The infant Mite runs below the cirque 

 for a long distance in a narrow 

 cliff-bound gorge with an alluvial 

 floor. It may be remarked that the 

 drift-filled gorge in the cirque is 

 continuous with a ' depression within 

 a depression,' extending between this 

 point and the tarn, probably indi- 

 cating the existence of the gorge 

 some way above the point of its 

 exposure in the cirque. 



The case of Burnmoor Tarn is of interest, not only as throwing 

 light upon the formation of some mountain-tarns, but also as 

 indicating one of the many causes for the complexity of the Lake 

 District drainage, which I hope to discuss elsewhere on a future 

 occasion. Suffice it to say here that the upper two miles of what 

 was once Miterdale is now made a portion of the Eskdale drainage- 

 area, and the Mite is thus robbed of the distinction which it once 

 possessed of rising on the summit-slopes of Scawfell. 



[For Explanation, see p. 47.] 



VI. Tarns in the Scaweell Group. 



Situated upon the northern slopes of the Scawfell group of hills 

 are three well-known lakelets, Sty Head, Sprinkling, and Angle 

 Tarns. None of these, so far as I am aware, have been sounded. 

 The first, Sty Head Tarn, near the top of the Pass of that name, is 

 1430 feet above sea-level. It now receives the water from Sprinkling 

 Tarn, which, as will be presently maintained, once drained in a 

 different direction ; but this stream is probably quite insignificant in 

 time of flood when compared with the short stream descending from 



