Trout Beck - United Kingdom

UK ECN site. The Trout Beck is a headwater stream of the River Tees, which drains Great Dun Fell, Hard Hill and Knock Fell in the North Pennines. The ECN sampling point (Grid Ref NY758335) is at 535m altitude and the catchment above this covers 1146 ha, rising to 848m altitude. The geology is alternating strata of Carboniferous limestones, sandstone and shales. Blanket peat covers 90% of the catchment with skeletal soils towards the fell tops and small areas of limestone soils and alluvial soils. Vegetation is dominated by ling heather (Calluna vulgaris), cotton grass (Eriophorum spp) and Sphagnum moss. The catchment lies in Moor House National Nature Reserve which is owned by Natural England. Discharge is measured at a gauging station operated by the Environment Agency. The pH of Trout Beck has wide fluctuations associated with the discharge. The site has a long history of ecological research. Note: this site is a single point sampling location on a river. The site is co-located with the Moor House-Upper Teesdale ECN site (the catchment lies entirely within this site). It is also included in the UK's Upland Waters Monitoring Network (UWMN). The shape file indicates the Moor House-Upper Teesdale ECN site.