bog (bôg, b
g)n.
2. An area of soft, naturally waterlogged ground.
So although bog is a word that is used to describe any soft waterlogged ground, if you are being specific, it is an area typified by peat - but then we also call them peat bogs too....
As for a marsh, well...
marsh (märsh)
So although bog is a word that is used to describe any soft waterlogged ground, if you are being specific, it is an area typified by peat - but then we also call them peat bogs too....
As for a marsh, well...
marsh (märsh)
n.
An area of soft, wet, low-lying land, characterized by grassy vegetation and often forming a transition zone between water and land.
So marshes are bogs that have grass, peat bogs are bogs that have peat. But in a marsh, not all of the ground will be soft - so it will not all be boggy and in a peat bog there may well be som grassy areas that are marshy.... *laugh*
So a salt marsh....
salt marsh
Bog - generally peat, upland, acidic, with a characteristic brown water. Poorly draining.
Marsh - grassy, lowland, not acidic. generally moving water (although it may move through slowly)
Salt Marsh - Marsh flooded by sea.
Swamp - Floods in wet season and has more trees
Fen - Any of the above.... but often has had the influence of man. Also an area of the UK in East Anglia that was considerably drained
So fen, bog, marsh and swamp can all be used to describe the same land but you can not describe all such places as salt marsh or peat bog or mangrove swamp.
I love the way words have a direct and obvious meaning but they also have connotations... Like swamp sounds much more dangerous, and bog is somewhere you could get stuck....
no idea if I have helped Mel or completely confused you *grin*
So marshes are bogs that have grass, peat bogs are bogs that have peat. But in a marsh, not all of the ground will be soft - so it will not all be boggy and in a peat bog there may well be som grassy areas that are marshy.... *laugh*
So a salt marsh....
salt marsh
n.
I suspect this is all about as clear as mud! Low coastal grassland frequently overflowed by the tide.
Is a marsh that has high levels of salt because it is so low lying. This results in a different look. Some areas of a salt marsh would be boggy as well I guess but there would definately be no peat.
Willow Carr is one of my favourites of these types of habitat - willow trees grow out of pools of water and little islands of mud sometimes covered in lush grass.
Oh and I missed out fen
fen (f
n)
Is a marsh that has high levels of salt because it is so low lying. This results in a different look. Some areas of a salt marsh would be boggy as well I guess but there would definately be no peat.
Willow Carr is one of my favourites of these types of habitat - willow trees grow out of pools of water and little islands of mud sometimes covered in lush grass.
Oh and I missed out fen
fen (f
n)Bog - generally peat, upland, acidic, with a characteristic brown water. Poorly draining.
Marsh - grassy, lowland, not acidic. generally moving water (although it may move through slowly)
Salt Marsh - Marsh flooded by sea.
Swamp - Floods in wet season and has more trees
Fen - Any of the above.... but often has had the influence of man. Also an area of the UK in East Anglia that was considerably drained
So fen, bog, marsh and swamp can all be used to describe the same land but you can not describe all such places as salt marsh or peat bog or mangrove swamp.
I love the way words have a direct and obvious meaning but they also have connotations... Like swamp sounds much more dangerous, and bog is somewhere you could get stuck....
no idea if I have helped Mel or completely confused you *grin*
3 comments:
around where we are at the moment used to be all salt marsh before it was drained... part of the area is still used for brine extraction. back in the1500's 12 out of the 16 'steadings' in the hamlet paid their taxes in salt, the rest paid in silver!
mel~ bog is also slang for toilet here, but you didn't want to know that did you, sorry.x
haha, Suzi -- yes i do know that slang for the loo....i was born in the Mother land, y'know...;) and you've inadvertently given me and income source from the salt-marsh...ta very much!!
thanks HEAPS Rose -- it really does help...i just needed to know if you could have two of them on the same island...which it would seem you can...at least i could reasonably stretch it in a story-telling sense. the bog might get the old heave-ho though, because the first island is a bit small and i need room for the sheep...;)
i LOVE these places for their transitional qualities..thresholds, y'know?
we visited a Florida swamp and it was absolutely incredible...not as murky as you'd imagine because the running water meant there were no mosquitoes and the air was clear and almost cool...the trees were fantastic...
thanks so much again....i really appreciate your taking the time to write this all out.
xoxoxoxo
That's really cool Suzi! We still have some salt marsh down here....
Mel - yo could have bogs and sheep on the same little island. Sheep often are left to graze poorer land i upland areas which are full of boggy bits. In the Lakes there are no end of bogs and no end of sheep. In the Scillies there is a little island called Bryher and it is very like more Northern uplands in many ways - can't remember if there are bogs or not there but there could be bogs and they would not be out of place....
Give yourself a few rugged hills with a saddle inbetween and hanging valley, maybe with a nice little lake that doesn't have anywhere to drain too and a good helping of bogs around it.... And some sheep roaming around happily...
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