Geding-Kasted Mose is a

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muskeg; a ...

about 7 kilometers north-west of

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwes ...

, in the western section of the

Egå Egå is a both a suburban district and a stream in the Municipality of Aarhus in Denmark. Name Egå means 'Oak-stream' in English. The Egå stream The Egå stream runs north of the city of Aarhus, in the bottom of the flat valley of Egåd ...

river valley though which the river Egå runs. The bog covers about 30 hectares of which a sizable portion is used as meadows for grazing cattle. Other parts are cultivated but as the area is low-lying it is more or less flooded during winter. The bog has some waterholes and old

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

pits which are now mostly concealed by thickets of primarily

downy birch ''Betula pubescens'' (syn. ''Betula alba''), commonly known as downy birch and also as moor birch, white birch, European white birch or hairy birch, is a species of deciduous tree, native and abundant throughout northern Europe and northern Asia ...

and

grey willow Grey willow or gray willow may refer to: *''Salix atrocinerea'', a species of willow native to Europe commonly called grey willow *''Salix cinerea ''Salix cinerea'' (common sallow, grey sallow, grey willow, grey-leaved sallow, large grey willo ...

. Geding-Kasted Bog is one of the most important catchment areas for the water supply in

Aarhus Municipality Aarhus Municipality ( da, Aarhus Kommune), known as Århus Municipality ( da, Århus Kommune) until 2011, is a municipality in Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area ...

and the city of Aarhus.

Flora and fauna

Geding-Kasted Bog has a major biodiversity with many different plant and animal species. Especially downy birch and grey willow dominate but on the meadows there is also globeflower,

branched bur-reed Branched bur-reed is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Sparganium'' and may refer to: *'' Sparganium androcladum'', commonly referred to as "branched bur-reed" in North America *''Sparganium erectum ''Sparganium erectum'', the sim ...

western marsh orchid ''Dactylorhiza majalis'', the broad-leaved marsh orchid, is a terrestrial Eurasian orchid. Subspecies include: western marsh orchid (''Dactylorhiza majalis'' subsp. ''occidentalis''), southern marsh orchid (''Dactylorhiza majalis'' subsp. ''pra ...

saw-wort ''Serratula tinctoria'', commonly known as dyer's plumeless saw-wort or saw-wort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is a native of Europe with a thistle-like flower head. It grows in moist soil, full sun to part shade, ...

and

Irish fleabane ''Pentanema salicinum'' (common name Irish fleabane (UK) or willowleaf yellowhead) is a plant species in the family Asteraceae. It is found across Eurasia from Portugal to Japan. It has been reported growing in the wild in a few scattered locat ...

. Insects are important pollinators for the flowers in bog and as prey for toads, reptiles and birds. Due to the location between the nesting grounds Egå Engsø and

Brabrand Lake Brabrand Lake ( da, Brabrand-søen or Brabrand Sø) is a lake in the district of Brabrand (Gellerup), west of Aarhus city, Denmark. The Aarhus River passes through Brabrand Lake and it is possible to canoe all the way to the inner city from her ...

there's an especially varied population of birds including

thrush nightingale The thrush nightingale (''Luscinia luscinia''), also known as the sprosser, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscic ...

eurasian penduline tit The Eurasian penduline tit or European penduline tit (''Remiz pendulinus'') is a passerine bird of the genus '' Remiz''. It is relatively widespread throughout the western Palearctic. It is migratory in the northern part of its range but resident ...

water rail The water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the war ...

western marsh harrier The western marsh harrier (''Circus aeruginosus'') is a large harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian marsh harrier. Formerly, a number of relatives were includ ...

common kestrel The common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus'') is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In the United Kingdom, where no ...

and

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more northern ...

. The bog was used for grazing cattle for many years which was maintained by a local group of volunteers. In the 2010s the bog will undergo a rewilding project that will introduce

Galloway cattle The Galloway is a Scottish breed of beef cattle, named after the Galloway region of Scotland, where it originated during the seventeenth century. It is usually black, is of average size, is naturally polled and has a thick coat suitable for ...

and later possibly

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, S ...

and wild horses.

Environmental conditions

Pollution with

heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals are generally defined as metals with relatively high density, densities, atomi ...

was discovered by coincidence in 1966. Botanists found a species of

liverwort The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of ...

which at the time was not known from other places in Denmark. Further examinations of the plant led to the discovery of a connection between this particular species and heavy metals or

sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

in the ground. Excavation revealed buried industry waste consisting of, among other things,

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish ...

from a former production of

sulphuric acid Sulfuric acid ( American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular fo ...

. The bog has received polluted water through the stream of ''Moseåen'' between 1870 and the 1970s, mostly heavy metals such as

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, bu ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

, and a smaller amount of

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...

, but also

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic t ...

. The pollution originated from a fertilizer factory in Mundelstrup Stationsby at

Tilst Tilst is a suburban area of Aarhus, Denmark, situated some 10 km to the west of Aarhus. The Tilst area is marked by big city blocks and large traditional suburban areas. In the surrounding area are several superstores, which mainly serve the inn ...

. The factory closed in the 1970s, the emissions stopped, and a major cleanup project was undertaken around the factory in 1991-1993. The upper section of the Egå valley is still polluted, although the pollution is mostly in the

top soil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic matte ...

layer and it has been assessed that it won't affect the

ground water Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available freshwater in the world is groundwater. A unit of rock or an unconsolidat ...

. The water in Kasted Vandværk (Kasted Waterworks) in Kasted is continuously tested for heavy metals.

Gallery

Tilst Mose.jpg, The bog is heavily overgrown with grey willow (''

Salix cinerea ''Salix cinerea'' (common sallow, grey sallow, grey willow, grey-leaved sallow, large grey willow, pussy willow, rusty sallow) is a species of willow native to Europe and western Asia.Meikle, R. D. (1984). ''Willows and Poplars of Great Britain ...

'') Mosetræ.jpg, The wet and damp bog provides a good environment for

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...

es Dyreveksel i mosen.jpg, An

animal track __notoc__ An animal track is an imprint left behind in soil, snow, or mud, or on some other ground surface, by an animal walking across it. Animal tracks are used by hunters in tracking their prey and by naturalists to identify animals living i ...

leading into the bogland thickets Hulkravet Kodriver.jpg, Cowslip (''

Primula veris ''Primula veris'', the cowslip, common cowslip, or cowslip primrose (syn. ''Primula officinalis'' ), is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the primrose family Primulaceae. The species is native throughout most of temperate Europe and ...

'') Trollius-europaeus-Kasted.jpg, Globeflower (''

Trollius europaeus ''Trollius europaeus'', the globeflower, is a perennial flowering plant of the family Ranunculaceae. The plant is native to Europe and Western Asia and is a protected species in Russia and Bulgaria. In Udmurtia, this plant is one of the nationa ...

'')

References

;Publications *

External links

* * {{url, http://www.spor.dk/Sporene/Midtjylland/Kasted.aspx, ''Spor i landskabet'' page for hiking route in Kasted Bog Bogs of Denmark Aarhus Municipality