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Dunmore Cave
Dunmore Cave
A photograph of Dunmore Cave, Co. Kilkenny. This cave is a major tourist attraction today.
Courtesy of Kilkenny County Libraries
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Raised beaches at Ballyhillin, near Malin Head.
Raised beaches at Ballyhillin, near Malin Head.
At various times in the past, sea-level has been different to what it is to-day. Two types of former shoreline, or ‘raised beach’, are etched into the landscape at Ballyhillin, near Malin Head in County Donegal. The crescentic curve of the village in the middle of the photograph marks a shoreline that existed near the end of the Ice Age. At that time land along parts of the north coast was still recovering from the huge mass of ice that had rested on it. The land was depressed and had yet to readjust, with the result that the sea covered areas that later rose to become dry land. This shoreline is about 20 metres above present sea level. A second shoreline lies between the village and the sea, and is denoted by a line of low cliffs. This old shoreline lies about four metres above the present sea level and marks a period of world-wide high seas during a warm phase about five thousand years ago. [From work cited by Professor Frank Mitchell].
Image courtesy of Cambridge University air photo collection by J.K. St. Joseph.
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Malin Head, Co. Donegal
Malin Head, Co. Donegal
Photo of Malin Head, Co. Donegal.
Courtesy of Corinna Schleiffer
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Plate Tectonics Map
Plate Tectonics Map
Plate Tectonics Map
Courtesy of NASA
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Subduction zone
Subduction zone
Subduction a part of the Earth’s crust is swallowed and returns to the magma when a dense plate dives under another less dense plate.
Figure modified from Michigan University. Source: http://www.geo.lsa.umich.edu.
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Aillwee Cave
Aillwee Cave
Entrance to Aillwee Cave.
Copyright of Aillwee Cave.
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Dalkey Quarry
Dalkey Quarry
Former quarry at Dalkey Hill, Co. Dublin - the source of the granite rocks used to build Dun Laoghaire harbour.
Photo courtesy of Arnold Horner 2006.
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Variscan folds at Loughshinny
Variscan folds at Loughshinny
The Variscan (alias Hercynian or Armorican) was a long period of mountain-building and earth movements that took place about 300 million years ago. It particularly affected parts of (what is now) central Europe. The Variscan (alias Hercynian or Armorican) was a long period of mountain-building and earth movements that took place about 300 million years ago. It particularly affected parts of (what is now) central Europe. The legacy of the Variscan in Ireland is particularly to be found in the so-called ‘ridge and valley’ province of south Munster. Here the effect of pressure from the south was to fold the rocks (Old Red Sandstones from the Devonian and early Carboniferous periods, and later Carboniferous limestones and other rocks) into a series of high ridges separated by valleys. In geological terms, the ridges represent ‘anticlines’, the valleys are ‘synclines’. The axes of these structures run east-west, i.e. at right angles to the direction of pressure. The expression of the Variscan in the modern landscape is evident in the east –west trending sandstone ridges of Cork and south Kerry. These ridges are separated by synclinal valleys where younger rocks, such as Carboniferous limestones, survive. These valleys are now occupied by the main rivers of south Munster, the Blackwater, Lee, and Bandon, and further east the River Bride. Further north in Ireland, the impact of the Variscan gets more mixed into earlier and later geological events. However, one very important economic legacy is the mineralization that occurred, usually in fractures and fissures along or near to the contact of the Old Red Sandstone and the Carboniferous rocks. The ore bodies that then formed are now being revealed by geochemical techniques. Some - those at Galmoy (on the Kilkenny/Laois border) and Lisheen (Co. Tipperary) in recent decades and, earlier, Silvermines (Co. Tipperary) and Tynagh (Co.Galway) - have proven suitable for mining.
Copyright of the Geological Survey of Ireland 2006.
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Carbonate mound map
Carbonate mound map
This map illutrates where exactly the carbonate mounds are beyond the shore line. Map drawn by Stephen Hannon, based on work by Prof Pat Shannon, B.M. O'Reilly, P.W. Readman, P.F. Croker, O.O'Loughlin and others.
Courtesy of Arnold Horner 2006.
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The Carboniferous World
The Carboniferous World
Approximation of the Earth during part of the Carboniferous Era
Public Domain image
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