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| Carboniferous sandstones and shales at Loop Head |
Living
in northern England, I have my fair share of grey, rainy days but waking up every day in
summer and being confronted with very heavy rain takes some getting used to.
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| Weathered joints on a bedding plane |
Every
field geologist will surely know that wind and rain is
their greatest enemy and I was just content organising the maps, folders and
files in the GSI offices and dealing with a wide variety of enquiries from the
general public.
It took another six weeks, after my visit to Co. Sligo, before I explored Ireland again. Along with Claire McAteer, I headed off to undertake survey work for the audit of County Geological Sites in Co. Clare.
It took another six weeks, after my visit to Co. Sligo, before I explored Ireland again. Along with Claire McAteer, I headed off to undertake survey work for the audit of County Geological Sites in Co. Clare.
Starting
off at the crack of dawn, the downpour carried on well into the morning, as we
headed out of Dublin. The distance to our first site, as the crow flies, is just over 250 km but it was not until towards the end of the afternoon that we finally arrived. I don’t
know if things have changed in the last 10 years, but I learned that in
Ireland, when driving across the country, you have to allow much more time when
planning a journey.
Although
it had taken a long time to get there, the west coast of Ireland is world
renowned for its cliffs and, at Loop Head, the folded Upper Carboniferous rocks are really spectacular. With a few hours of sunshine remaining in the day, there was still a lot more work to be done...
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| Spectacular folding of sandstone and shale at Loop Head |
