The geology of Northern Ireland is remarkably varied for its size. Its bedrock geology includes examples from almost every period of geological time during the last billion years of Earth history. Geology affects almost every aspect of life, from shape of the landscape to the wildlife. In this area, the biodiversity is very much underpinned by its geology.
The rocks around Northern Ireland are particularly rich in fossils. The most common rock type that fossils are found in is sedimentary rock, which in Northern Ireland include sandstone, mudstone and limestone.
The collections of the Ulster Museum contain fossils from all around the world, from tiny microfossils found in the lias in Ulster, to dinosaur skeletons found in North America. Many fossils in the Ulster Museum's collections are very scientifically important and have been studied by experts from around the world. The Ulster Museum holds particularly important collections of brachiopods, fish teeth and other fossils from the Carboniferous, sponges from the Cretaceous, and Paleocene plants.
The geology collections in Northern Ireland consist of approximately 30,000 fossils, 11,000 minerals and 4,000 rocks. Its major strengths are fossils from the Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks which fringe the Antrim Plateau, fossils from the Carboniferous Limestone of Ireland, and Ice Age faunas.2a
Recent finds include fragments of a rare ammonite, Radstockiceras, from the Lower Jurassic of White Park Bay, and three small dinosaur bones, also from the Lower Jurassic of Co. Antrim.
These fossils are imperative to the study of geology. They can be used to tell the environment that the rock formed in. They can be used to date rocks, if the relative age of the fossils is known. They can also ...
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...iidae Erynnis tages (Dingy Skipper) are found in short, unimproved grassland where its foodplant Trefoil Lotus corniculatus (Bird's-foot) is common. This plant species exist in particular on limestone hills, meaning that these butterflies’ habitats are limited to limestone regions. It is a scarce and local species in N. Ireland confined to about 25 sites in west and north Fermanagh. The most common geological requirement for wildlife is the presence of limestone.
Despite the popularity of limestone regions as a habitat, some organisms can favour areas of acidic bedrock. One such organism is Zonitoides excavatus (Hollowed glass snail) which is found in acidic woods in areas of base-poor rocks. It is only obligate calcifuge land mollusc in Ireland exists in very isolated colonies in Mourne Park and Rostrevor Forest, Co. Down and a few localities in the Wicklow Hills.
...ts were labelled with the upper case letters which represented the material types and a numeric letter. The artifacts were placed in different boxes. The artifact analysis was then conducted and the characteristics such as tool type and material type of each artifact were recorded on the artifact catalog forms. The material samples of lithic tools, faunal remains, and ceramics remains were compare with existing artifacts to identify their material type. The Vernier scale was used for the measurements of each lithic tools.
The first fossils were found in 1997 and the latest fossils were discovered in 2001. “Researchers found the fossil remains of several of the ancient individuals along the foothills of the west margin of the southern Afar Rift, located in Ethiopia’s Middle Awash study area. The Middle Awash is located about 140 miles northeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city, and about 50 miles south of Hadar, where the 3.2 million-year-old “Lucy” fossils were discovered nearly 30 years ago”(Rickman 2001) .... ...
Hess, D., McKnight, T. L., & Tasa, D. (2011). McKnight's physical geography (Custom ed. for California State University, Northridge ; 2nd Calif. ed.). New York: Learning Solutions.
"Sedimentary Rocks." Backyard Nature with Jim Conrad. N.p., 18 May 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
Shubin, N.H., & Marshall, C.R. 2000. Fossils, genes and the origin of novelty. Paleobiology, 26(4): 324-340.
7. Refer to Figure 22-6. What name is given to the core of the modern-day North American continent that formed in the Proterozoic?
The island of Anglesey, for such a small island, has a great diversity of rock types. To the average everyday person walking along the coast, you would without a doubt notice the rock type variation and striking features. But, to a geologist, it tells a remarkable story of the history of the island. Angleseys past adventure can be re-written by examining the rocks seen at its surface.
...nd Stromatoporoids (a kind of sponge with a layered skeleton) were common rock builders of the Northern Hemisphere. Moss was common in shallow seas. Among the arthropods, the giant eurypterids (sea scorpions) have been found in the Old Red Sandston facies (see image above). The first insect was part of a group of wingless insects that feed off of debris and soil. Conodonts were vertebrate animals abundant in marine life. Many of the fish were heavily armored and the earlier fish (agnathans) had no jaws and were mud eaters and scavengers. Chondrichthians are sharklike fishes that were first found in the Middle Devonian. In terms of plants, many vascular plants emerged and a varied flora was established. There is evidence of algae, bryophytes, and charophytes. Algae and fungi also existed. As previously stated, the first known forests are from the Devonian Period.
are found world wide which makes some of them serve as excellent index fossils, and it is
11.) Fossils - are the remains of plants or animals that have been preserved over centuries in the strata or layers.
With its abundance of genera, the Burgess Shale is one of the world’s most important fossil fields. It’s discovery in 1909 led to over 100 years of paleontological study in the Canadian Rockies, a majority of which has been carried out in two quarries known as the Walcott and Raymond quarries (Hagadorn, 2002). Though he was originally in search of trilobites in the Burgess Shale Formation, paleontologist Charles Walcott also discovered a diverse group of soft- and hard-bodied fossils, from algae and sponges to chordates and cirripeds (Hagadorn, 2002). Soft-bodied fossils are incredibly rare due to their delicate structure and susceptibility to decay, so it is hard-bodied fossils that more regularly occur in fossil findings. However over 75,000 soft-bodied specimens have been found in the Burgess Shale formation (Hagadorn, 2002). These specimens are preserved in layers of shale formed from deposits of fine mud. One of the most significant species discovered is the Pikaia gracilens. Believed to be an early chordate, the Pikaia gracilens existed very close to the beginning of the evolutionary path that ultimately lead to humans (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia, 2006).
Explore: Safety is always important and following procedure for take care of the fossils. The students will be divided into four groups of fours and each group will ten fossil items which they will identify if it is a mold, resin, or body fossil. The students will need their
Every rock group has a different depositional environment. For example, the Kawr group represents the Oman Exotics and is composed of distal sediments (chert). Closer t...
The word fossil means: a preserved impression, imprint, or trace of living organisms from the past. The Latin term Fossilis means to be dug up. The first fossils were found in Ancient times by the Romans and Greeks who thought the bones belonged to giants and dragons. The first recorded fossil was a Megalosaurus (a carnivorous dinosaur) found by Thomas Pennyston. Pennyston later gave it to Robert Plot in 1676. Plants and all types of animals can turn into fossils. But most don’t, because of other animals destroy the bones or the remains decay before the fossilizing process can take place. There are two types of fossils. Trace fossils which are the trace of living things from the past. The trace fossils are things such as footprints, nests, burrows, and coprolite (feces). Body fossils are parts of the body or the whole body of living things. The body fossils are things such as teeth, claws, bone, and insects.
Desk study and reconnaissance of site are conducted as the first step of geological investigation. Generally, all available maps and documents pertaining to a site have to be reviewed (Kehew, 1995). Subsequently, Jackson (1968) indicated that with all the information on the type of project to be executed, key geological and environment hazards at optional sites and possible site visits are identified. Using information from topographical and geological maps, aerial and terrestrial photographs and any previous nearby investigation reports, accessibility of the site and the nature of drainage into and from it is identified, indication about the subsoil stratification ...