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Irish geological maps and publications

Article in Geology Today · November 2007

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 NEWS

Irish maps and publications

David Nowell writes In the last few years the

Geological Survey of Ireland have completed their
national 1 : 100 000 provisional map series, and
have now produced a completely revised
1 : 500 000 geological map of Ireland. In addition
an introductory textbook has been published
(Understanding Earth Processes, Rocks and the
Geological History of Ireland 2004, Andrew Sleeman,
Brian McConnell and Sarah Gately, 15 Euros, ISBN
1-899702-50-4) for anybody interested in learning
more about the rocks which underlie the Irish
landscape, and in particular those teaching and
taking Geography for the Leaving Certificate. (In the
Republic of Ireland, sixth-formers normally take
three or possibly four options in addition to English,
Maths and a foreign language, rather than a more
narrowly based choice of normally three or four A-
levels in the United Kingdom.)
Given this focus, the book starts with a very well
thought out and concise introduction to the basic
principles and underlying geological concepts.
However, the text omits any mention of William
Smith, who recognized that different strata had
unique and distinct fossils by which they could be
identified on his pioneering geological maps, even if
it was Charles Lyell who went on to establish the
principals of modern stratigraphy. The section on
plate tectonic theory is quite topical, as it neatly
summarizes the debate about mantle hotspots and
the alternative view that such volcanism is due to
cracks in the middle of plates that curve around the
Earth. This introduction then goes on to outline the
rock cycle and basic rock types illustrated by a series
of neat colour photographs and classification tables.
Following this introduction, the remaining
chapters clearly outline the geological history of
Ireland, which like Britain, originally developed on

210 © Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Geology Today, Vol. 23, No. 6, November–December 2007

two sides of the Iapetus Ocean. Each period of
geological time is given its own chapter, apart from
the Carboniferous which, given its significance in
underpinning a large portion of the Irish landscape,
is divided into three. In most cases each chapter
starts with a colour map of the global plate
reconstruction, and the text is illustrated with clear
photographs and diagrams which often include the
palaeogeography of Ireland, showing where different
types of sediment were deposited at the time. These
chapters are interspersed with study boxes that
explore related concepts such as plate tectonics,
radiometric dating, Karst limestone landscapes,
deltas and their sediments, and the origin of oil and
gas. However, the chapters on the Tertiary (now an
obsolete term), while including volcanism associated
with the formation of the Giant’s Causeway, fail to
make reference to the Cenozoic. This is compounded
by chronological confusion in the final chapter on
the Quaternary, which states that the last ice-age
ended at 10 000 rather than around 11 600 years
ago, amongst some other errors. Given the nature of
this otherwise well produced and succinct book, it is
surprising that global warming is not explained from
a Quaternary perspective as an unprecedented and
unnaturally rapid increase in atmospheric carbon
dioxide levels. However, this chapter does show how
the Irish landscape is moulded by these events which
obscure vast areas of the underlying bedrock, as over
90 per cent of Ireland is covered in superficial
deposits. In addition to the book there is a CD-ROM,
which is a great teaching resource as it is possible to
download the photographs and figures as separate
files and print off copies of the text. Furthermore it
includes a neat 1 : 1000 000 map summarizing the
bedrock geology of Ireland illustrated with some
scenic photographs located on the map.
For a more detailed overview, the Geological
Survey of Ireland, Beggars Bush, Haddington Road,
Dublin 4 (www.gsi.ie, gsisales@gsi.ie) has just
published a 1 : 500 000 Bedrock Geological Map of
which is a real bargain at 10 Euros with another
Euro for post and packing in Europe and discounts
for students on their maps and publications. This has
a comprehensive key with an up-to-date geological
time scale, rounded to the nearest million years, in
which each of the 83 units is placed and numbered.
The sheet has good colour balance and the
sedimentary units are described in some detail in
terms of the environment in which they were
deposited and their lithology, with formal names
included sporadically in brackets. Furthermore,
extrusive igneous rocks are interspersed with the
sedimentary units in the key, so that the intrusive
units are listed separately at the bottom. However,
unlike the national map of France it does not
attempt to show the tectonic fabric of the
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Geology Today, Vol. 23, No. 6, November–December 2007
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NEWS
metamorphic basement and major igneous
intrusions where this is known, or contour the depth
of the main sedimentary basins, and it does not
include any offshore geology.
The 1 : 100 000 series on which this map of
Ireland builds upon is published as 21 high quality
digital printouts each with an accompanying
memoir for a combined price of 25 Euros, with 2
Euros post and packing in Europe and 5 Euros for
orders over 25 Euros. The first of these large A4-
sized memoirs for North Mayo (sheet 6) appeared in
1992 and the series was completed in 2005 with
Galway–Offaly (sheet 15) and South Mayo (sheet
11), published relatively recently. They provide a
general introduction to reading the map and the
geology of each area, including the Quaternary
superficial deposits, followed by a longer more
technical description in the detailed chapters with
references and a glossary, running from under 60 to
over 160 pages. These accounts include well-drafted
illustrations and colour maps with occasional
photographs, which are often excellent examples of
clarity even if they tend to be a bit small. The
geological time scale near the front of each memoir
neatly sets out on a single page the sedimentary
units and periods of igneous activity in the area
covered within the overall geological history of
Ireland. The maps themselves are easy to read and
the different units neatly labelled with a series of
lettered abbreviations set out in the key. The maps
clearly show structural information and include
locations with strike and dip while distinguishing
between later and historic measurements
(presumably from the original Victorian surveys).
Overall these maps bring together a lot of
otherwise disparate information, and despite many
gaps in the data they provide a coherent and well-
presented interpretation, which can be developed
further by making this information easily available.
Rather than concentrating on mapping limited areas
the Geological Survey of Ireland must be
congratulated for publishing this national series of
authoritative and informative memoirs while being
so open about the limitations of the maps they
describe. Given that most of Ireland is covered by
superficial deposits, the Geological Survey of Ireland,
driven by the rapid pace of infrastructure
development, is beginning to map this Quaternary
material more systematically with the aid of aerial
photography. Apart from detailed outline 1 : 25 000
maps which have been published in a limited
number of areas, it will be interesting to see how the
results of this future work will be made available to
the public, as digital technology will provide some
interesting possibilities in addition to the relatively
expensive traditional map.
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