This book contains a comprehensive field guide, including detailed itineraries and supporting data, to the Geology of Western Ireland, a classic site for world geology. It facilitates study into the rock record of the Neoproterozoic ‘birth’ to the Devonian ‘death’ of the Iapetus Ocean along the Laurentian (North American) margin. The enormous variety of lithologies and processes available for study in this spectacularly exposed region include: fluviatile to deep-sea sediments; layered ultramafic intrusions to reverse zoned granite batholiths; zeolite to eclogite facies metamorphic assemblages; continental rifting; subduction processes; island arc evolution; arc-continent collision; Andean margin development; and continent-continent collision. An introduction to the geology, that includes information relevant to the planning and execution of field trips in the region, is followed by nine chapters each providing the necessary background, field itineraries, exercises and points for debate, covering: the Laurentian basement and Neoproterozoic cover of North Mayo, Sligo, the Ox Mountains and Connemara; the metamorphic nappes and syn-orogenic intrusions of the Ordovician Grampian Orogeny; the Cambro-Ordovician subduction-accretion complex of Clew Bay; the obducted Ordovician fore-arc basin of South Mayo; the post-subduction flip late-Ordovician of South Connemara; the Silurian successor basins deformed during the final closure of the Iapetus Ocean; the late to post-orogenic Devonian sediments; the Devonian Granite batholiths ; and the post-orogenic Carboniferous cratonic sediments. Two final chapters summarise: the current tectonic interpretation of this region; areas for future research; and the extensive sources of geochemical and geophysical data.

A beautifully illustrated field guide to Ireland's geology, which is both varied and spectacular.

The Carboniferous Shannon Basin of Western Ireland has become one of the most visited field areas in the world. It provides an ideal opportunity for examining a wide range of ancient sedimentary environments, including carbonate shelf, reefs and mud mounds, black shales and phosphates, and a spectrum of deep sea, shallow marine, fluvio-deltaic and alluvial siliciclastic sediments. The area boasts extensive outcrops and some of the most renowned sections through turbidites, large-scale soft sediment deformation features and sediments that display a response to tectonic and sea-level controls. This field guide provides the first synthesis of the principal localities in this area of Western Ireland, and presents an easily accessible handbook that will guide the reader to, and within, a wide range of sedimentary facies, allowing an understanding of the evolving nature of the fill of this Carboniferous basin and the context of its sedimentary and tectonic evolution. The guide summarizes recent and new work in the area by a range of authors and outlines issues of current debate concerning the Shannon Basin and its palaeoenvironmental interpretation. The field guide will find extensive use in teaching and research by academic researchers, professional and amateur geologists, as well as by applied geologists, geophysicists and reservoir engineers who use these outcrops as analogues for subsurface reservoirs in many areas of the world.

This book helps a novice to explore the terrain independently. Geoscience fieldwork with a focus on structural geology and tectonics has become more important in the last few years from both academic and industrial perspectives. This book also works as a resource material for batches of students or geological survey professional undergoing training as parts of their course curriculum. Industry persons, on the other hand, can get a first-hand idea about what to expect in the field, in case no academic person is available with the team. This book focused on structural geology and tectonics compiles for the very first time terrains from several regions of the globe.

The Connemara region in Western Ireland is world-renowned for its outstanding geology that is blended with spectacular landscapes. This book and its many colourful illustrations, maps, diagrams, field and landscape images detail the origin and formation of Connemara’s metamorphic and igneous rocks in deep time from 700 to 380 million years ago. It combines many field geology observations and current research results, and describes the many geological processes involved in the formation of the bedrock foundations of Connemara: plate tectonics, granite magmatism, deformation, metamorphism and mineral deposits. An amazing book for students and geological societies that visit the region annually. Features The only book available on the formation of the igneous and metamorphic rock complexes in Connemara Explores the regional geological context of Connemara from ~700 Ma to 385 Ma Incorporates the most up-to-date research results and many useful field images, maps and schematic diagrams for teacher and student alike Describes the deformation, metamorphic and magmatic histories in Pressure-Temperature-time (PTt) space Includes a chapter dedicated to the application of fluid inclusion studies to magmatic and hydrothermal mineralization in the Galway Granite Complex and its environs This book serves as a resource for professionals, academics and senior undergraduate and graduate students working and studying in the fields of geology, earth sciences and environmental sciences.

Seven chapters explore the diverse geology of Virginia, from its Appalachian highlands to the Atlantic shore.