Lecture: Giant's Causeway: Antrim World Heritage Site - Lava Plateaux and End-Cretaceous Plate Tectonics
Speaker:
Entry Fee
Members: Free
Visitors: £5.00
Date and Time
19:30 -
Location
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Lecture Description
The Giant’s Causeway can be appreciated in several ways: as a volcanic feature, as a curio in geological history, as a bit of folklore and as an impressive World Heritage Site. Its hexagonal basaltic columns received early note from gentlemen naturalists of the 17th Century with some prescient and some curious observations which, mixed in with local folklore, gives insight to the geological thought processes of the day. That the basaltic columns of the Causeway are part of a Tertiary lava plateau that covers much of Antrim, begs the question, “What is the relationship to the many Tertiary volcanic centres of Scotland, Ireland and the North Atlantic?” That will be addressed with excursions into Iceland and Greenland together with plumes and plates.