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THE GEOLOGICAL STORY

THE ROCKS TELL THEIR TALES

OUR GEOLOGICAL HERITAGE

about Joyce Country & Western Lakes Geopark mission

The rocks and landscape of the Joyce Country & Western Lakes geopark region tell a story that spans 700 million years. They tell the story of a continent that started in the Southern Hemisphere and split apart, of an ocean that opened and closed again, of land that was submerged beneath warm tropical waters, of a continent in the Northern Hemisphere that split apart to form a new ocean, of periods of landscape-forming glaciations and finally of human interaction with the land. This entire fantastic story can be told here, in the Joyce Country & Western Lakes geopark.

UNESCO Global Geoparks have geology of international importance. In the Joyce Country & Western Lakes geopark region, we have what is arguably the best international example of the complete Grampian-Taconic Orogeny. This was a mountain building event, and evidence for this can be seen in Ireland, in Scotland and from the Appalachian Mountains through to Greenland. This translates to a great geodiversity of rock types, fossils and landscape features to explore.

Our geological story can be as plain or as complex as you want, but to understand it, there are a few basic ideas and facts that are useful to know. You can skip ahead to the story or read through our geology 101 section first.

And you can find out more on the books and articles listed here.

THE GEOPARK REGION

THE GEOLOGICAL STORY

GEOLOGY 101

THE BASICS OF GEOLOGY

IRELAND

A GEOLOGICAL SUMMARY

FR