Ring of Gullion Earthcache EarthCache
Ring of Gullion Earthcache
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This Earthcache brings you to Slieve Gullion, the highest point in County Armagh.
Did you know that nearly 60 million years ago Slieve Gullion was a huge volcano? In fact, geologists from all over the world have visited the Ring of Gullion to help them understand how the world has been shaped by fire and lava!
In order to log a find against this Earthcache please send me an email through my profile with the following information, finds logged without emailing me the correct answers will be deleted. Some of the information required can be gotton online but you will need to visit the site for the rest of the requirements
1) Estimate the area of the crater lake using your GPS. I calculated this based on an average of 3 circuits of the lake. Answers will need to be correct to within 0.1 acres.
2) Slieve Gullion is considered to be an extinct volcano. Differentiate between active, dormant and extinct volcanos
3) The crater lake on Slieve Gullion isn't quite at the summit of the mountain. At what elevation is it. This needs to be correct to within 5 metres
4) Name 3 other ring dykes in the world
5) It would be also be great if you could take the (optional) photo with the crater lake in the background and/or any other view that takes your fancy, and include it in your log. This is not a logging requirement.
You can either park in the Courtyard carpark (waypoint added) for a much longer hike or you can park at the upper carpark (waypoint added), this gets you about 2/3 of the way to your destination. To get to the upper carpark you will need to take the Mountain Road from the Courtyard. Please note the Mountain Road is one way and closes at differing times seasonally (take note of the times on the signage)
From the upper carpark you are 120m from the start of trail waypoint. There is a very defined trail the whole way to the summit (waypoint added). Armagh local authorities have been improving the trail up over the last 12 months and there is now a defined path the whole way to the summit of the mountain. Once there you can take the time to explore the remains of the passage tomb near the trig point or (weather permitting) enjoy the panoramic view in all directions. On a clear day you can see the full expanse of both Dundalk Bay and Carlingford Lough with the Cooley Mountains in the middle stretching out in front of you.
From here you now have a short walk across the top of the mountain to the given coordinates which bring you to the crater lake. The gradient at this stage is flat with an occasional downhill gradient, however the nice path you will have enjoyed up until this point is no more. The terrain will be boggy, wet and slippy (don't say you weren't warned 
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While this is a relatively short hike please come prepared for mountain conditions.
The geological information set out below is courtesy of the South Armagh Tourist Board.
The Ring of Gullion is the most spectacular example of a ring-dyke intrusion in the British Isles. The rocks of the area are complex and have featured in international geological debate over the past 60 years or so. The site has attracted geologists from all over the world and featured in a number of new theories that have been put forward to explain the unusual rock relationships. A lot of these theories have now become an accepted part of geological science.
The oldest rocks in the area formed in an ancient ocean more than 400 million years ago during the Silurian period. Masses of molten granitic rock or magma, were later intruded into these rocks, which underlie Newry town and much of the Slieve Gullion area. These granites are some 390 million years old and date from a major period of mountain building in Ireland.
Slieve Gullion (and the Carlingford Peninsula) owes much of its origin to a time of volcanic activity during the Tertiary period around 65 - 50 Million years ago. These volcanic eruptions and events are linked to a time when the continents of Europe and America began to move apart creating the Atlantic ocean and the landscape and geology are similar to that of the Isles of Mull, Skye and Aran in Eastern Scotland.
Slieve Gullion is the eroded heart of a volcano active in the area some 60 million years ago. Volcanoes often develop an encircling ring fault or fracture around them and the Ring Dyke which gives the area its name is caused by magma, or molten rock, reaching the surface at several points in the fracture resulting in explosive eruptions of which there is still evidence today; the encircling ring dyke is some 11km in diameter and includes the hills of Crosslieve, Mullaghbane Mountain, Slievenacappel, Anglesey Mountain, Flagstaff and Sturgan Mountain.
The most common belief among geologists on the formation of Slieve Gullion itself, is that it intruded after the 'ring dyke'
After the initial phase of volcanic activity the rocks of the area were worn down by the processes of air, water and wind to begin the shaping of the modern landscape. A major factor was however to speed up this process of erosion - ICE.
In more recent times the landscape has been shaped by the action of glaciers during successive Ice Ages. Glaciers exploited existing weaknesses in the rocks (faults and softer rocks) to erode deep valleys through the Ring of Gullion. The upstanding hills were glacially scoured leaving craggy outcrops, boulder strewn slopes and rocky ridges and hollows. The valley bottoms were in-filled with glacial deposits forming rounded drumlins, streamlined by the flowing ice. The 'tail' of Slieve Gullion, which itself forms the 'crag', is seen at Dromintee. This is a ridge of boulder clay that was deposited in the wake of Slieve Gullion as it was overrun by ice moving from the north. To the south-east of Slieve Gullion is a ‘tail’ of glacial deposits, the Cashel Loughs lie in ice scoured basins, and the deep valley of Carlingford Lough is thought to have been formed by the ice.
Crater Lakes:
A crater lake is a lake that forms in a volcanic crater. Crater lakes covering active (fumarolic) volcanic vents are sometimes known as volcanic lakes, and the water within them is often acidic, saturated with volcanic gases, and cloudy with a strong greenish color. Lakes located in dormant or extinct volcanoes, such as Slieve Gullion tend to have fresh water, and the water clarity in such lakes can be exceptional due to the lack of in-flowing streams and sediment.
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