The Carboniferous coral reefs of “Cork City” Eventually, sea levels rose, and the area of “Cork City” transitioned from these river plains to coasts and eventually, by 350 million years ago, to shallow seas. By now we are in the next geological period: the Carboniferous. The Carboniferous shallow seas were populated by corals, fish, crinoids, molluscs and sea sponges under a tropical climate. It was a much livelier place than the former Devonian floodplains. If you were snorkelling around these parts, you would spot sharks swimming amongst extensive coral reefs with nautiloids suspended in the water sporting beautiful shells. These beautiful sea kingdoms eventually became the limestone that we find all over the City.
The area of Cork City during the Carboniferous.
A lot of the limestone is created from leftovers of corals, seashells, sponges and crinoids, and in the limestone layers of Cork City we find fossils of these in abundance! It is especially the crinoids that are amazing and numerous to observe, and as such some of the limestone is referred to as crinoidal limestone. There would have been volcanic eruptions on distant surrounding islands, for example, at what is now Buttevant. All in all, an exciting time to have been around: a warm climate, volcanoes, high marine biodiversity and beautiful diving experiences. But as with anything else, this was not meant to last. These seas disappeared, and land overtook the area again. One more series of events left its impressive mark on the rocks of Cork...
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