This shape of this landscape is further due to the way the rocks were compressed and deformed during the Variscan Orogeny. That is why we see strong wavy features and folds in cliffs both here in the City and along the coasts of County Cork. Many of these wavy features are small - a few metres wide, for instance, at Upper John Street - but at other times they can reach several kilometres in width. The Lee Valley is shaped from such a huge geological fold structure. This fold is responsible for the continuous hills running north of the Lee Road and N22. The Old Red Sandstone layers appear topographically taller due to their resistance to erosion compared to the limestone layers. Again, the landscape of the City is a direct consequence of the geology and the structure of the rocks underneath it. The view from Bell’s Field confirms this and displays many of the processes and concepts we have discussed here.
View from Patrick’s Hill looking down towards the City Centre. The image at the right is a colourised version of the left image. Red marks areas were the Old Red Sandstone makes up the foundation. Orange marks where Carboniferous sandstones, siltstones and mudstones lie beneath. Finally, blue marks the areas were the Carboniferous limestones make up the foundation.
Finally, we can easily traverse over to the building that summarises Cork City’s geological heritage: the Shandon Bells & Tower, St Anne’s Church.
24
Powered by FlippingBook