Key Clay and lignite Lough Neagh Group Mudstone and conglomerate Dunaghy Formation Basalt Upper Basalt Formation Palaeogene Bauxite clay Interbasaltic Formation Columnar basalts Causeway Basalt Formation Basalt Lower basalt formation Chalk and flints Ulster White Limestone Formation Cretaceous Grey mudstones Waterloo Mudstone Formation Jurassic Mudstone Penarth Group Rathlin Island Mudstone Mercia Mudstone Group Triassic Red sandstone, mudstones and conglomerates Sherwood Sandstone Group Giant’s Sandstone, siltstone and mudstone Millstone Grit Causeway Whitepark Bay Fair Head Limestone Carboniferous Limestone Series Ballintoy 5 Carboniferous Portballintrae Sandstone, conglomerate and mudstone Barony Glen Formation Greencastle Ballycastle Portrush Conglomerate and sandstone Cross Slieve Group Devonian Magilligan Point Bushmills Torr Head Portstewart Metamorphosed sandstone, mudstone and siltstone Runabay Formation Castlerock Glenshesk Benone Glentaisie Downhill Limestone Torr Head Limestone Dalradian Metamorphosed sandstone, mudstone and siltstone Murlough Bay Formation 5 Cushendun Coleraine Armoy Dervock Glendun Binevenagh River Glenaan Microgabbro Mountain Bush Glencorp Macosquin Lough Foyle Rhyolite Bann Slieveanorra Cushendall Granodiorite Valley Mountain A2 Tievebulliagh Mountain Glenari Metamorphosed lavas and tuffs Loughguile City of Derry Ballymoney Garron Garron Airport Plateau Point Andesite Limavady Glenari Ballykelly Glenballyemon River Roe River Eglinton Bann Cloughmills Carnlough Roe Londonderry Valley Glenarm Garvagh 3 Glenarm A6 Glencloy Rasharkin Kilrea Dungiven Swatragh Ballygally Claudy A6 Carnfunnock Broughshane Country Park Cairnryan Causeway Coastal Route Causeway Coast and Glens Region Feeny Cullybackey Slemish Troon Upperlands Mountain Additional Scenic Routes Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty AONB Portglenone Islandmagee Gracehill Ballymena Motorways UNESCO World Heritage Site A42 Larne B900 Sperrin Maghera Ahoghill Roads Marinas Mountains Railway Airports A2 A6 A8 B1550 Ferry Crossings Bellaghy Glenoe Kells A54 0 5 km 10 km 15 km 20 km Castledawson Ballycarry A57 0 5 miles 10 miles 15 miles A6 A26 Whitehead Randalstown Toome Ballyclare Magherafelt A29 A8 A2 Carrickfergus A31 Antrim Templepatrick A6 Whiteabbey Cairnryan A26 Isle of Man Lough Glengormley Neagh A57A Liverpool A29 Newtownabbey A52 N Crumlin A26 W E A29 Belfast Reproduced by permission of the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Oce. S © Crown copyright 2008. Permit Number: 70124 A30 Mid Antrim Teacher’s Sheet Visit Time: 2-3 hours NB: The location numbers are provided moving Northwards from Larne to Waterfoot Bay, but can be done in the reverse order. Students will see a range of rock types representing almost 300Ma of Earth’s history from Triassic to Palaeogene. It is possible to find a range of fossils in the storm beach material at several sites. Evidence of coastal erosion and a range of methods used for coastal protection are evident as are the constant engineering tasks undertaken to keep the coast road open . Waterloo was shortlisted for the global stratotype for the Triassic - Jurassic boundary which can be seen at the foreshore. LWMM T 65 Shingle 63 R O A D 5 HWM MT 1 71 3 57 15.9 Shingle 24 WELLINGTON AVENUE 2 ± 49 19 47 18 17.6 41 1 39 11 5 Shingle 29 Kiln 32 Und (disused) 26 11 3 Irish Sea 24 19.6 GLENARM ROAD 111 Playground Def Sloping Masonary Sks Flat 13 8 Pond Rock UPPER WATERLOO ROAD Playground Und Und Outfall 1 13 2 Iss Def 13 0 D Fn WELLINGT Shelter Def Shingle Chaine Park Shingle Flat Roc k 12 8 13 2 CH ON PARADE 12 6 13 0 Shingle FW 8a FW Iss 6a 12 8 a Def 4a Shelter 2a Nursing Home Priv ate Bur ial Ground 12 8 Flat Rock EarthEarthwork Works 12 4 Sloping Flat Rock ESS Rathmore House Masonry 24.4 2 1 LWMM T 1a Rathmoyle Car Park P RP O M E HWM MT HAWKINGE AVENUE 7 to 12 6 to 1 25.0 A N D E E D Sks Iss Glenarm Road10 7 12 0 05 10 BM 24.39 Shingle Tennis Court Bowling Green G L E N A R M R O A D Tennis Courts Playground 23.8 Groy nes Sloping 1 Masonry DOVER A VENUE Tennis Court 97 Pav ilion Tlts 11 0 Groy ne 22.6 Shingle Sloping Masonr y Bandstand Shingle 10 6 Groy ne Larne Bank Heads LWMM T Town Park 4.0 Bathing 10 4 Place HWM MT 85 Larne Town Shelter Pos ts Park Prom 10 0 enade 81 Shingle FW 4.0 Slop 19.8 ing M CR BANKHEADS LANE asonry 96 - 98 73 73 71 S l o p i n g M a s o n r y 94 4.3 65 Pos t 1 Shingle 3 63a 18.0 63 B A N K H E A D S L A N E Pos t Slipway 47a Tank Pos ts 84 3.7 CR 53 St ComgallsSt Comgall's P R O M E N A D E High School LWMM T 51 S l o p i n g Nursery High School Tennis Courts M a s o n r y 16.6 Boulders ESS Boulders Car Park Sloping BM 16.06 P Shingle Car Park Masonry 49 P ESS Larne Leisure Lodge LarneCentre Leisure Sand Centre HWM MT Pos ts D Fn Car Park Sand 44 2.7 Drumalis Convent 47 FB 3.7 38 rp 2.7 36 C H A I N E 6.4 2 RUGBY ROAD ts rp 41 rp LB M E M O R IA L R OA D 4 4 32 2a a 32 CW 30 28 26 T O W E R R O A D 9.1 0 50 100 200 MetersH A R B O U R W A R D P 24 Location Map Glenarm ± 6.4 Issues Und CH Shingle Irish Sea CF 4.9 Lay-by Lay-by 4.3 Shingle Shingle Coast 4.0Road (A2) 3.4 3 Beach Und P Ballygally CB 3.4 Layby Shingle 419 M I N N I S S O U T H 4.0 Foxhall BB C O A S T R O A D 54 56 025 50 100 Meters Location Map This map material is based upon Crown Copyright and is reproduced with the permission of Land and Property Services under Delegated Authority from the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationary Office © Crown Copyright and database rights – MOU 206.2 POSSIBLE POINTS TO NOTE STOPS All sites can be accessed from the coast road. In most cases there are lay-bys or Access: larger car parks near the beaches. Toilets are adjacent to the large car parks. Waterloo Beds: Drive to Larne Leisure Centre, parking is also available along the seafront road. The sea-side promenade is wide and runs the entire length of the study area. The geological features are on the intertidal bed and are only accessible at low or ebb tide. Check the local tide chart for Larne Harbour and time your visit accordingly. Starting on the seaward side of Larne Leisure Centre head North away from Larne Town, keeping the sea to the right. As you travel north the rocks become younger in age and the colour of the rocks change, from red, through greenish-grey, to dark grey. When these rocks formed (approximately 200 million years ago) sea level and the local environment changed from arid coastal plains, through shallow salty lagoons and eventually open sea. At low tide patches of soft RED SILTSTONE are exposed on the shore. Beneath this siltstone lays more than 1000 metres of similar rock and several thick beds of ROCK SALT. The red siltstone was laid down on a dry arid plain, with salt forming through the repeated evaporation of saline lakes. Today this rock salt is mined deep beneath the surface near Carrickfergus and is used to salt the roads in winter. Continue northwards, the rocks you can see at Waterloo Bay were originally deposited as horizontal layers of mud and silt. Today these rock layers slope to the north with the oldest rocks, around 210 million years old, found towards the southern end of the bay and younger rocks, about 195 million years old at the northern end. In one 4 metre bed of mud and sand these layers have been crumpled, folded and in places almost erased. They were deformed by violent shaking from a powerful earthquake when the layers were part of a soft sea-bed rather than the tough rock they are now. This can be seen to the 1 left, behind an inset picnic bench. All across the UK, from Derry~Londonderry in Northern Ireland to Dorset in southern England, rocks of exactly the same age show the same crumpled layers. This would have been a truly catastrophic earthquake. Continue northwards until you reach steps which lead from the promenade onto the intertidal beds. Occasional fossils can be found here. This is also an excellent location to observe the sharp changes between beds of different ages as the rocks here represent the transition between the Triassic and the Jurassic period. The rocks here at Waterloo Beds were shortlisted as the global stratotype for this boundary, meaning that it would have been the international reference point for this key period in Earth history. This prestigious accolade was awarded to an alternative site in Austria, but the time period setting of this site remains of great significance and for that reason it has been designated as an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI). At low tide layers of grey MUDSTONE and SILTSTONE are uncovered on the shore. They contain fossils of various marine creatures that inhabited a shallow muddy sea. Fossils of sea creatures first appear where the rock layers change abruptly from greenish- grey to almost black.