Geography Marble Arch Caves Physical Processes & Challenges

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43 Marlbank Rd Legnabrocky

Florencecourt

Co. Fermanagh Northern Ireland

BT92 1EW

Tel: 028 6632 1815

(0044 28 6632 1815 from ROI or overseas)

Email: [email protected] www.marblearchcavesgeopark.co.uk

Name: ______

School: ______

Marble Arch Caves & Marble Arch Caves UNESCO NOTES Global Geopark

In 2001, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation) launched its European Geoparks initiative to help protect some of Europe’s most important geological landscapes. Marble Arch Caves and the nearby Cuilcagh Mountain Park were one of the first eight areas recognised as a European

Geopark along with other places in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Other European Geoparks followed and in 2004 UNESCO decided to establish its successful Geoparks initiative on a world-wide or global basis. All the existing European Geoparks were granted Global Geopark status and many other Global Geoparks now exist around the World in countries such as China, Japan, Malaysia, Australia,

Norway, Austria, the Czech Republic, the UK, Portugal and Brazil.

In 2007-2008, the Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark was expanded to include 18,000 hectares of public access land and a number of other significant sites and trails in Fermanagh and Cavan, making it the first cross-border Geopark in the World. Today, the Geopark is one of the largest in the World and is jointly managed by

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and Cavan County Council.

In 2015, UNESCO fully endorsed the Global Geoparks program to officially form UNESCO Global Geoparks. Today there are 127

UNESCO Global Geoparks across 35 different countries.

Back at School: Name two formations which can be seen in Marble Arch Caves Welcome to Legnabrocky Limestone Region. The trail you are about to follow ______will take approximately one hour to complete, during which time you will walk over Dartry Limestone until we meet its boundary with the Glenade Sandstone. ______During the tour you will see a range of limestone features.

In which year did Marble Arch Caves together with Cuilcagh Mountain Park jointly become When you get back to school, visit www.europeangeoparks.org recognised as a UNESCO European Geopark? ______

Now you have visited Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark, see if you can write a paragraph for a new brochure, attracting tourists to visit Marble Arch Caves. ______

Look at the following website: www.globalgeopark.org. What is the type of tourism developed in Global Geoparks? ______

Aside from the geological heritage, what other interests may there be in a Global Geopark? ______

Find the link on the Global Geopark website to take you to the Marble Arch Caves Global Geopark website. Name 3 other sites within the Geopark.

On the website, find a map of other European Geoparks and mark four of them on the map above with their names. Physical Processes and Challenges: A Limestone School Trail Limestone-What is it and how did it get here? Collect a copy of the single sheet brochure for Marble Limestone is a sedimentary rock formed from the organic remains of plant and animal life Arch Caves Global Geopark that would have inhabited an ancient tropical ocean.

Paste it in the space below with the front/photo side to the paper so that you can read the • Early Carboniferous period text. • Ireland is an arid landscape surrounded by warm 340 Million ocean • Massive floods struck the deserts of Ireland and Years Ago washed large amounts of sediments into the ocean • Today, Glencar limestones lie about 75-100 metres below our feet • Glencar limestone is not very pure

• Large cave systems are very rare

• Carboniferous period • Shallow lagoons and coral islands 320 Million appeared in the clearer tropical ocean Years Ago • A purer Dartry limestone was formed • Marble Arch Caves

• End of carboniferous period • Layers of mud and sand wer e deposited 290 Million on top of the limestone by large rivers • Glenade sandstones • Fermanagh’s highest mountains Years Ago

Look at your Ordnance Survey map. What height is the highest point of Cuilcagh Mountain? ______m. To find the answer look at grid co-ordinates 123281. Answer the following questions: Subsidence Doline

How are stalactites formed? Describe the shape of this hollow in the ground ______What stains the calcite curtain? Water may appear in the bottom of the ______doline indicating that glacial drift consists ______of relatively impermeable boulder clay.

How are stalagmites formed? ______Collapse Doline ______You will notice that this doline has a distinctly different appearance compared to the

previous one. How does the shape of this doline differ from the last one? There are 4 pictures below showing the cave with low water levels, a fast flowing river, heavy rain and higher water levels in the cave. Put these pictures in order using the letters ______placed above the pictures. ______

A B If you listen closely you will hear the sound of running water somewhere below. This gives us a clue as to the processes at work in the formation of this feature.

How has this doline been formed? ______

______

Around the collapse doline is an area of hazel scrub. Hazel has the ability to produce new shoots once the stump has been cut. These will eventually grow into rods which in the past were used for constructing fences, creels and thatching spars. C D This process of periodically cutting back hazel growth is known as coppicing and was obviously carried out in this area judging by the numerous stems on each hazel tree. When you get back to the Visitor Centre look at the exhibition area and see if you can find an object made from hazel. C______. Limestone Pavement DVD Questions

This area is notable for its bare limestone surface How are caves formed? which is criss-crossed by deep cracks. ______

This limestone was laid down some 320 million ______years ago however, it was not until the last glaciation, which ended 12,000 years ago, that the Use the space below to sketch and annotate a diagram showing how caves are formed. scouring action of the glaciers, which covered this area exposed the bare limestone. For this reason, limestone pavements are known as examples of “glacio-karst” features.

Since the glaciers of the last ice age receded, solution by slightly acidic rain has dissolved the limestone surface into the present day patterns of clints (solid blocks) separated by grykes (fissures).

Draw a line between and label the two types of limestone in the picture.

The gutter-like features which drain into the grykes are examples of karren features. 1 2 These form as rainwater falls onto the pavement surface and dissolves the limestone as it drains into the grykes. These features include Kamenitzas (solution pans), runnels, troughs and basins.

The grykes often support luxuriant growth of wild flowers and ferns which flourish in the shady and humid conditions and are well protected within the grykes from grazing sheep.

Do you think a limestone area like this has any economic potential? If yes, what?

______

______What positive and negative effects could this have on the limestone environment?

Canyon Passage-How has this passage developed? Positive: ______

Guardian Angel-What is the name of this type of formation and how is it formed? Negative: ______

Cave Tour The Global Geopark attracts tourists to this area but views about Global Geoparks may differ between individuals. Organise yourselves into your groups. Choose a character The Castle from the four below and write down the possible views of this individual to the Global All cave formations which you will see today are made up of ______Geopark. otherwise known as ______.

Rainwater is naturally acidic and as it percolates through the fractures in the limestone it Local hotel owner trying to increase the Local farmer with sheep and cattle on the becomes saturated with ______. The water droplets arrive on the ceiling of the cave number of bed nights and building an land within Cuilcagh Mountain Park and the calcite is precipitated around the rim of the water droplet leaving a calcite deposit. extension to incorporate a new leisure Over time this deposition of calcite builds up to form stalactites of an infinite variation. suite.

Explain why there is discolouration on the formation above the Castle as well as on the

Castle itself.

______

______Phreatic Tube ______Draw the scalloping on the passage surfaces in the box to ______the left. ______What type of force has weathered the rock to create these

scallops? Tourist interested in natural attractions, Student researching peat bog conservation hill walking and cycling. methods in Cuilcagh Mountain Park. ______

______

New Chamber Listen to your guide’s explanation about stalactites and take notes to remember any words in the box below. On the next page draw a sequence of diagrams showing the formation process.

Notes ______Glacial Erratic

60736

64259

57736

60768

54616

52491

48449

54092

55400

49765

52802

51473

49077

45185

48190

43094

41188

45011

44674

40571

49571

51735

60060

51954

53383

50864

56012

32975

58079

38965

51396

59567

36461 Total Annual

62 7 November

4159

3405

2819

1101

1142

160

836

562

537

494

395

240

358

586

481

446

729

311

833

253

276

1012

906

1775

2090

3040 2848 October

How did the glacial erratic get here?

5291

5169

5766

4882

4462

3164

3316

4607

4281

5301

4182

4087

3375

3855

4096

3768

3909

3562

3288

2820

5447

4953

3534

3640

3377

5654

4265

4496

4081

5334

6852 3597 ______September

______

15857

15913

14856

15740

15944

12328

14263

16168

14706

12240

14212

14491

15138

12870

15058

12990

12357

12951

12820

12223

15169

12480

17857

16191

16211

14371

18048

15635

14115

15162

18575

14944 8377 August

15721

13692

12466

13641

12957

11103

12072

12500

13624

12568

10548

12524

11804

11288

10791

9199

10468

10517

9915

8934

10345

11215

14346

13251

13763

14445

14670

12063

16855

12902

16324

15908 14357 Reef Knolls July

8624

7494

7414

7778

7078

7724

6238

8454

8108

8311

7732

7754

7222

6537

6803

4798

6051

7157

6898

5969

7659

10310

10086

8151

8283

8372

7669

9178

5045

8303

7870

6712 June

7810

7644

6463

6126

5719

6637

5482

7953

6007

7813

6665

5420

5237

5133

4839

5907

4604

4442

5914

5455

5939

5948

6026

6659

6079

5436

6323

6341

770

5048 570 May

10094

4803

6642

7362

5192

7216

7023

4788

7024

3932

7766

6492

2974

5331

5935

4423

3557

4605

4628

3935

4133

5489

5959

3587

5018

4627

2385

3085 4270 To the north we can also see a number of rounded limestone hills that are known as reef April knolls. Initially the reef knolls were just irregularities in a lime rich mud on the sea floor

and were prevented from growing any higher by surface storms. However late in the

2618

5074

1321

1536

1743

1879

207

753

488

116

2487

565

514

1434

844

456

321

2777

535

328

113

142

1263

3103 1635 carboniferous period the sea level began to rise and the level of the storm wave base rose March upwards as well. As a result the mounds began to grow upward and this led to the

development of an undulating sea floor with numerous high mounds of up to 60m in to thePayingfor Marble Customers Statistics Visitor since openingCaves Arch in 1985

12 140 height. February

The reef knolls have resisted the effects of erosion better than the surrounding rocks and

13-Mar

14-Mar

23-Mar

29-Mar

17-Mar

30-Mar

15-Mar

30-Mar

27-Mar

25-Mar

29-Mar

26-Mar

02-Apr

17-Mar

March

April

15-Mar

28-Mar

01-Apr

28-Mar

29-Mar

25-Mar

04-Jul

17-Jul

18-Jun

29-May

24-Mar

29-May Date are now visibly dotted across the Marlbank landscape. Opening

2017

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1986 1985 Year

The previous page gives you the monthly statistics for paying visitors to Marble Arch Peat Bog Caves since they opened in 1985. The grey shaded areas are months that the caves were closed to the general public. The table shows that 1995 was a particularly good year and that there was a sudden drop in both 1998 and 2001. The reason for the fall in numbers Label the photographs to show the difference between the limestone and the peat bog in 1998 was because of an extension to the Visitor Centre resulting in late opening and vegetation below. political unrest in the country later in that year. See if you can find out why there was a big increase in 1995 and another fall in 2001.

1995 ______

______

2001 ______

______

Do you think there is a high season and a low season of visitors in Marble Arch Caves? Why? If yes, what are they?

______

We know that limestone is generally a very well drained rock so how can a limestone area support the growth of an area of bog? ______

Human Impact on the Peatland Ecosystem of Cuilcagh Use connecting lines to tell the story of the cottage:

Mountain Limestone

Local Materials Lorries

1930s Red Brick Cottage

Glacial Erratics Cement

Sandstone 1970s Donkey

Transportation

What type of activities can damage the bog? ______

______

Limestone Outcrop

Dartry limestone outcrop exhibits joints and bedding planes, two basic structures in limestone which control water movement through the rock and cave development.

Bedding planes indicate the initiation or completion of sediment deposition cycles in the tropical ocean in which the limestone was formed ___ million years ago. In the case of Dartry limestone the beds are relatively thick or massively bedded. This indicates a relatively stable climate, ideal for the formation of limestone.

About 75 metres below our feet is a different form of limestone, called Glencar Limestone. Peat Bog This was formed before the Dartry Limestone, about ___ million years ago. This limestone contains less calcium carbonate (maybe only 50%). It has formed into much thinner beds As we look further up the track we will see that there is very different vegetation from the which are sometimes interrupted by layers of siltstone as it was not formed under ideal grasses and sedges that dominate the limestone areas. This is because we will see peat conditions. bog with vegetation that is dominated by mosses and heathers. Peat bog forms where the

ground becomes waterlogged. Soil micro-organisms need oxygen to break down dead At the base of the cliff we can see tufa beginning to form. This is a calcareous mineral plants. As waterlogged soils are very poor in oxygen dead plants do not decompose as (calcium carbonate) deposited by water flowing over vegetation (in this case moss). The well. plants cause the precipitation of the mineral by extracting carbon dioxide (CO2) from the water. This, over a long period of time causes the dead plants to build up into a deposit that is left on the surface of the ground. This deposit is called peat. The work of the soil microbes is further hindered by organic acids, which are left behind by the partial decomposition of the dead plants.

Peat bogs are difficult environments for plants due to high acidity, low nutrients and water- logging. Therefore, they are home to a very distinct type of vegetation.

Listen to your guide and write down the names of four different types of vegetation which can be found in the bog. ______What is the name of this horizontal feature? ______

On a clear day you can see the summit of Cuilcagh from this point. If you look to the right Stream Sink and Lazy Beds of the summit plateau, you will see the Cuilcagh Gap. Find the Cuilcagh Gap on the map. At which co-ordinates can you see the Cuilcagh Gap? _ _ _- _ _ _

What fuel can be taken from the bog? ______