Earth Science Conservation Review
| Blaney Quarry | Fermanagh |
| Site Type: | Quarry (disused) |
| Site Status: | local interest |
| Council area: | Fermanagh District Council |
| Grid Reference: | H167525 |
| Google maps: | 54.42125,-7.74271 |
| Rocks | |
|---|---|
| Rock Age: | Carboniferous (Chadian, Visean) |
| Rock Name: | Ballyshannon Limestone Formation |
| Rock Type: | Limestone |
| Interest | |
| Fossil Groups: | Brachiopod, Coral, Foraminifera, Microfossil, Microfossils |
| Other interest: | Marine sediments |
Summary of site:
Determining the ages of boundaries between different rock formations is an important aspect of geology, and rocks in the neighbouring quarries at Blaney, Carrickreagh and Inisway are a case in point. Throughout this area of Carboniferous rocks the junction of the Ballyshannon Limestone Formation with the rocks below is not seen, but these limestones with their shaley partings are thought to be the oldest and close to the junction.
Fossils are common in the quarries, particularly corals and brachiopods, but it is the microfossils that have proved to be critical for dating. Fifteen species of microscopic foraminifera and algae have been identified and two are definitive: Eoparastaffella, a foraminiferan, and Koninckopora, a plant. The presence of these two and the absence of another foraminiferan group, the archaediscids, fix a late Chadian age for these rocks (about 345 million years ago).
Access is not a problem and the only threats appear to be overgrowth from disuse and dumping.
Fossils are common in the quarries, particularly corals and brachiopods, but it is the microfossils that have proved to be critical for dating. Fifteen species of microscopic foraminifera and algae have been identified and two are definitive: Eoparastaffella, a foraminiferan, and Koninckopora, a plant. The presence of these two and the absence of another foraminiferan group, the archaediscids, fix a late Chadian age for these rocks (about 345 million years ago).
Access is not a problem and the only threats appear to be overgrowth from disuse and dumping.
| Enlander, I., Dempster, M. & Doughty, P., 2024. Blaney Quarry, County Fermanagh, site summary. [In] Earth Science Conservation Review. https://www.habitas.org.uk/escr/summary.php?item=174. Accessed on 2024-12-26 |
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