Page 16 - Summer 2015 FF

BET WEEN A ROCK

AND A SM AR T PL A CE

UMF Students Explore Geological
Formations in Travel Course to Ireland,

Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Photos by
From lef:
Emily Rumble ’16
and Elizabeth Ferry ’16

Giant’s Causeway
World Heritage site,
Northern Ireland

P

rofessor of Geology David Gibson led a group of 16 UMF students on an excitng three-week geology travel course
in May. Afer arriving in Dublin the group made its way to Galway in the west of Ireland where they explored the
beautful landscape and geology of Connemara and County Clare, home of the 700-foot-high Clifs of Moher, as well
as the unique limestone outcrops of the Burren—one of the fnest examples of a glacio-karst landscape in the world.

From there they traveled north, via Croagh Patrick (a notable 2,507 foot-hike) to County Donegal and the village of
Ardara where they conducted feld work and identfed fossils at the magnifcent coastal exposures at Streedagh
Point. The geological highlight of the trip was their exploraton of The Giant’s Causeway World Heritage site in
Northern Ireland with its world-renowned basaltc columns.

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