IrelandGeological Formations

Irish Countryside www.go-today.com

The Giants Causeway960 x 720 235.0KB geology-is-the-schist.tumblr.com

The Giant's CausewayThe Giant's Causeway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (United Nations Environmental, Scientific and Cultural Organization). This designation was given in 1986 to what has been widely referred to as the eight wonder of the natural world. This is the only World Heritage Site designated in Northern Ireland and one of only three in Ireland. The site includes the Giant's Causeway and the coastline along to Benbane Head, a unique landscape and geological exposure of hexagonal basalt columns.

http://www.causewaycoastalroute.com/giants-causeway.html

Giant’s Causeway .. columnar basalt in Northern Ireland photo

by János Kovács tamop412a.ttk.pte.hu

Rocks folded during mountain building, Cornwall © N.H. Woodcock 2048 x 1536 717.9KBwww.esc.cam.ac.uk

County Clare’s Cliffs of Moher are some of the highest sea cliffs in Europe,at about 200meters high, straight out of the sea. journals.worldnomads.com and www.ireland.com/en-us/amazing-places/cliffs-of-moher

Major tectonic features of Ireland

Galway, Connaught, Ireland. A naturally cut hole in the limestonewww.scot-image.co.uk

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Leinster Granite Seismic Project (LEGS): A Wide-Angle Study of a Late ... More

www.geophysics.dias.ie

The Emerald Isle

Lush, green vegetation

• Ireland, commonly referred to as the Emerald Isle for its lush green vegetation, lies in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of the United Kingdom. All together, the island covers a total of 32,595 square miles.

Mountains and Hills• The island features a lowland area

in its center, with glacier-smoothed mountains around much of the edge. Ireland's main mountain ranges -- the Donegal Mountains in the northwest, Wicklow Mountains in the east, Mountains of Connemara in the west and Mountains of Kerry in the southwest -- ring the limestone-rich central plain in the island's center.

What Are Ireland's Main Landforms?

• Coasts

• Ireland is famous for the beautiful craggy sea cliffs along its western coastline. Among the most dramatic are the Cliffs of Moher, which reach over 700 feet. Scotland lies to the northwest of the island, across the North Channel. Directly to the east, the Irish Sea separates Ireland from England. Wales is also close by to Ireland's southwest, across St. George's Channel. Ireland's many bays and peninsulas account for its long coastline, covering 3,500 miles.

• Islands

• Off Ireland's western coast lie a number of wind-swept islands, including Achill Island, Valentia Island and Tory Island, which are sparsely populated since their rocky limestone terrain supports little agriculture. Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer are the names of long-populated but remote AranIslands, reachable only by plane or ferry.

• Special Features

• The Ring of Kerry, found on the the Iveragh Peninsula, is filled with strange rock formations, including the imposing Skellig Rock. Another group of rock formations, the Giant's Causeway, resembles a road leading into the North Channel. The rocks, hexagonal columns of basalt, formed millions of years ago from volcanoes in the area

• http://traveltips.usatoday.com/irelands-main-landforms-52985.html

Lakes and Rivers

Longest and most famous of Ireland's rivers is the 240-mile-long River Shannon. Other important rivers include the Barrow, Blackwater, Boyne, Finn, Lee, Liffey, Nore, Slaney and Suir. Among the country's main lakes -- which in Ireland are called loughs -- are the Loughs Conn, Corrib and Mask. Lough Allen, Lough Bafin, Lough Derg and Lough Ree are four big lakes formed by the River Shannon.

Peat Bogs

Some 15 percent of the land in central and western Ireland is covered in peat bogs. Once ancient lakes, the bogs are now filled with a spongy mixture of mud and sphagnum moss, which rural residents historically used to heat their homes. The largest group of bogs, the Bog of Allen, is located in the center of the Republic of Ireland and covers 375 square miles.

Irish North Coast

Sea cliff, seas stack, ocean bay

Different types of rocks

Rolling hills and steep mountainsireland-county-kerry-killarney-national-park-lake-mountain Morenyulocal.com

Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle thanks to its green pastures ... Moretraveltips.usatoday.com

• Slemish, County Antrim, where Saint Patrick is said to have worked as a shepherd while a slave.

Lush green fields

Dream Tomorrow, Live Today, Cherish Yesterday Morebobtowery.typepad.com

Ireland's romantic Dingle Peninsula is gloriously green. / Dominic archive.delawareonline.com

Northern Coast of Ireland

Alternative Energy in IrelandPosted on 23 January 2015. http://www.gotosolarenergy.com/alternative-energy-info/alternative-energy-ireland/

The Irish are currently pursuing energy independence and the further development of their robust economy through the implementation of research and development into alternative energy sources. At the time of this writing, nearly 90% of Ireland’s energy needs are met through importation—the highest level of foreign product dependence in the nation’s entire history. This is a very precarious situation to be in, and the need for developing alternative energy sources in Ireland is sharply perceived. Ireland also seeks to conserve and rejuvenate its naturally beautiful environment and to clean up its atmosphere through the implementation of alternative energy supplies. The European Union has mandated a reduction in sulphuric and nitric oxide emissions for all member nations. Green energy is needed to meet these objectives.

Ireland’s Ardnacrusha hydro-electric power station - a clean-tech .www.siliconrepublic.com

• Hydroelectric power has been utilized in Ireland in some areas since the 1930s and has been very effective; however, more of it needs to be installed. Ireland also needs to harness the wave power of the Atlantic Ocean, which on its west coast is a potential energy supply that the nation has in great store.