Northern Ireland Mini Break: Giant's Causeway

We woke to more grey skies and the wind blowing an absolute hoolie. Next door to the hotel is the NT Visitor Centre and so we popped in to make sure we weren't being stupid walking a cliff path in such conditions. The chap we spoke to confirmed we'd be OK as the path was actually a few meters inland, but nevertheless appreciated us checking.

This isn't the clearest but it does give an idea of the layout.

You can see where the shuttle bus drops people near the stones and what I mean about them seeming tiny.

The photos above make the weather look quite benign but I can assure you at times it was almost impossible to stand up.

We walked on past the Causeway for some distance until we came to The Organ or Organ Pipes.

You can just see the tops of the Organ Pipes.

Looking down on the Causeway.

And then looking back up the Shepherd's Steps.

Yes, I am wearing a bobble hat under my hood!

The Amphitheatre

The Giant's Causeway is an area of approximately 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption, part of the North Atlantic Igneous Province active in the region during the Paleogene period.

The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although some have four, five, seven, or eight sides. The tallest are approximately 12 metres, and the solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres (92 ft) thick in places

Around 50 to 60 million years ago, during the Paleocene Epoch, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive volcanic plateau. As the lava cooled, contraction occurred. Horizontal contraction fractured in a similar way to drying mud, with the cracks propagating down as the mass cooled, leaving pillar-like structures that also fractured horizontally into "biscuits". In many cases, the horizontal fracture resulted in a bottom face that is convex, while the upper face of the lower segment is concave, producing what are called "ball and socket" joints. The size of the columns was primarily determined by the speed at which lava cooled. The extensive fracture network produced the distinctive columns seen today. The basalts were originally part of a great volcanic called the Thulean Plateau that formed during the Paleocene (the first epoch within the Paleogene period (like decade within century).

So now you know!

Along the beach trail there are various stones around which resemble other things; this is The Boot.

Fortunately the weather has now brightened up. This is the Giant's Gate.

Ian gives you an idea of the height of the basalt columns.

The main site is broken down into three distinct geological sections known as the Little Causeway, the Middle Causeway, and the Grand Causeway. We're standing on the Grand Causeway but I don't know which one we're looking at.