Tuesday 20 July 2010

Where On Google Earth 210

I thought I would create a blog to host this rather than impose on Lost Geologist. I invoke the Schott Rule (former winners have to wait until posting for 1 hour for each WoGE they got right) but things seem rather slow at the moment, perhaps you are all in the field.
As a hint, the islands in the image are in salt water, so that is only 356,000km of coastline to check ;->



The rules of Where on Google Earth are that to win you post in a comment the location of the image, together with some information on its geological interest. The prize is the right to produce the next one.

11 comments:

  1. You're very quiet out there. To keep things moving, here are some clues.
    There are two boats visible in the picture. Based on my experience of the area they will contain ruck-sacks in which there will be at least one copy of either "A Portrait of the Artist as a young man" or "Ulysses". If Ulysses, the second half of the book will be unread.

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  2. It's the Aran Islands off central western Ireland, lat: 53.11N, long: 9.674W

    Geological interest: Offshore section of the Burren Carboniferous limestone pavement. Scattered across the islands are large boulders, originally thought to have been deposited by glaciers but now thought to have been left by exceptional storm waves.

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  3. I don't have a solution but I just wanted to let you know, that there are actually people out here searching. :-)

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  4. The Aran Islands (specifically Inis Mor at left and Inis Meain at right) at the mouth of Galway Bay off the west coast of Ireland. Wikipedia and the satllite imagery tell me that the islands are composed primarily of karst forming limestone. In addition to their literary and historical attractions, the islands are duly famous for their spectacular sea cliffs.

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  5. These are two of the three Aran Islands, Inishmore and Inishmaan, just West of Galway.
    53°7′0″N, 9°42′0″W

    They are made of karst limestone expanses that are a continuation of the famous “burren” rocks of County Clare.

    Also notable are the great boulders that sit atop of the cliffs, which were put there by giant waves, said to occur about once every century.

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  6. Anyone home? I posted a solution last week but it's not showing up. What gives?

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  7. It's at 53°06'N 9°37'W; the Aran Islands in Galway Bay on the west coast of Ireland.

    This is a limestone karst area, related to the Burren on the mainland.

    The islands are covered by a dense net of stone walls which have been built as fences for animals and to prevent soil erosion. Farming had been made possible by creating soils from sand and seaweed.

    Sadly, I couldn't find out more about this location.

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  8. Looks like Dr. Dave Petley is a first time winner. Congratulations Dave!

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  9. Many apologies in the delay in accepting these comments: technical hitch.

    Kudos for firedawg, Ron Schott and effjot but Dr Dave was first with correct location.

    You've covered the main geological features. Dramatic cliffs on the south side with cliff-top blocks placed by Atlantic storms. The island is entirely made up of Carboniferous limestone with much glacially scoured limestone pavement. The joint network influences the landscape, with many fields as testament to the influence of man on the landscape, who traditionally made up fields with sand and seaweed.

    I can recommend the works of Tim Robinson who writes beautifully on the culture, language, botany and geology of the islands.

    Over to Dr Dave

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  10. Congrats Dr. Dave!

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  11. Where on Google Earth 211 is now on my blog. It can be found here:
    http://daveslandslideblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/where-on-google-earth-211.html

    Good luck!

    Dave

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