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Giant's Causeway

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: European Geography

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   The Giant's Causeway is an area of 40,000 interlocking basalt columns
   resulting from a volcanic eruption. It is located about 2 miles (3 km)
   north of the town of Bushmills in County Antrim, Northern Ireland along
   the northeast coast of Ireland. It was declared a World Heritage Site
   by UNESCO in 1986, and a National Nature Reserve in 1987 (by the
   Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland). In a 2005 poll of
   Radio Times readers, Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest
   natural wonder in the United Kingdom. It's the centerpoint of many
   famous photos, notably the cover of the Led Zeppelin album Houses of
   the Holy. The Giant's Causeway is owned and managed by the National
   Trust. 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, however there are some with four, five, seven and eight
   sides. The tallest are about 12  metres (36  ft) high, and the
   solidified lava in the cliffs is 28 metres thick in places.

Legend

   Legend has it that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhail (Finn McCool)
   built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish
   counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Finn
   McCool fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he didn't arrive,
   the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To
   protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over Fionn and pretended
   he was actually Fionn's baby son (in a variation, Fionn fled after
   seeing Benandonner's great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as
   the baby.) In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the
   'infant', he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic
   indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the
   Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn.

   The Scottish side of the causeway on the isle of Staffa has similar
   basalt formations at the site of Fingal's Cave that are part of the
   same ancient lava flow.

History

   During the Paleogene period (62-65 million years ago), Antrim was
   subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt
   intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive lava plateau. As the
   lava cooled rapidly, contraction occurred. While contraction in the
   vertical direction reduced the flow thickness (without fracturing),
   horizontal contraction could only be accommodated by cracking
   throughout the flow. The extensive fracture network produced the
   distinctive columns seen today.

   The "discovery" of the Giant's Causeway was announced to the world in
   1693 by the presentation of a paper to the Royal Society from Sir
   Richard Bulkeley, a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, although the
   "discoverer" had, in fact, been the Bishop of Derry who had visited the
   site a year earlier. At the time there was much argument as to whether
   the Causeway had been created by men with picks and chisels, by nature,
   or by the efforts of a giant. The issue was not settled until 1771 when
   a Frenchman, Demarest, announced the origin of the causeway to be the
   result of volcanic action.

Similar structures

   Although the basaltic columns of the Giant's Causeway are impressive,
   they are not unique. Basalt columns are a common volcanic feature, and
   they occur on many scales (faster cooling produces smaller columns).
   Other notable sites include Fingal's Cave in Scotland, the Garni gorge
   in Armenia, the Cyclopean Isles near Sicily, Devils Postpile National
   Monument in California, Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming,
   Basalt Prisms in Hidalgo, Mexico, and the "Organ Pipes" formation on
   Mount Cargill in New Zealand.

Notable features, flora and fauna

   Some of the structures in the area, having been prone to several
   million years of weathering, resemble objects, such as the Organ and
   Giant's Boot structures pictured here. Other features include many
   reddish, weathered low columns known as Giants Eyes, created by the
   displacement of basalt boulders; the Shepherd's Steps; the Honeycomb;
   the Giant's Harp; the Chimney Stacks; Fingal in Northern NSW
   (Australia); the Giant's Gate and the Camel's Hump. The area is a haven
   for sea birds such as fulmar, petrel, cormorant, shag, redshank
   guillemot and razorbill, while the weathered rock formations host a
   number of rare and usual plants including sea spleenwort, hare's foot
   trefoil, vernal squill, sea fescue and frog orchid.

   Giant's Causeway cliffs.

                           The "pipe organ".

                                            A plain of columns.

                                                               The Giant's Boot.

   Basalt columns.

                           The shore.

                                            The Causeway Coast.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant%27s_Causeway"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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