Formation of Metamorphic rock
 Regional metamorphism
 Large areas of rock
 Plate movement cause pressure on rocks
 Moved down into crust

Heated and metamorphosied
 Combination of heat and pressure
 Gneiss from granite
 Mayo
 Schist from slate
 Kerry
 Thermal metamorphism
 Rock heated extremely
 Molten magma in contact with rock
 Edges of dykes, batholiths and sills
 Recrytallsation of rock crystals
 Quartzite from sandstone
 Found in Donegal
 Marble from limestone
 Found in connemara
 Dynamic metamorphism
 Plate movement
 Pressure causes harder rock types
 Sticky powder caused at fault lines (fault gouge)
 Slate formed from shale
Formation of limestone
 Inorganic
 Lithification of rock fragments
 Sandstone
 Particles of other rocks accumlate
 During lithification silca glues grains together

 Permable rock
 Formed when ireland was near equator
 Old red sandstone found in cork and kerry
 Used to be long river across ireland carrying sediments which formed these mountains
 Organic
 Limestone
 Formed from build up of sea sediments
 Formed when Ireland lay near equator
 Formed in shallow seas
 Grains cemented by calclium carboate from shells
 Clare, the Burren
 Coal
 Decaying vegetation accumulated on waterlogged soil causes peat
 Futher compaction takes water out creating coal
 Chemically
 Found in evaporated lakes in hot climates
 Gypsum
 37% water dissolved
 Rock salt
 93% of water dissolved
 Both rock types found in Carrickfergus, County Antrim
Formation of igneous mountains
 Intrusive rock
 Plutonic rocks form when magma cools slowly
 Inside earths crust
 Large crystals of

Quartz

Feldspar

Mica
 Granite

Grey in colour
 Batholiths are example of intrusive rock
 Wicklow mountains
 Intermediate/hypabyssal
 When magma makes way closer to earths surface and cools quicker than plutonic rock
 Smaller crystals
 Dolerite
 Fair head sill, county Antrim
 Volcanic/extrusive
 Basalt
 Magma reaches the earths surface
 Cools as lava
 Microscopic crystals

 Dull grey/brown colour
 Giants causeway