68 Guide to Belfast. 



The Mesozoic era is represented by Triassic sandstones 

 and marls at various localities from Newtownards to Murlough 

 Bay, by the Jurassic rocks at the foot of the escarpment, 

 from Colin Glen, near Belfast, to the celebrated Lias sections 

 at Portrush, and by the Cretaceous rocks of Antrim. 



The Cainozoic era is represented in Antrim by a remark- 

 able series of basaltic and other igneous rocks, ranging from 

 acidic series, as in the Mourne mountains granite, to basic 

 series, as in the basalts of Antrim — varying from the holo- 

 crystalline to glassy type in their respective series. 



Of the Post-Pliocene times, our district presents many 

 problems worthy of investigation in the varied phenomena 

 of glacial geology. The estuarine clays and raised beaches 

 bring us to a more recent period, and are rich in records 

 which will assist us in our retrospective efforts to restore the 

 geography of the land when first peopled by man. 



The local representatives of the above-mentioned rocks 

 present features somewhat interesting, as in many cases 

 they are the remains of shore deposits, and the strata often 

 are found thinning out as if they represented the deposits 

 of ancient sea margins rather than of deep depressions. 



Arch.i-:an (?) Rocks. 



In the north-east of Antrim, from Cushendun to Murlough 

 Bay, the coast scenery differs from that we have first seen 

 in our entry into the county from Belfast Lough. The 

 basalt escarpment is no longer the characteristic feature of 

 the landscape ; instead, we find rounded outlines and rugged 

 and uneven surfaces. 



The rocks are schists and gneisses, much folded and 

 crumpled, and so metamorphosed that it is now impossible 

 to determine the origin of the series. To understand them, 

 reference should be made to a good geological map of the 

 British Isles, when it will be noticed that these rocks in our 

 locality are but an exposure of an ancient ridge which 

 appears in Ireland near Cookstown, in County Tyrone; the 

 same ridge may be traced to the Mull of Cantyre opposite. 

 In our district this ridge represents a watershed traversing 

 in a north-easterly direction the peaks of Slieveanorra, 

 Agangarrive, Crockaneel, and Carnanmore hills. To the 



