Close-up of two erosional gutter casts in the Cambrian rocks of Booley Bay on the western shores of the Hook Head Peninsula, Co Wexford.
Some erosional gutter casts in the mainly siltstones and mudstones of the Cambrian Period at Booley Bay, Co Wexford.  The usually thin beds consist of finer grained material deposited on the deeper part of the Continental Shelf.
These beds are beside a fault in Lumsden's Bay, Co. Waterford.  Why are the ends of the beds turned up?
A cluster of Carboniferous fossils at the tip of Hook Head near the lighthouse.
A good sample of Ediacaria booleyii, one of a group of soft-bodied animals called the Ediacaran fauna..  They flourished from the late Precambrian into the Cambrian Period and the examples in Booley  Bay are thought to be the youngest in the world.  Some geologists doubt that these are true Ediacaran fossils.  The fossils above  date back to 500 million years ago in the late Cambrian Period.
Some of the softer Devonian rocks at Sandeel Bay, Co. Wexford in which plant fossils have been found.
A fossil plant stem or root in the brittle Devonian rocks at Sandeel Bay, and east-facing inlet on the Hook Head Peninsula, Co.. Wexford.
Bedding at Sandeel Bay, Hook Head.

More bedding at Sandeel Bay, Hook Head.
Sedimentary sole structures in the siltstone/mudstone Cambrian beds in Booley Bay.
Another view of sole structures in Booley Bay surrounded by narrow beds of siltstone and mudstone laid down in the Cambrian Period but  now mainly upright.
On a dry but fresh day in March C.G.A. members travelled to Hook Head to be shown some of the very interesting and important geological sites on the peninsula by Prof. Ken Higgs from U.C.C.  For some it was the second ,or even third, visit but the geology of the area is so varied that there is always something that gives rise to further discussion or merits extra attention or study.
Below are some pictures taken of the different rocks seen on that visit.
(Doube click to see full size)
..
A different view of the Ediacaria booleyii.
A group of fossils on the cliff top at Hook Head typical of what san be found in the immediate area, near the lighthouse.
A close-up look at the Cambrian beds at Booley Bay, Hook Head.
A youthful  amateur geologist from Kerry eager to have a closer look at a small cave at Booley Bay.