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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1979; v. 8; p. 157-161;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1979.008.01.15
© 1979 Geological Society of London

2. Basement-Cover Relationships

Pre-Caledonian basement to the paratectonic Caledonides in Ireland

P. S. Kennan1, W. E. A. Phillips2 & P. Strogen1

1 Department of Geology, University College, Dublin
2 Department of Geology, Trinity College, Dublin

In NW Ireland the exposed pre-Caledonian basement adjacent to the paratectonic Caledonides contains Grenville gneisses in N Mayo. A pre-Caledonian age is preferred for the amphibolite- and granulite-facies metasediments of the Ox Mountains, Lough Derg and Central Tyrone inliers. Gneissic xenoliths in lower Carboniferous agglomerates indicate that a comparable basement extends southwards beneath a considerable part of the Longford-Down zone in central Ireland. Pre-Caledonian basement is also exposed in SE Ireland. An important change of basement composition is inferred across central Ireland from regional magnetic data and from lead isotope data. This change occurs in the vicinity of the Iapetus suture both in Ireland and Britain.