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Earth Science Conservation Review
| Noon's Hole-Arch Cave; Limestone pavement | Fermanagh |
| Site number: | 413 | File Number: | H04 |
| ESCC: | IC | ||
| Locality Type: | Karst | Status: | ASSI |
| Grid Reference: | H0849,H0949,H0948,H0947 | ||
| Google maps: | 54.39002,-7.87683 | ||
| County: | Fermanagh | Council area: | Fermanagh & Omagh District Council |
| Period: | Quaternary, Carboniferous | ||
| Stages: | Asbian, Holocene, Visean | ||
| Lithostrat: | Dartry Limestone Formation, Glenade Sandstone Formation, Glencar Limestone Formation, Knockmore Limestone Member, Meenymore Formation | ||
| Site Description | |
|---|---|
| Description: | |
The two benches separated by a scarp dominate the topography of this area. The upper bench is comprised of the cherty facies and Knockmore Limestone Members which dip gently west-southwest. The good limestone pavements described in the Pollaraftra area continue south on the upper bench and include an area just south of the car park which contains abundant silicified colonial and solitary rugose corals including Siphonodendron junceum, S. pauciradiale, S. martini and Rotiphyllum sp. Small limestone cliffs and solutional dolines add to the karst landscape in the area, but the most striking surface features are the pothole of Noon's Hole which lies on the edge of a large closed depression, the collapse doline at Pollanaffrin and the episodic stream sinks in the Edenybreslen river bed. At Arch Cave the large vaulted cave entrance, boulder strewn cascades and the waterfalls in the Glencar Limestone below the resurgence are archetypal karst features. | |
| Notes: | |
Limestone pavement is a feature of the Noon's Hole-Arch Cave area of the Belmore, Ballintempo and Tullybrack Uplands. For general information on the systems and features of the Noon's Hole-Arch Cave area, including this one, and a reference list, see site description 'Belmore, Ballintempo & Tullybrack Uplands; Noon's Hole-Arch Cave'. | |
| Keywords | |
|---|---|
| Rocks: | Limestone |
| Fossil Groups: | Coral |
| Geomorph: | cliff, doline, dry valley, karren, limestone pavement, pothole, sinkhole |
| Measurements | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Length: | Width: | Height: | |||
| Depth: | Area: | ~1 km2 | |||
| Record type: | ESCR report | ||
| Entered by: | Doughty, P.J. | ||
| Last updated: | 24 Dec 2003 | ||
| Enlander, I., Dempster, M. & Doughty, P., 2026. Noon's Hole-Arch Cave; Limestone pavement, County Fermanagh, site details. [In] Earth Science Conservation Review. https://www.habitas.org.uk/escr/site.php?item=413. Accessed on 2026-11-08. |
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