ESCR - Attical Complex, Mourne Mountains

Earth Science Conservation Review

Summary Full report
Attical Complex, Mourne Mountains - Overview	Down

Site number:	447
ESCC:	IS
Locality Type:	Inland exposure
Grid Reference:	J293258,J265270,J276197,J260175 Corners of site, Not Entered
Google maps:	54.16539,-6.02031
County:	Down	Council area:	Newry, Mourne & Down District Council
Period:	Quaternary
Stages:	Late Midlandian

Site Description
Highlights:
Cross-valley moraines ridges and benches in the White Water and Pigeon Rock river valleys record valley glacier retreat following an advance of the Lough Neagh ice sheet into and through the Mournes. Tongues of ice occupying the valleys was augmented in many places by ice from corries e.g. on Shanlieve (J249207) and Eagle Mountain (J248225). Local topography dominated the pattern of ice advance and retreat, resulting in neighbouring ice-free and glaciated valleys separated by a high col and medial moraines located at the confluence of two valleys. Ice emerging from the high valleys cut across moraines of the main late Midlandian retreat phase in the vicinity of Attical, and was then diverted to the southwest by the bedrock highs of Aughrim Hill (J282180) and Knockchree Mountain (J275175).
Description:
The White Water valley marks the boundary between the Tertiary G4 granite of the western Mournes and the G2 and G3 granites of the eastern Mournes (Wilson, 1972). G2 is a quartzose granite, G3 is a fine-grained aplitic granite and G4 is a distinctive medium-grained pink-feldspar granite. The upper White Water Valley and Deers Meadow are underlain by Silurian greywacke country rock, which formed the roof of the massif. Deers Meadow is an overdeepened ~1km2 bowl-shaped structural low formed by glacier ice passing over a resistant granite spur (J265274). The southward draining, deposit filled valleys are broadly U-shaped and the rivers, particularly in their upper reaches, cut down to bedrock, which also frequently crops out on the valley sides. For site specific information on the Attical Complex see the following sites: Key Site 461 - Attical Complex - Attical Valley Moraines Key Site 462 - Attical Complex - Attical Valley Outwash
Importance:
The deposits in the Attical complex provide good evidence for many aspects of ice mass dynamics and the temporal evolution of an areas glacial history. Strong topographic control on the pattern of ice frontal position is clearly shown in the White Water valley. A late Midlandian readvance of ice is recorded throughout the Mourne Mountains region and clearly in this complex. Spatial differences in the nucleation areas of large-scale and small-scale glacial events and temporal differences in the severity of climatic deteriorations is demonstrated in the complex, by the patterns of cross-cutting moraines in the complex and the implications this has for the regional-scale pattern of glaciation.
Interpretation:
The landforms of the Attical complex and their associations are inferred to represent evidence for the decay of several valley glaciers during the late Pleistocene period. The pattern of deglacial landform development within the valleys reflects strong topographic control on ice marginal locations and the extent of a Late Midlandian readvance. The complex forms part of regional scale models of the Mourne mountains glaciation. REGIONAL OVERVIEW Moraines in the Spelga Pass are continuous with moraines on the northern flank of the Mournes, and record a synchronous readvance in these areas. The altitude of the moraines records the thickness of ice during the readvance, and infers that the readvance recorded by moraines in Carlingford Lough was also contemporaneous. It is likely that readvances based on local ice in the Bloody Bridge River, Annalong River and Kilkeel River valleys were also contemporaneous. Regional responses of this order are likely to be climatically controlled, and are part of the pattern of climatic oscillations recorded throughout the circum-North Atlantic.
Notes:
For overview and site specific information on other sand and gravel sites within the Mourne Mountains area see the following sites: Key Site 440 - Mourne Plain Complex - Overview Key Site 448 - Bloody Bridge River Valley Complex, Mourne Mountains - Overview Key Site 449 - Northeast Mournes Complex - Overview Key Site 450 - Western Mournes Complex - Overview Key Site 451 - Annalong Valley For general information and references on the sand and gravel landscapes of N. Ireland, and for directions to sand and gravel sites other than those within the Mourne Mountains area, see the following site: Key Site 439 - Introduction to the Sand and Gravel Landscapes of N. Ireland

Keywords
Geomorph:	moraine ridge, outwash, readvance moraine

Access
Management:
Sand and gravel deposits in the Attical valleys are limited and extraction is unlikely to be economically attractive. Existing pits have invariably been left unreclaimed. Most are small, the result of local exploitation, and are not visually intrusive to a significant extent. Conservation problems in the valleys are more likely to arise from increasing use of uplands as recreation areas, with the concomitant degradation of footpaths and slopes. The major moraine ridges in the vicinity of Attical are well-marked and intact, lending a unique character to the local landscape. Any exploitation of these ridges would inevitably be extremely intrusive, because of their arrangement transverse to local roads. Exploitation would have an adverse effect on the quality of the landscape out of proportion to the likely size of any quarry. Similarly, building on the ridges should be discouraged.

Access

Management:

Sand and gravel deposits in the Attical valleys are limited and extraction is unlikely to be economically attractive. Existing pits have invariably been left unreclaimed. Most are small, the result of local exploitation, and are not visually intrusive to a significant extent. Conservation problems in the valleys are more likely to arise from increasing use of uplands as recreation areas, with the concomitant degradation of footpaths and slopes. The major moraine ridges in the vicinity of Attical are well-marked and intact, lending a unique character to the local landscape. Any exploitation of these ridges would inevitably be extremely intrusive, because of their arrangement transverse to local roads. Exploitation would have an adverse effect on the quality of the landscape out of proportion to the likely size of any quarry. Similarly, building on the ridges should be discouraged.

References (7)
Boulton, G.S., 1978. Boulder shapes and grain-size distributions of debris as indicators of transport paths through a glacier and till genesis Sedimentology, vol. 25, pp.773-799.
Church, M. & Gilbert, R., 1975. Proglacial fluvial and lacustrine sedimentation Society of Economic Palaeontologists & Mineralogists Special Publication, numb. 23 In Glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine sedimentation, pp.22-100, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Lawson, D.E., 1982. Mobilization, movement and deposition of active subaerial sediment flows, Matanuska Glacier, Alaska Journal of Geology, vol. 90, pp.279-300.
Middleton, G.V. & Hampton, M.A., 1976. Subaqueous sedimentation transport and deposition by sediment gravity flows In Marine sediment transport and environmental management, pp.197-218 Wiley, New York.
Nilsen, T.H., 1982. Alluvial fan deposits Memoirs of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, numb. 5 In Sandstone Deposition Environments.
Shaw, J., 1975. Sedimentary successions in Pleistocene ice-marginal lakes Society of Economic Palaeontologists & Mineralogists Special Publication, numb. 23 In Glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine sedimentation, Tulsa, OK.
Wilson, H.E., 1972. Regional Geology of Northern Ireland. HMSO, Belfast.

Record type:	ESCR report
Entered by:	E M Porter
Last updated:	7 Jan 2005

Enlander, I., Dempster, M. & Doughty, P., 2026. Attical Complex, Mourne Mountains - Overview, County Down, site details. [In] Earth Science Conservation Review.
https://www.habitas.org.uk/escr/site.php?item=447. Accessed on 2026-11-04.