ESCR - Fintona Hills Complex - Newtownsaville Esker

Earth Science Conservation Review

Summary Full report
Fintona Hills Complex - Newtownsaville Esker	Fermanagh, Tyrone

Site number:	498
ESCC:	IS
Locality Type:	Inland exposure	Status:	TBC
Grid Reference:	H500586,H539611 End(s) of linear site, Not Entered
Google maps:	54.47386,-7.22873
County:	Fermanagh, Tyrone	Council area:	Fermanagh & Omagh District Council
Period:	Quaternary

Site Description
Description:
This area extends from Corkhill (H500586) to north of Newtownsaville at (H539611) (5km). It is characterised by sinuous bifurcating ridges, generally aligned northeast-southwest which terminate into hummocky moraine around Brackagh. Ridges are long (to 0.6-0.8km), have flat to slightly undulatory long profiles and are undissected, except for dissection at Eskragh by Eskragh Water (River). In several places, these ridges have been removed by sand and gravel extraction, notably at Dunbiggan (H519591) and Eskragh (H511593) where a ridge has been dug out for about 0.8km. There is one exposure. The Eskragh exposure, 1km south of the village at H509589, cuts across the ridge axis. Facies description This exposure (6m high and 15m wide) shows concentrically-bedded gravel beds (0.3-0.5m thick) with discontinuous (to 1.5 m) sandy interbeds. Gravel units are composed of clast- and matrix-supported granule to pebble-sized clasts (<10cm diameter). Beds are separated by transitional and erosional contacts. The right hand side of the exposure features discontinuous boulder layers. Boulder (<40cm diameter) lithology is ORS, they are mainly subrounded and have an a(t) fabric dip to 210§. The core of the ridge shows tabular bedded units (dipping 025§ to 050§) with pebbles showing an a(t) dip to 170§. The flanks of the ridge show more homogeneous gravels in slumped beds that dip outwards at 045§. Interbeds are composed of sorted medium- to coarse-grained sand and decrease in frequency upwards. Facies interpretation This exposure is interpreted as a subglacial esker deposited from southwest to northeast full pipe flow conditions (cf. McDonald and Vincent , 1972). This is evidenced by the concentric primary bedding, clasts dip, interbedding nature and collapsed flanks which is characteristic of the loss of ice support. The one-sided build-up of boulder layers is attributed to asymmetric water flow under full tunnel conditions. Helicoidal flow across a tunnel will accrete layers asymmetrically or encourage bedform migration from one side of the tunnel to the other (cf. Brennand, 1994). Boulder lags may develop where interstitial fine sediments are transported to slack water depocentres. This process is evidenced by (1) the a(t) boulder dip to 210§, (2) pebble a(t) dip to 170§, (3) the development of finer and better-sorted pebbles and granules to the left hand side of the exposure, and (4) sandy interbed development. Differences in boulder and pebble dip can be accommodated in this model.
Notes:
For site specific information on other sites within the Fintona Hills Complex see the following sites: Key Site 494 - Fintona Hills Complex - Ballinamallard Esker Key Site 495 - Fintona Hills Complex - Crockfadda outwash-moraine system Key Site 496 - Fintona Hills Complex - Dungoran kame-esker-outwash system Key Site 497 - Fintona Hills Complex - Dromore outwash-moraine system For overview information and references on the Fintona Hills Complex see the following site: Key Site 484 - Fintona Hills Complex - Overview For general information and references on the sand and gravel landscapes of N. Ireland, and for directions to other regional sand and gravel sites, see the following site: Key Site 439 - Introduction to the Sand and Gravel Landscapes of N. Ireland This site is also a Site of Local Nature Conservation Importance. See Key Site 746 - Newtownsaville.

Keywords
Rocks:	Gravel, Sand
Relations:	Glacial deposit
Geomorph:	esker


Record type:	ESCR report
Entered by:	E M Porter
Last updated:	6 Jun 2005

Enlander, I., Dempster, M. & Doughty, P., 2026. Fintona Hills Complex - Newtownsaville Esker, County Fermanagh, Tyrone, site details. [In] Earth Science Conservation Review.
https://www.habitas.org.uk/escr/site.php?item=498. Accessed on 2026-11-06.