| Previous Site | Next Site |
Earth Science Conservation Review
| Moyard - site of local interest | Down |
| Site number: | 744 | ||
| Locality Type: | Roadside section | Status: | local interest |
| Grid Reference: | J413730 Centroid | ||
| Google maps: | 54.58594,-5.81431 | ||
| County: | Down | Council area: | Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council |
| Period: | Tertiary, Triassic, Permian | ||
| Stages: | Lower Permian, Lower Triassic, Palaeogene | ||
| Lithostrat: | Enler Group, Sherwood Sandstone Group, Dundonald Sill, Carnamuck Formation | ||
| Site Description | |
|---|---|
| Highlights: | |
A condensed exposure of Permo-Triassic sediments crops out below an exposure of the Dundonald Sill (Palaeogene). | |
| Description: | |
Below the Dundonald Sill at Moyard, there are exposures of medium- to coarse-grained pink, brown and yellow sandstones intercalated with thin breccias. The strata are considered to be part of the Carnamuck Formation of the Enler Group (Lower Permian), although the succession is condensed and appears to pass diachronously upwards into the Sherwood Sandstone Group (Triassic). The overlying Dundonald Sill was intruded here during the Palaeogene and is one of three major areas of dolerite sill between Belfast and Newtownards. Although all three (the Dundonald, Scrabo and Ballyrainey Sills) have been given different names it is probable that they are closely related, or even connected, at depth. The Dundonald Sill was formerly quarried for building stone, paving setts and road metal further east at the former railway station [J420 731] and another locality [J418 733]. | |
| Importance: | |
This site is of scientific value as it exposes one of the few outcrops of the Carnamuck Formation of the Enler Group (Lower Permian). | |
| Keywords | |
|---|---|
| Rocks: | Breccia, Dolerite, Sandstone |
| Structures: | breccia, sill |
| Access | |
|---|---|
| Approach: | This site is a roadside exposure 400m south of Dundonald Ice Bowl. |
| Record type: | SLNCI Report | ||
| Entered by: | E M Porter | ||
| Last updated: | 09/10/03 | ||
| Enlander, I., Dempster, M. & Doughty, P., 2026. Moyard - site of local interest, County Down, site details. [In] Earth Science Conservation Review. https://www.habitas.org.uk/escr/site.php?item=744. Accessed on 2026-11-06. |
| Previous Site | Next Site |