Lecture by Dr. Lara O’Dwyer-Brown “The Geology of My Native Ireland”
Last Updated: 2nd Jun 2014By James Urbaniak
By Jim Urbaniak
5/21/2014
On April 4th, playing to a standing room only crowd of 60 people for the Oregon Agate and Mineral Society members and guests, Dr. Lara O’Dwyer-Brown, outgoing Curator of the Rice NW Museum of Rocks & Minerals, gave an extremely engaging presentation on the geology of her native Ireland. Dr. O’Dwyer-Brown grew up in Ireland and completed her BA in Geology at Trinity College, Dublin. She went on to complete her PhD in Geology at the University of California, Davis. In addition to her curatorial experience, she is a specialist in mineralogy and petrology. Though having many years experience studying the geology of Ireland, her subsequent immersion into the incredibly varied geology of the United States was an eye opener. “I had no idea jasper came in so many incredible colors. I just thought it was all dull earth tones,” quipped Dr. O’Dwyer-Brown. One of her favorite stones and indisputably her favorite jasper is Willow Creek, which was given as a special presentation piece and thank you for her lecture and years of friendship and partnership. Lara has become a dear friend and colleague to the members of the Society. Not only will she be missed as Curator of the Rice Museum, with her departure to a new life in Norway, her enjoyable company as a friend will be missed too.
The lecture was particularly interesting from a geological history standpoint. Most attendees had no idea Ireland is actually two islands, coming together beginning about 600 million years ago with the western half coming out of the Iapetus Ocean in Laurentia and the eastern half coming out of a small continent known as Avalonia. These two submerged islands came together very slowly to form one island and rise up out of the ocean over the span of 50 million years. Lara walked the audience through the earliest geological history, beginning with where the two parts of Ireland were in relation to the Pangea landmass. As craggy as so much of Ireland is and especially along its shore lines, it was interesting to note that the oldest rock mass in Ireland dates to 1.7 billion years old. The audience seemed to listen raptly, as through her PowerPoint presentation Lara gradually showed the geographical transformation into the geologically contemporary Emerald Isle.
Following the transformation from very ancient to modern Ireland, we learned a bit about some of the most famous geological formations of Ireland, as well as industry revolving around the stone trade. Highlights of Irish geology included but were not limited to the Blarney Stone, of course. Its origin and purpose is best left for a discussion over pints in a pub. Lara shared a little Irish folklore with the story of how the Giant’s Causeway came to exist. While those of us who are scientifically minded know this is a natural formation of pillared basalt, it is still enjoyable to believe there are giants throwing rocks to create bridges to their neighbors, for whatever intent.
The presentation ended with discussion about some of the stone material Ireland is best known for. While Ireland isn’t particularly well known for their mineral deposits, Connemara marble is probably the most notable stone associated with Irish geology. This intensely rich green serpentine material comes out of the west of Ireland from Connemara and has been used for facing buildings as well as for decorative items throughout the civilized history of Ireland. Ireland is also particularly well known for its considerable limestone deposits, containing a great diversity of fossilized remains of very ancient marine life. Certain metallic mineral deposits are also commercially viable in Ireland, not the least of which are lead and tin. Lara’s enthusiasm and warm embrace of both the amateur and professional earth sciences community in the Portland Metro will be greatly missed and it is hoped she will remain in touch with her new friends.
5/21/2014
On April 4th, playing to a standing room only crowd of 60 people for the Oregon Agate and Mineral Society members and guests, Dr. Lara O’Dwyer-Brown, outgoing Curator of the Rice NW Museum of Rocks & Minerals, gave an extremely engaging presentation on the geology of her native Ireland. Dr. O’Dwyer-Brown grew up in Ireland and completed her BA in Geology at Trinity College, Dublin. She went on to complete her PhD in Geology at the University of California, Davis. In addition to her curatorial experience, she is a specialist in mineralogy and petrology. Though having many years experience studying the geology of Ireland, her subsequent immersion into the incredibly varied geology of the United States was an eye opener. “I had no idea jasper came in so many incredible colors. I just thought it was all dull earth tones,” quipped Dr. O’Dwyer-Brown. One of her favorite stones and indisputably her favorite jasper is Willow Creek, which was given as a special presentation piece and thank you for her lecture and years of friendship and partnership. Lara has become a dear friend and colleague to the members of the Society. Not only will she be missed as Curator of the Rice Museum, with her departure to a new life in Norway, her enjoyable company as a friend will be missed too.
The lecture was particularly interesting from a geological history standpoint. Most attendees had no idea Ireland is actually two islands, coming together beginning about 600 million years ago with the western half coming out of the Iapetus Ocean in Laurentia and the eastern half coming out of a small continent known as Avalonia. These two submerged islands came together very slowly to form one island and rise up out of the ocean over the span of 50 million years. Lara walked the audience through the earliest geological history, beginning with where the two parts of Ireland were in relation to the Pangea landmass. As craggy as so much of Ireland is and especially along its shore lines, it was interesting to note that the oldest rock mass in Ireland dates to 1.7 billion years old. The audience seemed to listen raptly, as through her PowerPoint presentation Lara gradually showed the geographical transformation into the geologically contemporary Emerald Isle.
Following the transformation from very ancient to modern Ireland, we learned a bit about some of the most famous geological formations of Ireland, as well as industry revolving around the stone trade. Highlights of Irish geology included but were not limited to the Blarney Stone, of course. Its origin and purpose is best left for a discussion over pints in a pub. Lara shared a little Irish folklore with the story of how the Giant’s Causeway came to exist. While those of us who are scientifically minded know this is a natural formation of pillared basalt, it is still enjoyable to believe there are giants throwing rocks to create bridges to their neighbors, for whatever intent.
The presentation ended with discussion about some of the stone material Ireland is best known for. While Ireland isn’t particularly well known for their mineral deposits, Connemara marble is probably the most notable stone associated with Irish geology. This intensely rich green serpentine material comes out of the west of Ireland from Connemara and has been used for facing buildings as well as for decorative items throughout the civilized history of Ireland. Ireland is also particularly well known for its considerable limestone deposits, containing a great diversity of fossilized remains of very ancient marine life. Certain metallic mineral deposits are also commercially viable in Ireland, not the least of which are lead and tin. Lara’s enthusiasm and warm embrace of both the amateur and professional earth sciences community in the Portland Metro will be greatly missed and it is hoped she will remain in touch with her new friends.
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