Inter-till Freshwater Deposit at Hollymount, Maguiresbridge, Co Fermanagh

Abstract

Erosion by the Colebrooke river exposed a section in the side of a drumlin at Hollymount, near Maguiresbridge, Co. Fermanagh, during the early part of 1971. Site investigations, including drilling, revealed a thick deposit of freshwater silts containing thin bands of organic detritus, sealed between two separate till sheets. The lower till and part of the laminated silts are below the base river flow; the upper till is in drumlin form. A bulk sample of organic detritus taken from the silts gave a ¹⁴C date of >41,500 years B.P. (Birm. 309). The flora and fauna of the laminated series indicate that the surrounding environment was of open northern aspect during the deposition of the silts.