 | | Hill’s Port, The Gobbins, Islandmagee, Co.Antrim, June 1997. |
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| Site Type: | Coastal section, Roadside section | | Site Status: | ASSI | | Council area: | Mid & East Antrim Borough Council | | Grid Reference: | J485971 | | Bing maps: | 54.80019,-5.69078 | | Google maps: | 54.80019,-5.69078 | | Rocks |
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| Rock Age: | Tertiary | | Rock Name: | Antrim Lava Group, Lower Basalt Formation | | Rock Type: | Amydaloidal Basalt, Olivine Basalt | | Interest |
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| Minerals: | Analcime, Analcite, Calcite, Chabazite, Gobbinsite, Natrolite, Zeolites, Heulandite, Levyne, Cowlesite, Mesolite, Gonnardite, Travertine | | Other interest: | amygdales |
| Summary of site: |
| Zeolites are a group of hydrated aluminosilicate minerals that commonly occur in basic volcanic rocks, particularly basaltic lavas. They are found in amygdales, mineral-filled bubbles trapped in the cooling lava and in fissures. They occur in zones that indicate their depth of burial, a phenomenon first recognised and described in Northern Ireland. The coastal cliffs around Hill’s Port, and further north at the Gobbins, contain a variety of zeolites including gobbinsite (a new zeolite mineral, discovered here in the late twentieth century). | | The Antrim basalts are famous for the quantity and diversity of zeolites they contain. | | The only threat to these coastal cliffs is from marine erosion which is just as likely to reveal more zeolites as it is to destroy them. |
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