Unseen and undesired - Part 1

Ireland has 28 confirmed species of earthworms which is interestinly enough more than the UK.

Three hours spent in Beaumont Quarry and my indifference towards earthworms turned into a slight obsession thanks to the facilitators from University College Dublin and Nature Network Ireland. The session was part of the Soil Rise-project which involves raising awareness of soils as mission critical ecosystems – they are literally foundational to our survival.

Imagine this: the layer of soil globally is extremely thin. That’s all the stuff that we use to grow vegetables, fruits and grains in, and it is so sensitive. Even if you’re primarily a meat eater, the animals you eat have to eat foods that grow in soils.

Old Red Sandstone-bricks from Rutland Street in Cork city with what I assume to be paleosols aged from the Devonian Period 360 million years old.

Nearby the plant fossils from the Old Red Sandstone-bricks I worship at Rutland Street, there are other rock bricks with textures reminiscent of paleosols.

Paleosols are literally fossilised soils, and in the case of the wall material on Rutland St, these paleosols might be 360 million years old.

That’s not only remarkable in terms of their age, but also their place in the evolution of life. The timeframe in and around 360 million years ago marks the end of the geological period the Devonian and the beginning of the Carboniferous Period.

Back then the formation of soils was a relatively new phenomenon and it changed the surface of the planet completely. I write a bit about this in my post on fossils from the Old Red Sandstone.

Carboniferous limestone rocks at Beaumont Quarry. Normally, these are white, grey or pale in colour, but these have been coloured orange, green and red from erosion and lichens.

The rocks at Beaumont Quarry were formed a bit after the Old Red Sandstone-soils were made; in warm seas during the Carboniferous Period about 350 million years ago. Dead organisms and mud (some of this mud being eroded Old Red Sandstone) gathered at the bottom of these now long-gone seas before getting buried and turning into the limestone found today across much of Ireland.

A more representative image of what limestone rocks look like.

Flax flowers thrive in limestone-derived soils.

At some places, such as at the bottom of the Quarry, we found a high presence of earthworms, while at other spots, including closer to the limestone cliffs of Beaumont Quarry, fewer or no earthworms were to be found. Different species were uncovered, all of them productive converters of organic material. 

Not a worm, but a larvae of a moth – perhaps the parsnip moth.

Moisture and shade are important for earthworms. Ultraviolet light emitted from the sun harms them very easily, and as such, keeping them in the shade was important. After digging them up and finding a few individuals, we filled the holes up again with the dirt we dug up.

The cocoon or egg casing from an earthworm.

One of researchers present was an expert in earthworms and heightened the mood with his unfiltered excitement at the discovery of species assumed to be rare or specific to certain environments.

A good catch! Two species represented in one hand.

One of the highlights when it comes to chatting to Irish people at these events is that we unapologetically get to the topic of colonialism. I find that there’s an acceptance, especially here in Cork, that colonialism still very much exists and that the colonial mentality underlies much of our destructive and self-destructive superiority complexes.

For me it’s incredibly freeing to be able to have these conversations.

There’s no excuse to not be getting out and learning more about the stuff we take for granted or even vilify. You don’t have to talk about colonialism, but it’s healthy to meet people and show up for events, festivals, workshops and talks.

There’s loads happening in Cork!