Geography Field Trip
A group of 51 Fifth Year Geography students from Athboy Community School with teachers Mr. Magner, Ms Shanley and Ms Barrett went to Kippure House Estate near Blessington in Co. Wicklow for a river field study on Tuesday April 10th.
The purpose of the field trip was to investigate the impact of geomorphic processes of erosion, transportation and deposition in a river environment.
The group had an enjoyable, action-packed day gathering data in the Liffey. With the aid of the park rangers each student measured River Velocity and classed the river flow using Berg’s Classification. Next the students did a River Channel Cross Section to see the effects of erosion and deposition on the shape of the river. They recorded the gradient of the river itself and used clinometers to carry out a valley profile to see how these process affect valley shape.
The group also did a bedload analysis to see the impact of the processes of erosion and transportation on the material being carried and deposited by the river, in particular, the effect of attritional processes on the load. Using a whiteboard on the riverbed they observed the process of transportation active in the river, Traction, Saltation, Suspension and Solution.
They also observed features of deposition such as a point bar, flood plain and a meander itself and features of erosion like rapids and river cliffs. The students also did field sketches at both sites to take note of the features, conditions and processes evident.
The students are now producing a report on the field trip which is worth 20% of their Leaving Certificate Geography examination.
Fifth Year Geography students embark on a Field Trip at Kippure, Co. Wicklow.
