The Burren's Gray Limestone Carpet

NASA’s Earth Observatory highlights Ireland’s Burren region, where gray limestone pavement formed about 325 million years ago during the Carboniferous and was later folded in the Variscan Orogeny. Erosion and glacial activity carved terraces and exposed karst features called grikes, creating a rugged landscape with pockets of vegetation such as shamrock. The image, captured by Landsat 8’s OLI on May 16, 2025, showcases how tectonics, weathering, and ice shaped this distinctive Irish terrain.