Fossils and Geology of Bearreraig, Skye. Fossil Collecting & Geological Guides

Introduction to Bearreraig Bay

Skye houses a complete sequence of 400m of the Jurassic history. The entire coast from portree to staffin is fossiliferous Jurassic rocks. This guide features Bearreraig Bay fossils and some local information.

Bearreraig Bay - Skye
Last updated: [26/09/07] last visited 2007

Fossils & Fossil Collecting in Bearreraig

(Bearreraig Bay, Skye) - 2005

Location Information

Fossils are common here, ammonites – belemnites shells and plant/wood remains can be seen at all points in the bay. Commercial collecting here is not common, the site remains fairly unknown, although fossil collectors obviously collected here there is plenty to be found.

(Acceptable)

Not for very young children. The descent and ascent up the cliffs is difficult and steep, one wrong move and you plummet down the cliffs! That said, the path is clear, not slippery and in places has a guide rail, the cliffs are also soft grass. Fossils can be seen along the beach for kids and uninterested partners.

Local toilets are a long drive away at Portree or Staffin (around 5miles each), similarly for food or drinks the best bet is the local towns. The power station at Bearreraig bay has a cliff railway, at the top of this, there is a house and train house where there is a car park and the top of the path down to that beach.

Foreshore, Cliff

Cliff and beach, fossils can be found on the foreshore rocks, pebbles (boulders) but could also be removed from the cliff although this would be dangerous.

SSSI
NO HAMMERING
NO COLLECTiNG FROM SITU
Fossils can only be collected if found in pebbles on the beach. Failure to obey is likely to result in prosecution.

! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES !

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted.

Other Jurassic Coastal sites in Scotland

There are a range of Jurassic Coastal sites in Scotland either on Skye or the North East Mainland especially near Brora which have been caused by the Helmsdale Fault. Other locations near to Helmsdale that are featured on UK Fossils are, Crakaig, Golspie, Portgower, Kintradwell, Lothbeg, Brora River, Balintore, Eathie and Brora Foreshore. Other locations on Skye are Glasnakille, Elgol, Faoilean

For locations which also have Inferior Oolite try Burton Bradstock in Dorset, 'Ketton Quary' in Lincolnshire, or in Gloucestershire you could visit, 'Gilberts Grave'

Stone Tumblers (Lapidary)

Microscopes

Test Sieves for Particle Analysis

Stone Tumblers are used for tumbling and polishing rough rock, stones and pebbles including those found on the beach and glass.

Whilst collecting fossils, on those days where you come back empty handed, you could collect rocks, stones and glass from the beach and tumble then at home.

These are all high quality machines to give a professional finish to your samples. The tumblers can be used with a variety of grits, most commonly Silicon Carbide Grit and Cerium Oxide. We have a wide range of rough rocks for sale too.

Microfossils are much easier to collect because they are so small that the vast majority of collections only concentrate on large finds. These small finds can simply be found by taking small samples of sands, crags, clays and soft rocks and examining them under a microscope.

We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, both for the study of fossils, but also educational and professional for use in the laboratory. We have Stereo microscopes, Compound Microscopes, Polarising Microscopes and Monocular Microscopes.

We have thousands of Test Sieves for Particle Analysis.

Endecotts Sieves: For accurate dependable results you can't buy a better test sieve than Endecotts. At every stage of manufacture each test sieve is individually inspected.

High Precision Tecan manufactures precision apertures as small as 3 microns for a wide array of applications such as filtering, sieving and nozzles. Its high-performance, ASTM/ISO compliant test sieves satisfy the most demanding fine particle grading requirements.

Metal Detectors

Compasses

Fossils

We have a wide range of metal detectors and motion detectors.

Our metal detectors are of a very high quality and are british made by the Viking Company.

Why not take a metal detector when your fossil hunting! you never know what you may find.

We sell a wide range of compasses to both explorers, students to boat owners.

Some field compasses have build in clinometers so you can calculate the height of cliffs.

Our compasses are high quality. They are an essential part of the explorers kit.

All of our fossils are genuine and have been checked carefully, we only buy from reputable sources.

We have a wide range of fossils from low cost budget fossils to expensive stunning display pieces.

Our fossils are of a very high standard and they come from all over the world.

Images, Graphics & Content - (C)opyright 1998-2005 Steve Caine and Joe Shimmin
UK Fossils Management - Alister Cruickshanks & Roy Bullard
UK Fossils Curator - Ian Cruickshanks
UK Fossils is a division of CWA Design and run in conjunction with UKGE. Whilst we try to ensure that all content is accurate and up to date we cannot guarantee this. UK Fossils takes no responsibility in the accuracy of this content, nor takes any liabilities for any trips, events or exchanges between visitors using either the discussion board or the UK Fossils planner. Any posted trips and events by UK Fossils are personal and not arranged by UK Fossils, therefore visitors should seek their own personal insurance cover. Please remember to always check the tide times.
UK Fossils | Discussions | News | Magazine | Search Geo | UKGE

Fossils and Fossil Collecting in Bearreraig Bay Your Skye Geological Guide and Geology Info

Fossils and Fossil Collecting in Bearreraig Bay
Your Skye Geological Guide and Geology Info