Fossils and Geology of Helmsdale, North Scotland. Fossil Collecting & Geological Guides

Location Information
	This location has been classified as 'High' the Jurassic Rocks here are highly fossiliferious and rich in reptile remains. The foreshore is rich in large beautiful corals which there are plentiful for all.
	(Recommended) Helmsdale is ideal for families, near to shops, excellent parking facilities, beautiful views and plenty for all to do. Aside from collecting fossils, the beach is teaming with life within the rock pools, so this is also ideal for children.
	Helmsdale has excellent access to the beach, although the shores are rocky, you don't have to walk far and there is a car park at the harbour.
	Foreshore All of the fossils are found on the Foreshore, there are areas of cliff further up North from Helmsdale however these are unfossiliferious.
ACCESS RIGHTS	There are 'NO' restrictions to this location

Please follow our national fossil collecting code

! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES !

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted. You cannot become cut off until you reach the small cliff past the first fossilferous section. From here, you must return before the tide turns as it always hits this small cliff. Once past the next headland it can be very misleading as you cannot see the small cliff even though it may appear as though the sea has got a long way to come in. The foreshore is very rocky, take care when walking around.

DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS: MANY BIRDS NEST ON THE BEACH, in particular Oyster Catchers, there young for safefy bury themselves in the rocks and sand head first and unfortunately they happen to be the same colour as the rocks and sand. IT IS VERY HARD TO SEE THEM, Take extra care where you walk. You will get plenty of warning from the parents who will circle and scream at you until you get out of the way. There are many other birds that nest on the beach here. Please think about the wildlife first.

Other Jurassic Coastal sites in Scotland

There are a range of Jurassic Coastal sites in Scotland, most near Brora have been caused by the Helmsdale Fault. On the Isle of Skye, there are a number of coastal exposures including Bearreriag Bay, Glasnakille, Elgol, Faoilean. 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 with Kimmeridge Clay are, Chapmans Pool, Kimmeridge Bay, Lothbeg, Portgower, Helmsdale, Balintore and Eathie, in Scotland, or Wyke Regis, Bowleaze Cove and Ringstead in Dorset.

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.

Fossils and Scottish Fossil Collecting in Helmsdale North Scotland Geological Guide and Geology Info

Fossils and Scottish Fossil Collecting in Helmsdale
North Scotland Geological Guide and Geology Info