Coast

The coastline of the North York Moors National Park is famous for its rugged appearance and raw beauty. The geology of the coast is also famous with people visiting for over two hundred years to study the extensive rock outcrops. The rocks that are exposed in this stretch of coastline, are mainly Lower and Middle Jurassic in age.

The black shales of the Lower Jurassic form the lower sections of many of the cliffs. These rocks are around 200 million years old and were formed at the bottom of great oceans. These seas were teeming with life including the coiled ammonites, bullet shaped belemnites and many other animals with hard shells. The most impressive fossils of these rocks are the great marine reptiles such as ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and marine crocodiles whose bones can still be found today. Great skeletons of these animals are on display in Scarborough, Whitby and York museums.

One product of the Lower Jurassic shales has led to entire headlands being quarried away to leave spectacular almost lunar scenery as can be seen at Sandsend and other locations across the National Park. This is alum, an important chemical in the dyeing of cloth. Other industries have left different marks on the coasts, mining for jet, for example, has left numerous holes running into the shale cliffs where miners have followed the fossilised trunks and branches of Jurassic monkey puzzle trees.

The upper section of the coastal cliffs are made of the same middle Jurassic sandstones seen in the central moorlands, and it is in these rocks we find fossil plants and dinosaur footprints. It is the abundance of these prints that has led to the coast being called the Dinosaur Coast.

For more information you can visit the Dinosaur Coast website.

WARNING

The North Yorkshire coastline is very dangerous. Before embarking on any trip make sure you are properly equipped, have checked tide times and have told somebody where you are going.