Geological
Society
RIGS Geology Action
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Text and images from the Belhaven Bay leaflet, produced in 2004 by Geology Action and 1st Dunbar Guides.
Visit
the RIGS publications page for more details
on ordering copies.
B
is for the beach played on by many a friend
E is for the estuary, which is the river's end
L is for Linkfield, the start of our trail
H is the high water mark where the boats can't sail
A is for action of the river and the sea
V is for volcano, one of the nearest begins with B!
E is for erosion of the cliffs and rocks
N is for nature, it changes, never stops.
B is for Bass Rock sitting in the Forth
A is for adventure when we're walking North
Y is for yellow which the sand is not!
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You can see the ripples in the sand at the beach and you can also see fossilised ripples in the sandstone. On a windy day
you will be able to see how a sandstorm can make waves of sand blow
across the
beach and form the sand dunes of tomorrow. |
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Most of the rock around Belhaven Bay is sandstone. The colour of the sandstone depends on how much iron is in it. Many
shells can be found in the raised beach including the cowry shell. |
The Bass Rock is a volcanic plug of igneous rock in the Firth of Forth. It is one of the world's biggest nesting places for gannets and often appears white as it has so many birds on it. |
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Belhaven Bay is a great place to see how trace fossils are formed. The footprints that we and the other animals make today could become the fossils of the future millions of years from now. When the sand is wet you might find that there is wiggly, squiggly marks in the sand. They are like piles of soft spaghetti. Lugworms are burrowing under the sand. They squirt out their waste when they are finished eating. These will also be fossils of the future. |
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This
is a picture of the different layers in a raised beach on the estuary
at the 'Skittery Burn'. The layers were made by waves when the tide came
in and out. Tiny bits of sediments were left. As erosion occurs different
layers are exposed. This also makes the trees growing on the edge at the
top fall.
A raised beach is a piece of land that used to be a beach but the sea has changed levels leaving the sand, rocks and shells in layers. Geologists have dated the shells in this raised beach to be about seven thousand years old.
Dunbar is also famous for its lifeboats. The lifeboats are used to save people who get stranded at Belhaven Bay.
The
Seagulls fly up in the sky
While gannets dive for fish
The seaweed crisps on the shore.
As the water rises up the
sands
And sunset sets behind them
The sound of water as it smacks the sand
Makes a slish slosh noise
And waves get higher and higher.
The beach is peaceful and
a home to all
I hope the beach stays that way.
There are a lot of animals at Belhaven Bay. The most common are seagulls. In the water you find fish, sea worms, crabs and swans.
The
beach sand has been carried here over the years and deposited, building
up layer by layer. Sediments usually form horizontal layers (beds) as
they settle but sometimes the layering is at an angle, called cross bedding.
Cross bedding occurs because of heavier particles of sand falling down
dune faces and depositing at an angle to the bottom of the slope.
John Muir was born in 1839 and he loved nature. He was born in Dunbar and when he was 11 he moved to America where he became a farmer, mountaineer, explorer, geologist and most importantly a conservationist. The beaches we explored were on the John Muir Trail. His first love was wilderness.
