10
collectors could aid the processes of erosion
it is important to collect only from the
slipped masses and -from the beach and not from
the cliffs themselves. The area has been
designated "a site of special scientific
interest" by the Nature Conservancy Council and
it is therefore important that erosion is kept
to a minimum. Many well preserved molluscs
can be found in the Red Crag, the bivalve
Glycymeris glycymeris and the gastropod
Neptunia contraria being amongst the most
common. These fossils are so well preserved
they look just like modern day shells and it is
difficult to imagine that they are over one
million years old. Mineralised bone
fragments, sharks teeth, etc. are also quite
common particularly in the "junction bed" at
the bast of the Crag. I have, for many years,
been searching the cliffs for some of the
larger sharks teeth that can be found here but