CITATION ELGOL COAST SITE OF SPECIAL SCIENTIFIC INTEREST Highland (Skye and Lochalsh) Site code: 606
NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE: NG 520156
OS 1:50,000 SHEET NO: Landranger Series 32 1:25,000 SHEET NO: Explorer Series 411
AREA: 66.49 hectares
NOTIFIED NATURAL FEATURES:
Geological : Palaeontology : Mesozoic Mammalia Stratigraphy : Bathonian Stratigraphy : Callovian Stratigraphy : Oxfordian
DESCRIPTION:
Elgol Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is a long, narrow site encompassing foreshore and coastal cliffs on the Isle of Skye. It lies between Elgol in the south and Camas Fhionnairigh over 4km to the north. Middle and Upper Jurassic exposures in the coastal cliffs and shore north of Elgol demonstrate the succession of fossil-bearing sedimentary rocks within the Great Estuarine Group and show the evolution of primitive animals.
Loch Scavaig is one of the few sites in the world where mammal remains of Middle Jurassic age have been found. It has yielded a partial skeleton of Borealestes serendipitus from the docodont family, which comprised mouse-sized mammals with snouts and burrowing adaptations. The site is the most northerly site in Europe to yield a Mesozoic mammal fossil.
Virtually the entire Great Estuarine Group of Strathaird is exposed in the cliffs and on the foreshore between Port na Cullaidh and Glen Scaladal. The area includes the type section of the Elgol Sandstone Formation and type and reference sections for the Cuillaidh Shale and Kilmaluag formations. The section has provided a large volume of regional palaeogeographical, sedimentological and palaeoecological information relating to the Bathonian.
The SSSI also encompasses the most complete Callovian sections on the Strathaird Peninsula and includes the type section of the Carn Mor Sandstone Member of the Staffin Bay Formation. The base of this member rests abruptly on the Bathonian age Skudiburgh Formation of the Great Estuarine Group. Overlying the Carn Mor Sandstone Member is the Tobar Ceann Siltstone Member of the Staffin Shale Formation, the lowest parts of which are also of Callovian age. The Callovian rocks here are particularly important in palaeogeographical studies of the Mid Jurassic in the Hebrides Basin because the strata here are highly condensed compared with sites in northern Skye.
A rare, relatively complete section through the Oxfordian rocks of the Hebrides Basin occurs along the beach, cliffs and hillsides north of Elgol. The rocks all belong to the Staffin Shale Formation and are locally divided into four members. The oldest member is the Tobar Ceann Siltstone Member, which is partly of Callovian age. The type sections for the other three members, the Scaladal Sandstone Member, Camasunary Sandstone Member and Camasunary Siltstone Member are at Rubha na h’Airighe Baine and the foreshore immediately to the north. The sequence also contains an important assemblage of ammonites. The site is important in elucidating the Oxfordian stratigraphy of the Hebrides Basin.
Elgol Coast SSSI is also important for comparison with Callovian and Oxfordian rocks of equivalent age in Staffin (northern Skye). The thickness and facies changes in these two areas informs our understanding of the palaeogeography of this part of Britain during Callovian and Oxfordian times.
NOTIFICATION HISTORY:
First notified under the 1949 Act: 1964 and 1974 Notification reviewed under the 1981 Act: 10 April 1990 with a 1.6 hectare increase in area. Notification reviewed under the 2004 Act: 15 December 2010
REMARKS:
Measured area of site corrected (from 62.3 hectares).
Part of Elgol Coast SSSI is designated as part of Cuillins Special Protection Area (SPA) for the bird species listed below.
Golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos, breeding