The geology of St Monans Beach, Fife - Sunday 8th March 2026 - 11:00 to 13:00
from £25.00
Fossils, Faults & Folds: A Geology Tour of St Monans with @ScottishGeologist
Join @ScottishGeologist for a fascinating geological walking tour along St Monans beach, one of the East Neuk of Fife’s most charming fishing villages — and a hidden gem for Carboniferous coastal geology. From fossil-rich rock platforms to swampy coal seams and beautifully exposed fault zones, this tour offers a brilliant mix of sedimentary structures, volcanic intrusions, and stories of Scotland’s industrial and natural past.
What to Expect
🪨 Carboniferous Sedimentary Rocks
Walk across 320-million-year-old rocks formed in tropical delta environments — part of the Lower Carboniferous Strathclyde Group.
See mudstones, siltstones, coals, limestones, and sandstones laid down in deep marine, rivers, deltas, swamps, lagoons, and shallow marine settings.
Spot cross-bedding, ripple marks, and mud cracks, beautifully preserved in the intertidal rock platforms.
🦴 Fossils from a Tropical Past
Search for fossilised corals, crinoids, brachiopods, and other marine life in the limestone and shale layers.
Learn how these organisms lived in warm, shallow seas during the Carboniferous — long before Scotland drifted north to its current latitude.
🌋 Volcanic Intrusions and coal seams
See how sills of dolerite (techinite) intruded the Carboniferous sediments — baked the surrounding rocks, and altered nearby coal seams.
Understand how the local fireclays and coals formed from ancient plant material in swampy environments.
🧭 Faults and folds
Visit spectacular exposures of the St Monans Fault, where you can see rock layers offset, tilted, and fractured by tectonic forces.
Stand in the core of the St monans syncline - a fold that formed during the late stages of the variscian orogeny
Discuss how these faults were active during and after the Carboniferous, and how they influence modern landscape features.
Trace veins, fault breccias, and deformation textures along the coast.
🌊 Coastal Erosion and Modern Geology
Observe how wave erosion is actively exposing more fossils and rock features along the shore.
Discuss the relationship between rock type and erosion rates, and how geology shapes the modern coastline.
See raised beaches and glacial erratics from more recent Ice Age activity in the area.
👣 Hands-On Field Experience
Practice reading sedimentary structures, tracing faults, and interpreting the sequence of events recorded in the rocks.
Try a fossil ID session, or photo interpretation with @ScottishGeologist’s guidance.
Who Should Attend?
Perfect for families, geology beginners, students, and fossil lovers.
Great for those interested about geology, fossil hunting, or industrial heritage.
Accessible route with optional shore scrambling — suitable for all levels of interest.
Event Details
📍 Location: St Monans beach, Fife
🗓️ Date: Sunday 8th March 2026 11:00 to 13:00
⏰ Duration: 2 hours
🎟️ Price: £25pp meet us there, transport from Glasgow - £40pp
🥾 Accessibility: Mostly flat coastal paths and beach platforms; some uneven terrain during low tide fossil stops
Why Join This Tour?
Led by award-winning geoscience communicator @ScottishGeologist, this tour lets you explore a quiet stretch of Scotland’s coast where the rocks are full of life — literally. With fossils underfoot, coal seams in the cliffs, and a dramatic geological fault slicing through the rocks, St Monans offers a stunning and unexpected geological adventure.
Book Your St Monans Fossils & Faults Tour Today
🌿 Ancient swamps.
🦴 Hidden fossils.
🌋 Volcanic intrusions.
🧭 Faulted rock layers.
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Fossils, Faults & Folds: A Geology Tour of St Monans with @ScottishGeologist
Join @ScottishGeologist for a fascinating geological walking tour along St Monans beach, one of the East Neuk of Fife’s most charming fishing villages — and a hidden gem for Carboniferous coastal geology. From fossil-rich rock platforms to swampy coal seams and beautifully exposed fault zones, this tour offers a brilliant mix of sedimentary structures, volcanic intrusions, and stories of Scotland’s industrial and natural past.
What to Expect
🪨 Carboniferous Sedimentary Rocks
Walk across 320-million-year-old rocks formed in tropical delta environments — part of the Lower Carboniferous Strathclyde Group.
See mudstones, siltstones, coals, limestones, and sandstones laid down in deep marine, rivers, deltas, swamps, lagoons, and shallow marine settings.
Spot cross-bedding, ripple marks, and mud cracks, beautifully preserved in the intertidal rock platforms.
🦴 Fossils from a Tropical Past
Search for fossilised corals, crinoids, brachiopods, and other marine life in the limestone and shale layers.
Learn how these organisms lived in warm, shallow seas during the Carboniferous — long before Scotland drifted north to its current latitude.
🌋 Volcanic Intrusions and coal seams
See how sills of dolerite (techinite) intruded the Carboniferous sediments — baked the surrounding rocks, and altered nearby coal seams.
Understand how the local fireclays and coals formed from ancient plant material in swampy environments.
🧭 Faults and folds
Visit spectacular exposures of the St Monans Fault, where you can see rock layers offset, tilted, and fractured by tectonic forces.
Stand in the core of the St monans syncline - a fold that formed during the late stages of the variscian orogeny
Discuss how these faults were active during and after the Carboniferous, and how they influence modern landscape features.
Trace veins, fault breccias, and deformation textures along the coast.
🌊 Coastal Erosion and Modern Geology
Observe how wave erosion is actively exposing more fossils and rock features along the shore.
Discuss the relationship between rock type and erosion rates, and how geology shapes the modern coastline.
See raised beaches and glacial erratics from more recent Ice Age activity in the area.
👣 Hands-On Field Experience
Practice reading sedimentary structures, tracing faults, and interpreting the sequence of events recorded in the rocks.
Try a fossil ID session, or photo interpretation with @ScottishGeologist’s guidance.
Who Should Attend?
Perfect for families, geology beginners, students, and fossil lovers.
Great for those interested about geology, fossil hunting, or industrial heritage.
Accessible route with optional shore scrambling — suitable for all levels of interest.
Event Details
📍 Location: St Monans beach, Fife
🗓️ Date: Sunday 8th March 2026 11:00 to 13:00
⏰ Duration: 2 hours
🎟️ Price: £25pp meet us there, transport from Glasgow - £40pp
🥾 Accessibility: Mostly flat coastal paths and beach platforms; some uneven terrain during low tide fossil stops
Why Join This Tour?
Led by award-winning geoscience communicator @ScottishGeologist, this tour lets you explore a quiet stretch of Scotland’s coast where the rocks are full of life — literally. With fossils underfoot, coal seams in the cliffs, and a dramatic geological fault slicing through the rocks, St Monans offers a stunning and unexpected geological adventure.
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