Aust - Fossils and Fossil Collecting Guide with Geological Info

Location Information
	The Bone Bearing Beds at Aust are highly fossilferious, but be warned that Aust is a very well known and frequently visited location. The tidal waters do not hit the cliff as often as they used to, so this location is subject to the correct beach and tidal conditions. Best visited during the winter months.
	(Suitable for Children) Fossils can be found by simply beach combing the foreshore, children can find teeth and small bones by searching along the tide line, shingle and amongst the seaweed. Please ensure that children are watched at all times.
	You can park fairly nearby and easily walk to Aust. The walk is easy and follows a concrete wide footpath, once at Aust there are two areas split between the bridge. For children, it is best to keep to the South side of the Bridge as it can be more difficult climbing the vertical steel steps. Please note there are no toilets in this area.
	Foreshore Aust is a Foreshore Location, which means that all of the fossils are found directly from the foreshore. You will not find any fossils in the cliff at Aust since the bone bearing beds are actually right at the top of the cliff.
ACCESS RIGHTS	There are 'NO' restrictions to this location

Please follow our national fossil collecting code

A UK Fossils & Discovering Fossils initiative (c) 2006

Fossils from Aust
Severnichthys acuminatus from Aust

Other locations similar to Aust

If you are interested in the Rhaetic Beds similar to that of Aust, you can also try Blue Anchor in Somerset. Other good locations include Hock Cliff which is along along the River Severn, this time in Gloucestershire. Another famous location is Lavernock or Penarth both in South Wales. The Lilstock Formation at Lilstock also yields remains similar to Aust, also part of the Rhaetian.

There is also a superb book available called 'Fossils of the Rhaetian Penarth Group' which contains over 300 pages of information and photos for fossil identification (see our what to read section).

! IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTES !

Common sense when collecting at all locations should be taken and knowledge of tide times should always be noted. The main issue at Aust is the dangerous mud flats at the river bank. Do not venture out too far or you could get stuck. Although cliff falls are rare, they often crumble. It is not necessary to be near the cliff, collecting is best done on the foreshore.

Aust foreshore collecting
To find fossils at Aust, search amongst the foreshore.

Stone Tumblers (Lapidary)

Microscopes

Test Sieves for Particle Analysis

Stone Tumblers are used for tumbling and polishing rough rock, stones and pebbles including those found on the beach and glass.

Whilst collecting fossils, on those days where you come back empty handed, you could collect rocks, stones and glass from the beach and tumble then at home.

These are all high quality machines to give a professional finish to your samples. The tumblers can be used with a variety of grits, most commonly Silicon Carbide Grit and Cerium Oxide. We have a wide range of rough rocks for sale too.

Microfossils are much easier to collect because they are so small that the vast majority of collections only concentrate on large finds. These small finds can simply be found by taking small samples of sands, crags, clays and soft rocks and examining them under a microscope.

We have a wide range of microscopes for sale, both for the study of fossils, but also educational and professional for use in the laboratory. We have Stereo microscopes, Compound Microscopes, Polarising Microscopes and Monocular Microscopes.

We have thousands of Test Sieves for Particle Analysis.

Endecotts Sieves: For accurate dependable results you can't buy a better test sieve than Endecotts. At every stage of manufacture each test sieve is individually inspected.

High Precision Tecan manufactures precision apertures as small as 3 microns for a wide array of applications such as filtering, sieving and nozzles. Its high-performance, ASTM/ISO compliant test sieves satisfy the most demanding fine particle grading requirements.

Metal Detectors

Compasses

Fossils

We have a wide range of metal detectors and motion detectors.

Our metal detectors are of a very high quality and are british made by the Viking Company.

Why not take a metal detector when your fossil hunting! you never know what you may find.

We sell a wide range of compasses to both explorers, students to boat owners.

Some field compasses have build in clinometers so you can calculate the height of cliffs.

Our compasses are high quality. They are an essential part of the explorers kit.

All of our fossils are genuine and have been checked carefully, we only buy from reputable sources.

We have a wide range of fossils from low cost budget fossils to expensive stunning display pieces.

Our fossils are of a very high standard and they come from all over the world.

Aust Fossils and Fossil Collecting Your Avon Geological Guide and Geology Info

Aust Fossils and Fossil Collecting
Your Avon Geological Guide and Geology Info