Boulby Quarries () is a 40.3 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England notified in 1989. It is located close to the coast and the village of

Boulby Boulby is a hamlet in the Loftus parish, located within the North York Moors National Park. It is in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. The hamlet is located off the A174, near Easington and west of Staithes. It ...

. In England SSSIs are designated by Natural England and Boulby Quarries is one of 18 SSSIs in the Cleveland area of search. The site is identified as being of national importance in the Geological Conservation Review. The quarries are wholly within the

North Yorkshire and Cleveland Heritage Coast North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''no ...

and partly within the North York Moors National Park and the historic North Riding of Yorkshire. The fossil content of Boulby Quarry is particularly important with two

plesiosaur The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared ...

species (''

Eretmosaurus macroptera ''Eretmosaurus'' is an extinct genus of plesiosaur. Taxonomic history ''Eretmosaurus'' was coined by Harry Govier Seeley for ''Plesiosaurus rugosus'' Owen, 1840. Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an ...

'' and ''

Thaumatosaurus zetlandicus ''Rhomaleosaurus'' (meaning "strong lizard") is an extinct genus of Early Jurassic ( Toarcian age, about 183 to 175.6 million years ago) rhomaleosaurid pliosauroid known from Northamptonshire and from Yorkshire of the United Kingdom. It wa ...

''), an ichthyosaur ''

Ichthyosaurus crassimonus ''Ichthyosaurus'' (derived from Greek ' () meaning 'fish' and ' () meaning 'lizard') is a genus of ichthyosaurs from the Early Jurassic (Hettangian - Pliensbachian), with possible Late Triassic record, from Europe ( Belgium, England, Ger ...

'' and the only Upper Lias pterosaur known in Britain, Parapsicephalus being found at the site. The fossil are found in the ''bifrons'' zone, and although not abundant, it is very different from surrounding fossil sites.

References

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cleveland, England Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1989 Quarries in North Yorkshire Loftus, North Yorkshire {{Redcar-geo-stub