Shelly Oolitic Limestone

This limestone is made up mostly of ooliths (or ooids) interspered with distinct horizons of shell fragments. The ooliths were built up of concentric layers of precipitated calcium carbonate CaCO3 around sand grains or shell fragments which rolled around in lagoons or on a shallow sub tropical sea floor by wave action. This example is from the Middle Jurassic of Gloucestershire. This honey coloured stone has been a favoured building material for centuries. It was used to construct many of the picturesque hamlets around the Cotswolds.
Each specimen is supplied with a labelled card tray.