Coquina (?)

Coquina is an example of limestone that is a solid block of rock formed by the shells and skeletons of dead animals. Much of the limestone in our valley is formed from marine life many millions of years old. The undulating landscape was once a series of coral reefs, a bit before my time!

Today my wife and I went to ferry home another (final) car load of rock from a neighbour's excavated garden. In this consignment I noticed some of the rocks were formed from tiny little shell fossils. It made me pay more attention and it seemed appropriate to use this sample as today's blip. (A collage of four photos)

I am uncertain if this sample is 'coquina', but it seems like it might be. The shells are densely packed together and there are a lot of them.

A talking point for when we show visitors around our quarry garden!

Limestone is used in the production of fertilisers and may explain why so many of our plants flourish, even when the soil is shallow and rock is struck no more than a few inches below the topsoil.

The Pyramids at Giza were constructed  from limestone, as was the Collisseum.

And calcium carbonate is mined from limestone. Calcium carbonate is used in products like Alka-Seltzer.

Just saying .....

Have great weekend everyone!...