Shelly limestone
highly fossiliferous limestone
Shelly limestone is a highly fossiliferous limestone composed of numerous fossilised organisms such as brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, sponges, corals and molluscs. It varies in colour, texture and hardness. Coquina is a poorly indurated form of shelly limestone.
Shelly limestone is a sedimentary rock because it is made up of fragments. It consists of broken shells that are "glued" together by calcite. Calcium carbonate often makes up a significant proportion of the rock, while shell fragments can range in size from fine grains to large pebbles. Its colour is typically grey.
Formation
Each shelly limestone is unique, as every specimen is composed of different fossilised organisms and shell fragments. Shelly limestones are mainly found in areas where marine life currently lives or once lived.
The characteristics of shelly limestone are largely determined by calcite, which acts as a cementing agent binding shell fragments, dead marine organisms and other minerals.
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This entry incorporates text from “Shelly limestone” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.