"Mark Godden's Little Bit Of Cyberspace Mk.II"

Oolitic Limestone

This photograph at x2 magnification, shows an oolitic limestone (Jurassic inferior oolite) sample, taken from an escarpment at Birdlip Hill, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. It clearly illustrates that the stone is composed of thousands of tiny balls (concentric calcareous ooliths). Portland stone is similarly composed although its oolitic structure is not as usually as obvious as it is in the above specimen.