WN4 - Nodular limestone
Collection:
Click the microscope button to view a thin section for this sample.
Microscope
Click the microscope button to view a thin section for this sample.
Microscope

Fact sheet

WN4 - Nodular limestone

The nodular appearance in the field of this Silurian (Wenlock) age limestone is displayed well in this thin section, with patches of rock crowded with bioclastic material interspersed with irregular domains of dark brown, fine-grained lime mud (micrite). This sample was collected from an exposure near a small adit with a fault.

The limestone was laid down in a shallow tropical sea south of the equator around 428 million years ago. The area of Wren's Nest featured small coral reefs teeming with life, separated by shallow banks and troughs of lime mud. The rocks at this locality have been described as a 'death assemblage', which is borne out by the abundance of well-preserved bioclasts in this thin section.

The limestone reefs nearby were home to compound and solitary corals, bryozoans, crinoids, brachiopods, gastropods, cephalopods and trilobites. The texture of this sample suggests a rapid influx of shelly debris washed into a muddy trough alongside the reef. Bioclasts include fragments of crinoid stem, echinoderm plates, fibrous and ribbed brachiopod shells and gastropods; corals and bryozoans are rare. Many shells have been replaced by sparite and there is a relatively high proportion of sparite associated with the bioclasts. Some gastropods are partly infilled by micrite but there is no consistency in the orientations of the infills, supporting the impression that the shells were tumbled about chaotically during deposition.

This sample was collected as part of the 'Macro to Micro' project.

Additional images
  • Hand specimen of limestone on black background
Map
52.522298, -2.09665
Precision:
Moderate
About this collection

This Collection showcases the geodiversity of a classic geological site: the Wren's Nest National Nature Reserve in the West Midlands.

As well as displaying thin section and hand specimen views along with information setting them in the context of their landscapes, we also include perspectives and creative responses to the geological heritage of the sites from the local community.

Explore the stories of the rock layers at Saltwells and Wren's Nest NNRs, designed by students at King Edward VI School, Stourbridge:


This Collection was made possible by funding awarded to the 'Macro to Micro' project by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) under their 'Growing Roots' scheme.

 

Sample details

Collection: Wren's Nest
Type
sedimentary
Rock-forming mineral
calcite
Category guide  
Category Guide
Title
Refers to any word or phrase that appears in the individual rock names. Names are generally descriptive; they allow users to search for broad terms like ‘granite’ as well as more specific names such as ‘breccia’. However, the adjacent descriptions of the specimens captures a wider range of general words and phrases and is a more powerful search tool.
Description
Refers to any word or phrase that appears anywhere in the descriptions of the specimens
Accessory minerals
Minerals that occur in very low abundance in a rock. They are usually not visible with the naked eye and contribute perhapssver, they often dominate the rare elements such as platinum group metals.
Rock-forming minerals
Minerals that make up the bulk of all rock samples and are also the ones used in rock classi?cation.
Timescale
Selecting one or more period, for example 'Jurassic'.
Theme
A term used to group together related samples that are not already gathered into a single Collection. For instance, there is a ‘SW England granites’ theme that includes such rock types as granite, hydrothermal breccia, skarn and vein samples.
Category
A general term used to label a rock sample. It is a useful way of grouping similar samples throughout a collection. Category names are often, but not exclusively, common rock names (e.g. granite, basalt, dolerite, gabbro, greisen, skarn, gneiss, amphibolite, limestone, sandstone).
Owner
The owner of the sample that appears in the collection. For example, NASA owns all the samples that appear in the Moon Rocks collection
We would like to thank the following for the use of this sample: