Lower Coralline Limestone

Lower Coralline Limestone

Layer	5 of 5 (bottom)
Blocks	stone, dripstone block, smooth sandstone
Thickness	down to about y 0, then deepslate
Above	Globigerina Limestone
Below	vanilla deepslate

The iron-stained walls of the Wied il-Mielaħ gorge

Lower Coralline Limestone (Maltese: Żonqor) is the oldest rock you can see on the Maltese islands: a hard, grey limestone that forms the high sea cliffs, especially on the west coast of Gozo. It is the bottom of Malta's rock layers.

In the world

The layer has four members, from the bottom up:

Member	Main block	Second block	Beds
Magħlaq	stone	dripstone block	thick, pale brown to grey, with old soil lines
Attard	stone	smooth sandstone	white to grey, medium to massive
Xlendi	smooth sandstone	stone	grey and pale cream
Il-Mara	smooth sandstone	stone	pale grey and pale yellow

Below it, from about y 0 down, is vanilla deepslate.

Mining

Ores appear in this layer as in vanilla stone.

Where to see it

• Cliffs north of Dwejra: the lower two-thirds of the cliff, grey and banded.
• Fungus Rock: Lower Coralline from the sea to the top, as on the geological map.
• Wied il-Mielaħ: iron-stained, warm orange-brown walls in the gorge, coloured to match photos.

Coordinates

• Cliffs north of Dwejra, from the sea: /tp @s -17090 92 -14100
• Wied il-Mielaħ gorge: /tp @s -15044 66 -16598
• Fungus Rock, from the cliffs to the south-east: /tp @s -17027 105 -12898

See also

• Rock layers
• Globigerina Limestone: the layer above