Malta is entirely composed of sedimentary rocks. The specific area around Marsaxlokk consist of Globigerina Limestone. Globigerina Limestone is a soft stone that is easily eroded. It is full of planktonic fossils and according to what I read this indicates that its deposition was in deep waters below wave action. I have seen this soft Globigerina Limestone around here and have some samples, it is white and fine grained. My interest though, has mainly been in the upper Globigerina Limestone which is harder, coarser, and honey coloured, it is used as a building material, and has been since ancient times in the island, I love its colour and texture, it also makes the villages look bright and full of light. I have walked along the houses of this village and seen the fossils in the walls of the older buildings, fascinating and beautiful! We have also stayed in a Maltese house that is 200 years old, its stone walls bare and hand cut, I did get to thinking one night while I should have been sleeping, about the fact that all that surrounded me was fossilised beings, once alive, now there in another form, amazing to ponder on.  The walls throw out a warmth and a good feeling.

Anyway I am not a geologist, but I have a life-long interest in stones and minerals, and have a huge collection at home, I cannot resist picking up more stones, though these days it is to take photos of them, examine them with a magnifying glass, and ask myself what they could be (luckily for me I have a good Geologist friend). So I am going to post photos of some of the interesting stones I found along the beach at Marsaxlokk, but also some of the fossils I found along the walls of the village houses.

What a fossil!

 Tempestite is a storm deposit. Tempestites are rocks which show evidence of a strong storm, which have redeposited pre-existing sediments.  This happens in shallow waters, and it are the waves that redeposit the sediments.  I found this little gem of information on Wikipedia.org

This is a conglomerate rock type.

Here I am not sure, but found quite a few of these rocks that had what seemed a layer of fossils or some sort of deposit (the white stuff).

This on the same rock, a beautifully intricate design (fossil) can be seen here.

Me examining one of the rocks

The coarser, honey coloured upper Globigerina Limestone

Two samples, one the chalk, the other I think is more of the upper Globigerina Limestone

Somewhere I read that the holes could have been made by mollusc boring into the soft material back in time?

Some of the fossils I found in the walls of old houses, I obviously only took photos of them and let them be where they were.  So beautiful, but as far as I believe this house is marked for restoration, I hope they will preserve the fossils.

I have loads more photos of stones, rocks and fossils that I came across here, it has been one of the highlights of my stay in Malta, I hope that some of my dear blogger friends will have enjoyed these wonderful creations as much as I am.   And I would be very pleased and happy to listen to reactions and knowledge from other Rock enthusiasts.

Websites which I have found interesting are:  http://www.sandatlas.org/limestone/#comment-40236 and http://karsteneig.no/2013/11/malta-a-country-shaped-by-limestone-and-a-bit-of-very-old-shit/#comment-15952    and    http://www.maltainsideout.com/11993/living-stones-a-brief-guide-to-maltas-geology/