This spectacular outcrop appears ordinary at first sight. However, a close inspection reveals an entirely different story. The host yellow rock is fossilized corals (one can see the structures still preserved, beside the lens). Inside it, the black rocks are basalt clasts, which were weathered and transported to the sea. Later, coral grew around them, with time, they too were fossilized. Now they are exposed on the beach, on the NE corner of Gabriel Island, Mauritius. PhotoID818
This spectacular outcrop appears ordinary at first sight. However, a close inspection reveals an entirely different story. The host yellow rock is fossilized corals (one can see the structures still preserved, beside the lens). Inside it, the black rocks are basalt clasts, which were weathered and transported to the sea. Later, coral grew around them, with time, they too were fossilized. Now they are exposed on the beach, on the NE corner of Gabriel Island, Mauritius. PhotoID818
Photograph: Arka Pratim Chatterjee
Reference: Undergraduate Student, Dept. of Geological Sciences, Jadavpur University, India.