thumb|This carved Tyndall Stone coat of arms on the [[University of Saskatchewan campus shows the stone's characteristic mottling.]]

thumb|Fossil [[Receptaculites and Thalassinoides in Tyndall Stone.]]

Tyndall Stone is a registered trademark name by Gillis Quarries Ltd. Tyndall Stone is a dolomitic limestone that is quarried from the Selkirk Member of the Ordovician Red River Formation in the vicinity of Garson and Tyndall, Manitoba, Canada. It is a cream-coloured limestone with a pervasive mottling of darker dolomite. The mottling gives the rock a tapestry-like effect, and it is popular for use as a building and ornamental stone.

Tyndall Stone is highly fossiliferous and the fossils contribute to its aesthetic appeal. It contains numerous fossil gastropods, brachiopods, cephalopods, trilobites, corals, stromatoporoids, Receptaculites, and others. The mottling results from burrowing by marine creatures that occurred during and shortly after limestone deposition. The identity of the burrowing organisms is not known, but fossil burrows of this type have been given the name Thalassinoides. the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, the Appartements le Château in Montreal, Quebec and many others include Tyndall Stone in their construction.

In 2023, Tyndall Stone was designated as a Global Heritage Stone Resource, the only one of Canadian origin.

Cultural reference

Author Carol Shields described Tyndall Stone in her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Stone Diaries.

References

  • Tyndall Stone at Manitoba Industry, Economic Development and Mines <!-- Accessed 6 May 2014 -->
  • Tyndall Stone® at Geological Survey of Canada <!-- Accessed 6 May 2014 -->
  • Gillis Quarries, operator of Tyndall Stone® quarry <!-- Accessed 20 January 2006 -->
  • Manitoba's Tyndall Stone® by Mario Coniglio <!-- Accessed 6 May 2014 -->
  • GeoCache of Tyndall Stone® building with fossil descriptions <!-- Accessed 6 May 2014 -->