Calamite branch scars

The round, circular structures on this specimen are branch scars of the calamite tree, and was the location where branches were attached to and arranged radially about the stem.

 

Rock Type: Sandstone; fine-grained
Formation: Kanawha
Interval: Coalburg seam
Age: Middle Pennsylvanian Period, approx. 307 million years.

 

Location: Nicholas County, West Virginia; Ramp Run Surface Mine #1, located about 12 miles north of Summersville, West Virginia. Turn west off route 19 north of Summersville onto Spruce Run Road.