CARBONIFEROUS
PERIOD CARBONIFEROUS
PERIOD
The Carboniferous Period spans the period from 360 million years ago to 286 million years ago. The bottom half of this period is known in the U.S. as the Mississippian Period, the top half as the Pennsylvanian Period.
The group and formation names shown are the nomenclature used for this age of strata as found in West Virginia.
Plant fossils of the Pennsylvanian Period are showcased in Plant Fossils of West Virginia. They were collected from the Allegheny, Kanawha, New River, and Pocahontas Formations, but mostly from the Kanawha Formation.
For more information about the Carboniferous Period, select:
The Museum of Paleontology: Univ. of California at Berkley
United States Geological Survey
This page last updated:
January 22, 2000
