Shared by Martin E. Liebschner, Jr., as Guest Blogger.

If this rock could talk, it would tell you a story over 500 million years old. 

Every rock has a story to tell

There are countless rocks in the river at James River State Park. If I picked this one up from a sandy bank and showed it to you, what would you think? ”It’s a rock” would probably be your reply and you would be right, but this is no ordinary rock. 

Before the Blue Ridge Mountains were mountains this area was part of the lapetus Ocean which existed millions of years ago. This ocean covered a good section of the United States. Streams and rivers fed into it and left many layers of sand, silt, shells and organic materials. Through time and pressure these layers of sediment would be compressed creating sedimentary rock.

So what are these strange “straw like” lines in the stone? We aren’t sure exactly what life form made them, because any trace of them disappeared long ago, but it was more than likely a ”worm like” creature. What we do know is that they made these tubes or burrows when the sediment was still soft. These tubes have been given a specific name called “Skolithos Linearis." Many people just call them “Skolithos." They are Virginia’s oldest fossil and easy to identify.

So how did a fossil from the Blue Ridge Mountains make it here to James River State Park? Three things brought this fossil to our park: water, erosion and gravity, that are slowly eating away at the ever changing and evolving Blue Ridge Mountains. Rocks break off and fall into the streams and rivers. The power of the water pushes those rocks down the mountainside and as they tumble and roll in the river they become smooth and round - what we call “river rocks.” Many of these fossils can be found as far away as the Tidewater and Williamsburg area, over 200 miles away. This didn’t happen overnight, but took thousands of years.

Noticed the rounded edges of this rock, smoothed by the river on it’s journey to the Chesapeake Bay

Before you skip a rock on the water, take a close look.

You never know what you will find.

When you visit rivers and streams, enjoy the birds, trees, flowers and flow of the water, but don’t forget to look down. You might be walking on 500 million years of history.