Harvey Conglomerate Sandstone
From West Virginia (WV) Cyclopedia
The Harvey Conglomerate Sandstone forms cliffs in the New River Gorge about 50- to 100-feet below the base of the more prominent cliffs of the Nuttall Sandstone, which line the rim of the gorge and attract thousand of rock climbers. Unlike the Nuttall Sandstone, the Harvey is too fractuous to support climbing.
According to the West Virginia Geological Survey, the conglomerate, a sandstone comprised of sand and pebbles, forms cliffs 50- to 75-feet high along the lower New River Gorge between Keeney Creek and the mouth of the New River at Gauley Bridge, WV. The rock is described by the survey as similar to that of the lower Nuttall Sandstone, though less siliceous and not as widely exposed. The conglomerate takes its name from the community of Harvey in the southwestern uplands of Raleigh County rather than that of Harvey in Fayette County.
