Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5483607 | International Journal of Coal Geology | 2017 | 8 Pages |
Abstract
Owing to the relatively high spore contributions from arborescent Lycopsids, the coals bear a palynologic resemblance to the Pennsylvanian Langsettian through Asturian (Westphalian) coals preserved in the nearby Western Kentucky coalfield. The maceral assemblages, however, show a greater similarity to the Upper Pennsylvanian (Stephanian) coals in western Kentucky. With 66-67% total vitrinite and about 29% total inertinite (dominated by fusinite + semifusinite) (both as volume percent, mineral-fee basis), the Mississippian coals have significantly lower vitrinite percentages than the Westphalian coals. The petrographic similarity is not paralleled by a floristic similarity as the Stephanian flora was marked by the absence of arborescent Lycopsids. Overall, the amount of inertinites and the degradation suggested by a number of the inertinite forms suggests that, not unexpectedly decay and degradation was an important contributor to the Mississippian coals. As with any coals, the Mississippian coals represent a story of preservation more than that of degradation and destruction, with degraded and poorly-preserved fusinite and semifusinite, coprolitic macrinite, and remnants of fungi being the ghosts of the destruction of the biomass.
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Physical Sciences and Engineering
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Authors
James C. Hower, Jennifer M.K. O'Keefe, Cortland F. Eble,