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The Origin of Coals

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New Trends in Coal Science

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 244))

Abstract

Palaeobotanic evidence shows that coals are derived chiefly from the woody components of vascular plants, as their debris accumulates in a peat swamp or marsh. Coal formation has been a rare event in geological time, the principal eras in Europe and North America having been about 300 m. and 50–100m. years B.P. Major changes in plant anatomy took place between these two periods.

The results of a recent multi-disciplinary study of profiles of five modern peat deposits are reviewed. Statistical analyses of the line intensities found in Curie-point pyrolysis/mass spectrometry showed that changes in lignin and cellulose contents accounted for much of the variance in chemical composition at three sites but hydrocarbon and organic sulphur compounds seemed more important in accounting for variance at the others. With Py/GC/MS it was possible to detect characteristic pyrolysis products of α-cellulose in samples in which it could not confidently be identified by C 13 nmr or FTIR. A large number of phenols related to lignin were found. It was concluded that a wide variety of oxidized lignin molecules form the principal input to coalification, but with some contribution from polysaccharide derivatives, tannins and an unidentified highly aliphatic polymer. The meaning and significance of “gelification” of woody tissues in peat and young coals are discussed. There appears to be a remarkable correlation between preservation of features of anatomical and chemical structure on the one hand and particle size of entities in the peat on the other. Variations in particle size are probably the source of huminite macerals. In fact, variations in the extent of tissue degradation are probably largely responsible for the need to include six huminite macerals in brown coal petrography. On deeper burial, huminites in brown coals are converted to what are known as vitrinites in bituminous coals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Earth and Mineral Science, Pennsylvania State University, 16802, University Park, Pa, USA

    Peter H. Given (Professor Emeritus of Fuel Science)

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  1. Peter H. Given
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  1. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Yuda Yürüm

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© 1988 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Given, P.H. (1988). The Origin of Coals. In: Yürüm, Y. (eds) New Trends in Coal Science. NATO ASI Series, vol 244. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3045-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3045-2_1

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