Coal-Bearing Depositional Systems

By combining the principles of coal petrology, sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy and basin analysis, the book treats coal facies as a response of the organic source material to the combined influences of its geological setting. The book offers new insights into coal formation and presents coal facies analysis as a tool in palaeo-environmental analysis.

1 Introduction.- 2 The Conditions of Peat Formation.- 2.1 Peatland Ecology.- 2.2 Peat Composition and Peat-Forming Plants.- 2.3 Climate and Peat Accretion.- 2.4 Evolutionary Trends in Peat and Coal Formation.- 3 The Coalification Process.- 3.1 Biochemical Coalification.- 3.2 Physico-Chemical Coalification.- 4 Coal Petrographic Entities.- 4.1 Macerals.- 4.2 Microlithotypes.- 4.3 Lithotypes.- 4.4 Minerals.- 5 Coal Facies and Depositional Environment.- 5.1 Phyterals and Macerals in Palaeo-Environmental Analysis.- 5.2 Microlithotypes as Tools in Palaeo-Environmental Analysis.- 5.3 Lithotypes as Palaeo-Environmental Indicators.- 5.4 Optical Properties as Palaeo-Environmental Indicators.- 5.5 Geochemical Palaeo-Environmental Signatures.- 5.6 Epiclastic Minerals and Palaeo-Environments.- 5.7 Summary of Palaeo-Environmental Indicators.- 6 The Relationship Between Coal and Interseam Sediments.- 6.1 Some Characteristics and Properties of Interseam Sediments.- 6.2 Coal Seams and Their Floor Rocks.- 6.3 Coal Seams and Their Roof Rocks.- 6.4 Coal Seam Splitting.- 7 Coal-Producing Sedimentary Environments.- 7.1 The Braid Plain.- 7.2 The Alluvial Valley and Upper Delta Plain.- 7.3 The Lower Delta Plain.- 7.4 The Barrier Beach/Strand-Plain System.- 7.5 The Estuary.- 8 Coal Formation and Sequence Stratigraphy.- 8.1 Basic Concepts of Sequence Stratigraphy.- 8.2 Sequence-Stratigraphic Time and Space Constraints on Coal Formation.- 8.3 The Influence of Sequence-Stratigraphic Settings on Coal Formation.- 8.4 Sequence Stratigraphic Interpretation of Coal Seam Settings.- 9 Coal-Producing Tectonic Environments.- 9.1 Early Examples of a Tectonic Classification of Coalfields.- 9.2 Basin Formation as Part of Plate Tectonics.- 9.3 Coalfields Situated Near Convergent Plate Edges.- 9.4 Coalfields Situated Near Divergent Plate Edges.- 9.5 Coalfields on Midplate Continental Margins.- 9.6 Coalfields of the Continental Interior.- 10 Concluding Remarks.- References.- Author Index.