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The Pottsville Group is a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession containing nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Limestone horizon (?).
The gray unit in the middle of the photo is the Lower Mercer Limestone, a Middle Pennsylvanian-aged, laterally persistent, marine fossiliferous limestone unit in the Pottsville Group of eastern Ohio, USA. It is richly fossiliferous, principally dominated by brachiopods and crinoid stems.
Above the Lower Mercer Limestone is the Lower Mercer Shale, a marine mudshale to calcareous mudshale unit with fossils. The relatively thin, dark-colored horizon below the Lower Mercer Limestone (at the bottom of the photo) is the Middle Mercer Coal. It usually consists of bituminous coal, but in places at this locality, it is a cannel coal.
Stratigraphy: Lower Mercer Shale over Lower Mercer Limestone over Middle Mercer Coal, Pottsville Group, lower Atokan Stage, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: Rock Cut railroad cut - outcrop along the southern side of Ohio Central Railroad tracks (west of milepost 134), ~southwest of Copeland Island & south-southeast of the town of Dresden, northern Muskingum County, eastern Ohio, USA (~vicinity of 40° 04’ 24.41” North latitude, ~81° 59’ 11.25” West longitude)
Anthracite coal from the Pennsylvanian of Pennsylvania, USA.
Anthracite coal is the highest-rank of coal. It forms by very low-grade metamorphism (anchimetamorphism) of bituminous coal. Anthracite is always black-colored, with a glassy texture, and is harder and heavier than other coals, although it is still relatively soft and lightweight for its size. In comparison with lignite and bituminous coal, anthracite is less sooty to the touch. Anthracite burns hotter than other coal types, due to its high carbon content (~90% C). It is also the cleanest-burning of all the coal ranks.
Anthracite is a scarce variety of coal. The highest concentration of anthracite on Earth is in the Pennsylvanian-aged coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, USA. There is still some uncertainty in the details about the origin of Pennsylvania anthracite coal. In Colorado, an anthracite coal deposit occurs next to an igneous intrusion - the anthracite formed by heating from contact or hydrothermal metamorphism. It's been suggested that Pennsylvania anthracite was hydrothermally metamorphosed. The anthracite in Pennsylvania was originally deposited in coal swamps that were relatively high on ancient alluvial plains - those environments are usually not preserved in mountain belts (they get uplifted and eroded). In Pennsylvania, the high alluvial plain facies were downdropped and got preserved, resulting in anthracites representing different facies from those seen in bituminous coal fields.
Age: Pennsylvanian
Locality: unrecorded/undisclosed site at or near the town of Hazelton (probably a coal mine), eastern Pennsylvania, USA
Cannel coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA. (bedding plane view)
The Linton Lagerstätte is a famous fossil deposit at the Diamond Coal Mine in far-eastern Ohio. It occurs in channel-filling, fissile cannel coal in the lower Upper Freeport Coal. The Upper Freeport is about 9 feet thick at this locality - bituminous coal in the Upper Freeport interval was the target for mining. The fissile cannel coal at the base of the Upper Freeport was waste rock and discarded in a large pile. Fossils include plants (palynomorph microfossils), invertebrates (principally conchostracans), and vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles).
Cannel coals are odd varieties of coal. They don’t have the look & feel of ordinary coals such as lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite. Cannel coals are lightweight, as all coals are, but are surprisingly tight and solid - they hold up to natural weathering pretty well, considering they’re coals. They are not sooty to the touch, and have conchoidal fracture (smooth & curved fracture surfaces). Cannel coals usually lack the well-developed horizontal bedding & laminations seen in lignites and bituminous coals.
Not surprisingly, the differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
Stratigraphy: lower part of the Upper Freeport Coal (= Number 7 Coal), Allegheny Group, Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: Diamond Coal Mine, Linton, far-eastern Jefferson County, far-eastern Ohio, USA
DSC_4915: At the Joggins Fossil Cliffs UNESO World Heritage Site. There was a mine what end out under the Bay of Fundy for several kilometers from this point. It was very dangerous working in it mining for bituminous coal. Pieces like this can be found up and down the beach. They must be left there.
Cannel coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA. (cross-section view)
The Linton Lagerstätte is a famous fossil deposit at the Diamond Coal Mine in far-eastern Ohio. It occurs in channel-filling, fissile cannel coal in the lower Upper Freeport Coal. The Upper Freeport is about 9 feet thick at this locality - bituminous coal in the Upper Freeport interval was the target for mining. The fissile cannel coal at the base of the Upper Freeport was waste rock and discarded in a large pile. Fossils include plants (palynomorph microfossils), invertebrates (principally conchostracans), and vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles).
Cannel coals are odd varieties of coal. They don’t have the look & feel of ordinary coals such as lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite. Cannel coals are lightweight, as all coals are, but are surprisingly tight and solid - they hold up to natural weathering pretty well, considering they’re coals. They are not sooty to the touch, and have conchoidal fracture (smooth & curved fracture surfaces). Cannel coals usually lack the well-developed horizontal bedding & laminations seen in lignites and bituminous coals.
Not surprisingly, the differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
The Linton cannel coal is unusual because it is fissile - it breaks into thin, flat pieces, as shale does.
Stratigraphy: lower part of the Upper Freeport Coal (= Number 7 Coal), Allegheny Group, Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: Diamond Coal Mine, Linton, far-eastern Jefferson County, far-eastern Ohio, USA
Flattened fossil log in bituminous coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA.
This fossiliferous coal sample is from the Pottsville Group of eastern Ohio. The Pottsville Group is a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession containing nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Limestone horizon (?).
This is a sample of weathered bituminous coal with a flattened fossil log (= the large, light-colored structure at center).
Stratigraphy: float apparently derived from the Lower Mercer Coal (= Number 3 Coal), just below the Boggs Limestone, middle Pottsville Group, lower Atokan Stage, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: loose piece near the base of Mt. Pleasant North Outcrop - roadcut on the eastern side of Rt. 93, just north of the town of Mt. Pleasant, southern Washington Township, southern Hocking County, southeastern Ohio, USA (39° 23' 51.35" North latitude, 82° 27' 14.15" West)
Sandstone-coal-tonsteins in the Cretaceous of Wyoming, USA.
The outcrop seen here consists of Upper Cretaceous sedimentary rocks near the town of Superior, Wyoming. The unit at top is a quartzose sandstone of the basal Ericson Sandstone. Below the Ericson Sandstone is the uppermost Rock Springs Formation. The black layers are coals (hand samples indicate that these are apparently sub-bituminous coals) - this is the Rock Springs No. 5 Coal Bed. The thin, whitish-colored beds in the coal interval are soft claystones that were originally volcanic ash beds. They have been chemically altered as a result of deposition and burial in the acidic, reducing conditions of a coal swamp environment. Such altered volcanic ash beds are called tonsteins.
Stratigraphy: lower Ericson Sandstone over upper Rock Springs Formation, Upper Cretaceous
Locality: hairpin curve roadcut along Superior Cutoff Road, northeastern side of Horse Thief Canyon, east of the town of Superior, central Sweetwater County, southwestern Wyoming, USA (41° 45' 58.04" North latitude, 108° 56' 22.36" West longitude)
Anthracite coal from the Pennsylvanian of Pennsylvania, USA.
Anthracite coal is the highest-rank of coal. It forms by very low-grade metamorphism (anchimetamorphism) of bituminous coal. Anthracite is always black-colored, with a glassy texture, and is harder and heavier than other coals, although it is still relatively soft and lightweight for its size. In comparison with lignite and bituminous coal, anthracite is less sooty to the touch. Anthracite burns hotter than other coal types, due to its high carbon content (~90% C). It is also the cleanest-burning of all the coal ranks.
Anthracite is a scarce variety of coal. The highest concentration of anthracite on Earth is in the Pennsylvanian-aged coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, USA. There is still some uncertainty in the details about the origin of Pennsylvania anthracite coal. In Colorado, an anthracite coal deposit occurs next to an igneous intrusion - the anthracite formed by heating from contact or hydrothermal metamorphism. It's been suggested that Pennsylvania anthracite was hydrothermally metamorphosed. The anthracite in Pennsylvania was originally deposited in coal swamps that were relatively high on ancient alluvial plains - those environments are usually not preserved in mountain belts (they get uplifted and eroded). In Pennsylvania, the high alluvial plain facies were downdropped and got preserved, resulting in anthracites representing different facies from those seen in bituminous coal fields.
Age: Pennsylvanian
Locality: unrecorded/undisclosed site at or near the town of Hazelton (probably a coal mine), eastern Pennsylvania, USA
"Coke is a fuel with few impurities and a high carbon content, usually made from coal. It is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes made from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made. The form known as petroleum coke, or pet coke, is derived from oil refinery coker units or other cracking processes." [ Wiki ]
Cannel coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA. (cross-section view)
The Linton Lagerstätte is a famous fossil deposit at the Diamond Coal Mine in far-eastern Ohio. It occurs in channel-filling, fissile cannel coal in the lower Upper Freeport Coal. The Upper Freeport is about 9 feet thick at this locality - bituminous coal in the Upper Freeport interval was the target for mining. The fissile cannel coal at the base of the Upper Freeport was waste rock and discarded in a large pile. Fossils include plants (palynomorph microfossils), invertebrates (principally conchostracans), and vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles).
Cannel coals are odd varieties of coal. They don’t have the look & feel of ordinary coals such as lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite. Cannel coals are lightweight, as all coals are, but are surprisingly tight and solid - they hold up to natural weathering pretty well, considering they’re coals. They are not sooty to the touch, and have conchoidal fracture (smooth & curved fracture surfaces). Cannel coals usually lack the well-developed horizontal bedding & laminations seen in lignites and bituminous coals.
Not surprisingly, the differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
The Linton cannel coal is unusual because it is fissile - it breaks into thin, flat pieces, as shale does.
Stratigraphy: lower part of the Upper Freeport Coal (= Number 7 Coal), Allegheny Group, Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: Diamond Coal Mine, Linton, far-eastern Jefferson County, far-eastern Ohio, USA
Cannel coal/bituminous coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA. (cross-section view; field of view: 6 to 6.5 centimeters across)
Cannel coal is a scarce, fossil spore-rich variety of coal - it is hard and weathering-resistant, has a velvety to satiny luster, little to no stratification, and a conchoidal fracture. The differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal (lignite, bituminous, anthracite) are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
This eastern Ohio sample is from the Bedford Coal in the Pottsville Group, a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession containing nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Member (?).
The Bedford Coal occurs just below the Upper Mercer Limestone, which is often a flint-dominated interval. Lithologically, the Bedford ranges from carbonaceous shale to argillaceous coal to bituminous coal to cannel coal. The cannel coal in the Bedford was targeted for mining in the 1800s as a source of fuel. It was particularly useful in the manufacture of kerosene, an illuminating fuel. After the petroleum industry started in the 1860s, production of kerosene from cannel coal essentially ceased.
This sample in cannel coal in part and bituminous coal in part.
Stratigraphy: Bedford Coal, upper Pottsville Group, Atokan Stage, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: Tunnel Hill North Portal Outcrop (= Noland Tunnel's northern portal), ~1.75 air miles north-northeast of the town of Tunnel Hill, western Coshocton County, eastern Ohio, USA (~40° 16’ 33.27” North latitude, ~82° 01’ 53.04” West longitude)
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For more info. on cannel coal in general, see:
University of Southampton Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics,
School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, "Bituplaning: A Low Dry Friction Phenomenon of New Bituminous Road Surfaces" By John Charles Bullas BSc MSc MIAT MIHT FGS May 2007 Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Structural polish in semi-anthracite coal in the Mississippian of Virginia, USA.
This is the best outcrop anywhere of the only economically significant Mississippian-aged coal occurrence in the world. The beds are structurally tilted, which occurred during the Allegheny Orogeny in the Pennsylvanian.
Shown above is an outcrop of the Langhorne Coal. At this site, the unit is tectonically-thickened and sheared. The rank is semi-anthracite coal, which results from very low grade metamorphism of bituminous coal. Adjacent beds (shales and sandstones) are not metamorphosed. The Langhorne Coal has been mined in the past.
The surface facing the viewer is smooth and polished, the result of shearing (= fault movement) in incompetent rocks. Such surfaces are called "structural polish". High polish can also occur on some bedrock-smoothed glacial surfaces.
Stratigraphy: lowermost upper member, Price Formation, Osagean Stage, upper Lower Mississippian
Locality: roadcut on the eastern side of Rt. 100, western end of Cloyds Mountain, south of the town of Poplar Hill, Pulaski County, Valley Coalfield, southwestern Virginia, USA (= locality shown in figure 9 of Bartholomew & Brown, 1992) (37° 10' 42.39" North latitude, 80° 42' 48.48" West longitude)
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Some info. from:
Bartholomew, M.J. & K.E. Brown. 1992. The Valley Coalfield (Mississippian age) in Montgomery and Pulaski Counties, Virginia. Virginia Division of Mineral Resources Publication 124. 33 pp. 2 pls.
Gensel, P.G. & K.B. Pigg. 2010. An arborescent lycopsid from the Lower Carboniferous Price Formation, southwestern Virginia, USA and the problem of species delimitation. International Journal of Coal Geology 83: 132-145.
Cannel coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA. (bedding plane view; ~11.2 centimeters across along the base)
Cannel coal is a scarce, fossil spore-rich variety of coal - it is hard and weathering-resistant, has a velvety to satiny luster, little to no stratification, and a conchoidal fracture. The differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal (lignite, bituminous, anthracite) are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
This eastern Ohio sample is from the Bedford Coal in the Pottsville Group, a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession containing nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Member (?).
The Bedford Coal occurs just below the Upper Mercer Limestone, which is often a flint-dominated interval. Lithologically, the Bedford ranges from carbonaceous shale to argillaceous coal to bituminous coal to cannel coal. The cannel coal in the Bedford was targeted for mining in the 1800s as a source of fuel. It was particularly useful in the manufacture of kerosene, an illuminating fuel. After the petroleum industry started in the 1860s, production of kerosene from cannel coal essentially ceased.
Stratigraphy: Bedford Coal, upper Pottsville Group, Atokan Stage, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: Tunnel Hill North Portal Outcrop (= Noland Tunnel's northern portal), ~1.75 air miles north-northeast of the town of Tunnel Hill, western Coshocton County, eastern Ohio, USA (~40° 16’ 33.27” North latitude, ~82° 01’ 53.04” West longitude)
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For more info. on cannel coal in general, see:
Bituminous asphalt, car park striped the day before. If you think this is dull, try my edited highlights of parking lot striping. 20 minutes a little too active to meet my view of Minimalism, but you'll be hard pressed to watch the whole thing.
Coal in the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA.
The Bowerston Shale Company was founded in the fall of 1929 by Samuel D. Milliken. They have brick manufacturing plants in Bowerston, Ohio and Hanover, Ohio.
The Hanover plant makes bricks using rocks derived from two quarries that I know of - the Hanover Pit and the Frazeysburg Pit. I have visited the latter, with kind permission of the Bowerston company. The Frazeysburg Pit targets shales in the Pottsville Group. The shales are excavated and left in piles in the quarry to weather. Limestones and sandstones are excluded from the shale piles. Shale material is eventually trucked to the Hanover Plant, where it is processed into bricks.
Seen here is a weathered bituminous coal sample in the new/southern quarry of the Frazeyburg Pit in northwestern Muskingum County, Ohio. The rock is from the Middle Mercer Coal, which occurs immediately below the Lower Mercer Limestone, a widespread, marine marker bed. In eastern Ohio, The Middle Mercer Coal ranges in composition from bituminous coal to cannel coal.
Stratigraphy: Middle Mercer Coal, Pottsville Group, lower Atokan Stage, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: new/southern quarry, Frazeysburg Pit (Bowerston Shale Company), southern side of Clay Pit Road, ~1.7 air miles north of Frazeysburg, Jackson Township, northwestern Muskingum County, eastern Ohio, USA (40° 08’ 39.92” North latitude, 82° 07’ 19.07” West longitude)
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Cannel coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA. (cross-section view)
The Linton Lagerstätte is a famous fossil deposit at the Diamond Coal Mine in far-eastern Ohio. It occurs in channel-filling, fissile cannel coal in the lower Upper Freeport Coal. The Upper Freeport is about 9 feet thick at this locality - bituminous coal in the Upper Freeport interval was the target for mining. The fissile cannel coal at the base of the Upper Freeport was waste rock and discarded in a large pile. Fossils include plants (palynomorph microfossils), invertebrates (principally conchostracans), and vertebrates (fish, amphibians, reptiles).
Cannel coals are odd varieties of coal. They don’t have the look & feel of ordinary coals such as lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite. Cannel coals are lightweight, as all coals are, but are surprisingly tight and solid - they hold up to natural weathering pretty well, considering they’re coals. They are not sooty to the touch, and have conchoidal fracture (smooth & curved fracture surfaces). Cannel coals usually lack the well-developed horizontal bedding & laminations seen in lignites and bituminous coals.
Not surprisingly, the differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
The Linton cannel coal is unusual because it is fissile - it breaks into thin, flat pieces, as shale does.
Stratigraphy: lower part of the Upper Freeport Coal (= Number 7 Coal), Allegheny Group, Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: Diamond Coal Mine, Linton, far-eastern Jefferson County, far-eastern Ohio, USA
"Coke is a fuel with few impurities and a high carbon content, usually made from coal. It is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes made from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made. The form known as petroleum coke, or pet coke, is derived from oil refinery coker units or other cracking processes." [ Wiki ]
Weathered bituminous coal in the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA.
The Pottsville Group is a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession containing nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Limestone horizon (?).
The photo shows weathered, loose talus pieces of bituminous coal eroded from the Middle Mercer Coal. Stratigraphically, this coal horizon occurs immediately below the Lower Mercer Limestone, a widespread marine fossiliferous limestone unit. The Middle Mercer Coal usually consists of bituminous coal, but in places it is a cannel coal. At this locality, the Middle Mercer is bituminous. Portions of the horizon at this site are remarkable because the coal contains marine fossils (brachiopods, crinoids, gastropods) [DON'T tell the creationists!]. Applying Walther's Law (conformable facies now in vertical succession were originally next to each other), the coal swamp that formed the Middle Mercer Coal was near a marine shoreline. A storm likely washed in shells and fragmented skeletons from the shallow ocean into the swamp. Swamps directly adjacent to the sea can be observed in many places on modern Earth.
Stratigraphy: Middle Mercer Coal, Pottsville Group, lower Atokan Stage, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: roadcut along the northern side Rt. 16, southern margin of Irish Ridge, west of the Rt. 16-Rt. 60 intersection, northwest of the town of Trinway, northwestern Muskingum County, eastern Ohio, USA (40° 09’ 12.95” North latitude, 82° 02’ 43.27” West longitude)
Bituminous coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA.
The Meigs Creek Coal is a bituminous coal horizon in the Upper Pennsylvanian Monongahela Group of eastern Ohio, USA. Bituminous coal is a type of "soft coal" - it ranks above lignite coal and sub-bituminous coal, but below anthracite coal.
Stratigraphy: Meigs Creek Coal (also known as the Sewickley Coal), Monongahela Group, Virgilian Series, upper Upper Pennsylvanian
Locality: Narrows Run North outcrop - roadcut on the western side of Route 7, just north of Narrows Run (an east-flowing tributary of the Ohio River), northeastern York Township, southeastern Belmont County, Ohio, USA (39° 54’ 25.94” North latitude, 80° 48’ 36.73” West longitude)
Cannel coal/bituminous coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA. (bedding plane view; ~10.0 centimeters across along the base)
Cannel coal is a scarce, fossil spore-rich variety of coal - it is hard and weathering-resistant, has a velvety to satiny luster, little to no stratification, and a conchoidal fracture. The differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal (lignite, bituminous, anthracite) are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
This eastern Ohio sample is from the Bedford Coal in the Pottsville Group, a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession containing nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Member (?).
The Bedford Coal occurs just below the Upper Mercer Limestone, which is often a flint-dominated interval. Lithologically, the Bedford ranges from carbonaceous shale to argillaceous coal to bituminous coal to cannel coal. The cannel coal in the Bedford was targeted for mining in the 1800s as a source of fuel. It was particularly useful in the manufacture of kerosene, an illuminating fuel. After the petroleum industry started in the 1860s, production of kerosene from cannel coal essentially ceased.
This sample consists of cannel coal in part and bituminous coal in part.
Stratigraphy: Bedford Coal, upper Pottsville Group, Atokan Stage, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: Tunnel Hill North Portal Outcrop (= Noland Tunnel's northern portal), ~1.75 air miles north-northeast of the town of Tunnel Hill, western Coshocton County, eastern Ohio, USA (~40° 16’ 33.27” North latitude, ~82° 01’ 53.04” West longitude)
---------------
For more info. on cannel coal in general, see:
"Coke is a fuel with few impurities and a high carbon content, usually made from coal. It is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes made from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made. The form known as petroleum coke, or pet coke, is derived from oil refinery coker units or other cracking processes." [ Wiki ]
in Nebraska National Forest within the Nebraska Sandhills region, USA [No property release; available for editorial licensing only]
Anthracite coal from the Pennsylvanian of Pennsylvania, USA.
Anthracite coal is the highest-rank of coal. It forms by very low-grade metamorphism (anchimetamorphism) of bituminous coal. Anthracite is always black-colored, with a glassy texture, and is harder and heavier than other coals, although it is still relatively soft and lightweight for its size. In comparison with lignite and bituminous coal, anthracite is less sooty to the touch. Anthracite burns hotter than other coal types, due to its high carbon content (~90% C). It is also the cleanest-burning of all the coal ranks.
Anthracite is a scarce variety of coal. The highest concentration of anthracite on Earth is in the Pennsylvanian-aged coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, USA. There is still some uncertainty in the details about the origin of Pennsylvania anthracite coal. In Colorado, an anthracite coal deposit occurs next to an igneous intrusion - the anthracite formed by heating from contact or hydrothermal metamorphism. It's been suggested that Pennsylvania anthracite was hydrothermally metamorphosed. The anthracite in Pennsylvania was originally deposited in coal swamps that were relatively high on ancient alluvial plains - those environments are usually not preserved in mountain belts (they get uplifted and eroded). In Pennsylvania, the high alluvial plain facies were downdropped and got preserved, resulting in anthracites representing different facies from those seen in bituminous coal fields.
Age: Pennsylvanian
Locality: unrecorded/undisclosed site at or near the town of Hazelton (probably a coal mine), eastern Pennsylvania, USA
Anthracite coal from the Pennsylvanian of Pennsylvania, USA.
Anthracite coal is the highest-rank of coal. It forms by very low-grade metamorphism (anchimetamorphism) of bituminous coal. Anthracite is always black-colored, with a glassy texture, and is harder and heavier than other coals, although it is still relatively soft and lightweight for its size. In comparison with lignite and bituminous coal, anthracite is less sooty to the touch. Anthracite burns hotter than other coal types, due to its high carbon content (~90% C). It is also the cleanest-burning of all the coal ranks.
Anthracite is a scarce variety of coal. The highest concentration of anthracite on Earth is in the Pennsylvanian-aged coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, USA. There is still some uncertainty in the details about the origin of Pennsylvania anthracite coal. In Colorado, an anthracite coal deposit occurs next to an igneous intrusion - the anthracite formed by heating from contact or hydrothermal metamorphism. It's been suggested that Pennsylvania anthracite was hydrothermally metamorphosed. The anthracite in Pennsylvania was originally deposited in coal swamps that were relatively high on ancient alluvial plains - those environments are usually not preserved in mountain belts (they get uplifted and eroded). In Pennsylvania, the high alluvial plain facies were downdropped and got preserved, resulting in anthracites representing different facies from those seen in bituminous coal fields.
Age: Pennsylvanian
Locality: unrecorded/undisclosed site at or near the town of Hazelton (probably a coal mine), eastern Pennsylvania, USA
Cannel coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA. (bedding plane view; ~9.0 centimeters across at its widest)
Cannel coal is a scarce, fossil spore-rich variety of coal - it is hard and weathering-resistant, has a velvety to satiny luster, little to no stratification, and a conchoidal fracture. The differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal (lignite, bituminous, anthracite) are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
This eastern Ohio sample is from the Bedford Coal in the Pottsville Group, a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession containing nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Member (?).
The Bedford Coal occurs just below the Upper Mercer Limestone, which is often a flint-dominated interval. Lithologically, the Bedford ranges from carbonaceous shale to argillaceous coal to bituminous coal to cannel coal. The cannel coal in the Bedford was targeted for mining in the 1800s as a source of fuel. It was particularly useful in the manufacture of kerosene, an illuminating fuel. After the petroleum industry started in the 1860s, production of kerosene from cannel coal essentially ceased.
Stratigraphy: Bedford Coal, upper Pottsville Group, Atokan Stage, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: Tunnel Hill North Portal Outcrop (= Noland Tunnel's northern portal), ~1.75 air miles north-northeast of the town of Tunnel Hill, western Coshocton County, eastern Ohio, USA (~40° 16’ 33.27” North latitude, ~82° 01’ 53.04” West longitude)
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For more info. on cannel coal in general, see:
University of Southampton Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics,
School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, "Bituplaning: A Low Dry Friction Phenomenon of New Bituminous Road Surfaces" By John Charles Bullas BSc MSc MIAT MIHT FGS May 2007 Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Cannel coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA. (bedding plane view; ~14.3 centimeters across along the base)
Cannel coal is a scarce, fossil spore-rich variety of coal - it is hard and weathering-resistant, has a velvety to satiny luster, little to no stratification, and a conchoidal fracture. The differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal (lignite, bituminous, anthracite) are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
This eastern Ohio sample is from the Bedford Coal in the Pottsville Group, a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession containing nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Member (?).
The Bedford Coal occurs just below the Upper Mercer Limestone, which is often a flint-dominated interval. Lithologically, the Bedford ranges from carbonaceous shale to argillaceous coal to bituminous coal to cannel coal. The cannel coal in the Bedford was targeted for mining in the 1800s as a source of fuel. It was particularly useful in the manufacture of kerosene, an illuminating fuel. After the petroleum industry started in the 1860s, production of kerosene from cannel coal essentially ceased.
Stratigraphy: Bedford Coal, upper Pottsville Group, Atokan Stage, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: Tunnel Hill North Portal Outcrop (= Noland Tunnel's northern portal), ~1.75 air miles north-northeast of the town of Tunnel Hill, western Coshocton County, eastern Ohio, USA (~40° 16’ 33.27” North latitude, ~82° 01’ 53.04” West longitude)
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For more info. on cannel coal in general, see:
Anthracite coal from the Pennsylvanian of Pennsylvania, USA.
Anthracite coal is the highest-rank of coal. It forms by very low-grade metamorphism (anchimetamorphism) of bituminous coal. Anthracite is always black-colored, with a glassy texture, and is harder and heavier than other coals, although it is still relatively soft and lightweight for its size. In comparison with lignite and bituminous coal, anthracite is less sooty to the touch. Anthracite burns hotter than other coal types, due to its high carbon content (~90% C). It is also the cleanest-burning of all the coal ranks.
Anthracite is a scarce variety of coal. The highest concentration of anthracite on Earth is in the Pennsylvanian-aged coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, USA. There is still some uncertainty in the details about the origin of Pennsylvania anthracite coal. In Colorado, an anthracite coal deposit occurs next to an igneous intrusion - the anthracite formed by heating from contact or hydrothermal metamorphism. It's been suggested that Pennsylvania anthracite was hydrothermally metamorphosed. The anthracite in Pennsylvania was originally deposited in coal swamps that were relatively high on ancient alluvial plains - those environments are usually not preserved in mountain belts (they get uplifted and eroded). In Pennsylvania, the high alluvial plain facies were downdropped and got preserved, resulting in anthracites representing different facies from those seen in bituminous coal fields.
Age: Pennsylvanian
Locality: unrecorded/undisclosed site at or near the town of Hazelton (probably a coal mine), eastern Pennsylvania, USA
Anthracite coal from the Pennsylvanian of Pennsylvania, USA.
Anthracite coal is the highest-rank of coal. It forms by very low-grade metamorphism (anchimetamorphism) of bituminous coal. Anthracite is always black-colored, with a glassy texture, and is harder and heavier than other coals, although it is still relatively soft and lightweight for its size. In comparison with lignite and bituminous coal, anthracite is less sooty to the touch. Anthracite burns hotter than other coal types, due to its high carbon content (~90% C). It is also the cleanest-burning of all the coal ranks.
Anthracite is a scarce variety of coal. The highest concentration of anthracite on Earth is in the Pennsylvanian-aged coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, USA. There is still some uncertainty in the details about the origin of Pennsylvania anthracite coal. In Colorado, an anthracite coal deposit occurs next to an igneous intrusion - the anthracite formed by heating from contact or hydrothermal metamorphism. It's been suggested that Pennsylvania anthracite was hydrothermally metamorphosed. The anthracite in Pennsylvania was originally deposited in coal swamps that were relatively high on ancient alluvial plains - those environments are usually not preserved in mountain belts (they get uplifted and eroded). In Pennsylvania, the high alluvial plain facies were downdropped and got preserved, resulting in anthracites representing different facies from those seen in bituminous coal fields.
Age: Pennsylvanian
Locality: unrecorded/undisclosed site at or near the town of Hazelton (probably a coal mine), eastern Pennsylvania, USA
Bituminous coal in the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA.
The Pottsville Group is a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession in eastern Ohio that contains nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Member (?).
The black material littering the ground is weathered bituminous coal, derived from the Vandusen Coal bed, which occurs just below the Poverty Run Limestone. The latter is a relatively thin, marine, fossiliferous limestone horizon in the lower Pottsville Group
The light to medium gray material below the weathered coal is "underclay", which refers to weathered mudshales that occur immediately below coal beds. Underclays have often been subjected to sulfuric acid chemical weathering. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) forms by the oxidation of pyrite ("fool's gold" - FeS2) in the presence of water.
Stratigraphy: Vandusen Coal, just below the Poverty Run Limestone, lower Pottsville Group, upper Morrowan Stage, upper Lower Pennsylvanian
Locality: Irish Ridge East Outcrop - roadcut along the northern side of the eastbound entrance ramp from Rt. 60 to Rt. 16 (southeastern portion of Rt. 16-Rt. 60 interchange), north-northwest of the towns of Trinway & Dresden, northern Cass Township, northwestern Muskingum County, eastern Ohio, USA (~40° 09’ 13.56” North latitude, ~82° 01’ 29.37” West longitude)
Anthracite coal from the Pennsylvanian of Pennsylvania, USA.
Anthracite coal is the highest-rank of coal. It forms by very low-grade metamorphism (anchimetamorphism) of bituminous coal. Anthracite is always black-colored, with a glassy texture, and is harder and heavier than other coals, although it is still relatively soft and lightweight for its size. In comparison with lignite and bituminous coal, anthracite is less sooty to the touch. Anthracite burns hotter than other coal types, due to its high carbon content (~90% C). It is also the cleanest-burning of all the coal ranks.
Anthracite is a scarce variety of coal. The highest concentration of anthracite on Earth is in the Pennsylvanian-aged coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, USA. There is still some uncertainty in the details about the origin of Pennsylvania anthracite coal. In Colorado, an anthracite coal deposit occurs next to an igneous intrusion - the anthracite formed by heating from contact or hydrothermal metamorphism. It's been suggested that Pennsylvania anthracite was hydrothermally metamorphosed. The anthracite in Pennsylvania was originally deposited in coal swamps that were relatively high on ancient alluvial plains - those environments are usually not preserved in mountain belts (they get uplifted and eroded). In Pennsylvania, the high alluvial plain facies were downdropped and got preserved, resulting in anthracites representing different facies from those seen in bituminous coal fields.
Age: Pennsylvanian
Locality: unrecorded/undisclosed site at or near the town of Hazelton (probably a coal mine), eastern Pennsylvania, USA