alkylbiphenyls in ancient sediments and petroleums abstract c 1 and c 2 alkylbiphenyls have been analysed in crude oils and sediment extracts by capillary gas chromatography after preliminary isolation procedures involving tlc and hplc the abundance of 2 methylbiphenyl relative to 3 methylbiphenyl has been measured in samples from two sedimentary sequences 2 methylbiphenyl decreases in relative abundance with increasing thermal maturity of the sediments in both sedimentary sequences these isomeric methylbiphenyls are potentially useful as thermal maturity indicators for crude oils

alkyldibenzofurans in terrestrial rocks influence of organic facies and maturation abstract dibenzofuran dbf dibenzothiophene dbt and phenanthrene phe have been determined along with their methyl derivatives mdbfs mdbts mps in coals carbonaceous shales and mudstones of lower cretaceous to upper carboniferous ages from the elmworth gas field canada and from the sakoa madagascar and ruhr coal germany basins the samples contained mainly terrestrial organic matter with thermal maturities in the 0 7 1 9 mean vitrinite reflectance rr range the pronounced predominance of mdbfs over mdbts in the sakoa samples is typical of plant debris deposited in lacustrine swamp environments onset of intense mdbf generation occurs at fairly low rank 0 77 rr as indicated by elevated concentrations of 50 120 g mdbfs g total organic carbon toc influences of lithology organic matter type and maturity on distributions of the target compounds were extracted from the molecular concentration data by multivariate statistical methods such as principal components analysis pca and fuzzy c means cluster analysis with nonlinear mapping nlm a specific source effect on 1 mdbt concentrations suggests that lichens contributed to the senescent coal forming forest in the sakoa coal basin alkyldibenzofurans hence are potential lichen biomarkers mdbfs can be used as maturity indicators only beyond 1 0 rr where ruhr coals displayed a distinct increase in the 1 4 mdbf ratio

the procedure used to develop a coal char classification commission iii combustion working group of the international committee for coal and organic petrology abstract this paper describes an assessment of char classification system by the combustion working group in commission iii of the international committee for coal and organic petrology iccp the work of the group culminated in the production of a char atlas after a final round robin exercise this round robin involved 21 analysts and was an electronic exercise using digitally captured images of individual char particles rather than actual char blocks a software program featuring 170 char images was specifically designed to allow operators to identify each char based on a classification system with 9 individual char types tenuisphere crassisphere tenuinetwork crassinetwork mixed porous mixed dense fusinoid solid and mineroid the program electronically recorded all decisions as well as the time taken for each decision to be made from 170 chars 128 chars were identified by a majority 70 and these chars were then compiled in a char atlas that is now available for download www nottingham ac uk eczehl charatlas as would be expected all analysts appeared to become more confident in identifying chars during the exercise taking less time per image but with no clear evidence of improvement without exception analysts took longer to make an incorrect decision

radiation and self ignition induced alterations of permian uraniferous coal from the abandoned novator mine waste dump czech republic abstract the effects of uranium mineralization and self burning processes on inorganic and organic components of coal have been studied at a waste pile of the former novator coal and uranium mine at beckov intrasudetic basin czech republic in order to characterize physical and chemical properties of wastes as a basis for further environmental studies unaltered bituminous coal was composed predominantly of vitrinite with random reflectance values between 0 72 and 0 86 and inertinite less common liptinite macerals and a low level of organic solvent extractable material 0 01 1 33 wt uranium minerals caused local radioactive alterations in the uranium enriched coal matrix the diameter of rounded radiation induced haloes ranged from 0 35 to 100 m with higher reflectance 0 84 3 44 compared with bulk coal structural changes in radiation induced altered organic coal matter were characterized by low values of raman band disorder fewer aliphatic c h bonds and higher levels of oxygenated functional groups in micro infrared spectra zones of higher reflectance were also confined to veinlets of epigenetic chalcopyrite galena and sphalerite mineralization oriented perpendicularly to the coal bedding the methylnaphthalene ratios mnr of extracted organic matter correlated with uranium concentrations in individual samples in self ignition affected samples the higher reflectance 1 31 1 71 and values of raman band disorder mirrored the intensity of burning processes organic matter samples located at unburnt and burnt coal interfaces were composed of a mixture of coal macerals char and solid bitumens in the waste heap burning zone coal and claystone were transformed to clinkers composed of plagioclase pyroxenes tremolite hematite magnetite anatase and aluminosilicate glass or to paralava formed by porous cordierite and hematite organic components in the burnt out zone were represented by small dense and massive coke particles with reflectance of 4 48 fusinite with reflectance of 3 05 and rare coke droplets of solid bitumen r 1 90 only traces of phenanthrene and alkanes were identified in organic extracts of burnt out rock

biomarkers as proxies for plant inputs to peats an example from a sub boreal ombrotrophic bog lipid distributions in modern peat forming plants were determined and compared to biomarkers recovered from a ca 2800 year old peat deposited in a dutch ombrotrophic bog the peat section spans a well constrained shift in local hydrology and vegetation and potential molecular proxies for plant inputs were directly tested against the macrofossil record based on the analyses of modern plants low molecular weight lmw n alkanes c23 c25 and high molecular weight n alkanes c33 are proposed as potential biomarkers for sphagnum and non sphagnum inputs respectively consistent with this in the bargerveen peat core lmw n alkane abundances increase and hmw n alkane abundances decrease coincident with the shift to sphagnum dominated peat additional potential proxies include the abundances of c22 alkanedioic acid and phytenyl phytenoate as sphagnum indicators and the abundances of the triterpenoids taraxer 14 ene and taraxast 20 ene as biomarkers for ericaceae rootlets

organic geochemical study of sequences overlying coal seams example from the mansfield formation lower pennsylvanian indiana abstract roof successions above two coal seams from the mansfield formation lower pennsylvanian in the indiana portion of the illinois basin have been studied with regard to sedimentary structures organic petrology and organic geochemistry the succession above the blue creek member of the mansfield formation is typical of the lithologies covering low sulphur coals 2 the transgressive regressive packages above both seams reflect the periodic inundation of coastal mires by tidal flats and creeks as inferred from bioturbation and sedimentary structures such as tidal rhythmites and clay draped ripple bedforms geochemistry and petrology of organic facies above the blue creek coal suggest that tidal flats formed inland in fresh water environments these overlying fresh water sediments prevented saline waters from invading the peat contributing to low sulphur content in the coal above the unnamed coal trace fossils and geochemical and petrological characteristics of organic facies suggest more unrestricted seaward depositional environment the absence of saline or typically marine biomarkers above this coal is interpreted as evidence of very short periods of marine transgression as there was not enough time for establishment of the precursor organisms for marine biomarkers however sufficient time passed to raise so42 concentration in pore waters resulting in the formation of authigenic pyrite and sulphur incorparation into organic matter

biological origin of tetracyclic diterpanes n alkanes and other biomarkers found in lower carboniferous gondwana coals niger abstract the saturated hydrocarbons of coal samples of the anou araren mine tim mersoi basin niger republic have been studied by gc and gc ms chromatograms revealed rather unusual n alkane distributions dominated by compounds in the c 20 c 23 range and showing a rapid and irregular decrease towards higher molecular weights these signatures appear to be typical of the paleozoic gondwana swamps flora unlike typical low maturity terrestrial organic matter characterized by a dominance of odd carbon number n alkanes in the c 27 c 33 range which could be attributed to angiosperms the presence of large amounts of polycyclic diterpanes ent beyerane phyllocladanes and kauranes is unexpected in samples of that age since these compounds are usually thought to be derived from conifers which supposedly had not yet evolved at the time a more likely explanation is that these diterpanes could be derived from biological precursors of the conifers

burning of coal waste piles from douro coalfield portugal petrological geochemical and mineralogical characterization abstract in the douro coalfield anthracites were exploited for decades 1795 1994 besides many small mines douro coalfield had two principal mining areas s pedro da cova and pejao coal mining activities cause several impacts on the environment one of which is the amount of discard or waste which was disposed of all over douro coalfield resulting in one of the most significant and severe impacts on the environment over 20 waste piles exist in the old mining areas geographically dispersed and three of them are presently burning their ignition was caused by forest fires during the summer of 2005 samples from the burning and unburned zones of the waste piles were studied as were the gas from vents and the minerals resulting after combustion geochemical processes and mineralogical transformations in the burning coal waste pile were investigated microscopic analyses of the samples identified some particular aspects related with combustion oxidation of pyrite the presence of iron oxides organic particles with cracks and rims with lowered suppressed rr devolatilization vacuoles and some char structures the occurrence of vitreous glassy material as well as fe al spinels in the burning coal waste provide evidences that the combustion temperature could have reached values above 1000 c due to combustion and as expected the samples studied reported high ash yields samples taken from the burning zones reported an increase of as cr li nb ni pb rb sr and lree concentrations and a decrease in zr and hree concentrations enrichment in cs li and rb was noted when comparing with the geochemical composition of black shales and world coals composition that is related with the contribution of granitic rocks in the sediments that originated the main lithologies of the douro coalfield carbonaceous shale and lithic arenites cluster analyses r type and q type were performed to understand the trend between the unburned and burning samples and it seems that some chemical variations are responsible for this separation elemental sulphur and salammoniac ammonium salt are the coal fire gas minerals neoformed on the surface of piles near the burning zones they were identified by different techniques mainly sem edx xrd and ftir relatively high concentrations of several aromatic compounds were detected in the gas collected at the studied areas as well as aliphatic hydrocarbons the highest concentrations of aromatic hydrocarbons were measured in gas samples from s pedro da cova waste pile the exposure to hazardous compounds present in the gas is a serious risk to human health and the environment

aeromagnetic surveying using a simulated unmanned aircraft system carleton university and sander geophysics are developing an unmanned aircraft system uas for aeromagnetic surveying as an early indication of the expected performance of the unmanned aircraft system a simulated unmanned aircraft system suas was built the simulated unmanned aircraft system is a t shaped structure configured as a horizontal gradiometer with two cesium magnetometers spaced 4 67 m apart which is the same sensor geometry as planned for the unmanned aircraft system the simulated unmanned aircraft system is flown suspended beneath a helicopter an 8 5 km 2 area in the central metasedimentary belt of the grenville province near plevna ontario canada was surveyed with the simulated unmanned aircraft system suspended 50 m above ground the survey site was chosen on the basis of its complex geological structure the total magnetic intensity tmi data recorded were compared to that obtained during a conventional fixed wing survey and a ground survey transverse magneto gradiometric data were also recorded by the simulated unmanned aircraft system the simulated unmanned aircraft system total magnetic intensity data have a higher resolution than the conventional fixed wing data and were found to have a similar resolution to that of the ground survey data the advantages of surveying with the simulated unmanned aircraft system were 1 the acquisition of a detailed data set free of gaps in coverage at a low altitude above the terrain and 2 substantial saving of time and effort in the survey site the 4 67 m simulated unmanned aircraft system gradiometer measured the transverse magnetic gradient reliably up to an altitude of 150 m above ground

experimental aeromagnetic survey using an unmanned air system currently stratus aeronautics is developing an unmanned aircraft system uas called the venturer for aeromagnetic surveying on 2 october 2013 in southern alberta canada an experimental survey of the uas was conducted approximately 13 km of preprogrammed survey lines along with calibration maneuvers were flown providing 45 minutes worth of data collection the uas was stable in flight and only required operator intervention for takeoff and landing there was a 2 m offset from the nominal altitude of 150 m with variations of approximately 1 4 m deviations from a straight flight path were approximately 0 9 m along traverse lines and 25 m along tie lines the latter being affected mainly by crosswind the noise envelope for the magnetic data acquired during the survey was approximately 0 05 nt allowing a high quality total magnetic intensity map to be created

saturated hydrocarbon biomarkers in oils of late precambrian age from eastern siberia abstract large quantities of petroleum derived from source rocks of late precambrian early cambrian age have been discovered in the lena tunguska region of eastern siberia over the last twenty five years we have examined three oils with presumed late precambrian vendian source rocks from this region for c 15 saturated hydrocarbon biomarkers using gas chromatography gc and gas chromatography mass spectrometry gc ms our results show these oils to have many characteristics in common with other oils of similar age from eastern siberia and oman amongst the compounds detected in the three oils analyzed were 1 n alkanes which show a marine derived distribution 2 centrally branched monomethyl alkanes 3 acyclic isoprenoids pr ph 1 4 tricyclic and tetracyclic terpanes 5 hopanes 6 c 29 unrearranged steranes and 7 c 30 nuclear steranes all of these compounds with the exception of the 4 methylsteranes which on current biochemical knowledge are unexpected in oils of this age can be assigned a prokaryotic source this and other evidence such as the lack of diasteranes suggest microorganism were the major contributors to organic matter deposited as part of a carbonate source rock

petrographic and geochemical investigation of coal slurries and of the products resulting from their combustion abstract coal slurry is a fine grained compared to coal coal slurries analyzed in the paper are characterized by a high content of macerals of the inertinite group with inertodetrinite dominant among macerals of the vitrinite and liptinite groups a high content of detrial macerals also merit attention the mineral composition of coal slurries is close to that of coal although coals are characterized by a slightly higher mineral variability unburned organic matter in the ash resulting from burning a mixture of coal and coal slurry is dominated by detritus x ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy of ash samples reveal quartz anhydrite mica hematite feldspar calcite and portlandite in the ash metakaolinite hydrophilite dolomite iron oxides calcium oxide and aluminosilicates occur in smaller quantities

macroseismic intensity versus epicentral distance the case of central italy this paper refers to the attenuation of macroseismic intensity with epicentral distance a new attenuation law is discussed with particular reference to italian conditions the new formula shows a much better fit compared to traditional attenuation laws a numerical example indicates that a proper choice of the attenuation law is a crucial step in local hazard evaluation

the organic geochemistry of coal from plant materials to coal coalification is a process that transforms plant remains under the influence of time temperature and possibly pressure to a black generally lustrous solid organic fossil fuel having a very complex chemistry although much has been learned in the past two centuries on coal chemistry we still have little knowledge of the way plant materials undergo these transformations the problem has been the existence of adequate characterization tools the advent of some new tools for structural elucidation of macromolecules has led to some revised thinking on coalification originally thought to be a process involving the full degradation of plant remains and subsequent reconstitution of these remains the general consensus today is that the process involves a selective preservation of certain resistant plant components followed by some minor reorganization of the biopolymers that survive the major components of plants do degrade and the resistant ones often constitute only a small fraction of the original mass of the plant materials this paper examines the most recent literature concerning coalification and focuses on the chemistry associated with coalification of certain recognizable plant remains that have been at the center of research activity for the past two decades thus we examine the recent knowledge of the chemistry of resistant biopolymers in extant and fossil wood cuticles resins spores and algae knowledge that has been assembled to establish the reaction pathways towards coal macromolecules

biomarkers and aromatic hydrocarbons in bituminous coals of upper silesian coal basin example from 405 coal seam of the zaleskie beds poland abstract this paper presents the geochemical characteristics of hard coals from the 405 coal seam found in several mines in the upper silesian coal basin poland the coals classifying as of medial coalification types d and c and as para and orthobituminous coals show variable technical chemical and petrographic properties vitrinite reflectance values range from 0 65 to 1 24 cdaf from 79 2 to 88 3 wt and vdaf from 23 7 to 37 4 wt maceral composition in all of the coals studied is dominated by vitrinite macerals 43 5 74 0 gas chromatography mass spectrometry was applied to assess organic matter sources and ranks using several biomarker and aromatic hydrocarbon parameters distributions of n alkanes acyclic isoprenoids diterpenoids steranes and triaromatic steroids indicate that the organic matter in the coals analysed is derived mostly from terrestrial vascular plants the biogenic organic matter was deposited mostly in an estuarine deltaic environment with a normal to low water level in a few cases a marine lagoonal or paludal environment is possible tetracyclic diterpanes such as phyllocladanes and kauranes indicators of the podocarpaceae and araucariceae families are explained by proposing input of organic matter deriving from voltziales plants which may have been able to synthesise these compounds biomarker and aromatic hydrocarbon parameters of thermal maturity in the coals show a clear correlation to vitrinite reflectance values and carbon content indicating degrees of thermal maturity in the range from early to advanced catagenesis frictional heat related to the klodnica fault movement caused aberrations in values of aromatic hydrocarbon maturity parameters in coals sampled

petrographic characteristics of lignite gasification chars abstract the article presents the petrographic characteristics of lignite subjected to fluidized bed gasification and the residues after the process the gasifying agents were air oxygen and carbon dioxide the petrographic composition of the lignite is dominated by huminite group with 81 7 vol share the inertinite group is 3 6 vol while the liptinite group amounts to 7 0 vol the mineral matter in the tested samples is 7 7 vol the gasification temperature was in the range of 850 950 c therefore the study focused mainly on the pyrolysis of coal the dominant particles in the residues after the gasification process include inertoid 35 5 vol and crassinetwork 31 6 vol the total amount of char with different kinds of pores arising as a result of degassing tenuisphere crassisphere tenuinetwork crassinetwork and mixed porous is 52 3 vol of all components the macerals from inertinite group do not change form during the gasification process the particles with thicker walls crassinetwork and intertoids represent approximately 70 vol are dominant such char composition is related to the chemical structure of coal during gasification process the macerals from liptinite group such as resinite release carboxyl groups increased porosity and swelling a similar phenomenon is observed in the case of textinite macerals of low porosity mainly ulminite do not substantially increase their porosity and take the inertoid form mineroids represent about 8 vol of char but the mineral matter is also associated with coal particles taking into account the efficiency of gasification process it should be noted that only a small percentage

the impact of water washing biodegradation and self heating processes on coal waste dumps in the rybnik industrial region poland abstract water washing biodegradation and self heating impacts on coal waste features were investigated on four sample sets fresh coal wastes sampled less than one week after dumping samples from gullies in coal waste dumps self heated material and bierawka river sediment mixed with coal coal waste particles rock eval pyrolysis petrography and gas chromatography mass spectrometry gc ms were applied to assess degree of organic matter alteration it was found that water washing and self heating did not influence the vitrinite reflectance rock eval pyrolysis results better reflected the secondary changes in organic matter namely s 2 toc and hi t max allowed their extent to be defined changes were noted in other geochemical e g n alkane parameters 2 1 increased and n c 23 n c 31 decreased whereas pr ph pr n c 17 and ph n c 18 ratios increased slightly compared to fresh coal waste the hunt diagram allows discrimination between water washed and biodegraded samples from unaltered fresh coal waste similarly changes in distributions of phenols alkyl aromatic hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons pahs reflect degree of water washing self heating strongly affects distributions of some biomarkers such as n alkanes pr and ph whereas pentacyclic triterpane distributions were generally well preserved phenols occur in greatest amount in self heated wastes probably released from heated vitrinite domination of 2 3 ring pah rings indicated the bitumen precipitation zone and well differentiated burnt out wastes recent organic matter input is seen in increased cpi carbon preference index values

coals of romania geology petrology and use abstract this paper is a contribution to the coal geology coal petrology and end products of coal utilization in romania romanian coals are approached from geological petrographical and industrial use points of view this research surveys all romanian basins yielding terrestrial coal bearing formations in relation to their stratigraphy palaeobotany coal genesis coal petrography and some industrial utilization together with historical aspects most of them romanian pioneering contributions romanian coals range from late carboniferous early jurassic late cretaceous oligocene to miocene and pliocene in age from hard coals to lignite with numerous and wide applications in metallurgy and steel industry chemistry and energy the paper presents the various aspects of end products of coals utilization by improving coking and semi coking technology and developing non conventional technologies coke oven gas purification obtaining of special coal tar pitches and high grade carbon products coal combustion activated carbon precursors coal wastes and combustion products recovery and recycling other this paper is a synthesis of extensive ideas trends and research experiences carried out in romania in coal geology and carbochemistry

coal related sources of organic contamination in sediments and water from the bierawka river poland abstract river sediments mixed with coaly material occur all along the length of the bierawka river poland to identify the origin of the coal in the sediment the coaly material was investigated by reflected light microscopy and rock eval pyrolysis and solvent extracts by gas chromatography mass spectrometry gc ms organic compounds dissolved in water were separated by solid phase extraction spe and analyzed by gc ms the results point to a kerogen iii source petrographic analyses confirm abundant coal charred and coked particles in the sediments vitrinite reflectance varied between 0 66 0 80 r r without any large spatial variation the coaly particles have different sources generally the primary origin of coal particles is from coal processing and the dumping the ash with unburned coal particles from a glass factory near the river source later this material was redeposited along the entire river course in addition hard coal processing crushing washing features are visible in larger coal pieces a second source of coaly organic matter is a coal waste dump at szczyglowice where intensive erosion of steep slopes has delivered copious amounts of organic matter into the river the mixing of this organic matter with that from the glass factory is clearly identified on a ternary diagram pah distributions also show differences between sections the coal particle input from the waste dump increased the relative content of naphthalene relative content downstream as in the coal waste 4 5 ring pahs predominate in the sediments the pyrogenic origin of pahs and aromatic compounds such as methylbiphenyls and dibenzofurane in the sediment is indicated by diagnostic pah ratios burned particles were identified petrographically the river water contains only 2 3 ring pahs possibly of industrial origin or leached from coal particles in the river sediments

the correlation between the macroseismic attenuation trend and the geo structural framework the calabropeloritan arc as an example abstract after describing attempts at perfecting a methodology for studying isotropic and anisotropic macroseismic fields in previous works the authors here try to identify the causes of anisotropy in the context of the new basement tectonics the seismic data are taken both from reconstructions of the macroseismic fields of historic events by means of a critical analysis of the data and from macroseismic fields of recent events surveyed by the authors these data are correlated to the structural framework obtained through recent neotectonic studies and the lineament distribution traced on satellite images and using the shadow method generally the direction of elongation of the mesoseismic area is closely dependent on the source parameters and can be associated with recent and present day systems outlined by the latest neotectonic studies the best correlation is observed however with the lineament pattern obtained using the shadow method the domains of the lineaments associated with the preferential trend of the macroseismic field show in the rose diagram of cumulative number values of prevalence and kurtosis higher than average in the cumulative lengths diagram on the other hand they show prevalence maxima and in particular kurtosis maxima which are all the higher the more the anisotropic trend of field is accentuated using the giant griffith cracks model for the lineaments it can be deduced that the swarms refer to fracture systems with greater vertical development generated during the most recent tectonic phases finally from a study of the dynamic characteristics of the elastic waves that are the main agents responsible for macroseismic effects it can observed that the wavelength order of magnitude is comparable with that of the linear parameters in the warp formed by the giant cracks it can thus be deduced that the strong absorption of energy can be determined by the fracture swarm when the wave propagation occurs orthogonally to the swarm

a stable carbon isotope and biological marker study of polish bituminous coals and carbonaceous shales abstract biological marker and carbon isotopic compositions of coals and carbonaceous shales from the upper carboniferous strata of the upper silesian uscb lower silesian lscb and lublin lcb coal basins were determined to assess depositional conditions and sources of the organic matter n alkane sterane and isoprenoid distribution and carbon isotope ratios are consistent with an origin from higher plants in some cases pristane phytane pr ph ratios of carbonaceous shales roof and floor shales are 29 stereoisomers typical but not conclusive of higher plant origin carbonaceous shales exhibit a wider range of sterane composition suggesting local significant input of algal organic matter significant amounts of benzohopanes and gammacerane are present in some coals although benzohopanes are present at least in small amounts in samples from many different environments they have been reported to occur most commonly in marine environments the present study seems to provide the first example where benzohopanes have been reported in significant amounts in terrestrial organic matter gammacerane is abundant in rocks or sediments deposited in carbonate or highly saline marine environments the finding of high gammacerane concentrations in the coals expands the depositional settings in which it has been observed and questions its utility as an independent indicator of hypersaline carbonate environments stable carbon isotope composition of coals and type iii kerogen in carbonaceous shales as well as correlation of stable carbon isotope composition of saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons in carbonaceous shales from both the uscb and the lscb indicate terrigenous origin bitumens are always co genetic with associated coals and kerogens isotopic data reveal that sofer s genetic classification of oils is not applicable to organic matter in coals

latest permian chars may derive from wildfires not coal combustion the permian triassic boundary extinction event was the largest biological crisis of the phanerozoic one of the principle triggers for the mass extinction is thought to be greenhouse warming resulting from the release of ch 4 from basalt coal interaction during the extensive siberian traps russia eruptions observations of organic matter interpreted to be coal combustion products fly ash in latest permian marine sediments have been used to support this hypothesis however this interpretation is dependent upon vesicular chars being fly ash coal combustion derived and not formed by alternative mechanisms here we present reflectance microscopy images of vesicular chars from russian permian coals and chars from modern tundra peatland and boreal forest fires to demonstrate that despite a difference in precursor fuels wildfires are capable of generating vesicular chars that are morphologically comparable to end permian fly ash these observations coupled with extensive global evidence of wildfires during this time interval call into question the contribution of coal combustion to the end permian extinction event

oxidatively and thermally altered high volatile bituminous coals in high temperature coal fire zone no 8 of the wuda coalfield north china abstract coal fires have received increasing attention due to their environmental economic and social impacts their significant influence on coal properties is widely documented by geophysical and geochemical methods the present paper demonstrates by means of coal petrological methods significant changes of microstructure optical appearance and optical properties of medium rank bituminous coals affected by an underground coal fire the studied changes are suggested to result from distinct oxidative and thermal alterations induced by a high temperature regime temperatures over 800 c encountered in the coal fire zone no 8 wuda coalfield the investigated coal seam no 9 represents a high volatile a bituminous coal and is dominated by vitrinite followed by inertinite with minor amounts of liptinite the microstructure of the coal fire affected coals facilitate a broad spectrum of characteristic features the microscopic analyses revealed development of 1 non tectonic fissures and non tectonic fractures 2 distinct micropores 3 dark oxidations rims and 4 bright spots interpreted as incipient mesophases optical properties were characterised for megasporinite and vitrinite in the examined megasporinite a noticeable anisotropy and distinct granular appearance was observed in the investigated coals both a dominant increase as well as a minor decrease in both random and maximum vitrinite reflectances were documented for 1 coal grains and 2 dark rimmed vitrinite at non tectonic fissures and non tectonic fractures in addition also a characteristic bimodal vitrinite population was measured the increase in bireflectance was clearly documented for two sub zones within the coal fire zone no 8 the applied kilby s cross plots suggested a large overlapping of the data sets of r max and r min indicating marked changes in vitrinite structure the applied coal petrological approach revealed distinct changes to the coal s microstructure appearance as well as to optical properties induced by the underground coal fire the presented coal petrographic approach may help determine the extent of coal fires in coal mines and the direction of propagation of coal fire front

vermicular kaolinite relics in fly ash derived from bokaro and jharia coals jharkhand india abstract during a study of fly ash from two pulverized fuel power plants bokaro and chandrapura burning coal from the bokaro coalfield in jharkand state india glassy and vermicular mineral forms were found associated with the char a combination of optical microscopy xrd sem eds and xrf analysis has shown that this morphotype reported here for the first time originated from kaolinite that expanded during heating inside the furnace chamber under relatively low combustion temperatures the morphotype has an internal structure that resembles the fanning out structure formed during vermicular kaolinite development

erroneous coal maturity assessment caused by low temperature oxidation previous work carried out on different outcrop coals from the french massif central revealed abnormally high tmax values which initially were attributed to high temperature oxidising fluids this increase in tmax which was exclusively observed for medium to low volatile bituminous coals rr 1 5 was accompanied by a very clear exponential like decrease of the hydrogen index hi together with an increase in the oxygen index oi with the aim of checking the possibility that this rise in tmax could simply be caused by weathering a few mature coal samples rr 1 4 were experimentally oxidised at rather low temperatures 110 125 and 150 c and for durations of up to 6 5 month then the oxidation residues were subjected to rock eval 6 pyrolysis and to vitrinite reflectance measurements these experiments effectively reproduce the geochemical changes displayed by the naturally altered coals thus supporting the hypothesis that the previously studied natural alteration process could have been ultimately caused by weathering the observed artificial oxidation path could be divided into two stages i a strong decrease in hi and an increase in oi and ii a constant hi value and a slow rise in oi the increase in tmax seems related to the transition between the first and the second stages this behaviour of hi and oi during artificial oxidation suggests that these two rock eval derived indices can be practically used to detect a moderate and even a low oxidation degree finally if one ignores the constancy of the vitrinite reflectance values all along the oxidation path the decrease of hi and the concomitant increase of tmax mimic a thermal evolution pathway

molecular characterisation of vitrinite in relation to natural hydrogen enrichment and depositional environment the py gc ms results of the study carried out on two groups of vitrinites perhydrous and non perhydrous of diaerent age and properties and on a trimaceralic coal associated with one of the perhydrous group are discussed such a study provides information about the eaect of natural hydrogen enrichment on vitrinite structure at the molecular level moreover the influence of the diaerent conditions in the sedimentary environment on the chemical structure of the vitrinite is also discussed this influence is inferred through diaerences in the distribution and relative amount of phenolic compounds found in the pyrolysates from two samples of two diaerent coal beds in the same basin but formed under diaerent paleoenvironmental conditions for vitrinites with a high h c atomic ratio despite having a strong perhydrous character their pyrolysates exhibit the highly phenolic signature typical of lignin derived material with only minor aliphatic compounds thus the major chemical structural elements in these vitrinites are simple phenols with a high contribution of para alkyl substituted derivatives however there is no parallel relationship between the evolution of the oxygenated functionalities and the reflectance values from the results obtained a coalification pathway where hydrogenation processes predominate over thermal ones is proposed the presence of resin like substances and or oils which are two of the causes of natural hydrogen enrichment in the molecular structure of vitrinites have therefore aaected the normal evolution of the lignin and contributed to the special properties of this type of materials 2000 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

aerial magnetic mapping with an unmanned aerial vehicle and a fluxgate magnetometer a new method for rapid mapping and upscaling from the field to regional scale abstract magnetic measurements with an unmanned aerial vehicle are ideal for filling the gap between ground and airborne magnetic surveying however to obtain accurate aeromagnetic data the compensation of magnetic effects of the unmanned aerial vehicle is a challenge typically scalar magnetometers are towed several metres under the unmanned aerial vehicle to minimize its magnetic field in this study a fluxgate three component magnetometer is attached 42 cm in front of the unmanned aerial vehicle at the tip of a composite pipe using a scalar calibration the sensor can be calibrated and the permanent and induced magnetic fields of the unmanned aerial vehicle can be compensated the contributions of the magnetic measurements at different altitudes to the unmanned aerial vehicle results were tested over an area of 1 km in the northern vosges mountains the area is located in a hamlet surrounded by a forest where few geological outcrops are observed three magnetic surveys of the same area are obtained at different altitudes 100 30 and 1 m above the ground the unmanned aerial vehicle magnetic data are compared with a helicopter aeromagnetic survey at 300 m above the ground and a ground magnetic survey using upward continuations of the maps to compare the results the magnetic maps 300 100 30 and 1 m above the ground show very different magnetic anomaly patterns e g amplitude shape wavelength and orientation the magnetic data at different altitudes improve the understanding of the geology from the local to more general scales

characteristics of ferrospheres in fly ashes derived from bokaro and jharia jharkand india coals abstract coal burning power plants in the state of jharkand india are facing the problem of fly ash landfilling and their economic and environmental impact however fly ash may be used in civil engineering constructions including as geoliners for municipal wastes landfilling however in this case the groundwater contamination should be taken in consideration in this work a combination of analytical techniques is used to study the nature composition and potential environmental impact of fe bearing morphotypes ferrospheres in fly ash from thermal power plants fed with coals from bokaro and jharia coalfields jharkand india the results show that the feed coals are sulfur poor and ash rich dominated by quartz clays and minor portions of fe bearing carbonates such as siderite pyrite was not identified although iron is present in the fly ashes in significant proportions from 2 7 wt to 4 5 wt equivalent to an fe 2 o 3 content ranging from 3 5 wt to 5 8 wt mineral phases such as magnetite and hematite are only present in minor proportions or below detection limits of the xrd analyses iron in the ferrospheres occurs as massive or dendritic crystals or as finely dispersed crystals trapped inside a glassy aluminosilicate matrix resulting from the release of iron oxide plumes into the aluminosilicate melt in addition to these phases iron also occurs as a component of the glass that makes up most of the fly ash materials finally the contaminant potential of groundwater by the fly ash iron is negligible

assessment of hydrocarbon source rock potential of polish bituminous coals and carbonaceous shales abstract we analyzed 40 coal samples and 45 carbonaceous shale samples of varying thermal maturity vitrinite reflectance 0 59 to 4 28 from the upper carboniferous coal bearing strata of the upper silesian lower silesian and lublin basins poland to evaluate their potential for generation and expulsion of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons we evaluated source rock potential based on rock eval pyrolysis yield elemental composition atomic h c and o c and solvent extraction yields of bitumen an attempt was made to relate maceral composition to these source rock parameters and to composition of the organic matter and likely biological precursors a few carbonaceous shale samples contain sufficient generation potential pyrolysis assay and elemental composition to be considered potential source rocks although the extractable hydrocarbon and bitumen yields are lower than those reported in previous studies for effective type iii source rocks most samples analysed contain insufficient capacity for generation of hydrocarbons to reach thresholds required for expulsion primary migration to occur in view of these findings it is improbable that any of the coals or carbonaceous shales at the sites sampled in our study would be capable of expelling commercial amounts of oil inasmuch as a few samples contained sufficient generation capacity to be considered potential source rocks it is possible that some locations or stratigraphic zones within the coals and shales could have favourable potential but could not be clearly delimited with the number of samples analysed in our study because of their high heteroatomic content and high amount of asphaltenes the bitumens contained in the coals are less capable of generating hydrocarbons even under optimal thermal conditions than their counterpart bitumens in the shales which have a lower heteroatomic content

aeromagnetic surveying with a rotary wing unmanned aircraft system a case study from a zinc deposit in nash creek new brunswick canada unmanned aircraft systems uass have been under rapid development for applications in the mineral exploration industry mainly for aeromagnetic surveying they provide improved detection of smaller deeper and weaker magnetic targets a traditional system flying an altitude of 100 m above ground level agl can detect a spherical ore body with a radius of 16 m and a magnetic susceptibility of 10 4 buried at a depth of 40 m a uas flying at an altitude of 50 or 2 m agl would require the radius to be 11 or 5 m respectively a demonstration survey was performed using the skylance rotary wing uas instrumented with a cesium vapour magnetometer in nash creek new brunswick canada the uas flew over a zinc deposit featuring three magnetic anomalies it acquired repeatable data that compared well with upward continuation maps of ground magnetic data dykes or faults that are dipping eastward at 25 and are approximately 1 5 m wide fit the observed response of the three anomalies captured on the uas magnetic data

the grandori model anisotropic formulation and its application in the plotting of seismic hazard maps the seismic hazard for the calabro sicilian area is evaluated using an anisotropic formulation of the grandori attenuation law for each macroseismic field two main directions are identified minimum and maximum attenuation of the macroseismic intensity the results of the investigation show that the anisotropic formulation improves the compatibility level of the model with respect to the isotropic one with the intensities observed and produces probabilistic expected intensities which compare favourably with the values of seismic history in the investigated area when the zonation defined by the messina university research group was used

multi technique study of fly ash from the bokaro and jharia coalfields jharkhand state india a contribution to its use as a geoliner abstract the chemical mineralogical petrographic and textural characteristics of fly ashes from one fluidized bed and two pulverized fuel power stations in india have been evaluated by a range of complementary methods including optical and electron microscopies laser granulometry quantitative x ray diffraction x ray fluorescence spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma techniques mineralogical and geochemical analyses have also been carried out on the feed coals from the respective power stations and the results were used to evaluate the changes produced during different combustion processes differences in particle size and shape for the ashes and also differences in ash petrology and mineralogy have been related to differences in the mineral matter of the feed coals and to the milling characteristics and combustion temperatures in the different power plants there is a potential of using these fly ashes as geoliner because of their fine texture and low permeability leaching tests have also been carried out on the fly ashes as a basis for assessing the potential for adverse impacts on groundwater systems the materials were blended with bentonite to decrease the permeability further the major and trace element compositions of these ashes were determined most of the elements studied were leached in lower concentrations than averages for the same elements from european fly ashes it is thus expected that these ashes will not provide significant source of additional contamination to permeating water if they are used with bentonite as geoliner material

high resolution unmanned aerial vehicle aeromagnetic surveys for mineral exploration targets abstract recent advancements in geophysical exploration have been realized through reliably integrating unmanned aerial vehicle platforms with lightweight high resolution magnetometer payloads unmanned aerial vehicle aeromagnetic surveys can provide a contemporary data product between the two end members of coverage and resolution attained using manned airborne and terrestrial magnetic surveys this new data product is achievable because unmanned aerial vehicle platforms can safely traverse with magnetometer payloads at flight elevations closer to ground targets than manned airborne surveys while also delivering an increased coverage rate compared to walking conventional terrestrial surveys this is a promising new development for geophysical and mineral exploration applications especially in variable terrains a three dimensional unmanned aerial vehicle aeromagnetic survey was conducted within the shebandowan greenstone belt northwest of thunder bay ontario canada in july 2017 a series of two dimensional grids 500 m 700 m were flown at approximate elevations of 35 45 and 70 m above ground level using a da ji ng innovations multi rotor unmanned aerial vehicle s900 and a gem systems inc potassium vapour magnetometer gsmp 35u in total over 48 line km of unmanned aerial vehicle aeromagnetic data were flown with a line spacing of 25 m the collected aeromagnetic data were compared to a regional heliborne aeromagnetic survey flown at an elevation of approximately 85 m above the terrain with a line spacing of 100 m as well as a follow up terrestrial magnetic survey the first vertical derivative of the gathered unmanned aerial vehicle total magnetic field data was calculated both directly between each of the different flight elevations and indirectly by calculating the values predicted using upward continuation this case study demonstrates that low flight elevation unmanned aerial vehicle aeromagnetic surveys can reliably collect industry standard total magnetic field measurements at an increased resolution when compared to manned airborne magnetic surveys the enhanced interpretation potential provided by this approach also aided in delineating structural controls and hydrothermal fluid migration pathways a pair of adjacent shear zones related to gold mineralization on site these structural features were not clearly resolved in the regional manned airborne magnetic data alone further demonstrating the utility of applying high resolution unmanned aerial vehicle aeromagnetic surveys to mineral exploration applications the conclusions and interpretations drawn from the unmanned aerial vehicle aeromagnetic data coupled with historical data were applied to make a new gold mineralization discovery on the site assayed at 15 7 g t

the occurence of unusual c27 and c29 sterane predominances in two types of oman crude oil abstract two types of oman crude oils reveal unusual sterane distributions type a which is the more common 74 examples is characterised by a predominance of c 29 iso and normal steranes and generally none or only very low relative concentrations of rearranged steranes the triterpanes are characterised by the predominance of the c 29 17 h 21 h norhopane over the c 30 17 h 21 h hopane and non predominant c 20 c 30 tricyclic terpanes the c 29 steranes of this type of crude were not derived from the c 29 sterols of land plant origin frequently proposed as the source of c 29 steranes since there is good geological evidence that these crudes were generated from a pre cambrian source rock a geological period when land plants did not exist the type b crude oil 11 known examples is characterised by a strong predominance of c 27 iso normal and rearranged steranes relatively lower concentrations of 17 h 21 h hopanes and relatively high concentrations of c 20 c 30 tricyclic terpanes the remarkably different biomarker characteristics of these crude oils imply that the organisms active in the depositional environment of the respective source rocks were significantly different

the pristane n heptadecane ratio as an indicator for recognition of hydrocarbon migration effects a simple scheme is proposed for type iii kerogen source rocks which uses pristane n heptadecane concentration ratios for recognition of hydrocarbon expulsion effects within the maturity interval 0 82 1 03 rm this scheme can be applied from gas chromatography data routinely obtained by most petroleum geochemistry studies in exploration exploration of this scheme to oil prone type ii source rocks appears very promising

biogenic methane generation in the degradation of eastern australian permian coals abstract hydrocarbons extracted from one sydney basin coal have a distribution of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons consistent with a high degree of biodegradation as previously demonstrated for bowen basin coals on the same basis hydrocarbons from two other coals from the sydney basin are less biodegraded and display an additional minor series of alkylaromatic degradation products all these degradation reactions generate co2 which on biogenic reduction to ch4 is reservoired in association with the permian coal seams of the sydney and bowen basins australia variations in access to oxygenated waters nutrients and micro organisms are held to be largely responsible for the extent of biodegradation of coal hydrocarbons and for the reduction of co2