crosdale coal facies aus
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Coal facies studies in Australia
Peter J. Crosdale*
Coalseam Gas Research Institute, School of Earth Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4814, Australia
Received 1 January 2003; accepted 12 October 2003
Abstract
Despite the economic importance of coal to the Australian economy, detailed studies of controls on variation in coal type are
remarkably few. However, important contributions have been made in the understanding of coal facies development. Tertiary
lignite deposits of the Gippsland Basin provide key insights into the development of lithotype cyclicity and its relationship to
relative sea-level changes, with individual paling-up cycles being correlated to parasequences. Studies of Permian hard coals
have identified relationships between coal type and surrounding sediments. Unfortunately, these relationships have been widely
over-interpreted in a manner that has diminished their real value.
D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Depositional environment; Lignite; Black coal; Lithotype; Maceral
1. Coal in Australia
Extraction, utilization and export of coal is well
recognized as a major contributor to the Australian
economy. According to the Australian Bureau of
Statistics, in 2001–2002 coal and associated products
accounted for AUD$13.4 billion, or almost 9%, of all
goods and services exported. Coal production in
1999–2000 was 254 million t of black coal and 66million t of brown coal, making Australia the 4th
largest black coal producing country (behind PR
China, USA and India) and the world’s largest ex-
porter of both steaming and coking coals.
Australian coals are widely distributed both spa-
tially and temporally, with mineable coals found in
most coal-forming periods represented except those
of the Carboniferous (Ward et al., 1995). Economi-
cally, the most important coals are those of the
Permian Sydney– Gunnedah– Bowen Basin of New
South Wales and Queensland and the Late Eocene to
Middle Miocene deposits of the Gippsland Basin in
Victoria. Petroleum products have also been identi-fied as being sourced from many of these coals, e.g.
the gas resources of the Permian Cooper Basin and
the oil and gas resources in Bass Straight (Gippsland
Basin).
The Permian coals are generally hard coals be-
tween high volatile bituminous and anthracite rank,
producing a wide variety of commercial products
including thermal, hard and soft coking, PCI, etc.
The Tertiary coals of Victoria are lignite in rank and
are used predominantly for power generation although
0166-5162/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/j.coal.2003.10.004
* Tel.: +61-7-3394-3011; fax: +61-7-3394-3088.
E-mail address: [email protected]
(P.J. Crosdale).
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijcoalgeo
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Table 1
Author Method Depositional environment/
other comments
Age; Area ASTM rank Ro%
Paleozoic coal basinsDiessel, 1975 Carboniferous,
Hunter Valley
Diessel, 1965, 1970,
1982, 1985, 1986a,b,
1996; Diessel et al.,
1967; Glasspool, 2000
coal petrology, TPI/GI,
sedimentology, vitrinite
reflectance, fluorescence,
mesofossils
first paper on TPI/GI
technique 1982, source
paper for this technique,
relates coal petrography
to sedimentology 1986a;
vertical trends suggesting
overlying marine influence
with some sequence
stratigraphic significance;
explanation to the origin
of inertinites by charring
Permian, Sydney
Basin
bituminous 0.6 – 1.2
Tadros, 1988a,b, 1993 maceral Permian, GunnedahBasin
bituminous
Shibaoka and Smyth, 1975;
Smyth and Cook, 1976
microlithotype, lithotype explanation of dulling up
sequences
Permian, Sydney and
Gunnedah Basins
bituminous
Diessel, 1982 TPI/GI first paper on TPI/GI
technique
Permian, Sydney and
Gunnedah Basins
bituminous
Hunt, 1982, 1989; Hunt
and Hobday, 1984; Smyth,
1989
microlithotype, maceral,
sulphur
relates microlithotypes to a
variety of sedimentary
environments
Permian, Sydney and
Gunnedah Basins
bituminous
Marchioni, 1980 maceral, microlithotype terrestrial/telmatic/limnic—
using Hacquebard and
Donaldson 1969. facies
diagram
Permian, Liddell Seam,
upper Hunter Valley,
New South Wales
hvb
Smyth, 1984 microlithotype relates microlithotypes to a
variety of sedimentary
environments
Permian, Cooper Basin bituminous
Beeston, 1991; Beeston
and Draper, 1991
maceral, palynology,
botany
combines a variety of
techniques to produce a
facies model for coal
deposition
Permian, Queensland bituminous
Cook, 1981 coal petrology, coal
geology
from Permian to
Cenozoic, Australia
Diessel and Smyth, 1995 maceral, microlithotype ternary microlithotype
diagrams with
superimposed clastic
environments
mostly Permian
of Australia
bituminous
and lignite
Hunt and Brakel, 1989 microlithotype relates microlithotypes to
a variety of sedimentaryenvironments
Permian, Australia bituminous
Mesozoic coal basins
Smyth et al., 1992 dispersed organic
matter
lacustrine environments Triassic, Gunnedah
Basin New
South Wales
Gould, 1980 plant megafossils dominantly conifer derived
coals in a moist temperate
climate
Middle Jurassic,
Surat Basin
sub-bituminous
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extensive research has been done on their liquefaction possibilities.
2. Facies studies
Given the economic importance of coal to the
Australian economy, surprisingly little detailed work
as been done on coal facies, especially on a regional
scale. There are a number of interesting problems
which detailed facies studies would help resolve,
including the large percentage of inertinite in manyof the Permian coals; the development of very thick
(up to 30 m), clean, inertinite-rich coals; the relation-
ship of coal type to sedimentary environment; the
development of lithotype cyclicity; controls on the
distribution of authigenic minerals. While some
aspects of these problems have been dealt with exten-
sively by some authors, many questions remain.
Facies studies of Australian coals reported here
(Table 1) deal predominantly with depositional envi-
ronments and utilize the full range of ‘standard’ and
Author Method Depositional environment/
other comments
Age; Area ASTM rank Ro%
Cenozoic coal basinsMeakin, 1985 palynology Eocene, St Vincent
Basin, South Australia
lignite
Baillie, 1992; Baillie and
Bacon, 1989
Eocene, Bass Basin,
Victoria
George, 1975; Blackburn,
1980, 1985; Lully et al.,
1980; George, 1982; Sluiter,
1984; Kershaw and Sluiter,
1982; Holdgate, 1985,
1996; Holdgate et al.,
1995; Khandekar, 1985;
Mackay et al., 1985;
Kershaw et al., 1987;
Sluiter et al., 1995
lithotypes, plant
megafossils,
lithotypes, palynology,
macerals, proximate
and ultimate analysis,
sequence stratigraphy,
sea level change
explanation of lightening
up of lithotypes using
sequence stratigraphy
and climatic changes
Oligocene/Miocene,
Latrobe Valley,
Victoria
lignite
Partridge, 1982; Smith, 1982 p alynology relates sea level change to
coal formation
Oligocene/Miocene,
Gippsland Basin,
Victoria
lignite
Anderson and Mackay,
1991; Holdgate, 1992;
Blackburn and Sluiter, 1994
lithotype, maceral,
palynology, sea level
change, plant
megafossils
review paper, details of
peat-forming plant
communities, ombrogenous
peats; many references to
unpublished and difficult
to access reports
Oligocene/Miocene,
Victoria
lignite
Partridge, 1997 palynology Miocene, Port Phillip
Basin, Victoria
lignite
Harris, 1980; Holdgate, 1997;
Holdgate and Clarke, 2000
sea level change South Australia;
Australia, New Zealand,
Germany; Australia
lignite
Murray et al., 1997 geochemistry Otway Basin,
Victoria/South Australia
General models
Diessel, 1998; Diessel et al.,
1995, 2000
sequence stratigraphy
Diessel and Gammidge, 1998 vitrinite reflectance
Table 1 (continued )
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more novel techniques, e.g. fluorescence and reflec-
tance studies.
Particularly influential in black coal depositional
environment studies have been microlithotype (e.g.Shibaoka and Smyth, 1975; Smyth and Cook, 1976;
Hunt, 1982, 1989; Hunt and Brakel, 1989; Hunt and
Hobday, 1984; Smyth, 1984, 1989; Marchioni, 1980;
Diessel and Smyth, 1995) and maceral (e.g. Diessel,
1982, 1985, 1986a,b, 1996) analyses. These studies
have shown clear relationships exist between petro-
graphic composition of the coal and its enclosing
sedimentary environment. However, these relation-
ships are widely misinterpreted to infer conditions of
the peat-forming mire (see discussions in Crosdale,
1993; Wüst et al., 2001).
It is unfortunate that over-interpretation of petro-
graphic data, especially the maceral facies diagram
(Diessel, 1982), has occurred since these techniques
have a number of potential uses. Foremost is the
grouping and classification of coals based on their
complete and detailed petrography. Following this
classification it is possible to investigate vertical and
lateral changes of individual seams and sequences of
seams within a basin. The maceral and microlithotype
facies diagrams provide us with an easy way to
represent petrographic variability but challenge us to
correctly interpret the meaning.Lignite deposits of the Gippsland Basin have been
of particular interest since very thick coals occur (up
to 200 m) which are characterized by cycles of
paling-up lithotypes. These lithotype cycles have
been investigated by a variety of techniques includ-
ing the study of plant megafossils, palynology,
macerals, proximate and ultimate analysis, other
geochemistry and sequence stratigraphy. These tech-
niques, coupled with regional studies and correla-
tions with off-shore petroleum provinces, have
shown that each lithotype cycle represents a para-sequence (e.g. Anderson and Mackay, 1991; Holdg-
ate et al., 1995). Coupled with detailed restorations
of plant communities, a comprehensive picture of
lithotype development emerges. However, it is still
unclear how these systems work in detail. It is
simply not sufficient to say that rising sea-level
results in a rising water table due to ponding, or
that falling sea level has the opposite effect. Peat-
forming environments also respond strongly to local
climate and local ground water hydrology.
3. Conclusions
Despite some very detailed work in selected depos-
its, coal facies studies are generally poorly representedin Australia. This is especially significant given the
value of coal to the Australian economy and the value
of coal facies studies into understanding the geolog-
ical variability of deposits. However, important stud-
ies on Tertiary lignites and new ways of thinking
about coal development based on standard maceral
analysis have had large impacts.
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