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{{Short description|Stone of peat that did not turn into coal}}
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This article is written in British English because coal balls were discovered in England, and the term "coal ball" itself is the English name for it.
Also, if you're adding a new reference, please put it in the bibliography and use {{sfn}} for the inline citation.
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{{good article}}{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}{{Use dmy dates|date=
{{Infobox rock
|name=Coal ball
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The first [[Academic publishing|scientific description]] of coal balls was made in 1855 by Sir [[Joseph Dalton Hooker]] and [[Edward William Binney]], who reported on examples in the coal seams of [[Yorkshire]] and [[Lancashire]], England. European scientists did much of the early research.{{sfn|Scott|Rex|1985|p=124}}{{sfn|Noé|1923a|p=385}}
Coal balls in North America were first found in [[Iowa]] coal seams in 1894,{{sfn|Darrah|Lyons|1995|p=176}}{{sfn|Andrews|1946|p=334}} although the connection to European coal balls was not made until [[Adolf Carl Noé]] (whose coal ball was found by Gilbert Cady{{sfn|Darrah|Lyons|1995|p=176}}{{sfn|Leighton|Peppers|2011}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Memorial to Gilbert Haven Cady |url=https://rock.geosociety.org/net/documents/gsa/memorials/v03/Cady-GH.pdf |website=Geological Society of America |publisher=Geological Society of America |access-date=23 April 2024}}</ref>) drew the parallel in 1922.{{sfn|Noé|1923a|p=385}} Noé's work renewed interest in coal balls, and by the 1930s had drawn paleobotanists from Europe to the [[Illinois Basin]] in search of them.{{sfn|Phillips|Pfefferkorn|Peppers|1973|p=24}}
There are two theories – the autochthonous (''[[in situ]]'') theory and the allochthonous (drift) theory – that attempt to explain the formation of coal balls, although the subject is mostly speculation.{{sfn|Phillips|Avcin|Berggren|1976|p=17}}
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===Contents===
[[File:Coal ball structures.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Plate-like entities relatively larger than surrounding structures that resemble small bubbles.|Calcite (middle) and [[
Coal balls are not made of coal;{{sfn|Andrews|1951|p=432}}{{sfn|Andrews|1946|p=327}} they are non-flammable and useless for fuel. Coal balls are calcium-rich permineralised life forms,{{sfn|Scott|Rex|1985|p=123}} mostly containing [[calcium carbonate|calcium]] and [[magnesium carbonate|magnesium]] [[carbonate]]s, [[pyrite]], and [[quartz]].{{sfn|Lomax|1903|p=811}}{{sfn|Gabel|Dyche|1986|p=99}} Other minerals, including [[gypsum]], [[illite]], [[kaolinite]], and [[lepidocrocite]] also appear in coal balls, albeit in lesser quantities.{{sfn|Demaris|2000|p=224}} Although coal balls are usually about the size of a man's fist,{{sfn|Evening Independent|1923|p=13}} their sizes vary greatly, ranging from that of a [[walnut]] up to {{convert|3|ft|0}} in diameter.{{sfn|Feliciano|1924|p=230}} Coal balls have been found that were smaller than a [[thimble]].{{sfn|Andrews|1946|p=327}}
Coal balls commonly contain [[Dolomite (mineral)|dolomite]]s, [[aragonite]], and masses of organic matter at various stages of [[decomposition]].{{sfn|Phillips|Avcin|Berggren|1976|p=6}} Hooker and Binney analysed a coal ball and found "a lack of [[coniferous]] wood ... and fronds of ferns" and noted that the discovered plant matter "appear[ed] to [have been arranged] just as they fell from the plants that produced them".{{sfn|Hooker|Binney|1855|p=150}} Coal balls usually do not preserve the [[leaf|leaves]] of plants.{{sfn|Evans|Amos|1961|p=452}}
In 1962, Sergius Mamay and Ellis Yochelson analysed North American coal balls.{{sfn|Scott|Rex|1985|p=126}} Their discovery of marine organisms led to classification of coal balls were sorted into three types: normal (sometimes known as floral), containing only plant matter; faunal, containing animal [[fossil]]s only; and mixed, containing both plant and animal material.{{sfn|Lyons et al.|1984|p=228}} Mixed coal balls are further divided into heterogeneous, where the plant and animal material was distinctly separated; and homogeneous, lacking that separation.{{sfn|Mamay|Yochelson|1962|p=196}}
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{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal|title=American Coal-Ball Floras|last=Andrews|first=Henry N.
* {{cite journal | title = Coal Balls – A Key to the Past | journal = [[The Scientific Monthly]] | date = April 1946 | first = Henry N. | last = Andrews | volume = 62 | issue = 4 | pages = 327–334
* {{cite journal | title = Coal Balls: New Discoveries in Plant Petrifactions from Kansas Coal Beds | journal = [[Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science]] | date = December 1951 | first = Robert W. | last = Baxter | volume = 54 | issue = 4 | pages = 526–535
* {{cite journal|title=A New Technique for Thin Sections of Pyritized Permineralizations|last=Chitaley|first=Shya|journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology|volume=45|issue=3–4|year=1985|pages=301–306
* {{cite book|last1=Darrah|first1=William Culp|last2=Lyons|first2=Paul C.|title=Historical Perspective of Early Twentieth Century Carboniferous Paleobotany in North America|year=1995|publisher=[[Geological Society of America]]|location=United States of America|isbn=978-0-8137-1185-
* {{cite journal | title= Formation and distribution of coal balls in the Herrin Coal (Pennsylvanian), Franklin County, Illinois Basin, USA|last=Demaris|first=Phillip J.
* {{cite journal|title=An Example of the Origin of Coal-Balls|journal=Proceedings of the Geologists' Association|volume=72|issue=4|
* {{cite journal |last=Feliciano |first=José Maria |title=The Relation of Concretions to Coal Seams |journal=The Journal of Geology |date=1 May 1924 |volume=32 |issue=3 |doi=10.1086/623086 |pages=230–239
* {{cite journal | title = Making Coal Ball Peels to Study Fossil Plants | journal = The American Biology Teacher
* {{cite journal|title=Coal-ball floras of the Namurian-Westphalian of Europe|last=Galtier|first=Jean|journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology|volume=95|issue=1–4|pages=51–72
* {{cite journal|
* {{cite journal|title=Petrified Coals and Their Bearing on the Problem of the Origin of Coals|last1=Jeffrey|first1=Edward C.|year=1917|journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]]|volume=3|issue=3|pages=206–211
* <!--Per page xii, references to this work are preferred to be made in this manner:-->{{cite book | last1 = Jones | first1 = T. P. | last2 = Rowe | first2 = N. P. | title = Fossil plants and spores: modern techniques | publisher = Geological Society | year = 1999 | location = London | isbn = 978-1-86239-035-5
* {{cite journal|title=Concerning "Lake Balls," "Cladophora Balls" and "Coal Balls"|last=Kindle|first=E. M.
* {{cite web |url=http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/about-isgs/heritage/noe.shtml |title=ISGS – Our Heritage – A Memorial: Adolf C. Noé |publisher=University of Illinois Board of Trustees |date=16 May 2011 |
* {{cite journal|last=Lomax|first=James|year=1903|title=On the occurrence of the nodular concretions (coal balls) in the lower coal measures|journal=Report of the
* {{cite journal|title=Coalification of organic matter in coal balls of the Pennsylvanian (upper Carboniferous) of the Illinois Basin, United States|journal=Organic Geochemistry|volume=5|issue=4|pages=227–239|year=1984
* {{cite journal|
* {{cite journal|url=http://library.isgs.uiuc.edu/Pubs/pdfs/circulars/c530.pdf
* {{cite journal | title = A Paleozoic Angiosperm | journal = The Journal of Geology | date = June 1923b | first = Adolph C. | last = Noé | volume = 31 | issue = 4 | pages = 344–347| jstor = 30078443 | doi = 10.1086/623025 | bibcode = 1923JG.....31..344N|
* {{cite journal | title = Coal Balls | journal = [[Science (journal)|
* {{cite web|url=http://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/dspace/bitstream/1808/3746/3/paleo.paper.082op.pdf|title=Textures and Conditions of Formation of Middle Pennsylvanian Coal Balls, Central United States|last=Perkins|first=Thomas|year=1976|publisher=[[University of Kansas]]|
* {{cite web|url=http://library.isgs.uiuc.edu/Pubs/pdfs/ges/es11.pdf|title=Fossil Peats from the Illinois Basin: A guide to the study of coal balls of Pennsylvanian age|
* {{cite web |url=http://www.life.illinois.edu/plantbio/People/Faculty/Phillips.htm |title=T L 'Tommy' Phillips, Department of Plant Biology, University of Illinois |last=Phillips |first=Tom L. |publisher=University of Illinois |
* {{cite
* {{cite journal | title = Changing patterns of Pennsylvanian coal-swamp vegetation and implications of climatic control on coal occurrence | journal = International Journal of Coal Geology | date = February 1984 |
* {{cite journal|url=http://digirep.rhul.ac.uk/file/c58e6257-7af3-2f87-0eeb-c9c521ae0dbb/1/38ScottandRex.pdf|title=The formation and significance of Carboniferous coal balls|journal=[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]]|
* {{cite book | last1 = Seward | first1 = A. C. | title = Plant Life Through the Ages: A Geological and Botanical Retrospect | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-1-108-01600-
* {{cite book|last=Seward|first=Albert Charles|title=Fossil plants: a text-book for students of botany and geology|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.271130|year=1898|publisher=Cambridge University Press|pages=
* {{cite journal|
* {{cite web |url=http://paleobiology.si.edu/paleoart/techniques/pages/reconstuct9.htm |title=NMNH Paleobiology: Illustration Techniques |work=paleobiology.si.edu |publisher=[[Smithsonian Institution]] |year=2007 |
* {{cite web |url=http://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/mrl/centralfacilities/xray/xray-basics/index.html#x2 |title=Materials Research Lab – Introduction to X-ray Diffraction |work=Materials Research Lab |publisher=[[University of Santa Barbara, California]] |year=2011 |
* {{cite news|title=Ore Deposits Under Study – Chicago University professor to engage in research work|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xvFPAAAAIBAJ
* {{cite web|title=Paleobotany |url=https://www.cmnh.org/site/researchandcollections/Paleobotany.aspx |publisher=[[Cleveland Museum of Natural History]] |
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|title=Contributions to Our Knowledge of American Carboniferous Floras|last=Andrews|first=Henry N.|journal=[[Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden]]|issue=1|date=February 1942|pages=1–12, 14, 16, 18 |jstor=2394237
* {{cite book|title=The Fossil Hunters: In Search of Ancient Plants|last=Andrews|first=Henry N.|year=1980|publisher=[[Cornell University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8014-1248-
* {{cite journal | title = Mineralogy and origin of coal balls | journal = Geological Society of America North Central and South Central Section | year = 1995 | first = Henry L | last = Barwood |
* {{cite journal|title=Formation of Coal Seams|series=Coal Age|volume= 21|pages=699–701|editor-last=Beard|editor-first=James T.|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1922
* {{cite book|title=The Wyoming Valley, upper waters of the Susquehanna, and the Lackawanna coal-region: including views of the natural scenery of northern Pennsylvania
* {{cite book|title=The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge|editor-last=Ripley|editor-first=George|editor2-last=Dana|editor2-first=Charles A.|publisher=Appleton|year=1873|last=Conant|first=Blandina|volume=4|id={{Google books|aZhRAAAAYAAJ|The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge, Volume 4}}
* {{cite journal|
* {{cite journal|
* {{cite journal|title=The Mode of Origin of Coal|last=Jeffrey|first=Edward C.|journal=The Journal of Geology|year=1915 |volume=23|pages=218–230|id={{Google books|kX3zAAAAMAAJ|The Journal of Geology, volume 23}}
* {{cite book|title=Taphonomy: a process approach|year=1999|last1=Martin|first1=Robert E.|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|edition=Illustrated|isbn=978-0-521-59833-0
* {{cite web |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/paleo/fossils/permin.html |title=Fossils – Window To The Past (Permineralisation) |
[[Category:Carboniferous geology]]
[[Category:Mineralogy]]
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