Content deleted Content added
Tags: Reverted blanking |
Thadguidry (talk | contribs) m Added reference for Gilbert Cady |
||
| (6 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 25:
Coal balls may be found in coal seams across North America and [[Eurasia]]. North American coal balls are more widespread, both [[stratigraphy|stratigraphically]] and geologically, than those in Europe. The oldest known coal balls date from the [[Namurian]] stage of the Carboniferous; they were found in Germany and on the territory of former Czechoslovakia.
==Introduction to the scientific world, and formation==
[[File:Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker.jpg|thumb|alt=Portrait of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker|Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, who along with Edward William Binney was the first to report on coal balls]]
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}}
Supporters of the ''in situ'' theory believe that close to its present location organic matter accumulated near a [[peat bog]] and, shortly after burial, underwent [[permineralisation]] – minerals seeped into the organic matter and formed an internal cast.{{sfn|Hooker|Binney|1855|p=149}}{{sfn|Perkins|1976|p=1}} Water with a high dissolved mineral content was buried with the plant matter in a peat bog. As the dissolved ions crystallised, the mineral matter precipitated out. This caused [[concretion]]s containing plant material to form and preserve as rounded lumps of stone. [[:wikt:coalification|Coalification]] was thus prevented, and the peat was preserved and eventually became a coal ball.{{sfn|Phillips|Avcin|Berggren|1976|p=6}} The majority of coal balls are found in [[bituminous]] and [[anthracite]] coal seams,{{sfn|Cleveland Museum of Natural History}} in locations where the peat was not compressed sufficiently to render the material into coal.{{sfn|Phillips|Avcin|Berggren|1976|p=6}}
[[Marie Carmichael Stopes|Marie Stopes]] and [[David Meredith Seares Watson|David Watson]] analysed coal ball samples and decided that coal balls formed ''in situ''. They stressed the importance of interaction with seawater, believing that it was necessary for the formation of coal balls.{{sfn|Stopes|Watson|1909|p=212}} Some supporters of the ''in situ'' theory believe that Stopes' and Watson's discovery of a [[plant stem]] extending through multiple coal balls shows that coal balls formed ''in situ'', stating that the drift theory fails to explain Stopes' and Watson's observation. They also cite fragile pieces of organic material projecting outside some coal balls, contending that if the drift theory was correct, the projections would have been destroyed,{{sfn|Feliciano|1924|p=233}} and some large coal balls are large enough that they could never have been able to be transported in the first place.{{sfn|Andrews|1951|p=434}}
The drift theory holds that the organic material did not form in or near its present location. Rather, it asserts that the material that would become a coal ball was transported from another location by means of a flood or a storm.{{sfn|Kindle|1934|p=757}} Some supporters of the drift theory, such as [[Sergius Mamay]] and [[Ellis Yochelson]], believed that the presence of marine animals in coal balls proved material was transported from a marine to a non-marine environment.{{sfn|Darrah|Lyons|1995|p=317}} Edward C. Jeffrey, stating that the ''in situ'' theory had "no good evidence", believed that the formation of coal balls from transported material was likely because coal balls often included material formed by transport and sedimentation in open water.{{sfn|Jeffrey|1917|p=211}}
===Contents===
[[File:Coal ball structures.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Plate-like entities relatively larger than surrounding structures that resemble small bubbles.|Calcite (middle) and [[Dolomite (mineral)|dolomite]] (top and bottom) are common materials found in coal balls.]]
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}}
==Preservation==
Line 62 ⟶ 83:
{{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| jstor = 18958|bibcode = 1946SciMo..62..327A }}
* {{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| jstor = 3626215| doi=10.2307/3626215}}
Line 68 ⟶ 89:
* {{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=978-0-8137-1185-0}}
* {{cite journal | title= Formation and distribution of coal balls in the Herrin Coal (Pennsylvanian), Franklin County, Illinois Basin, USA|last=Demaris|first=Phillip J. |journal=[[Journal of the Geological Society]] | date = January 2000|volume = 157 |issue=1| pages = 221–228| doi = 10.1144/jgs.157.1.221|bibcode=2000JGSoc.157..221D|s2cid=129037655}}
* {{cite journal|title=An Example of the Origin of Coal-Balls|journal=Proceedings of the Geologists' Association|volume=72|issue=4|last1=Evans|first1=W. D.|last2=Amos|first2=Dewey H.|date=February 1961|doi=10.1016/S0016-7878(61)80038-2|
* {{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 |bibcode=1924JG.....32..230F |jstor=30059936|s2cid=128663837 }}
* {{cite journal | title = Making Coal Ball Peels to Study Fossil Plants | journal = The American Biology Teacher | date = February 1986 | first1 = Mark L. | last1 = Gabel | last2=Dyche | first2= Steven E. | volume = 48 | issue = 2 | pages = 99–101| doi = 10.2307/4448216 | jstor=4448216}}
Line 76 ⟶ 97:
* <!--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.|journal=[[American Midland Naturalist]]|volume=15|issue=6|date=November 1934|jstor=2419894|pages=752–760|doi=10.2307/2419894 }}
* {{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 |last1=Leighton |first1=Morris W. |last2=Peppers |first2=Russel A. |archive-url=https://
* {{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 Annual Meeting|volume=72|pages=811–812|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qdsUAAAAYAAJ}} {{PD-notice}}
* {{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|last1=Lyons|first1=Paul C.|last2=Thompson|first2=Carolyn L.|last3=Hatcher|first3=Patrick G.|last4=Brown|first4=Floyd W.|last5=Millay|first5=Michael A.|last6=Szeverenyi|first6=Nikolaus|last7=Maciel|first7=Gary E.|ref={{harvid|Lyons et al.|1984}}|doi=10.1016/0146-6380(84)90010-X }}
* {{cite journal|last1=Mamay|first1=Sergius H.|last2=Yochelson|first2=Ellis L.|year=1962|title=Occurrence and significance of marine animal remains in American coal balls|journal=Shorter Contributions to General Geology|pages=193–224|id={{Google books|yCYlAQAAIAAJ|Geological Survey Professional Paper, Volume 354}}}}
* {{cite journal|url=http://library.isgs.uiuc.edu/Pubs/pdfs/circulars/c530.pdf|title=Geologic disturbances in Illinois coal seams|publisher=Illinois State Geological Survey|volume=530|first=W. John|last=Nelson|year=1983|access-date=19 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417075834/http://library.isgs.uiuc.edu/Pubs/pdfs/circulars/c530.pdf|archive-date=17 April 2012
* {{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| s2cid = 129159972 }}
* {{cite journal | title = Coal Balls | journal = [[Science (journal)|Science]] | date = 30 March 1923a | first = Adolph C. | last = Noé | volume = 57 | issue = 1474 |
* {{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]]|access-date=16 July 2011}}
* {{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|last1=Phillips|first1=Tom|last2=Avcin|first2=Matthew J.|last3=Berggren|first3=Dwain|work=[[University of Illinois]]|year=1976|access-date=16 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009122255/http://library.isgs.uiuc.edu/Pubs/pdfs/ges/es11.pdf|archive-date=9 October 2011
* {{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 |access-date=31 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727023325/http://www.life.illinois.edu/plantbio/People/Faculty/Phillips.htm |archive-date=27 July 2011
* {{cite journal | url = http://library.isgs.uiuc.edu/Pubs/pdfs/circulars/c480.pdf | title = Development of Paleobotany in the Illinois Basin | access-date = 15 September 2011 | last1 = Phillips | first1 = Tom L. | last2 = Pfefferkorn | first2 = Herman L. | last3 = Peppers | first3 = Russel A. | year = 1973 | publisher = Illinois State Geological Survey
* {{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 | first1 = Tom L. | last1 = Phillips | last2=Peppers|first2= Russel A. | volume = 3 | issue = 3 | pages = 205–255| doi = 10.1016/0166-5162(84)90019-3 }}
* {{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]]|last1=Scott|first1=Andrew C.|last2=Rex|first2=G.M.|year=1985|access-date=15 July 2011|volume=B 311|pages=123–137|jstor=2396976|issue=1148|doi=10.1098/rstb.1985.0144 |bibcode = 1985RSPTB.311..123S }}
Line 92 ⟶ 113:
* {{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=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.271130/page/n103 84]–87}} {{PD-notice}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Stopes|first1=Marie C.|author-link=Marie Stopes|last2=Watson|first2=David M. S.|author-link2=D. M. S. Watson|year=1909|title=On the Present Distribution and Origin of the Calcareous Concretions in Coal Seams, Known as 'Coal Balls'|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society|volume=200|pages=167–218|jstor=91931|bibcode=1909RSPTB.200..167S|doi=10.1098/rstb.1909.0005|issue=262–273 |doi-access=free}}
* {{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 |access-date=9 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826114828/http://paleobiology.si.edu/paleoart/techniques/pages/reconstuct9.htm |archive-date=26 August 2011
* {{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 |access-date=25 August 2011 |archive-url=https://
* {{cite news|title=Ore Deposits Under Study – Chicago University professor to engage in research work|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xvFPAAAAIBAJ&dq=coal+balls&pg=3547%2C4532691|access-date=1 September 2011|newspaper=[[Evening Independent]]|date=19 June 1923|page=13|ref={{Harvid|Evening Independent|1923}} }}
* {{cite web|title=Paleobotany |url=https://www.cmnh.org/site/researchandcollections/Paleobotany.aspx |publisher=[[Cleveland Museum of Natural History]] |access-date=10 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812211835/http://www.cmnh.org/site/ResearchandCollections/Paleobotany.aspx |archive-date=12 August 2011 |url-status=bot: unknown |ref={{Harvid|Cleveland Museum of Natural History}} }}
Line 101 ⟶ 122:
* {{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|volume=29|doi=10.2307/2394237 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/17000}}
* {{cite book|title=The Fossil Hunters: In Search of Ancient Plants|last=Andrews|first=Henry N.|year=1980|publisher=[[Cornell University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8014-1248-6|oclc=251684423}}
* {{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 }} {{PD-notice}}
* {{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}}}} {{PD-notice}}
* {{cite journal|last1=DiMichele|first1=William A.|last2=Phillips|first2=Tom L.|year=1988|title=Paleoecology of the Middle Pennsylvanian-Age Herrin Coal Swamp (Illinois) Near a Contemporaneous River System, the Walshville Paleochannel|journal=Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |volume=56|issue=1–2|pages=151–176|hdl=10088/7152|doi=10.1016/0034-6667(88)90080-2}}
Line 109 ⟶ 130:
* {{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}}|doi=10.1086/622227|issue=3|bibcode=1915JG.....23..218J |doi-access=free}} {{PD-notice}}
* {{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) |access-date=8 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531184810/http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/paleo/fossils/permin.html |archive-date=31 May 2013
[[Category:Carboniferous geology]]
| |||