Petrographic characteristics of the Wyodak-Anderson coal bed (Paleocene), Powder River Basin, Wyoming, U.S.A.

Organic Geochemistry
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Abstract

Six lithofacies of the thick ( > 30 m) Wyodak-Anderson subbituminous coal bed of the Fort Union Formation (Paleocene), Powder River Basin, Wyoming, can be delimited using megascopic and petrographic data. Previous lithofacies analysis of the rock types associated with the Wyodak-Anderson bed suggested that raised peat accumulated in restricted parts of an inland flood plain. The peat bodies were separated by deposits of contemporaneous, possibly anastomosed channels. In this study, megascopic descriptions from four mine highwalls of the Wyodak-Anderson coal bed were found to be similar to facies defined by microscopic data from core and highwall samples. The data indicate that the upper and lower parts of the coal bed are rich in preserved wood remains (for instance, humotelinite), whereas the middle part of the bed contains comparatively larger amounts of material that resulted from degradation and comminution of the peat (e.g. eugelinite). The facies are interpreted to be the result of different chemical and biological environments at the time of peat formation.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Petrographic characteristics of the Wyodak-Anderson coal bed (Paleocene), Powder River Basin, Wyoming, U.S.A.
Series title Organic Geochemistry
DOI 10.1016/0146-6380(88)90012-5
Volume 12
Issue 4
Year Published 1988
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Description 11 p.
First page 389
Last page 399
Country United States
State Wyoming
Other Geospatial Powder River Basin
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