HYPOTHESIS

MATION

TO

ACCOUNT

OF VEGETABLE
DIFFERENT

FOR

GRADES
M^R!us

THE

MATTER
OF

TRANSFORINTO

THE

COAL2

R.

INTRODUCTION.

The

conditions

which

have led to the formation

of various

gradesof coal, suchas lignite in one locality,bituminouscoal in

another, and anthracitein another, have not yet been satisfactorily determined. For the solutionof this problema number of
hypotheses
have beenadvanced,but up to the presenttime none

'of thesehavebeenadequate
to account.
for the variouskindsof
coal and for their peculiar geographicdistribution.
For a number of years the writer has been engaged in the
study of this problem in the various coal fields of the United
States,and the presentpaper is intendedto embodyhis provisional conclusionsin the form of a working hypothesis. The
object of this preliminary presentationis to attract attention to

this interestingquestionand to draw discussion.

POSSIBLE

CAUSES

OF METAMORPHISM.

It is generally recognizedthat certain things have been intimately connectedwith the transformation of vegetable matter
into coal, but whether these have acted as causesor only as
modifying conditionsof the process,is an openquestion. In fact
no clear distinctionhas been drawn betweencausesand modifying conditions,and frequentlythe two have beenconfused. The
most important of these things are Time, Heat, and Crustal
Movements.
TIME.

It is a popular impressionthat time is one of the most impartant elementsin the problemof the transformationof vege Publishedby permissionof the Director of the United States Geological
Survey.
26

TRANSFORMATION

OF VEGETABLE

MATTER

:27

table matter into coal. As a result many personsregard Carboniferouscoalsas necessarily

belongingto certaingrades,while
thoseof Cretaceous
age shouldbe placedin an inferior class,and
the Tertiary coalsshouldbe relegatedto the lowestplacein the
column.

In a general way differencesof this charactermay be found

in the coalsof different geologicages,but they are not universal
enoughto prove the proposition,and consequentlythis can not
be regardedas a safe generalization.
The change from peat to lignite, and from lignite to bituminous coal and anthracite, is due to fractional distillation, which,

in a measure,involvesthe elementof time, but the rate at which

the processgoeson dependsupon local conditions,and hencethe
elementof time only indirectlyaffectsthe results. For instance
in the vicinity of massesof valcanicrocks, such as dikes and
sheetsof lava, metamorphismor distillation of the vegetable
matter may have been extremely rapid, resemblingthe action
which takes place in a retort, and in such casesthe element of
time is so small as to be negligible.

In the case,however,of coalbedsof great geologicantiquity,

in which there is no trace of local metamorphism,the coalsin
general have attained a greater degree of carbonizationthan
those of more recent origin, and the element of time seemsto

have beenan importantfactor in the change,--notas a cause,

butasa condition
whichpermitted
th extremely
slowprocess
of
fractionaldistillationat ordinary temperaturesto be partially
completedin the case of bituminouscoal, and almost wholly'
completedin the caseof anthracitecoal. But time alone doesnot

accountfor the variationswithin a field of a province,and therefore there must be other conditionswhich are of equal,if not
greater importance. These conditionswill be more fully discussedon a subsequent
page.
If time weqe the causeor the controllingconditionin the
changeof characterof the coal, the brown lignitesof Texas,

whichare of earlyTertiaryageshouldnot be so highlycarbonizedas the brownlignitesof North Dakota whichoccurin the

uppermost
bedsof the Cretaceous
system;but thetwo'lignitesare

28

MARIUS

R.

C.4MPBELL

essentiallythe same. If there is any difference,it is in favor of

the Texas lignite. The anthracitesand bituminouscoals of
Pennsylvaniaalso afford a striking case of disregard of time
conditions. These two kinds of coal are of identicallythe same
age and they occurwithin lessthan one hundred miles of each
other. If time were the only condition, they should be of the
same grade, but such is not the case and there is no indication
of local metamorphismin the anthracitefield that is due in any
measure

to sensible heat.

The casescited above could be duplicated in a great many

placeswhere there are variations that can not be accountedfor
by changesdue to local heat. These seem to afford evidence
that time is not a causeof metamorphismof coal, but simply a
condition,. which in most cases has been essential to the com-

pletion of the transformation.

CRUSTAL

MOVEMENTS.

Many persons have appealed to movement {n the earth's

crust to accountfor the known variations in the quality of coal,
contendingthat such movementshave developedsufficientheat
to part{ally distill the coal. At first sight this seemshighly
probablebut the study of field conditionsdoes not justify the
conclusion.

If, for instance,the folding of the rocks into great synclines

and anticlineshas changedthe coal into anthracite in eastern
Pennsylvania,why has not the same amount of movementin
someof the isolatedsynclinesof Poconorocks {n Maryland and
Virginia producedsimilar coal? It has not done so and therefore the changeto anthracite doesnot seemto be due alone to
earth movements. The folding of the rocks may have been a
conditionaffectingthe change,but certainlyit was not the cause.
In the Rocky Mountain region the coal generally {s more

highly carbonizedin the vicinity of the mountains,but in most

casesthe increasein carbonizationdoes not correspondwith increasedcomplexityof geologicstructure,but rather with some

regionalconditionwhich{sassociated
with, or findsexpression
in
the mountains.

TRANSFORMATION

OF VEGETABLE

MATTER

29

HEAT.

Heat is competentto produceall of the gradesof coalknownin

this country from lignite to anthracite. Its effectsare well
shownin volcanicregionswhere lava flows, intrusivesheets,and
dikes have come in contactwith coal beds and changedlignite
into bituminous coal, bituminous coal into anthracite, or in cer-

tain exceptionalconditionsinto natural coke. In suchcasesthe

heat has been intense and doubtless the transformation

has been

rapidly accomplished. At placessomewhatremoved from the

actual point of contactbut still within the zone of sensibleheat,
similar resultshave beenaccomplished,
but, of course,on a much
smaller scale and at a slower rate.

The casescited above are easily explained,but when similar

resultsare found entirely beyondthe effectsof volcanicheat,
someother hypothesismust be applied. It seemsprobablethat
in any caseheat is the active causeof changein the coal, but in
regionsfar removedfrom volcanicactivity, the internal heat of
the earth is probably responsiblefor the change. This is more
readily acceptedsinceit is probablethat most, if not all of the
coalbedsnow showingon the surface,were onceburiedby hundredsor thousandsof feet of overlying strata, and hencewere in
a region sensiblyaffectedby the interior heat of the earth. Also
it is strengthened
by the fact that coalfrequentlysuffersa change
of compositionat ordinary temperatures.
This is a phaseof the subjectupon which there is little available information, but enoughhas been doneto show that coal in
a finely-dividedstate and at ordinary temperaturesis very susseptibleto changein atmosphericconditions,not only with regard to its moisture content,but also to its volatile hydrocarbons.

Fractionaldistillationwhetherit takesplacerapidly,or slowly,

at high or low temperatures,
is controlledby surroundingor local
conditionsand sincethesecontrol the processof metamorphism,
they are equal in importanceto the original cause. Heretofore
XThis subjectis now being investigatedby Professor N'. W. Lord, at the
United Slates GeologicalSurvey Coal-Testing Plant, St. Louis, and it is probable that in the near future he will have considerabledata on this subject.

30

MARIUS

R. CAMPBELL

little attention has been given to theseconditions,apparentlyon

the assumptionthat they were of little importance. The result,
however, of the present investigations has been to show that
these modifying conditionsare of the greatest importancefor
upon them dependsthe characterof the residualproduct of distillation--the
CONDITIONS

coal.
AFFECTING

THE

MATTER

ALTERATION
INTO

OF

VEGETABLE

COAL.

The distillation of vegetablematerial as it exists in beds of

coal and lignite, alternating with bedsof clay, shale, sandstone,
and limestone,in the earth's crust,presentsa very different problem from the distillation

of the same material

in a retort.

In the first place,the extent of changedependsuponthe readinesswith which the productsof distillation can escape. If these
are liberatedas fast as they are formed the rate of changedependsUponthe amount of heat applied. If, however, the vegetable matter is held betweenimperviouslayers of rock and under
great pressure,the gasescan not form and consequentlythere
will be little change,despitethe fact that considerableheat may
be applied.
If the conclusionsstated in the precedingparagraph are correct, the whole processof the transformationof vegetablematter
into coal is controlledby the porosity of the overlying rocks.
Porosityis largely a questionof composition,
but whereimmense
thicknesses
of strata are involvedas is generally'the casewith
coal beds,the rocks are practically impervious.

In general,porositydependsmore upon the developmentof

joints and cleavageplanesthan it doesuponthe original physical
character of the rocks. If joints are of frequent occurrenceor

cleavagehighly developed,the rocks are perviousto escaping

gasesand conditionsare favorablefor a decidedtransformation
of the coal. The generalconclusion,therefore, is obviousthat
the degreeof carbonization
of the coaldependsuponthe development of joints and cleavageplanes,and the quality of the coal
in any fieldmay be predicted,in a generalway, if theseelements
are known.

TRANSFORMATION

OF

VEGETABLE

MATTER

31

As joints and cleavageplanes are the result of stressesand

movements in the earth's crust, it follows that where the rocks
are greatly folded and disturbedthesefeaturesare mostly highly

developed,and as a result the coals are more highly metamorphosedthan in other localities,for the gaseousproductsof
distillation have readily escapedand the processof transformation into higher gradesof fuel has beenunimpeded. Therefore,
regionalcoal metamorphismis influencedby crustalmovements,
but only indirectly through the formation of joints andcleavage planes.
The element of time also enters into the problem. For old
rocks although practically horizontal, have, in general, been
affectedby more strainsthan youngerrocks,exceptin particular
cases,and thereforethey are more brokenby joints and cleavage
planes. The coal beds associatedwith such rocks are highly
metamorphosed
as a result of this conditionand consequentlyold
coals are more highly carbonizedthan those of recent origin.
Paleozoiccoalsare either bituminousor anthracite, not directly
becausethey are of Paleozoicage, but becausethey have had
greater opportunitiesto part with their gaseouselementsand so
occupya higher positionin the scaleof carbonization.
The brown lignites of North Dakota and Texas have not their
peculiar characteristicsbecauseof their Cretaceousor Tertiary
ages, but becausethey are overlain by almost imperviousclays,
and joints and cleavageplanes are practically unknown. For
this reason they have remained in much the same condition in
which they were deposited.
APPLICATION

OF

THE

HYPOTHESIS.

In the Appalachinregion this hypothesisexplains fully the

occurrenceof the different gradesof coal from the graphitic coal
of the Rhode Island basin where cleavageis very highly developed,to the Pennsylvaniaanthracitewherecleavageis lessperfectly developed,and to the bituminousfield farther west where

cleavageis practicallyunknownbut joints are of commonoccurrence. Also in the last mentionedfield it explainsthe decreasing
carbonizationof the coals from east to west as being in accord-

32

MARIUS

R. CAMPBELL

ancewith the decreasein the developmentof joints and cleavage

planes.

In the coalfieldsof the MississippiValley it explainsthe general lack of highly carbonizedfuel as due to the absenceof well
developedjoints and cleavageplanes,and it also affords a reason
for the occurrenceof the semi-bituminousand possiblysemianthracite coals of Arkansas. This is the most highly carbonized coal of the MississippiValley and its condition is due
to the fact that the rocksare sharplyfolded,producingan elaborate systemof joints, which is more highly developedin the
eastern end of the basin.

In the Dakota field the increasel carbonization of the coals in

the vicinity of the Black Hills is in accordance

with the increased
developmentof joints as can be seen by a comparisonof the
brown lignite of North Dakota with the bituminouscoal on the
westernrim of the Black Hills. A similar, though not so profound changecan be observedon approachingthe Big Horn

Mountains
wherethecoalchanges
frombrownto blacklignite
and showsa much more pronounceddevelopmentof columnar
structurethan in the great plains region of North Dakota.
In Coloradoit is generallytrue that the coalsare of a better
grade in the vicinity of the mountainsand examinationhas
shown in every case that joints and cleavage are much more
highly developedin closeproximity to the mountainsthan in the
region of undisturbedrocks. The writer has observedthis differenceparticularlyin the Yampa coal field, in Routt County,

wherethe coalsincreasein degreeof carbonization

as they approach the Park Range on the east side of the field, and it is
also plainly apparentin the gallup-Durangofield, in southern
Colorado and New Mexico.

In this field the coal is bituminous

around the northern rim of the basin where it lies upon the
flank of the San Juan Mountainsand where the joints are very
excellentlydeveloped;but in the southernpart of the field where
the rocksare only slightlydisturbedjointing is muchlesspronouncedand the coalis only a blacklignite.

TRANSFORM..'tTION

So far as the writer

OF VEGETABLE

is familiar

with

MATTER

33

the coal fields of the

United States,the abovementionedhypothesisholdstrue and so

he deemsit worthy of presentation.
RESUM].

The generalresultsof the presentinquiry into the transformat{onof vegetablematter into coalmay be summarizedas follows:
. Tke change from peat to lignite, lignite to bituminous
coal, and bituminouscoal to anthracite is a processof fractional
distillation

due to heat.

2. The heat may be appliedlocally and with great intensity

as {n caseof volcanicaction, or {t may be imperceptiblebut applied throughouta long period of time.
3- In the latter casethe action {s slow and of such low {ntensity that {t is controlledlargely by conditionswhich accelerate
or retard the process.
4. The principalconditioncontrollingdistillationof this character is the porosityor impermeabilityof the rocks which permits or retards the escapeof the gases that are formed in the
process.

5. Porosity may be due, either to coarseness

of grain or to
fissures. Where great massesare involved the former has littie
or no effectas the rocksare practicallyimpervious,therefore,the

latter {s the greatcontrolling

c0nd{tion
of coalmetamorph{sm.
Fissuresare producedby joints and by cleavage,and wherethese
are found the coal {s in a high degree of carbonization;where
they are absent it {s changedonly slightly from the original
peaty condition.