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Pennsylvanian |
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Time: |
320 to 286
mya |
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Duration: |
34 million years |
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As used here, Pennsylvanian refers to a geologic time period and not a
state of the United States of America. Pennsylvanian coal beds have been, until recently,
the major coal producers in the United States and Canada. During the latter part of the 19th
and the early part of the 20th centuries, coal of this age formed the bulwark
of the energy requirements and industrial growth of both nations. Large
Pennsylvanian coal deposits
underlie much of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, eastern Kentucky, Tennessee
and Alabama in the Appalachian Coal Region. Other large deposits of similar age are
preserved in Illinois, Indiana, and western Kentucky. Marginal deposits underlie parts of
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas in the Western Interior Coal Region.
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The swamps that produced Pennsylvanian coal formed between the developing
Appalachian Mountains and the shoreline of the advancing and retreating inland sea to the
west. During this time, the equator ran along a line stretching from St. Louis to
New York City so the climate was tropical.
Elsewhere in North America, Pennsylvanian coals are found on Cameron and Cornwalis Islands
in the Canadian Arctic and the west shore of Greenland. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick,
coals have been mined extensively with some mines extending out under the ocean.
Coal beds of Pennsylvanian age range in rank from high-volatile C bituminous to
anthracite. In general, the rank increases from west to east in the United States.
Pennsylvanian coals are also relatively higher in ash and sulfur compared to the younger
coals found in the western USA.
During this major coal forming period, the world-wide climate was warm and humid. The
swamps were enormous, covering tens of thousands of square miles in the U. S. The shear
size of each protected the central portions from sediment influx by rivers flooding around
the edges. Unfortunately, many of the Pennsylvanian Period swamps of eastern U.S. were
subsequently covered by marine sediment deposited by transgressing inland (epriric) seas.
Salts and sulfates seeped into the peat buried below, lowering the quality. |
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