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The petrographic composition of Cretaceous-age coals hosted in the Benue Trough, Nigeria is presented and discussed in terms of the paleodepositional settings that influenced the coal-bearing formations. The Benue Trough is a failed arm of the triple junction of an inland sedimentary basin that extends in a NE-SW direction from the Gulf of Guinea in the south, to the Chad Basin in the north. A total of twenty-nine (29) coal samples were obtained from nineteen coal localities in the Upper (UBT), Middle (MBT), and Lower Benue Trough (LBT). The high average volatile matter yield, low average ash yield, high calorific value (24.82 MJ/kg, on average), and low sulphur values indicate good quality coal deposits. The organic matter is dominated by vitrinite, reported at an average of 59.3% by volume (mineral-matter free). Variation was noted in the inertinite content across three sub-regions. Liptinite macerals were not commonly observed in the studied samples and were absent in the MBT samples. Coal facies studies decipher the paleoenvironmental conditions under which the vegetation accumulated. Indices commonly used are the gelification index (GI), tissue preservation index (TPI), ground water index (GWI and variations), vegetation index (VI), and wood index (WI). Comparing the array of coal facies models applied, the MBT samples differ from the UBT and LBT samples, concurring with the coal quality data. The UBT and LBT coals formed in an upper deltaic to drier piedmont plane depositional environment, while the MBT coal formed in a lower deltaic marsh to wet forest swamp depositional environment. All samples indicate an ombrotrophic paleomire. In view of the modified equations and the plots used, interpreting depositional environments from just a single model is not reliable.

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This study aims to compare iso-rank vitrinite-rich and inertinite-rich coal samples to understand the impact of coal-forming processes on pyrolysis chemistry. A medium rank C bituminous coal was density-fractionated to create a vitrinite-rich and an inertinite-rich sub-sample. The vitrinite-rich sample has 83 vol% total vitrinite (mineral-matter-free basis), whereas the inertinite-rich counterpart has 66 vol% total inertinite. The vitrinite-rich sample is dominated by collotelinite and collodetrinite. Fusinite, semifusinite, and inertodetrinite are the main macerals of the inertinite-rich sample. Molecular chemistry was assessed using a pyrolysis gas chromatograph (py-GC) equipped with a thermal desorption unit coupled to a time of flight mass spectrometer (MS) (py-GC/MS) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance ( 13 C CP-MAS SS NMR). The pyrolysis products of the coal samples are generally similar, comprised of low and high molecular weight alkanes, alkylbenzenes, alkylphenols, and alkyl-subtituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, although the vitrinite-rich sample is chemically more diverse. The lack of diversity exhibited by the inertinite-rich sample upon pyrolysis may be interpreted to suggest that major components were heated in their geologic history. Based on the 13 C CP-MAS SS NMR analysis, the inertinite-rich sample has a greater fraction of phenolics, reflected in the py-GC/MS results as substituted and unsubstituted derivatives. The greater abundance of phenolics for the inertinite-rich sample may suggest a fire-related origin for the dominant macerals of this sample. The C 2 -alkylbenzene isomers (p-xylene and o-xylene) were detected in the pyrolysis products for the vitrinite-rich and inertinite-rich samples, though more abundant in the former. The presence of these in both samples likely reflects common source vegetation for the dominant vitrinite and inertinite macerals.