Palynology and petrography of a Middle Devonian coal in Illinois /

Abstract

Samples of a carbonaceous sediment, varying from coal to coaly shale and less than 1 to 2 inches thick, were obtained from three diamond drill cores of the Wapsipinicon Limestone in McLean and northern DeWitt Counties , Illinois. This is the only known occurrence of Devonian coal in Illinois.Microscopic examination of polished samples in reflected light reveals that the coal is only partly laminated. The nonlaminated, less coaly portion may represent reworked material. Spores account for about 12 percent of the laminated coal and only 3 percent of the nonlaminated portion. The rest of the coal consists of the maceral vitrinite. Mineral matter includes pyrite, limestone, quartz, dolomite, calcite, and very fine-grained argillaceous carbonates.

Lower Devonian coaly shales of northern New Brunswick, Canada: plant accumulations in the early stages of Terrestrial colonization

“…Paleogeographical reconstructions from Torsvik and Cocks (2004). 1: Middle Devonian, Cedar Valley Limestone, Iowa, USA (Dow 1960;Sanders 1967); 2: Middle Devonian, Davenport Limestone Member, Wapsipinicon Limestone, Illinois, USA (Peppers and Damberger 1969); 3: Pragian-Emsian, Val d'Amour and Campbellton Formations, New Brunswick, Canada (this study); 4: Givetian, Watt Mountain Formation, Alberta, Canada (Duggan et al 2001); 5: Emsian, York River Formation, Québec, Canada (Glasspool and Scott 2010;Lavoie et al 2011); 6: Middle-earliest Late Devonian, Venezuela (Berry et al 1993); 7: Givetian-Frasnian, Weatherall and Hecla Bay formations, Melville Island, Canada (Goodarzi and Goodbody 1990;Fowler et al 1991); 8: Early Devonian, Haliseriten beds, Rhenish Massive, Germany (Stach et al 1982); 9: Givetian-Frasnian, Mimer Valley Formation, Spitsbergen, Norway (Harland et al 1976(Harland et al , 1997Wollenweber et al 2006); 10; Middle Devonian, Timan region of the Ural Mountains, Russia (Volkova 1994); 11: Givetian, Barzas Formation, Kuznetsk Basin, Russia, and Middle Devonian, Aidarly deposits and Ermentau coals, Kazakhstan (Volkova 1994); 12: Middle-late Famennian, Hampshire Formation, West Virginia, USA (Gillespie et al 1981;Scheckler 1986); 13: Frasnian, Portscatho Formation, Cornwall, England (Cook et al 1972); 14: Middle Devonian, Haikou Formation, Yunnan Province, and Givetian, Donggangling Formation in Guangdong Province, China (Han 1989;Dai et al 2006); 15: early-middle Frasnian, Beverley Inlet Formation, Melville Island, Canada (Goodarzi and Goodbody 1990;Fowler et al 1991); 16: late Famennian-Tournasian, Røedvika Formation, Bear Island, Norway (Harland et al 1976;Harland 1997); 17: Late Devonian, Timan region of the Ural Mountains and central Russia (Volkova 1994); 18: Late Devonian, Kazakhstan and Russia (Volkova 1994); 19: Famennian, Wutung and Xikuangshan formations, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces, China (Han 1989…”

Organic-walled microphytoplankton assemblage of the Middle Devonian (Givetian) Arkona, Hungry Hollow and Widder formations, Ontario, Canada: biostratigraphic and palaeogeographic significance

“…Acritarchs and prasinophyte phycomata (collectively termed organic-walled microphytoplankton) of the Middle Devonian (Givetian) Arkona, Hungry Hollow and Widder formations of the Hamilton Group have previously been reported from the subsurface by . Although not extensively studied, Middle Devonian phytoplankton assemblages have also been reported from elsewhere in North America by Baschnagel (1942), Deunff ( , 1955, Audretsch (1967), Peppers and Damberger (1969), Nautiyal (1975), , , Wicander (1983Wicander ( , 1984, Wicander and Wright (1983), Wood and Clendening (1985) and Huysken et al (1992).…”

Devonian tectonism of the Illinois Basin region, U.S. continental interior

“…Submergence of the crest of the arch began in Eifelian time, but the crest remained high relative to surrounding regions. As a consequence, the Wapsipinicon For mation (Eifelian) on the flank of the arch contains thin coal and other very shallow water strata indicative of shoaling (Peppers and Damberger, 1969). Through the Middle Devonian, the San gamon arch was a shoal that divided the midcontinent epeiric sea into two separate basins (Whiting and Stevenson, 1965).…”