Early Pennsylvanian Lagerstätte reveals a diverse ecosystem on a subhumid, alluvial fan.

Much of what we know about terrestrial life during the Carboniferous Period comes from Middle Pennsylvanian (~315-307 Mya) Coal Measures deposited in low-lying wetland environments1-5. We know relatively little about terrestrial ecosystems from the Early Pennsylvanian, which was a critical interval for the diversification of insects, arachnids, tetrapods, and seed plants6-10. Here we report a diverse Early Pennsylvanian trace and body fossil Lagerstätte (~320-318 Mya) from the Wamsutta Formation of eastern North America, distinct from coal-bearing deposits, preserved in clastic substrates within basin margin conglomerates. The exceptionally preserved trace fossils and body fossils document a range of vertebrates, invertebrates and plant taxa (n = 131), with 83 distinct foliage morphotypes. Plant-insect interactions include what may be the earliest evidence of insect oviposition. This site expands our knowledge of early terrestrial ecosystems and organismal interactions and provides ground truth for future phylogenetic reconstructions of key plant, arthropod, and vertebrate groups.

Proposed Cleaning Potential Gradient Based on a Study of Coals from Three Exploration Areas in Shanxi Province, China.

The cleaning potential of selected Chinese bituminous coals during coal preparation was evaluated in terms of coal quality, cleaning grade, and cleanability. The cleaning potentials were determined for coals sampled from a total of six seams, two each in three different general exploration areas in southern Shanxi, China. Distribution maps of resources with different cleaning potential characteristics were prepared using mapping and geographical information software. In each case, the area and calculated reserves for coals having different classifications of cleaning potentials were determined. The total areal extent of the six coals studied is about 410 million m2, and the total reserves of these coals amount to about 1460 million tonnes, which include coals of poor, fair, good, and proficient cleanabilities. The proportion of high-quality coals is about 28.9%. Coals that can be processed into high-quality coals account for about 69.2%. A cleaning potential gradient is proposed for indicating the cleaning potential level, and an equation for calculating it is established. The necessity of processing raw coal of good quality is also to be considered in terms of economics. It does not make economic sense to process coal with an organic sulfur content more than 1.5%, even though it may have a good cleanability.

Evaluation of carbon forms and elements composition in coal gasification solid residues and their potential utilization from a view of coal geology.

As the development of coal gasification technology expands in China, the resulting solid by-products can become environmental and economic concerns. Evaluation of carbon forms and elemental composition in coal gasification solid residues from three advanced commercial-scale entrained-flow gasification plants in China related to feedstock coal properties are studied and their potential utilization is discussed in the present study. The properties of the residues of the three entrained-flow gasification processes differed as a result of the type of process applied, even though the properties of their feedstocks are similar. Eight types of carbon forms were identified. The high-inertinite feedstock resulted in a fusinite-like carbon being the primary carbon form of the residues, except for the General Electric fine residue (GE-FR) sample. The carbon contents of the coarse residues (CRs) produced from the Opposed Multi-Burner (OMB) coal-water slurry gasifier and the Gaskombiant Schwarze Pumpe (GSP) pulverized coal gasifier are comparable, lower than 2% (Cd), but a high content of carbon present as "black particles" (79.90%, Cd) was concentrated from the OMB-CR sample. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses indicate that the main functional group of the fusinite-like material in OMB-CR is methyl (CH3-). From the chemical composition point of view, the high proportions of F2O3 and CaO in the GE residues make them potential sources of high-Fe or high-Ca material. The relatively high concentrations of In, Ga, Sb, Cs, Cr, Ba, and rare earth elements in the residues make them potential raw materials for extracting critical trace elements, especially the OMB-FR and GSP-FR samples for extracting Ga.