Distribution of sulphur in the tertiary coals of Meghalaya, India

Abstract

The distribution pattern of the different forms of sulphur in the coal seams of Meghalaya has been worked out. In general, the total sulphur content is found to increase from the base to the top of a seam. There is also a general trend of upward increase of sulphur content in the seam-wise sequence, i.e. the upper seam is found to contain more sulphur than the seam lying below. Pyritic sulphur shows an upward increasing tendency both intraseam- and interseam-wise. Variation in organic sulphur shows an apparent parallelism with that of total sulphur. A gradual decrease in total sulphur content is also seen in the coals of Meghalaya from east to west within the basin of deposition. This regional lateral variation in sulphur content was due to the more marine nature of the peat-forming swamps of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills (eastern Meghalaya) as compared to that of the Garo Hills (western Maghalaya).