Observations on Indian Permian Gondwana Coals Under Fluorescence Microscopy: An Overview

Abstract

Macerals like sporinite, cutinite, suberinite and resinite of the liptinite group have been insufficiently recorded in Indian Permian Gondwana coals, until the fluorescence microscopy came into existence. With the introduction of this technique, macerals like bituminite, fluorinite and exsudatinite were convincingly recognized and alginite and liptodetrinite, normally mistaken for mineral matter under normal reflected light in routine coal petrographic analysis, were identified with certainty. Thus, fluorescence microscopy has added certain new macerals to the tally of the liptinite group and has increased their overall proportion in Indian Gondwana coals. In addition to the liptinite group, collodetrinite (=desmocollinite) and a certain fraction of collotelinite (=telocollinite) macerals of the vitrinite group were found to be fluorescing with dull reddish-brown to dark brown colours. Certain semifusinite and inertodetrinite macerals of inertinite group were also found to fluoresce with almost identical intensity and colour as that of the associated perhydrous (fluorescing) vitrinite. Contributions of degraded resinite, algal matter and bitumen in the formation of perhydrous vitrinite have been established. The fluorescence behaviour of inertinite appears to be related with its genesis from partial oxidation of resin/bitumen-impregnated cell walls.