Origin of banded structure and coal lithotype cycles in Kargali coal seam of East Bokaro sub-basin, Jharkhand, India: Environmental implications

Abstract

The Kargali seam of Early Permian Barakar cyclothems of East Bokaro sub-basin of Jharkhand, India is 12–30 m thick, splits into two parts, and extends throughout the length of the basin. It is made up of interbedded sequences and variable proportions of Vitrain, Clarain, Durain and Fusain. Application of embedded Markov chain model rejects the phenomenon of randomness in the repetition of coal lithotypes. The preferential upward transition path for coal lithotypes that can be derived for the Kargali top coal seam is: Vitrain → Clarain → Durain ↔ Fusain → Vitrain, and for the Kargali bottom coal seam is: Clarain ↔ Vitrain → Fusain → Durain → Clarain. By and large, the cyclic repetition of coal lithotypes is similar in the Kargali bottom and top seams. Among the noteworthy features are two-way transitions between Durain and Fusian in Kargali top and between Clarain and Vitrain in the case of Kargali bottom coal seam. Entropy analysis corroborates Markov chain and indicates the presence of type A-4 asymmetrical cycles of coal lithotypes. It is suggested that the banded structure of a coal seam is not a random feature and follows a definite cyclic pattern in the occurrence of coal lithotypes in vertical order and is similar to that described in Australian and European coal seams. Asymmetrical cyclic sequences are a normal, rather than an unusual condition, within coal seams. It is visualized that a gradual decline of toxic environment and ground water level resulted in the coal lithotype cycles in the Kargali seam of East Bokaro sub-basin. The close interbedding of Vitrain and Clarain is suggestive of seasonal fluctuation in anaerobic and aerobic conditions during peat formation.