The model of entropy for the Upper Carboniferous coal-bearing formations in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin and an attempt of its geological interpretation

Abstract

The paper presents the model of entropy for the coal-bearing formations of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. The coal-bearing formations include exclusively continental (fluvial) sediments in their upper parts and paralic sediments in the lower parts, the latter composed of partly continental, partly near-shore deposits laid down in broadly understood sea coast environment (shoreline, sand bars, beaches, etc.). For studies18 boreholes were selected in which both the continental and the paralic successions were represented. For all lithofacies distinguished in all successions the normalized, preand post-depositional entropies were calculated. Then, successions were categorized on the basis of these calculations. The dendrogram shows three groups of successions from which the first corresponds almost exclusively to the Paralic Series and the second one – to the Mudstone Series. The third group differs distinctly from the first two groups and represents the sediments of the Krakow Sandstone Series.