Organic matter in a coal ball: peat or coal?
Chemical analyses of morphologically preserved organic matter in a Carboniferous coal ball reveal that the material is coalified to a rank approximately equal to that of the surrounding coal. Hence, the plant tissues in the coal ball were chemically altered by coalification processes and were not preserved as peat.
Hatcher
P G
PG
Lyons
P C
PC
Thompson
C L
CL
Brown
F W
FW
Maciel
G E
GE