Coal

What is coal? Coal is carbon left when large quantities of organisms decompose in anoxic conditions. Since it is organic, it is not considered a mineral. Most of the coal found in the world today was formed by the huge swamps which covered the earth in what is called the Carboniferous Period (called the Mississippian and Pennsylvian Periods in North America)

Where are they found geographically? Coal is found on the Cumberland Plateau in east Tennessee

When were they deposited? Coal was deposited in swamps which grew in Tennessee during the Pennsylvanian Period ( million years ago). American Coal Foundation: Exercises on coal

Quaternary

Tertiary

Cretaceous

Jurassic

Triassic

Permian

Pennsylvanian

Mississippian

Devonian

Silurian

Ordovician

Cambrian

Proterozoic

Uses of Coal Coal is primarily used as a fuel. In the 19th century, it was used directly, burned in homes and factories for power. More recently, it is used to create electricity.

How were they collected and used? Coal is mined in deep mines with shafts running deep into the earth. More recently, coal has been mined in open pit mines, which sometimes takes the tops off of mountains.

picture of strip mining from Coal Development Overview, NPS West Energy Summit 2003, published by National Park Service and US Department of the Interior

History of the use of coal in Tennessee The first recorded mining of coal in Tennessee was in 1818, when a blacksmith in Roane County dug coal for his forge. The coal mining industry started in the 1830's. The coal mining industry was expanded by the arrival of railroads in the 1850's. After shutting down during the Civil War, mining expanded until the early 1900's. After that it fluctuated with the business cycle. Several towns in Tennessee preserve and celebrate their coal mining history

Dunla p, TN Coke Ovens
Coal Creek, near Knoxville
Blue Heron Mine in Big South Fork Park, just across the Kentucky line.

Environmental consequences of coal mining and burning

Consequences of mining coal.: Deep mines pose a danger of polluting water. Water draining through mines becomes highly acidic, poisoning the rivers into which it flows. In Pennsylvania, a mine caught fire and has burned for many years. Strip mining, especially mountain top strip mining leads to massive runoff of sediment which clogs up streams below the mine.

Consequences of burning coal: Burning coal releases particles and sulfuric acid and mercury into the air, and is a major cause of air pollution. Mercury pollution from coal burning has contaminated wild fish leading to limitations in fishing. Debates on limiting or cleaning up burning of coal for electricity is right now a hot topic in political debate.

Since the 1970's many laws regulating coal mining have been passed by the federal government and state government which have reduced adverse environment impacts.

Mercury in US Coal: Abundance, Distribution and Modes of Occurrence USGS

Sources

Luther, Edward T, Coal Reserves of Tennessee, TN Division of Geology Bulletin 63, Nashville TN, 1959