THE SOCIETY FOR ORGANIC PETROLOGY NEWSLETTERtsop.org/newsletters/1999_2002.pdfDr. Richard V. Tyson - Lecturer in Organic Petrology and Palynology at the University of Newcastle, UK

THE SOCIETY FOR ORGANIC PETROLOGY

NEWSLETTERMarch 1999 ISSN-0743-3816

Scenes from TSOP-Halifax, 1998The 15thAnnual Meeting of TSOP, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, July 26-30, 1998

Call For Papers! TSOP 1999Snowbird, Salt Lake City, UT

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No.1 March 1999

The TSOP NewsletterJohn C. Crelling / William W. Huggett

Co-editors

The TSOP Newsletter welcomes contributionsfrom members and non-members alike. Itemsmay be submitted on computer disk, as an e-mailfile or as printed text via fax or regular mail. Wedo ask that any disk or e-mail file be written inWordPerfect 6.1, 7, or 8.

John C. Crelling / William W. HuggettDepartment of Geology

Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale Illinois 62901-4324 USA

Phone: (618)453-3351Fax: (618)453-7393

E-mail: [email protected]@geo.siu.edu

For purposes of registration of the TSOP Newsletter a permanentmailing is: The Society of Organic Petrology; c/o AmericanGeological Institute, 4220 King Street, Alexandra, VA 22302-1502

Society MembershipThe TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) ispublished quarterly by The Society For OrganicPetrology and is distributed to all SocietyMembers as a benefit of membership.Membership in the Society is international and isopen to all individuals having an interest in thefield of organic petrology. For more informationon membership, Society activities, or to acquiremembership packs, please call or write:

Cortland F. EbleKentucky Geological Survey

228 Mining & Minerals BuildingUniversity of Kentucky

Lexington, KY 40506-0107 USAPhone: (606) 257-5500

Fax:(606)257-1147E-mail: [email protected]

Don't forget to check out TSOP's

WEBSITE!

www.tsop.orgYou'll find the TSOP discussion forum,links to other related sites, schedules,dates, meeting updates, and tons of

other useful information!

TSOP ArchivesNow open for business!!

The official TSOP archival collection isnow available for your use.

The collection contains all of thesociety's newsletters, publications,programs, field guides, short coursenotes, Research Committee reports,

minutes of Council meetings, andmember directories.

Photocopies of desired materials will beprovided at a cost immediately uponapproval of your request form. Sorry,

but no copies of publications which arecurrently for sale by TSOP can be

provided. Please make all inquires to:

Kenneth W. KuehnTSOP Archivist

Geology, Western Kentucky University1 Big Red Way

|Bowling Green, KY 42101Phone: (502) 745-3082

Fax:(502)[email protected]

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TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 1 March 1999

The 1998-99

President

Vice President

President Elect

Secretary/Treasurer

Editors

Councilor (1997-99)

Councilor(1998-00)

TSOP Council

Charles Barker

Timothy A. Moore

Cole R. Robison

Peter Warwick

John C. CrellingWilliam W. Huggett

Maria Mastalerz

Carolyn Thompson-Rizer

Going to a Meeting?Why not spread the TSOP message?

A limited number of recent back issues of the TSOPNewsletter are available for members to take toconferences they are going to attend. Membershippacks and application forms are also available fordistribution to interested parties. TSOP is an all-volunteer organization that relies on an active growingmembership base in order to remain healthy. Onlythrough the efforts of all of its members can TSOPcontinue to meet its membership goals. If you areinterested in promoting TSOP and need somehandouts please contact the following individuals:

For Newsletters

John C. Crelling or William HuggettPhone:(618)453-3351Fax: (6180 453-7393

[email protected] or [email protected]

For Information Packs:

Cortland F. Eble

Phone: (606) 257-5500

Fax: (606) 257-1147

ebfe@kgs mm uky. edu

TSOP Mugs for sale!

Help support TSOP activities and get an elegant,sporty and downright nifty genuine LouisvilleStoneware mug for your coffee, tea or hotchocolate. At only $10 these mugs are a terrificbuy, and they make wonderful gifts too. Be sureto buy several, mugs get lonely too. To orderplease contact:

Jim HowerCAER

3572 Iron Works PikeLexington KY 40511

Phone: (606) 257-0261Fax: (606) 257-0302

Unsolicited endorsement #47 from a satisfiedTSOP mug owner:

"Ever since my mug arrived on August 16, 1996,I have become a more productive person. Withmy mug by my side I am now able to write moreeffective proposals. My blood pressure andcholesterol have also gone down."

AcknowledgmentThe editors wish to acknowledge the

support of John Mead, Director of theCoal Research Center at SIUC, and his

staff for assistance in editing andprinting this newsletter.

^Attention^Deadline for June issue is

MAY 1

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March Contents

Cover Story: Halifax 1998 1Newsletter business, Masthead, web site info, archives info 2TSOP Council 31999 Annual meeting organizers 4President's letter 5Announcement and Call For Papers: 16th Annual Meeting of TSOP 6TSOP Research Committee Student Grant Program 11ACS Symposium on Microscopic Studies of Coal and Carbon 12Report: 1998 Conference on Unburned Carbon in Utility Flyash 1350th ICCP Meeting Notes 15Reflectance of Liptinites in Anthracites 15Book Review: Organic Petrology - 3 Reviews 17TSOP Research Committee Progress Report 21The Gupta Affair 25Calendar of Events 27TSOP 1998 Annual Meeting Sponsors 28Halifax '98: A reflection 29TSOP Membership Application 31Editors' Choice Photomicrograph 32

The Society For Organic Petrology 16th Annual Meeting inSalt Lake City Utah

Meeting Organizers

Jeff QuickUtah Geological Survey1594 West North Temple, Suite 3110Salt Lake City Utah 84114-6100Phone: (801) 537-3372Fax:(801)537-3400e-mail: [email protected]

Dave TabetUtah Geological Survey1594 West North Temple, Suite 3110Salt Lake City, Utah 84114Phone: (801) 537-3373Fax: (801) 537-3400e-mail: [email protected]

David A. WavrekDept. Civil and Environmental Engineering

The University of Utah160 South Central campus Drive (104 EMRO)Salt Lake City Utah 84112Phone:(801)322-2915Fax: (801) 322-2916e-mail: [email protected]

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TSOP Newsletter, Vol. 16 No. 1 March 1999

President's LetterCharles E. Barker

I believe that TSOP and organic petrology are at acrossroad. The critical choices facing organic petrologyare indicated by recent events like Penn State droppingit's coal petrography course of study, the GSA CoalGeology Division Medlin scholarship had no applicants lastyear and that few students attended our meetings. Ourown membership may significantly decline this year.Without greater interest, the widespread practice oforganic petrology could disappear within this generation.

To address these issues, I would like for you to provideme with your thoughts on possible future directions for ourSociety.

My thoughts are that it may be time for us to considerways for TSOP to evolve, to avoid the general declinethat seems to be taking place in ours and other organicpetrology related organizations. The path I personallyenvisage is increasing cooperation with internationalorganizations. We have already had joint meetings inNorth America with CSOP, ICCP and AAPG-EMD. In thenear term, we are holding a joint meeting in Canada withCSCOP in 2001.

Yet, to truly be an international organization, we need toparticipate in meetings overseas as well as in NorthAmerica. At this time, because our financial resources asa Society are limited, it does not seem possible to hold anindependent TSOP annual meeting overseas . Theobvious alternative is to hold technical sessions and fieldtrips in conjunction with other petrography groups.

We also need to reduce the the duplication of effort inorganic petrology, a Field having such a focused area ofendeavor. In North America alone, we have TSOP,CSCOP, GSA Coal Geology Division, AAPG EMD, theUSGS energy team sessions at the Pittsburgh coalconference and SME coal conferences. Such division ofefforts will inevitably cause us all to remain smallorganizations with limited endowments, impact and cross-fertilization. What if TSOP and these related groupscombined under one umbrella organic petrologyorganization as the world's organic geochemists areproposing to do? Under this umbrella we could have aformal mechanism for promoting joint sessions, such aswe do on an informal basis now. Informal mechanisms areadequate, as long as we do not miss an opportunity toadvance organic petrography.

Perhaps it's time to give up some of our autonomy for agreater impact in the world of science and possibly savethe future of organic petrology as an academic discipline.We need to continue to address these issues beyond theboundaries of each organic petrology oriented society ifwe are to continue to be a viable discipline.

Charles E. Barker

Contacting your President

Charles E. BarkerU.S. Geological SurveyBox 25046, MS 939Denver, CO 80225 USA

Office phone: (303) 236-5797Office FAX: (303) 236-0459E-mail: [email protected]

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Cliff LodgeSnowbird Conference Center

Site of the September 26-28 1999 TSOPAnnual Meeting

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Call For Papers!

TSOP '99SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

The Society for Organic Petrology16th Annual Meeting, September 26-28,1999

Please join our mountain rendezvous to swap research results, hear what your colleagueshave been working on, and meet new friends who think about organic matter in rocks.

MEETING LOCATION

The 16th annual TSOP meeting will be held at the Cliff Lodge, Snowbird ConferenceCenter, 45 minutes from Salt Lake City, International Airport. Airport shuttle service to and

from the convention center is available.

The Cliff Lodge, Snowbird Conference Center is nestled between two 11,000 footmountains in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The full-service conference center has

restaurants, pubs, heated pools, spas and shops, all surrounded by the Wasatch-CacheNational Forest.

Salt Lake City's central location to many of the west's scenic wonders makes pre- or post-meeting travel and recreation attractive and affordable. Salt Lake City also offers the Utah

Symphony, Utah Opera, Utah Ballet, Repertory Dance Theater, and Pioneer TheaterCompany. In addition it is the world headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-

day Saints. Tours of the church's temple grounds are possible as are visits to the Salt LakeCity Family History Library (request a genealogical research package in advance for this

self-guided activity).

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PROGRAMSunday, September 26

Pre-meeting workshop:Organic matter characterization by optical and molecular methods - Tools for the

next millennium.Instructor: R.V. Tyson

This workshop will include lecture and laboratory demonstration at the Energy andGeosciences Institute (EGI) at Research Park, University of Utah. (30-40 minute drive from

Snowbird Resort)Dr. Richard V. Tyson - Lecturer in Organic Petrology and Palynology at the University of

Newcastle, UK and the sole author of a recent book (1995) "Sedimentary Organic Matter -Organic facies and Palynofacies" from Chapman & Hall. His research interests are

palynofacies, organic facies, organic petrology, oxygen deficient environments and theorigin of petroleum source rocks.

Evening RegistrationIcebreaker Reception

Monday, September 27

Morning RegistrationPoster / Technical Sessions

Theme: Organic Matter Characterization by Optical and Molecular Methods - Tools forthe next Millennium

Monday's sessions will follow the pre-meeting workshop theme.

Group PhotographEvening Dinner

Tuesday, September 28

Poster / Technical SessionsAfternoon Luncheon

Wednesday & Thursday, September 29, 30

Post-meeting field trip: Uinta Basin rocks and hydrocarbons (asphalt, native bitumen,Green River Formation). Utah coalfields, (depositional systems, briquette manufacture, oil

from coal).

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Meeting organizers are seeking oral presentations and posters on all topics related toorganic petrology. Possible themes include: biomarkers, organic petrology of source rocks,reservoir bitumens, coal/kerogen petrology, environmental topics, industrial processes, and

geographic information systems for organic petrology.

Abstracts due by June 1.1999

ORAL AND POSTER PRESENTATIONSTwenty minute oral presentations and extended poster sessions are scheduled for Monday,September 27 and Tuesday, September 28. Standard audiovisual support will be provided.

Specialized AV needs such as computer and videotape projectors should be discussedwith the meeting organizers. Abstracts are due June 1,1999. Submission of both paper

copy and electronic format and is preferred. If you plan to present a technical paper orposter, please submit you proposed title on the expression of interest form included below.

In addition to the general papers, contributions onthe following topics will be encouraged:

Coal Source Hydrocarbons: At least four oil seeps in coal mines in the Book Cliffscoalfield (oil resembling terrestrial oil from southeast Asia) and the recently developed, and

nearby, Drunkards Wash CBM field suggests local interest in these topics.Resinite in Coal: Efforts are underway to retrieve Utah's coal resinite industry - the

occurrences of abundant bicad-inanes in the oil seeps mentioned above suggest some crossover with the oil industry

whereas papers on the biological origin and thermal maturation of resins should relate tocurrent research on beneficiation techniques to isolate resin from Utah coals.

Bitumens: Papers on this topic will relate nicely to the post meeting field trip.Organic Petrology and Global Warming: What can the organic petrologist do to

understand the carbon cycle? We should work towards providing scientific data to allowinformed public policy

Full manuscripts of research presented at the meeting are due December 1,1999 and will be published in the International Journal of Geology.

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Expression of Interest FormIf you plan to attend the meeting at Snowbird, want to present an oral or posterpresentation, or just want to receive more information please fill out the formbelow and mail or fax it to:Jeff Quick Utah Geological Survey, 1594 West North Temple,Suite 3100, Salt Lake City, Utah 84114, Fax: (801) 537-3400, e-mail:[email protected]

I Will • or may • attendNameAffiliationAddress

Phone_FaxE-mail

I will • may • or will not • be able to present a talk or poster session.

Tentative title of my talk or poster:

Co-author's name, address, phone:

Are you interested in the field trip on Wednesday and Thursday?

Yes • No •

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TSOP Research CommitteeStudent Grants Program

Purpose: The Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP)Student Grants will help foster research in organicpetrology (which includes coal petrology, kerogenpetrology, organic geochemistry and related disciplines)by providing support to graduate students from aroundthe world, who demonstrate the application of organicpetrological concepts to research problems.

Grant Size: Monetary awards up to a maximum of$1,000.00 will be granted. TSOP will also provide MeritAwards, in the form of certificates redeemable for TSOPpublications, for top-ranking applicants not receivinggrants. The program will be initiated with a maximum oftwo grants each year.

Use of Grant. Grants are to be applied to expensesdirectly related to the student's thesis work, such assummer fieldwork, laboratory analyses, etc. A portion (notto exceed 25%) of the funds may be used to attendTSOP Annual Meetings. Funds should not be used topurchase capital equipment, to pay salaries, tuition, room,or board during the school year. Funds must be spentwithin 18 months of receipt of the award.

Review and Evaluation Criteria: Three TSOP ResearchCommittee members and/or TSOP Council members(and/or external experts when needed) will review eachTSOP Student Grants application. Each reviewer will usethe "application evaluation form" to score eachapplication assigned to them, the cumulative score will beused to rank all of the applications. Proposals will beevaluated on the basis of scientific merit. Factorsweighed in selection of successful applicants include:qualifications of the applicant as indicated by pastperformance, originality and research potential of theproposed project, support of the department in which thework is being done, and perceived significance of theproject to organic petrology. At the conclusion of theresearch project, the awardees are required to publish anextended abstract in the TSOP Newsletter and will beencouraged to present their results at the TSOP AnnualMeeting.

Eligibility: The TSOP Grant Program focuses on supportof qualified candidates for masters or equivalent degrees.Qualified doctoral candidates with expenses beyond the

usual scope of funding by other agencies are alsoencouraged to apply. Only one grant will be awarded perproposal, with the possibility of one-year extensionsawarded only in very special circumstances.

Application forms are available to all interested partiesvia the TSOP web page at: www.TSOP.org or by fax ormail. Please send your request to:

William HuggettDepartment of Geology m/c 4324Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale Illinois 62901-4324USA(618)[email protected]

Attach a copy of your college academic transcripts. (Ifyour college does not issue transcripts, attach a signedstatement from your professor commenting on youracademic credentials.)

Obtain endorsements as indicated in PART 4 of theform. If your college department does not have anofficial stamp, attach a statement on departmentletterhead, signed by the department chairman,identifying you as a currently enrolled student of thatschool.

Mail or fax application form to:

TSOP Research Committee Student GrantsProgramc/o C. L Thompson-Rizer, ChairpersonConoco Inc. PR 3072P.O. Box 2197Houston, TX 77252-2197 USAFAX 281-293-3833

4) Applications are due by March 31. Grants will beannounced in September of the same year with money(checks or bank transfers) available at that time.Announcements will be made in the TSOP Newsletterand at the TSOP Annual Meeting. The abstracts of thesuccessful proposal(s) will be published in the TSOPNewsletter. All applicants will be informed by mail of thestatus of their applications.

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American Chemical SocietySymposium on MicroscopicStudies of Coal and Carbon

Ilham DemirIllinois State Geological Survey

A symposium on Microscopic Studies of Coal andCarbon was held at the American Chemical SocietyNational Meeting, Boston, MA, August 23-27,1998. Thesymposium presentations included the results of studiesrelated to not only the use of microscopy but also otheranalytical techniques for understanding the microscopicand molecular structure of coal and carbon. Twelve out ofsixteen papers that were submitted for inclusion in thesymposium volume were orally presented at threeseparate sessions organized and chaired by Ilham Demirand Anthony A. Lizzio.

D. L. Wertz (University of Southern Mississippi)demonstrated the use of x-ray methods for measuringthe short-range structural units in coal at the molecularlevel. Change in intra and inter molecular C-C distanceswith increasing coal rank were calculated. Application ofthe x-ray method that has traditionally been used forstudying crystalline inorganic matter to characterizemolecular structure of organic matter appeared to be animportant accomplishment.

J. K. Verkade (Iowa State University) used the treatmentof coal with a P compound followed by NMR analysis todifferentiate types of moisture (freezable-bulk moistureand nonfreezable-pore moisture) in coal. He alsoexplored the use of tributyl phosphine to remove organicsulfur from coal by taking advantage of thethermodynamically favored P=S bond. Although theprocess is successful in transferring S from coal to the Preagent, rigorous washing with different chemicals isrequired to separate the S-removing reagent from coal,making the process uneconomical.

P. Painter (Penn State University) challenged the pastdata on the solubility of coal in mixed solvents. Heindicated that strong osmotic forces exerted by solventson the coal gel appears to lead to fracture. As a resultmicroscopic particles broken off from the samples wereerroneously counted as true solutions in some paststudies.

E. W. Hagaman (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)reported on the effect of the standard coaldemineralization procedure of Bishop and Wand(consecutive exposure of the ground coal to 5N HCI,48% HF, and 12N HCI, for 45-minute periods at 60°C) onthe organic matter of coal. A lignin sample was used asa coal surrogate in the experiments, and the materialcharacterization was accomplished through the use ofNMR spectroscopy. The results indicated that thedemineralization procedure causes polymerization bygenerating 1-2 cross-links per 100 C, thus making theorganic material more refractory. Half of the cross linkingoccurred in 48% HF wash and half in the 12N HCIwash.

J. Crelling (Southern Illinois University) reviewed theapplication of optical microscopy to areas dealing withcokes, pitches, anode pastes, calcined/graphitizedcarbon, vapor carbon deposition, activated carbon,carbon fiber/carbon-carbon-composites, automobile andairplane brakes, coal combustion, blast furnace injectionof coal, surface coal recovery, and forensic geology andarchaeology. Optical microscopy yields informationabout the size and shape of coal and carbon and theirassociation with other materials. It also enablesquantitative measurements of the reflectance, anisotropyin polarized light, fluorescence, and response to etchingand staining of the organic matter.

P. Rahimi (National Center for Upgrading Technology,Canada) examined the effect of minerals on the growthand coalescence of mesophase during the thermalhydrocracking of Athabasca bitumen vacuum bottomsusing hot-stage microscopy. The addition of kaolinitehindered the mesophase growth rate while the addition ofillite and montmorillonite did not. The reason for thisobserved difference was not evident from the datapresented.

T. Gentzis (National Center for Upgrading Technology,Canada) investigated coker furnace foulants that formduring commercial operations to convert Athabascabitumen to synthetic crude oil. Temperature profilearound the furnace tube walls was a very important factorfor the types of foulants that formed. For example, thedominance of Fe-sulfide formation right on the tube wallresulted from the decomposition and reaction of solubleFe-naphthenates or similar organics with H2S from theheavy oil because higher temperature at the tube skingenerates the greatest concentration of H2S.

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R. Menendez (Instituto del Carbon, Spain) demonstratedthe use of optical microscopy for helping to understandpitch conversion to carbon materials and their potentialapplications. Polarized light, hot-stage microscopyyielded information on the development of mesophase (aliquid crystal stage formed by the polymerization of pitchcomponents) which controls the structure of resultingcarbon materials. In addition, the microscopy was usedto determine the microstructural features (size, shape,orientation) of carbon materials obtained from thepitches.

R. B. Clarkson (University of Illinois) reported on thedevelopment of carbon char microparticles asparamagnetic sensors for the measurement of oxygenlevels mainly in living tissues. Because the biologicalenvironment is aqueous and water interactions can affectoxygen sensitivity as well as chemical stability andtoxicity, he first studied water interactions at the surfaceand porous structure of carbon char particles, usingelectron paramagnetic resonance, nuclear magneticresonance, and dynamic nuclear polarization methods.The results were interpreted to indicate that the water-char particle interaction involved the overlap of unpairedelectrons between the particle surface and water protons.

A. Tomita (Tohoku University, Japan) discussed thetransformation of the crystallinity in coal char particlesduring high temperature gasification using transmissionelectron microscope (TEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD).The authors developed an algorithm to extractinformation on the degree of orientation and thedistribution of stack and size of the carbon particles fromthe TEM image. The information obtained by TEManalysis was different from the information obtained bythe XRD analysis. One likely reason given for thisobservation was the inclusion of the mineral matter effectin the XRD analysis but not in the TEM analysis.

R. Hurt (Brown University) also used TEM to obtainquantitative features of carbon crystallinetransformations of coal and bio-mass derived chars fromhigh temperature combustion environments. A newalgorithm was developed for digital analyses of fringeimages to quantify changes in crystal structure betweenprecursors and as a function of combustion residencetime Orientational orders in the graphene layers withrespect to length (short/long range) and type(radial/concentric/nematic order) were determined

P. Le Cloirec (Ecole des Mines de Nantes, France) usedscanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic forcemicroscopy (AFM) to characterize the cloths of activatedcarbon fibers. The result showed the creation of porosityby division of the original fibers into numerousmicrofibers. The H2O activation process was thought tocreate large pores at the fiber surface while CO2

activation process induced micro porosity inside thefibers. The porosity data obtained by SEM and AFMwere in good agreement with N2 gas adsorption data.

All the symposium papers were published in thePreprints of Symposia, Division of Fuel Chemistry, 216th

American Chemical Society National Meeting, Volume43, No. 4. Copies of the individual papers may beobtained from the Library of the Institute of GasTechnology, 1700 South Mount Prospect Road, DesPlains, IL 60018; Telephone: (847)768-0500.

REPORT ON THE 1998CONFERENCE ON UNBURNEDCARBON ON UTILITY FLY ASH

M. Mercedes Maroto-ValerUniversity of Kentucky - Center for Applied

Energy Research,2540 Research Park Drive, Lexington KY

40511-8410now at Energy Institute, Pennsylvania State University,

State College, PA

The 1998 Conference on Unburned Carbon onUtility Fly Ash was the 4th consecutive annual meetingorganized by the Federal Energy Technology Center(FETC) to discuss the problem of Unburned carbon on flyash and was held in Pittsburgh during May 19-20 of1998. The wide interest on this issue was reflected in thefact that the conference gathered over 140 people fromacademia, DOE, entrepreneurial companies andindustry.

A wide range of issues related to the control,processing, utilization and characterization of Unburnedcarbon were covered in the nineteen papers presentedorally. The technical papers were divided into 7 sessionsaccording to the topic discussed and they aresummarized below in chronological order.

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(1) DOE Consortium initiative. W. Aljoe (DOE) andC. Black (West Virginia University) presented a proposalto create an Emission Control Byproduct Consortium withmembers from government and industry with the purposeof providing a structure to address research needs aboutthe utilization of coal combustion byproducts to DOE-FETC.

(2) Experience and observations issues includedtwo papers. J. Welling (FLS miljø, Inc.) described themain factors that affect the quality of the fly ash and theimpact of the installation of dynamic classifiers. E.Reicker, R. Beitel and T. Ake (DB Riley, Inc.) presented acommercial U-fired slag-tap firing system operating underlow NOx firing conditions.

(3) Control measures were addressed by P.Patterson (Ultramax Corporation), who presented asoftware based approach to tune the operation of boilersand that is being applied to the Hennepin Power Station(Illinois Power Company).

(4) Processing and utilization of high-LOl fly ashsession comprised five papers that described differenttechnologies to beneficiate fly ash. T. Frady (SouthCarolina Electric & Gas) and P. Hay (Progress Materials,Inc.) described a carbon burn-out technology that is beingcommercialized at South Carolina Electric & Gas'Wateree Station. Two papers in this session focused ontriboelectrostatic beneficiation processes: S. Gasiorowski,J. Bittner and C. Willauer (STI Technologies, Inc.)presented results on the four STI separators that areoperating at electrical utilities and T. Li, J. Schaefer, H.Ban, J. Neathery and J. Stencel (University of Kentucky -Center for Applied Energy Research) described thecarbon-ash tribocharging and charge exchangephenomena. C. Koshinski and T. Weyand presented fourprocesses for increasing consumption and value of highcarbon fly ash, but their methodologies were notdescribed thoroughly due to some patent pending. R.Amme (University of Denver), R. Pressey, K. Wier and D.Frey (RCC LLC) discussed a resonant shock compactionmethod for coal combustion product utilization.

(5) Characterization of Unburned carbon sessionalso included 5 presentations. R. Brown presented acollaborative project between Iowa State University (R.Brown, K. Bergenson, A. Suby and M. Fan), AmetekCorporation (R. Novack), Chinese Academy of Sciences(Y. Zhuang) and the Chinese Henan Center forComprehensive Utilization of Fly Ash (Z. Kang and L.Wang) to evaluate the use of fly ashes from the Henanprovince of China as concrete admixtures. J. Baltrus, M.Gray, W. Sands, J. Diehl, K. Champagne and D. Finseth(FETC) used X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to

characterize the surface of carbon in fly ash in order topredict its potential separability from fly ash. R. LaCount,A. Beisel, K. Giles (Waynesburg College), D. Kern(ViRoLac Industries) and T. Banfield (Allegheny Power)presented a paper describing the characterization ofdiffering carbon forms in fly ash using ControlledAtmosphere Programmed Temperature Oxidation(CAPTO). M. Maroto-Valer, D. Taulbee and J. Hower(University of Kentucky - Center for Applied EnergyResearch) presented a novel approach to separate thethree petrographic different forms of Unburned carbon(isotropic coke, anisotropic coke and inertinite) in the flyash using density gradient centrifugation and obtainedfractions with purities over 70% of each carbon form. I.Kulaots, Y. Gao, R. Hurt and E. Suuberg (BrownUniversity) discussed the surface characteristics ofUnburned carbon in fly ash and their influence on foamindex testing.

(6) Instrumentation issues session comprised fourpapers. B. Snowdon (Clyde Pneumatic Conveying Ltd,England) presented the "Sekam" on-line carbon-in-ashmonitor that has been operating in British coal firedpower plants since 1988. D. Trerice (CAMRACCompany, Inc.), A. DiGioia (GAI Consultants, Inc.) and J.Reid (Reid Associates, Inc.) described a microwaved-based system to measure the LOI in fly ash. R. Novack(Ametek Corporation) and R. Brown (Iowa StateUniversity) presented a photoacoustic based technology tomonitor carbon-in-ash. M. Khesin (MK Engineering,Inc.), R. Sharbaugh and C. Clark (GPU Generation)described a continuous on-line system to monitor theUnburned carbon that is being used on a 650 MW coal-fired unit and it is based on analysis of flue gasturbulence in the post-flame zone.

(7) Economics issues were covered by J. Peetz-Schou (M&W Asketeknik ApS, Denmark) who discussedthe economics of on-line ash, coal and Unburned carbonmonitors in coal-fired power plants.

Even though the increasing amount of Unburnedcarbon in fly ash is known to impede the efficient use ofash in the cement industry, still very little is known aboutthe characteristics and properties of the Unburnedcarbon. The broad range of research groups from bothindustry and academy that gathered at the 1998Conference on Unburned Carbon on Utility Fly Ash atPittsburgh have performed an intensive investigation intothese issues, bringing further insight into this subject, butalso revealing other unsolved aspects that will challengefuture research. Hopefully, some of these topics will be

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the focus of presentations in the next Conference onUnburned Carbon.

50th ICCP Meeting Notes

The 50th ICCP Meeting was held September 20-25,1998, in Oporto, Portugal at the Faculty of Sciences ofthe University of Porto. There were more than 75representatives from 21 countries for this six dayconference and field trip.

The joint TSOP-ICCP classification of dispersed organicmatter was presented by Adrian Hutton and LavernStasiuk. Much to my surprise the term DispersedOrganic Matter to a coal petrographer means "organicmatter in the whole rock matrix in polished section" mydefinition and other paynologists, used DOM as "organicmatter freed from a rock following acidization mixed withepoxy and polished for reflected light study". Once thedefinitions were clear the submitted classification was wellreceived.The goals of the classification committee is tophotographically document various types of kerogen,describe their morphology and origin, and submit thisnext drat to both TSOP and ICCP in 1999.

The ICCP has in place an accreditation program underthe chairmanship of Aivers Depers. Twenty six membershave reported on the six standard samples and havebeen accredited, with permission to use this fact in theirpractice. The members will be issued numberedcertificates good for specified term then they must beretested.

A proposal from Paul Lyons for a new working group oncoal bed methane was submitted and approved inCommission II.Rudi Schwab, Treasurer reported ICCP had 175 paid-upmembers in 1998. This number compared to TSOP's274 for the same time period gives you relativemembership of the two society's.

ICCP has a home page on the Web where importantinformation about working groups, membership, contactsand addresses of members may be found. Ademonstration of the program was made by Cariz Aroujoof Petrobras.

Jim Hower had supplied me with a beta copy of the newCoal Atlas on CD ROM from AAPG which was on acomputer throughout the meeting and used by most ofthe members. Comments were very favorable, greatteaching tool, must get one, and the price is right.Everyone interested in coal will find ituseful.

Dr. J.G. Prado, Oviedo, Spain was this years 20threcipient of the Thiessen medal for outstandingcontributions to coal petrology. For Trivia buffs:courtesy of Alan Davis the Thiessen medallion is madefrom "A finely ground mixture of anthracite,semianthracite and hard pitch was briquetted underhigh pressure and the resulting green cast calcined at900 C". No sir, none of the common metals are used forcoal petrographers awards.

The above has been my attempt to highlight some of theevents at the recent ICCP meeting, and which areusually written by Paul Lyons who does a muchbetter job.

Jack Burgess

Reflectance of Liptinites inAnthracite:

Examples from the SouthernAnthracite Field, Pennsylvania

James C. Hower1 and Alan Davis2

1 University of Kentucky, Center for Applied Energy Research, Lexington,KY 404112 The Pennsylvania State University, Coal and Organic PetrologyLaboratory, University Park, PA 16802

INTRODUCTIONLiptinite macerals are difficult to detect in higher rankcoals due to the convergence of liptinite and vitrinitereflectances at the medium volatile/ low volatilebituminous rank boundary. The latter difficulties,particularly when using white-light illumination withuncrossed nicols, can lead to the exclusion of liptinitesfrom studies of higher rank coals. Liptinite macerals areobserved most reliably in anthracites through the use ofcrossed nicols.

15


In this study, conducted incidental to the study of vitrinitereflectance in oriented blocks, the reflectance of sporinite,cutinite, and resinite was determined along with thevitrinite reflectance. Two mutually perpendicular blocksof anthracite, PV�1 and PV�3, both perpendicular to thebanding were examined from the 5�m thick Primrose coalbed, Tamaqua 7 1/2 minute quadrangle, Schuylkill County,Pennsylvania (Southern Anthracite Field). Hower andDavis (1981) discussed the orientation of the vitrinitereflectance indicatrix relative to the folding at this site.The plane of the maximum�intermediate reflectances hasthe same N66°E strike/ 64° SE dip orientation as the axialplane of the fold.

PROCEDUREAnthracite samples were cut from a block of coal orientedwith respect to the banding. Samples, representingmutually perpendicular orientations, were cut to less than1 inch (2.54 cm) maximum dimension, mounted in epoxy,and polished to a final 0.05 µm finish.

Reflectance measurements were conducted using oilimmersion optics at 546 nm. Reflectances of liptiniteswere measured using a spot size of 1 µm x 1 µm. Evenat such a small spot size, measurements were limited bythe small population of specimens of sufficient size. Forevery specimen, a maximum and minimum reflectancefor that orientation, measured after a stage rotation of 90°,was recorded. The PV�1 and PV�3 measured minimumreflectances correspond to the actual minimumreflectances while the measured maximum reflectancescorrespond to the actual maximum or intermediatereflectances. The latter relationship varies between theindividual macerals. The mathematical basis for therelationship between reflectance orientations wasdiscussed by Hower et al. (1994).

DISCUSSIONMaximum, mean, and minimum reflectances of vitrinite,resinite, sporinite, and cutinite on the PV�1 and PV�3blocks, perpendicular to each other and bothperpendicular to the banding, are given in Table 1.Liptinite macerals were not found in the PV�T1orientation parallel to the banding. For the sake ofcomparison, vitrinite reflectances from that orientation arealso given in Table 1.

Liptinites in plane PV�3 all had maximum reflectancesgreater than the vitrinite reflectance; the intermediatevitrinite reflectance being measured in that block. The

liptinite bireflectances, the difference between themaximum and minimum reflectances, are all greater thanthe vitrinite bireflectance. The average reflectances ofmacerals in the PV�3 plane are all similar, differenceswithin the range 4.23 to 4.31% R not being statisticallysignificant. The plane PV�1 vitrinite and resinitemaximum reflectances are greater than the PV�3reflectances whereas the sporinite and cutinitereflectances decrease from PV�3 to PV�1. The randomreflectances, the average of the maximum +intermediate + minimum reflectances, are similar for allof the macerals, ranging from 4.88% R for resinite to4.97% R for vitrinite.

At lower ranks, reflectance differences between vitriniteand liptinite can be explained by known chemicaldifferences between the maceral groups, liptinites havinga more aliphatic molecular structure than the vitrinitegroup macerals. At higher ranks, molecular differencesmay play a lesser role. Instead, the differences observedhere among the reflectances of anthracitic macerals, aswell as the similarity of their random reflectances,suggest that the reflectances observed in polarized lightare primarily the result of the orientation of similarmolecules in the stress field at the time ofmetamorphism. Even though the liptinites are not easilydistinguished visually from vitrinite through a wide rankrange, their presence in anthracite indicates that theymaintain their structural integrity throughout.

The divergence of reflectance values suggests thatorganic metamorphism within liptinite entities proceededindependently of vitrinite metamorphism although similarpaths may have been followed. Vitrinite, althoughbanded, is massive relative to the liptinites. As such, thevitrinite reflectance ellipsoid is probably the best indicatorof the external stress field at the time of metamorphism.The studies of Hower and Davis (1981) and Levine andDavis (1989) in the Pennsylvania anthracite fieldssupport the notion that vitrinite can be used as a tectonicfabric element in coal�bearing metamorphosed rocks.The orientation of molecules within the liptinites,however, was controlled not only by the external stressfield, but also by the constraints of the maceralboundaries.

The mechanism for producing a preferred orientation in amaceral appears to be mimetic polymerization (afterSpry, 1969, p. 219), whereby the orientation ofmetamorphic neoformed molecules is controlled in part

16


by the shape of the entity and in part by the orientation ofthe previously formed molecules. For example, resinite,the least flattened of the liptinites, also has the lowestmaximum reflectance and the lowest bireflectance, thedifference between the maximum and minimumreflectances. Cutinite, the flattest and most elongated ofthe liptinites, exhibits the greatest maximum reflectance.By virtue of its shape, cutinite experiences the greatestinternal boundary effects. It is possible that the size andshape of the macerals is also responsible for thealignment of the cutinite and sporinite maximumreflectances in different directions than the resinite andvitrinite maximum reflectances.

REFERENCESHower, J.C., and Davis, A., 1981, Vitrinite reflectance as a tectonic fabric

element: Geology, v. 9, p. 165-168.

Hower, J.C., Rathbone, R.F., Wild, G.D., and Davis, A., 1994,Observations on the use of vitrinite maximum reflectance versusvitrinite random reflectance for high volatile bituminous coals: Journal ofCoal Quality, v. 13, p.71-76.

Levine, J R , and Davis, A, 1989. The relationship of coal optical fabrics toAlleghanian tectonic deformation in the central Appalachian fold-and-thrust belt, Pennsylvania. Geological Society of America Bulletin, v.101, p. 1333-1347.

Spry, A., 1969, Metamorphic textures: Oxford, Pergamon, 350 p.

New Handbook on OrganicPetrology

A new handbook incorporating some revised parts ofStach's Textbook of Coal Petrology, long a standard inthe field, was released in 1998. This new book is entitledOrganic Petrology (Published by Gebruder Borntraeger,1998, 704p, $116 US) and is authored by G. H. Taylor,M Teichmuller, A. Davis, C. F. K. Diesel, R. Littke, P.Robert, with contributions by D. C. Glick, M. Smyth, D. J.Swain, M. Vanderbrocke, and J. Espitalie. Because of theimportance of this work and the involvement of a numberof TSOP members in its preparation, we offer threedifferent reviews below.

Review by James C. HowerUniversity of KentuckyCenter for Applied Energy Research3572 Iron Works PikeLexington, Kentucky 40511-8433USA

Getting to the conclusion first and discussing the detailslater, this book is a necessary addition to the library ofanyone dealing with the petrology and geology or coalsor other organic facies or with the utilization of coals.The authors have done a credible job in updating Stach'sTextbook of Coal Petrology. Redundancies prevalent inthe third edition of the latter book have been eliminatedwhenever possible, creating a more accessible referenceto a diverse subject. The addition of strong sectionsconcerning the petrology and organic geochemistry ofsource rocks justifies the title change.

Chapters 2-5, cover the origin of organic matter, rank,macerals and minerals, and lithotypes andmicrolithotypes, respectively. The discussions of theorigin of organic matter and of coal rank necessarily referto individual macerals not defined until chapter 4.Organic petrographers will have no particular problemwith this arrangement, but geologists and fuel scientistsunfamiliar with the nomenclature will find themselvespaging ahead to chapter 4.

Parts of the discussion of the origin of macerals arelacking substantial reference to North Americanexamples. For example, no discussion of permineralizedpeat (p.29) should ignore the extensive work of Phillips,DiMichele, and others in the Pennsylvanian of theeastern US. Similarly, no discussion of thoughts on theinfluence of pressure and folding on coal rank (p. 94),however discredited, should be complete withoutreference to David White, an influence on U.S. theoriesuntil the 1960's English publications of the Teichmüllers.A more serious omission concerns the lack of mention ofthe role of the lateral transmission of hydrothermal fluidson organic metamorphism. Studies in the forelandbasins of the Canadian Rockies, the Appalachians, andelsewhere since the mid-1980's have demonstrated theimportance of thermal waters.

17


Overall, chapter 4 provides an extensive discussion ofmacerals. Referring to the convergence of liptinite andvitrinite reflectance at the medium/low volatilebituminous boundary, the authors of the chapter state (p.203) . . . Thus a kind of vitrinite originates as acoalification product of liptinite. (This is not to say thatsuch vitrinite is identical to other vitrinites, but it maymean that it may be impossible to distinguish themthrough the use of light microscopy alone.)" Howeverqualified, the first sentence gives hope to inexperiencedusers of data who have, for example, confused facieschanges with an alleged transformation of vitrinite toSemifusinite with an increase in rank (Hower and Cardott1998). Discussion of micrinite, a maceral difficult toisolate for chemical analysis, is lacking the alternativeviews of Faraj (1993), who considered the "micrinite" inthe Triassic Callide coal to be kaolinite. Inclusion of thedensity gradient centrifugation studies of Taulbee [ref]could have supported the organic nature of micrinite. Notas fundamental an oversight, is the reference to theIndiana paper coal as subbituminous (p. 205 and 313).This may be a mis-statement passed on from the originalpaper, perhaps originating from the relatively unlithifiedappearance of the high volatile C bituminous paper coal.

Chapter 6 provides a discussion of some of the majortypes of coal as divided by age. Gondwana coals arediscussed as part of this chapter, not as a separatechapter as in Stach's Textbook. The discussion followsan integration of coals into a somewhat continuous storybased on changes in flora with some consideration to thechanges in paleogeography as a consequence of platetectonics. Chapter 6 cannot be left without mention ofAppendix I, a geologic column with reference to majorcoal occurrences throughout the world. The casual userwill be mislead by the placement of "USA Illinois &Pennsylvania coalfields" in the Stephanian. ForPennsylvania, this is true for the Pittsburgh and highercoals, to the base of the Permian, but Illinois does nothave any significant coals above the Westphalian. Nonotice is given to the Namurian and Westphalian coals ofthe Central and Southern Appalachians. TheMississippian-Pennsylvanian boundary falls within theNamurian, not the Westphalian, as shown on the chart.Cretaceous through Eocene "Western USA" and EoceneTexas, USA coal" should not be placed in the Oligocene.

Chapters 7 through 9 provide discussions of methods andprocedures, geologic applications, and technologicapplications, respectively. All three chapters offersubstantial treatment of improvements in techniques and

applications since the publication of the third edition ofStach's Textbook, alone ample justification for thepurchase of this book. Considerable changes in theunderstanding of fluorescence of macerals, as just oneexample, have occurred in the past two decades, and theappreciation of the applications of fluorescencemicroscopy appears in several places through the lastthree chapters. Coal carbonization, among the methodsof coal utilization, is given extensive discussion.

As noted at the beginning of the review, this is aworthwhile addition to the library of any organicpetrographer. Indeed, it is a book that will likely seefrequent use as a resource in many researchapplications. -JH

Review by Adrian C. HuttonSchool of GeosciencesUniversity of WollongongWollongong NSW 2522, Australia

This preface states that this new book "OrganicPetrology" is intended for use by all whose work isrelated to coal, source rocks for oil and natural gas andother rocks containing organic matter1 - quite a tall orderindeed. How well is this order met?

The reader immediately notices some dramatic and longawaited improvements over Stach's Textbook of CoalPetrology which it replaces. From the outset, one mustcan be excused for making comparisons between Stachet a/. and Taylor et al., all petrographers, experienced andinexperienced, will see Organic Petrology as areplacement for Stach's textbooks. Gone are the ad hoc,almost painful, addenda which are the major differencesbetween the 2nd and 3rd editions. The inclusion ofappendices, especially the coloured Appendix 1, arebright additions although the Stratigraphic columns are alittle difficult to read. Unless one knows the age of abasin, considerable searching is needed to find it, andunless one is aware of the location of a particular basin,reference has to be made to the text or the index. Insome cases the Stratigraphic column is a little confusingwith general entries mixed with specific entries. Forexample, Fig A1 shows the following entries fromAustralia, youngest to oldest, Officer Basin oil, McArthurBasin oil/gas, Australia, Western Australia, Yilgam Block,Australia and Western Australia. The stratigraphy expert

18

TSOP Neswletter Vol. 16 No.1 March 1999

would probably argue that some of the entries are eitherout of date or incorrect. Despite these deficiencies, whichwill be rectified in later editions, the appendix is awelcome addition.

A major feature of the book is the list of references - 62pages in all. One minor criticisms is that perhaps the liststill has a European flavour but this probably results fromthe inclusion of the majority of, if not all, the referencesfrom the 2nd edition of Stach's Textbook of OrganicPetrology. Any deficiencies are balanced by the numberof entries which will prove to be very useful for youngerresearchers who sometimes do not appreciate thatorganic petrography is a mature and creditable disciplinein the worlds of geology, coal utilisation and exploration.

The first five chapters deal with the nature, descriptionand origin of organic matter. The historical survey inChapter 1 is an important contribution, again especiallyfor younger researchers who sometimes are not given anappreciation of the immense detail and volume of workthat has been published since Mary Stopes introduced theconcept of macerals, those many years ago. This sectionis a significant inclusion if for no other reason than itillustrates that a way foreword in the science of organicpetrography is through the development of newsophisticated equipment. We 'moderns' are notnecessarily more observant nor better researchers thanour predecessors, we have more sophisticatedequipment which goes through the barriers faced by ourpredecessors.. This section could have been improvedwith the addition of photographs of imminent organicpetrographers of the 1980s and 1990s.

Chapters 1 to 3, provide a useful overview of thepreservation of organic matter, environments ofdeposition, coalification and maturation. Many newreferences have been added but a number of importantpublications dealing with peat formation and peatcomposition, especially from the newer generation ofpetrographers, are missing.

Although the book is titled Organic Petrography, thebasics of organic petrography, macerals, minerals,microlithotypes and lithotypes are not introduced untilChapters 4 and 5. These chapters are much easier toread than the corresponding sections in the Stachtextbooks, a welcome improvement for all organicpetrographers, especially those who work in isolation andare without the benefit of fruitful discussions with

colleagues. Inclusion of the 1994 ICCP vitrinitenomenclature is excellent.

Although Organic Petrography recognises thatpetrography is no longer the study of coal', the treatmentof oil shales and petroleum source rocks provides littlemore than an introductory appraisal of organicpetrography applied to these rocks. More color plates areneeded to effectively treat oil shales and source rocksbut this would have added significantly to the cost of thebook. The division of source rocks into lacustrine andmarine is traditional but may possibly lead theinexperienced reader into believing that specific maceralsare found in some source rocks and not in others. Coaland terrestrial organic matter, as a source of petroleumneeds vigorous discussion.

Both source rocks and oil shales deserve a morecomprehensive treatment. It could be argued theydeserve to be the content of another book . If thetreatment given here reflects the interests andbackgrounds of the authors, for this they should not becriticised.

Chapter 6 is a much improved discussion of coals ofvarious ages and other rocks containing organic matter.A very positive contribution is the treatment of coals byage, thus eliminating the need for a separate section onGondwanan coals. It is probably in this section that thebias of many readers will surface. Given the volume ofPermian coal exported from Australia and South Africa,and the fact that many Carboniferous coals areapproaching, or have reached, the realm of historicalimportance only, the allocation of a mere eight pages toSouthern Hemisphere Gondwanan coals is perhaps aninjustice. The reference to changes in flora with someconsideration paleogeography is useful.

Chapters 7 to 9 provide the technical backbone of thebook. These chapters offer a comprehensive treatmentof the methodologies of organic petrography. They dealwith the traditional techniques as well as theimprovements in techniques and applications that havebecome common place in the last 20 years. Thetreatment of fluorescence microscopy and thefluorescence of macerals should not only provide a goodbackground for the inexperienced organic petrographerbut also a mandatory revision for the more matureorganic petrographer. Logically, a wide-ranging

19

TSOP Newsletter Vol: 16 No.1 March 1999

discussion of carbonisation and coke is given and also toother uses of coal.

Organic Petrology is clearly a natural evolution of Stach'sTextbook of Coal Petrology and is an easier-to-read, lessrestricted textbook. Professor Taylor has successfullyassembled and directed his co-authors and contributorsinto producing a book of substance. There aredeficiencies and it is probably true, as the Forewordstates 'it is unlikely that our judgement will pleaseeverybody'. Nonetheless, one would be a very criticalantagonist if this book did not constitute a necessaryaddition to the library of all organic petrographers andcoal scientists. In summary, this book is value for moneyin an age when publishers require considerable returnfrom their investments.

Is "Organic Petrology" a new book or another revision ofStach's Textbook of Coal Petrology? I leave this decisionto the reader. Congratulations to Professor Taylor and histeam for a worthwhile effort. Organic Petrology will be animportant reference for many years.-ACH

Reviewed by Lavern D. StasiukGeological Survey of Canada: CalgaryCalgary, AB, Canada T2L 2A7

I am probably not alone when stating that I have beenanxiously anticipating for several years now, the releaseof the newly revised and renamed edition of Stach'sTextbook of Coal Petrology (1982). We as organicpetrologists have all struggled with not having an up-to-date, 'all encompassing guide book1 to our science on ourshelves, as have eager undergraduate and graduatestudents who are trying to learn the subject. OrganicPetrology (1998), with all of its dated similarities andsignificant modifications to Stach's Textbook of CoalPetrology, will be a welcome and compulsory addition topersonal, laboratory and institute libraries. Despite thefact that I am personally quite impressed with thisvolume, some will find certain aspects somewhatdisappointing.

Organic Petrology (1998) consists of nine chapters withseveral being similar in format and logic to those inStach's Textbook of Coal Petrology (1982), although all

are very well augmented with rewritten and new sectionsof well presented text, new tables, diagrams,photomicrographs and references (for a chapter-by-chapter summary of contents see also reviews of Hower,J.C. and Hutton, A.C., above). The topics covered aremuch more diverse compared with its predecessor,highlighting many new applications. This comparisondemonstrates the substantial progress which has beenmade in the subject over the past 15 years. In myopinion Chapter 7 (Methods and procedures) is one ofthe stellar improvements in this book, with detailed, wellreferenced and diverse coverage of methods andprocedures. An omission of alternative cokeclassifications (e.g. White, 1976; Grint and Marsh, 1981)would be a minor criticism.

Now I do appreciate the enormous task required toassemble and incorporate published literature into such acomprehensive book as Organic Petrology, but thereaders should be aware that many key references, are,unfortunately, not always included in discussion (see alsoreviews of Hower, J.C. and Hutton, A.C., above). Thisappears to be particularly commonplace in sectionsdealing with the application of organic petrology to oil andgas studies. Many of the studies which are not cited areimportant because they commonly present alternativeresults and conclusions. For example where thereflectance of solid bitumen is discussed as a potentialmaturity parameter in chapter 2, only the work of Jacob(1989) is cited as a reference for calculating a vitrinitereflectance equivalent from solid bitumen reflectance;alternative equations such as those of Riediger (1993)and Landis and Castano (1995), are not mentioned.Similarly not all references to work utilizing chitinozoanreflectance as a maturity parameter are included (e.g.Tricker et al., 1992), nor works which indicate that thefluorescence properties of alginites do not alwaysincrease progressively with increasing thermal maturity(fig. 3.40), nor works which conclude that the temperaturerange for the onset of H2S gas generation fromthermochemical sulphate reduction is not 80° C butprobably closer to 140 ° C (e.g. Worden et al., 1995).These are only a few examples.

The quality and coverage of macerals in thephotomicrographs of this book varies from only averageto good. The addition of two new color plates ondispersed organic matter within petroleum source rocks,and new plates of anisotropic cokes are a welcomeaddition. High quality photos of structured liptinitemacerals in fluorescent light within both coal and

20


petroleum source rocks are however, almost completelylacking. I may be biased but it is hard to imagine a text onorganic petrology without a series of high quality colorphotos illustrating the several varieties of vitally importantalginite and acritarch components of petroleum sourcerocks and oil shales. Personally I would have preferred tosee the authors place more emphasis on the all important'visual aspect* of our science at the expense of topicssuch as fuel cells, magnetohydrodynamics, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, methods of gasification &liquefaction, or the color Stratigraphic chart in Appendix 1.

Although I have concentrated on some of the negativeaspects of Organic Petrology, "don't get me wrong", this isan impressive and landmark volume (see other reviews,above). I do highly recommend this book as ageoscience text or reference book, and congratulate andthank the authors. -LDS

ReferencesHower, J. C. and Cardott, B. J., 1998, Generation and Expulsion

Of Petroleum and Gas from Almond Formation Coal Greater GreenRiver Basin, Wyoming: Discussion.

AAPG Bulletin, Vol. 82, No. 11, p. 2135-36Faraj, B. S. M. and Mackinnon, I. D. R., 1993, Micrinlte in Southern

Hemisphere sub-bituminous and bituminousCoals: redefined as fine grained kaolinite. Organic Geochemistry,

vol. 20, No. 6. p. 823-841Grint, A. and Marsh, H., 1981, Carbonization of coal blends mesophase

formation. Fuel, v. 60, p. 1115-1120.Jacob, H.( 1989, Classification, structure, genesis and practical importance

of natural solid bitumen ("migrabitumen"). International Journal CoalGeology, v. 11, p. 65-69.

Landis, C.R. and Castano, J.R., 1995, Maturation and bulk chemicalproperties of a suite of solid hydrocarbons. Organic Geochemistry, v.22,1 p. 37-150.

Riediger, C. L, 1993. Solid bitumen reflectance and Rock-Eval Tmax asmaturation indices: an example from the "Nordegg Member", westernCanada sedimentary basin. International Journal Coal Geology, v. 22,p. 295-315.

Stach, E., Mackowsky, M.-Th., Teichmuller, M., Taylor, G. H. Chandra, D.and Teichmuller, R. 1982. Stach's textbook of coal petrology, thirdedtion. Gebruder Borntraeger, Berlin, 535p.

Tricker, P.M., Marshall, J .EA and Badman, T. D. 1992. Chitinozoanreflectance: a Lower Palaeozoic thermal maturity indicator. Marine andPetroleum Geology, v. 9, p. 302-307.

White, J.L., 1976. Mesophase mechanisms in the formation of themicrostructure of petroleum coke, in M.L.Deviney and T.M. O'Grady.Petroleum-derived carbons American Chemical Society SymposiumSeries, no. 21, p. 282-314

Worden, R.H., Smalley, PC . and Oxtoby, N. H., 1995, Gas souring bythermochemical sulphate reduction at 140 °C. AAPG Bulletin, v. 79, p.854-863.

TSOP Research CommitteeProgress Report: ICCP &

TSOP Join Forces On KerogenClassification

By Adrian Hutton, Jack Burgess, Lavem Stasiuk,Brian Cardott, and Carolyn Thompson-Rizer

This work is in progress, please send yourcomments to Adrian Hutton (email:[email protected]). We want your input,reviews, ideas, and we want others to join us in theattempt to standardize kerogen classification.

The traditional TSOP Research CommitteeDiscussion was scheduled at the end of the JohnCastano Memorial Symposiums at the annualmeeting in Halifax in July. The topic followed fromthe 1997 Research Committee Discussion topic ledby Brian Cardott on the role of TSOP in visualkerogen standardization" [see TSOP websiteDiscussion Forum for details http://www.tsop.org].Jack Burgess helped reactivate the TSOPsubcommittee on source rock dispersed organicmatter [see Dec. 1997 TSOP Newsletter]. Jackattended the ICCP meeting in Wellington in October1997 and helped establish the cooperative workbetween ICCP and TSOP on creating astandardized classification of dispersed organicmatter. Adrian Hutton, Lavem Stasiuk, Jack Burgess, and Brian Cardott are the principal workingmembers. Wolfgang Kalkreuth and CarolynThompson-Rizer, chairpersons of the respectiveICCP and TSOP committees, facilitated theformation of the joint working group.

Previous ICCP WorkOver the past decade the ICCP has set up a numberof working parties that extend beyond the traditionalboundaries of coal petrography; example includethermal indices, environmental applications and theclassification of dispersed organic matter (CDOM).The mandate of the latter working party overlaps,considerably, the mandate of the TSOP groupinvestigating the classification of dispersed organicmatter.

The ICCP CDOM working party was initially underthe chair of Joe Senftle but then Joe relinquished the

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TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16, No. 1 March 1999

chair to Jack Castano. During these early periods, adraft of a manuscript entitled "Sedimentary OrganicMatter Working Classification was producedfollowing submissions from several members.Samples, including Pictou and Chattanoogasamples, were circulated and used in round robins in1993, 1994 and 1995. In this exercise the followingclassification was used:

Structured

Organic —

Matter

Vitrinite

- Inertinite

Liptinite

Unstructur

Organic

Matter

Sporinite

Cutinite

Resinite

Alginite

Suberinite

-Zooclasts

Migrabitumen

- Amorphus Organic Matter

Bitumite

In the round robins, both organic petrography andchemical techniques were used. Jack Castanoproduced a final report dated August 1994 andincluded a set of tables which show 9 labs undertookthe exercises, although not all labs used eachtechnique.

Following the death of Jack Castano, the CDOMworking party lapsed until the ICCP meeting inWellington, New Zealand where Jack Burgess andWolfgang Kalkreuth produced a 6-point paperentitled "Problems and future directions of theIsolation of Organic Matter Working Group". Themain points included the need to includephotographs in future round robins, quantification ofmacerals has yet to solved, vitrinite corrections mayhave to be applied to the Pictou sample and futureround robins will need to find another lab forpreparation of samples.

Concurrent with or part of the working party, aneditorial group had a rough manuscript with thefollowing chapters:1. General description of occurrence and types oforganic matter in sedimentary rocks2. Chapter on vitrinite and inertinite (A. Gomez)3. Chapter on liptinite, amorphous and other organicmatter (W. Pickel/ I. Suarez-Ruiz)4. Chapter on vitrinite reflectance (W. Kalkreuth)5. Chapter on fluorescence (I. Suarez-Ruiz)6. Chapter on sampling procedures and samplepreparation (M. Reinhardt)7. Comprehensive reference list on DOM plates (B.Cardott / W. Kalkreuth)Missing was a chapter on classification.

Jack Burgess, Lavern Stasiuk and Adrian Huttonwere elected co-chairs. The three chairs expressed adesire to seek closer ties with TSOP. This seemedlogical given that the two bodies were covering muchthe same work and many of the members were inboth organisations.

The main aim of the Chairs at the ICCP meeting inPorto, Portugal in October 1998, will be:1. to present the same equivalence table aspresented at Halifax2. to devise a timetable that is compatible with theTSOP timetable3. discuss the Atlas of DOMTwo hours has been allocated for discussion.

The Role of TSOPFollowing consultation between Adrian, Jack,Carolyn and Lavem a large table, loosely termed atable of equivalence, for lack of a better term waspresented at the TSOP meeting in Halifax. Livelydiscussion immediately ensued. TSOP membersstated that observed morphologies are of moreimportance than genesis, and that ultimately theatlas or a catalog or CD ROM with photographicdocumentation of this work is desired. The use ofpolished thin section was also mentioned to helpunderstand the relationships among isolated organicmaterials (Art Cohen has a source for about $10 perslide). It was decided to produce an abridged versionof the table for circulation to those members ofTSOP interested in contributing. A draft version ofthe table will be published in the next TSOP

22


Newsletter. The current list of members, andapologies for any one whose name is missing (thefinal minutes of the TSOP meeting were rushedbecause we did not want to miss the lobster dinner)is:

Cole RobisonWally DowMaria MastalerzRenee LaGrangeJohn CrellingMartin ReinhardtTang Yuegang (stated the need for 6 majorcategories including bituminous groundmass)Mary Ann MalinconicoMukiWolfgang KalkreuthGary Mitchell

Other TSOP members are welcome to, and can join,by contacting us.

Additional comments from Brian Cardott:

Inertodetrinite was missing from the inertinite list. Irecommend that fluorinite be included with the list of"coal" liptinite macerals (cutinite, resinite, suberinite)since fluorinite is a primary maceral and is asstructured as resinite (e.g., fluorinite should not beincluded as unstructured organic matter). Based onthis proposed classification, does this mean then thatthe kerogen classification will be divided into severalclassifications depending on the sample type andoptical mode? How is this project different from whathas been attempted in the past? What are theprimary problems, and how will they be addressed?Do we plan to use coal maceral terms combined with"kerogen" terms. There will be an emphasis onstrewn slide mounts and possibly polished thinsections. Will there be one classification, no matterwhich sample preparation type is used? [The ICCPSOM classification several years ago had twoclassifications, one for whole rock and one for strewnslide mounts. This is the approach that Teichmullerwanted. Furthermore, Teichmuller did not want touse maceral terms for dispersed organic matter]Maybe an initial step is to identify all of the potentialproblems, and what we can and cannot agree on.

Then we can resolve our differences, withcompromise.

Additional comments from Lavern Stasiuk:

1. Introduction:

Brian Cardott's comment is very fitting and reallyreinforces the need to FULLY accomplish our task athand, that is to propose, and then publish a DOMclassification. I would like to remind our group andothers that the final version of the classification willdefinitely not be perfect, and some aspects will besubject to future debate as well as futuremodifications. To achieve our ultimate objective wemust ensure the process is not derailed because ofdogma or objection to the elimination and/ormodification of 'entrenched terms* (e.g. replacingbituminite with amorphinite). Overall, even at thisrelatively early stage, I feel that the classificationthus far proposed is practical and versatile for usewith polished whole rock samples examined underincident light. As a further endorsement, theproposed classification for incident light microscopyis essentially what has been successfully used tocharacterize organic-rich Phanerozoic rocks frombasins all over the world by several organicpetrologists (e.g. F. Goodarzi, A. R. Cameron, T.Gentzis, L. D. Stasiuk, C.L. Riediger, J. Potter, M.Tomica, M. Obermajer, A. Beaton, D. Kirste, D.Marchioni) wording at the Geological Survey ofCanada's lab facilities in Calgary over the past 15years.

2. Incident light microscopy of DOM in polishedwhole rocks versus transmitted microscopy ofstrew mounts

Further to Brian Cardott's comments and previouscomments by Carolyn Thompson-Rizer "why mustthe emphasis be on strew slides and when was thisconclusion reached? " I feel that the emphasisshould actually be placed on the incident lightcomponent of the classification. In my opinion theincident light approach to DOM characterization issuperior and more effective given that the whole rocksamples are property prepared with randomorientations of macerals represented by crushedrock particulates, and parallel and perpendicular to

23

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16, No. 1 March 1999

bedding views of macerals represented by orientedsections. Many would of course argue this point, butif one considers the future of DOM microscopy mybias may attract more supporters; bear with thefollowing argument.Incident light microscopic studies of DOM in the verynear future will routinely incorporate a least one newtechnique: confocal laser scanning microscopy (andpossibly deconvolution of digital images andsubsequent modeling to produce 3D imagesobtained from conventional incident lightmicroscopy). The former method is for examplecurrently being used at the Geological Survey ofCanada for detection of 'biological' features influorescing amorphinite macerals (Stasiuk et alposter at TSOP Halifax, 1998). The exciting part ofthis method is that the hardware required will befitted to the incident light microscopes such as thosewe all use today. And, within a few years, superb 3Dimages of liptinite macerals embedded in rock matrixcould be a reality (e.g. x-y-z resolution of about 0.1mm) enabling in sltu 'speciation of macerals' such assporinites (or microfossils). This would beaccomplished without any destructive treatment ofthe host rock (e.g. acid digestion). In addition laser'etching' of macerals and laser alteration properties ofmacerals will enhance characterization andidentification (e.g. to discriminate between truevitrinite and DOM which simply has vitrinite-likeoptical properties). Thus, for future purposes, I feelwe should emphasize the reflected light aspect (or atleast treat both strew mount and polished blockmethods with equal importance). The argument thatthese are/will be highly specialized systems with onlya select few labs having such capabilities does nothold.

3. bitumen versus exsudatinite; amorphiniteversus bituminite; secondary bitumen versusprimary bitumen

I prefer bitumen over exsudatinite because evenwithout a written standardized definition in hand, onecan extract the gist of the term bitumen (e.g. latinroots); exsudatinite is an example of a poor scientificterm with no linguistic root basis. A similar argumentcan be put forward when having to choose betweenbituminite and amorphinite. In this case, bituminite isthe 'bad term', because the root of bituminite clearlyimplies a relationship to bitumen (perhaps even to

bituminization which would imply a coalificationprocess), which genetically is clearly not the case. Byusing amorphinite, even without prior exposure to theterm or it's definition, one is still able to generallyinfer it's meaning, or at least correctly speculate as towhat the term may mean.

The definitions taken from the literature for bitumen,amorphinite and exsudatinite, at least for me, aretotally inadequate from a petrographic and DOMclassification perspective. Since optical propertiesand morphology are the basis for characterizationand classification, an organic petrologist would notbe able to recognize bitumen in a sample followingthese definitions; we must follow the example of theICCP handbooks in this respect. New definitions mayhave to be included in appendices of theclassification document along with definitions forthose macerals whose previous definitions weconclude are inadequate.

4. primary and secondary bitumen

P. K. Mukhopadhyay's suggestion (Halifax TSOPResearch Committee Meeting) of splitting bitumeninto primary and secondary is good, and, in somecases where detailed studies of maceral changesand solid bitumen transformations are possible, alsopractical. However, since making the distinctionbetween these two bitumen types (i.e. primaryversus secondary) requires extensive detailedstudies and interpretation of a source rock withconsistent organic facies from the immature toovermature stage of maturity, this breakdown maysimply not be suited for the classification. Currentlyour lab uses a bitumen classification scheme whichis similar to what Muki has proposed. For those whoare interested or vaguely care, the followingsummarizes the logic we employ at the GCS lab:

(i) a primary bitumen is used to define the initialsemi-solid to solid bitumen formed within a sourcerock, prior to the formation of any crude oil. Wefurther sub-divide primary bitumens into sub-macerals of bitumens depending on the sourcemaceral from which it was derived (e.g. bitumenfrom an amorphinite precursor, bitumen from asporinite precursor; etc.). At any given level ofthermal maturity, especially in the immature tomature zone, the optical properties of the primary

24


bitumens can vary markedly because not all of theprimary bitumens are derived from the same sourcemacerals. For example, at a vitrinite reflectance of0.60 %Ro a primary bitumen derived from a sporinitehas a different reflectance than a primary bitumenderived from a fluorescing amorphinite. Todiscriminate between primary bitumens at this levelcan be an arduous task; the petrologist must trackthe formation of primary bitumens, their inter-sourcerock migration and 'mixing' products, and theiroptical and morphological change from the immaturestage to the overmature stage of thermal maturity fora source rock of consistent organic fades.

(ii) a secondary bitumen can be produced in severalways and occurs in source, carrier bed, and reservoirrocks. It can be produced during thermaldisproportionate of pre-existing primary bitumenswithin a source rock system, or from thermaldisproportionate of a pre-existing liquid oil phase(either to a lighter oil or a gas; the latertransformation commonly produces pyrobitumens)within source rocks, carrier beds or reservoir rocks.Secondary bitumens may also be produced duringnon-thermal 'fractionation processes' (e.g. migrationof oils; gas charge, water washing, bidegradation)which alter a pre-existing crude oil (or bitumen).

Atlas of Coal Geology

1st ALL DIGITAL CD ROM AAPG Publication!

Sponsored and produced by:

The Society for Organic Petrology

andEnergy Minerals Division - AAPG

See enclosed order form for additional information

The Gupta Affair - No End In Sightby James Pontolillo

In a previous issue of the TSOP Newsletter, Ireviewed the serious charges of scientificmisconduct made against Dr. Vishwa Jit Gupta,a senior scientist at the Centre for AdvancedStudy in Geology, Panjab University ofChandigarh, India (Pontolillo, 1995). Over thecourse of a six-year period, investigations by 24fellow researchers demonstrated that his entirecareer, from his M.Sc. thesis work forward, hadbeen built on fraudulent data. Gupta was shownto have plagiarized illustrations and text, stolenspecimens for use in spurious reports, recycledthe same specimens in later reports forgeographically widely-separated localities, givenfictitious localities for alleged finds, and providedspurious fossil lists for localities he never visited.He also asserted that identifications had beenconfirmed by leading authorities who denyhaving seen the materials in question, madeother researchers co-authors/co-editors ofpublications without seeking their approval, andgreatly increased his apparent output by havinghimself listed as co-author on publications towhich he made no significant contribution(Talent, 1995). The damage done by Gupta isunparalleled in the history of science: 455publications (including 5 books) involving 128apparently unwitting co-authors have buriedHimalayan biostratigraphy under an avalancheof disinformation. The primary investigators ofhis work concluded that the Himalayan databasewas "so extensively marred by error,inconsistency and implausibility as to throwgrave doubts on the scientific validity of anyconclusions that might be drawn from it." (Talentet al., 1989). The aim of this article is to bringreaders the latest developments in this sordidaffair and to provide an updated bibliography ofthe pertinent literature.

Further investigations by Indian authoritiesrevealed that Gupta performed virtually none ofthe fieldwork or associated research that heclaimed as the basis for his data andpublications. Additionally, all evidence indicatesthat his presence at some 70 internationalscientific congresses was purely a ruse. Guptawas typically only briefly seen at registration and

25


at those sessions where he was scheduled togive a presentation. He spent most of his timeaway from the meetings pursuing lucrativeprivate business ventures: selling Kashmiricarpets and arranging deals with Indian clothmerchants. Gupta is estimated to have earnedseveral million dollars from these trips that werefunded by double- and triple-dipping from abroad spectrum of Indian and foreign agencies.Another impact of his overseas trips to scientificconferences was to effectively deprive upwardsof 200 other Indian scientists of the chance forinternational exposure and experience.Regrettably, no in-depth study has beenundertaken by University authorities todetermine exactly what happened to theextensive funding that Gupta received from theUniversity's Grants Commission, the WadiaInstitute of Himalayan Geology, PanjabUniversity, and the Indian National ScienceAcademy.

Despite numerous scientific papers detailing hismisconduct (see References) and a 151-pagereport prepared by Enquiry Officer M.S. Gujral(former Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court)finding Gupta guilty of all charges, the AcademicSenate of Punjab University essentiallyexonerated him on September 24, 1994. Of 55members present at a special disciplinarysession convened against Gupta, only 5 votedfor his dismissal. The remainder, most of whomwere Gupta cronies caring little for the extensivedamage already done to the university'sreputation, let him survive with only mildsanctions. Gupta was allowed to retain his Ph.D.and D.Sc. degrees and to continue supervisinggraduate students. He also retained his chair ashead of the Geology Department. As the solepunishment he was banned from holdingadministrative positions in the university. Prior tobeing exposed as a charlatan, Gupta had beennext in line to become Panjab's Vice-Chancellor,the top executive position at one of the largestuniversities in the world (~ 80,000 students).

Indian newspapers, without exception,expressed indignation and disgust over theUniversity Senate's insulting decision. Followingboth this national outrage and numerousinternational protests concerning the university'sinexplicable leniency in the Gupta affair, K.R.

Narayanan (India's vice-president andchancellor of the university) called a specialmeeting of the Academic Senate for March 17,1996. Fearing dismissal, Gupta voluntarilyretired from the university on March 1st andcalled on the Academic Senate to cancel itsmeeting. When it became clear, however, thatthe special session was going ahead asoriginally planned, he withdrew his resignation.The university ignored this retraction and Guptathen appealed to the Punjab and Haryana Courtfor protection. The court subsequently orderedPanjab University to restore Gupta to hisposition and to restrain from punishing himfurther. It now appears that any future attemptsby authorities to remove Gupta will have to beresolved through the Indian legal system.

Since 1989 Gupta's publications have primarilybeen rambling, ill-advised attempts to divertattention from his critic's accusations, althoughhe did have a manuscript published in Iran(Gupta, 1991). While he no longer receivesfunding to attend international conferences,Gupta has reconsolidated his power at PanjabUniversity in the last two years. The GeologyDepartment and the Academic Senate arepacked with his supporters and nominally underhis control. Gupta continues to maliciouslyinterfere with the careers of those in Chandigarhwho tried to have him removed for misconduct.In fact, at last notice Panjab University had setup a special committee to investigate thosemembers of the Geology Department whosupported the charges against him. The IndianSociety for Scientific Values has petitioned theuniversity to cease harassing these scientists.Some consolation can be taken, perhaps, fromthe fact that it is very doubtful that Gupta'spower will ever extend beyond Panjab Universityto the Indian Academy of Science and othernational bodies as it did in the 1970s and 1980s.

The extensive list of references cited for this article,91 in all, are available to anyone by request. Pleasecontact us with your fax number or address and wewould be glad to send them to you.William Huggett, Department of Geology, SouthernIllinois University, Carbondale Illinois, 62901 USA.Phone: (618) 453-7381Fax (618) 453-7393Email:[email protected]

26


Calendar of Events

1999

March 21 - 24 : 58th Ironmaking Conference, Chicago, IL. For information contact ISS Headquarters at(412)-776-1535 [ext. 618] or visit http://issource.org/.

April 11-14: AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas. For further informationcontact the AAPG Convention Department at 918-560-2679

Fall: International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrography, Bucharest, Romania.

August 22-26: American chemical Society National Fall Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana

September: Sixteenth Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrology, Salt Lake City, Utah. Forfurther information, contact either Jeff Quick (801-585-7851 [phone], 801-585-7873 [fax], [email protected])or Dave Wavrek (801-585-7907 [phone], 801-585-7873 [fax], [email protected]).

September 12 -15 : AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Birmingham, England. For info,contact the AAPG Conventions Department at (918)-584-2555.

October 18 - 20: Third International Ash Utilization Symposium, Lexington, KY. For more information,contact Jim Hower at (606)-257-0261 [phone] / (606)-257-0302 [fax] or contact the web site address athttp://www.flyash.org

October 25 - 28 : Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Denver, Colorado. For additionalinformation, contact GSA at (303)-447-2020 [phone] or (303)-447-6028 [fax].

2000

March 26 - 29 : 59th Ironmaking Conference, Pittsburgh, PA. For more information contact ISSHeadquarters at (412)-776-1535 [ext. 618] or visit http://issource.org/.

March 26-31: American Chemical Society Annual Spring Meeting, San Franscico, California

April 16-19: AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisiana. For more informationcontact the AAPG Convention Department at 918 560-2679

August 6 -11: Eleventh International Peat Congress - "Sustaining the World's Peatlands", Quebec City,Quebec, Canada.

August 20-24: American Chemical Society Annual Fall Meeting, Washington DC.

November 13-16: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Reno, Nevada. For furtherinformation, contact GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028.

27


2001

April 1-5 American Chemical Society Annual Spring Meeting, San Diego, California

March 25 - 28 : 60th Ironmaking Conference, Baltimore, MD. For more information contact ISSHeadquarters at (412)-776-1535 [ext. 618] or visit http://issource.org/.August 26-30: American Chemical Society Annual Fall Meeting, Chicago, Illinois

November 5-8: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Boston Massachusetts. For furtherinformation contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028

2003November 2-5: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Seattle, Washington. For furtherinformation contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028

This list is compiled from various Internet sources as well as information submitted byindividuals. Accuracy of information cannot be guaranteed. All submissions are welcomedPlease notify the editor of any errors, changes, submissions, or deletions.

TSOP 1998 Annual Meeting

SponsorsThe Society would like to express our appreciation and also acknowledge the support of the following individuals and theircompanies who sponsored the 1998 annual meeting. These contributions were key elements in making the meeting atechnical success and an outstanding scientific experience.

•M. F. Dashwood, Gulf Canada Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, Canada

•P. N. Erwin, Texaco Exploration, Bellaire, Texas, USA

•Doug Gardner, Petro-Canada, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

•John Hogg, PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, Canada

•James Mahar, Manager, Micro Division, Zeiss Canada Ltd., Ontario Canada

•Don Rae, Mobile Oil Canada, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

•R. K. Sawyer, Texaco Exploration, Bellaire, Texas, USA

28


TSOP-1998 Halifax, Nova Scotia, CanadaNotes from the 15th TSOP Annual Meeting in Halifax, Nova Scotia: a personal review

J0rgen A. Bojesen-Koefoed, Henrik I. Petersen & Erik ThomsenGeological Survey of Denmark and Greenland

After the final lobster supper in Parrsboro, whichconcluded the scientific part of the field trip thatfollowed the 15th TSOP annual meeting, the editor ofthis publication, Mr. William Andrews of the KentuckyGeological Survey solicited a "personal review" of themeeting and field trip from the "Danes."

For several reasons, this is not necessarily an easytask. First, selecting what to mention and what toleave untouched is a problem, since the spaceavailable will by no means permit inclusion of alldeserving matters. Second, finding the proper balancebetween the "review" aspects and the "personal"aspects is difficult. However, since the "review"aspects (in a scientific sense) are well covered by theabstract volume and the excellent field guide, we havechosen to focus on the "personal" aspects.

The Prince George Hotel, which probably owes itsname to the fact that it is situated between GeorgeStreet and Prince Street, was well chosen as thepreferred placeto stay during the meeting. The Hotel is in directcommunication with the meeting venue, the WorldTrade and Congress Centre (WTCC), through apedwalk, is situated in the middle of Halifax, andoffers an excellent harbour view from many of therooms. Hence, after 21 hours of travelling, it was apleasure to check in and relax, knowing that the nextmorning you had to move only a few 100's of metresto reach the meeting venue.

The meeting started on Sunday, when Ian Kaplan leda short course on "forensic geochemistry". Aninteresting subject, demonstrating the wideapplicability of geochemical techniques. After lunch,this was followed by a another short course on apatitefission tracks, led by Marcos Zentilli. However, beingexhausted after a long journey, none of the Danishcontingent were in a fit state to participate in the lattercourse

The "icebreaker" party took place on Sunday eveningin the Highland Lounge of the WTCC, and co-chairJohn Calder added a gaelic flavour to the meeting by

appearing in kilt and bonnet, accompanied by agenuine piper, who played a number of "highlandclassics". Later, Michael Kruge entertained on"geochemical guitar" while people enjoyed their drinksand snacks.

On Monday morning, the meeting proper started witha "speakers breakfast", and the number of attendeesserved to demonstrate how many people actually wereto contribute to the meeting. The morning session wason "environmental implications of fossil fuel use -geochemical and petrological perspectives" withcontributions by P. K. Mukopadhyay (Muki), IanKaplan, Jim Hower, Hal Gluskoter, Mike Lewis andBob Finkelman. After the coffee break, presentationscontinued with slightly changed foci, emphasizingmore technical and applied aspects of coalpetrography. This part of the session includedpresentations by D. Taulbee, G. Friedman, J. Crellingand P. Hacquebard, whereas a scheduledpresentation by P. Hatcher was cancelled due tounforeseen circumstances.

Lunch was served during the TSOP general bodymeeting, and awards were presented to Alex Cameron(Hacquebard award), and Claus Diessel, for theiroutstanding contributions to our science. At an event,which had been kept secret to the convener, Muki waspresented with a special award by John Calder onbehalf of the Nova Scotia local government toacknowledge his efforts to "put Halifax on the map".

The first part of the afternoon session was dedicatedto "New innovations in coal microscopy andpetrology/geochemistry of coal and coke", andfeatured contributions by Alex Cameron, YunxingCao, David Bensley and Art Cohen. After the coffeebreak, a parallel session on "Eastern Canadian basinswith implications for hydrocarbon resources" featuredcontributions by Dave Brown, John Calder, PaulHarvey, Al Grant, Bob Ryan, Tom Martel and P. K.Mukhopadhyay. Concurrently, the general sessioncontinued with contributions by Tim Moore, MariaMastalerz, Deborah Skilliter, William Andrews andTherese Videm Buø.

29


Tuesday was dedicated to the "John CastanoMemorial Symposium", with sessions on "organicpetrology/geochemistry and petroleum system - worldbasin perspectives" and on "organicpetrology/geochemistry and petroleum system: role ofcoal - world basin perspectives". The symposium wasopened by Loretta Castano, who gave a shortintroduction, dedicated to the memory of ourdeceased friend and colleague John Castano.Afterwards, Wally Dow talked of his long-lastingfriendship with John, and showed a video of John atDGSI. Later followed contributions by ElisabethKosters, H. B. Lo, Charlie Barker, Nick Wilson, MikeKruge, Vern Stasiuk and N. Tsuzuki. After the morningsession, it was time for the group photo to be taken.After lunch the John Castano Memorial Symposiumcontinued with contributions by David Mossman, MarkObermaier, Jørgen Bojesen-Koefoed, MartinReinhardt, Cindy Riediger, MaryAnn Malinconico,Adrian Hutton, Charlie Landis, Henrik I. Petersen,Claus Diessel, Wolfgang Kalkreuth and YuegangTang.

In the evening a Lobster dinner was held at Murphy'son the Water Restaurant. After dinner, a refreshingharbour cruise followed, offering an opportunity toenjoy Halifax by night at a distance, while listening tothe soft tones of Mike Kruge playing his geochemicalguitar.

The field trip, lead by John Calder, assisted by MartinGibling, Bob Ryan, Muki, Bob Boehner, and DeborahSkilliter, started on Wednesday morning, with pick-upat the Prince George Hotel. After a pleasant rideacross Nova Scotia, the first stop at the Falls BrookQuarry was reached. Here, Bob Ryan demonstratedthe Horton Group clastics unconformably overlying theMeguma Group metasediments. Second stop was atthe Horton Bluffs exposures, which after lunch weredemonstrated by Martin Gibling. Third stop was at theexposures of the Windsor Group evaporites atCheverie, where Bob Boehner offered his guidance,assisted by Muki, who covered the source rockaspects. The first day of the field trip ended at theWandlyn Inn in Amherst, where we took our quarters,quite exhausted after a long day enjoying the beautifullandscape and geology of Nova Scotia, and after alate after-dinner wrap-up of the day by John Calder.The second day of the field trip was dedicated to thestudy of the famous Joggins outcrops, including the

classic exposures studied by Sir Charles Lyell and SirWilliam Dawson more than a century ago. On the wayto the exposures we passed the home of Sir CharlesLyell's successor at the Joggins exposures and leaderof our field trip, John Calder - did anyone else note asuperficial resemblance to Sir Charles Lyell - inparticular with respect to the style of whiskers andspectacles?

After a short ride we arrived at the Joggins section,which indeed offered a plethora of interesting andmemorable sights, including petrified lycopsid-treestumps, tetrapod-ichnofossils, traces of carboniferoushorseshoe-crabs fornicating, and our Australiancolleague Adrian Hutton wearing a bright yellow hard-hat on top of his bush-hat. Various portions of thesection were commented upon by John Calder, MartinGibling, Muki, and Deborah Skilliter. Furthermore, Mr.Brian Hebert of Lower Cove and Mr. Donald Reid ofthe Joggins Fossil Centre joined us, and put theirexpertise at our disposal.The afternoon offered visits to the Joggins FossilCentre, where an impressive collection of fossils fromthe Joggins outcrops are displayed, and to the FundyGeological Museum.

Thus ended a most enjoyable and rewarding field trip,and we would like to extend our special thanks to JohnCalder, and to all the people who assisted him inmaking the field trip successful. A person whodeserves special acknowledgment is our cheerfuldriver Don, who with the greatest dexteritymaneuvered his coach on 4-lane highways as well ason dirt roads that sometimes appeared more suitablefor furry animals than for wheeled vehicles.Courteously honking and waving at a careful selectionof the females encountered on the way, he brought ussafe and secure from outcrop to outcrop.In conclusion, both the meeting and the subsequentfield trip were very successful. We are sure that thewell over one hundred participants from about a dozendifferent countries all had a tremendous experience tolook back upon. Many people have contributed to thesuccess of the meeting, but we feel that special thanksare due the organizing committee consisting of Muki,John Calder, Mike Avery, and Fari Goodarzi.

30

THE SOCIETY FOR ORGANIC PETROLOGYInstructions:1) Print out form and provide necessary information2) Check box, or sign, at bottom of form3) Mail to: Cortland Eble, TSOP Membership Chair

Kentucky Geological Survey, 228 MMRBUniversity of Kentucky, Lexington KY 40506

MembershipApplication Form

Please Print

Questions?606/257-5500

phone606/257-1147

[email protected]

NameLast First Ml

Address

City State/Province Zip Code Country

Business or Day Telephone Number Fax Number

E-mail Address

Educationdegree year institution major subject

Principalactivitiesandinterests

Coal PetrologyOrganic GeochemistryKerogen PetrologyOther (please describe)

Professionalexperience andinterests relativeto organic petrology

Names and addressesof two people who arefamiliar with yourinterests/activities inorganic petrology

Membership categoryyou are applying for

full member ($20.00 US. $30 00 CN)

student rate ($15.00 US. $23 00 CN)

institutional member ($75 00 US)

Payment must be in US or Canadian

dollars, drawn from a US or Canadian

bank. TSOP assumes no

responsibility for cash lost in mail.

I am familiar with the objectives of the Society, and agree to

adhere to, and abide by, TSOP constitution and bylaws

ll agree/accept (please check box)

For TSOP Use OnlyDues Paid Cash

Check #Received by:Date:

signature

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16, No 1 March 1999

Editors' Choice Photomicrograph: View of typical needle coke (delayed coke)derived from a petroleum feedstock. The parallel layers and linear fractures are distinctiveand provide slip planes to relieve stress in the coke. This photomicrograph was takenwith under vertical illumination with a 50x oil objective with the polarizer, analyzer, andretarder plate in the optical path. The width of the field (left to right) is 275 microns.[Photomicrograph courtesy of Ralph J. Gray]

Call for photomicrographs: The editors welcome contributions of photomicrographs oforganic geological materials for future issues of the newsletter. At this time the photo-micrographs should be of high contrast suitable for digitized reproduction


NEWSLETTERVol. 16, No. 2 June 1999 ISSN-0743-3816

TSOP - Snowbird, Utah16th Annual Meeting of TSOP at The Cliff Lodge, Snowbird Conference Center,

Snowbird Utah - September 26-30, 1999

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 2 June 1999

The TSOP Newsletter

John C. Crelling/William W. HuggettCo-editors



Southern Illinois University

Carbondale Illinois 62901-4324 USA

Phone: (618)453-3351

Fax:(618)453-7393

E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]






Fax:(606)257-1147e-mail: [email protected] edu


WEBSITE!

www.tsop.orgYou'll find the TSOP discussion forum,links to other related sites, schedules,

dates, meeting updates, and tons of otheruseful information!



The collection contains all of thesociety's newsletters, publications,programs, field guides, shortcoursenotes, Research Committee reports,


Photocopies of desired materials will beprovided at a cost immediately upon

approval of your request form. Sorry, butno copies of publications which arecurrently for sale by TSOP can be






Got Coal? Check us out : www.tsop.org

2


The 1998-99

President

Vice President

President Elect

Secretary/Treasurer

Editors

Councilor (1997-99)

Councilor(1998-00)

TSOP Council

Charles Barker

Tim A. Moore

Cole R. Robison

Peter Warwick

John C. Crelling

William W. Huggett

Maria Mastalerz



A limited number of recent back issues of the TSOPNewsletter are available for members to take toconferences they are going to attend. Membershippacks and application forms are also available fordistribution to interested parties. TSOP is an all-volunteer organization that relies on an active growingmembership base in order to remain healthy. Onlythrough the efforts of all of its members can TSOPcontinue to meet its membership goals. If you areinterested in promoting TSOP and need somehandouts please contact the following individuals:

For Newsletters

John C. Crelling or William Huggett

Phone:(618)453-3351

Fax: (618) 453-7393


For Information Packs:

Cortland F. Eble

Phone: (606) 257-5500

Fax: (606) 257-1147

eble@kgs. mm. uky. edu

TSOP Mugs for sale!

Help support TSOP activities and get an elegant,sporty and downright nifty genuine LouisvilleStoneware mug for your coffee, tea or hotchocolate. At only $10 these mugs are a terrificbuy, and they make wonderful gifts too. Be sure tobuy several, mugs get lonely too. To order pleasecontact:

Jim Hower

CAER

3572 Iron Works Pike

Lexington KY 40511

Phone: (606) 257-0261

Fax: (606) 257-0302


"I was once pulled over by a state police officerfor speeding. He started to write me a ticket butthen noticed my TSOP coffee mug sitting on thedash board. He promptly tore up the ticket and

told me to have a nice day!"

AcknowledgmentThe editors wish to acknowledge thesupport of John Mead, Director of the

Coal Research Center at SIUC, and hisstaff for assistance in editing and printing

this newsletter.

=>Attention<=Deadline for September issue is

AUGUST 1

3


June Contents

Cover Story 1Newsletter business, masthead, website info, archives info 2TSOP Council 3Future meeting schedule 4TSOP 16th Annual meeting schedule and information 5William Spackman appointed founding editor, International Journal of Coal geology 12Report on the 58th Annual Ironmaking Conference 13Becker, Chrysalis Award Recipients, Availability of Reflectance Standards 14TSOP Publications currently available 16Calendar of Events 17TSOP Membership Application 19Editor's Choice photomicrograph 20

The Society For Organic Petrology and Related Future Meeting Schedule

Year

19992000200020012001200120022003

Meeting type

AnnualAnnualJoint AAPG/IPAAnnualSession @ ICCPSession in NZJoint CSCOPAnnual

Location

Snowbird, UtahBloomington, INBaliHouston, TXCopenhagenChristchurchAlbertaReston

Organizer

J. QuickM. MastalerzKatzC.RobisonC. BarkerT. MooreJ. PotterP. Warwick

Status

DefiniteDefiniteDefiniteDefiniteIndefiniteIndefiniteDefiniteDefinite

4


TSOP '99The Society for Organic Petrology

16th Annual Meeting, September 26-30, 1999The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird Conference Center, Snowbird Utah

AN INVITATION

On behalf of the TSOP '99 organizing committee please accept my invitation to join us forthe 16th annual TSOP meeting. Consider attending the pre-meeting short course where Dr. RichardTyson will present new perspectives on the inter-relationships between particulate sedimentaryorganic matter, depositional environments, and source rock potential. As always, the technicalsessions will keep you informed of the latest developments in organic petrology. Sign-up for thepost-meeting field trip and visit the Utah bitumen industry as well as exceptionally well exposed andscenic coal measures in Central Utah. Besides the short course, technical sessions, and post-meetingfield-trip, perhaps the best part of a TSOP meeting is the chance to renew friendships and make newacquaintances with colleagues who share a common passion for organic matter in rocks. I lookforward to seeing you all in Utah!

-Jeff Quick

MEETING INFORMATION

Pre-meeting Short CourseSunday, 26 September 1999

The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird Conference Center

(preregister by August 23)

Palynofacies and Organic Facies: New Approaches for the Millennium

Instructor: Dr Richard Tyson

A full-day short course in seminar format will be illustrated with data from studies undertaken atthe University of Newcastle, UK (lunch, refreshments, and notes provided).

5


Topics to be covered:

Kerogen classification in transmitted lightPalynofacies methodologyThe proximal-distal conceptSedimentology of microscopic phytoclastsFluorescence scaleOrganic faciesCorrelation with sequence stratigraphy

Course suitability: Palynologists, organic petrologists, organic geochemists, and sedimentologistsinterested in new perspectives on the inter-relationships between particulate sedimentary organicmatter, depositional environments, and source rock potential.

Conference Technical SessionsMonday, 27 September & Tuesday, 28 SeptemberThe Cliff Lodge at Snowbird Conference Center

New Item ! FAMM Demonstration

Neil Sherwood and Joseph Kurusingal (CSRIO, Australia) plan to bring the latest version of theirFAMM (Fluorescence Alteration of Multiple Macerals) Microprobe for demonstration during ourtechnical sessions. If you have ever wondered what FAMM is all about - this is your chance tosee it in action and talk to the experts!

Preliminary List of Research Presentations

The effects of surface area, grain size and mineralogy in organic matter sedimentation andpreservation across the modern Squamish Delta, British Columbia. Adams R., and Bustin R.M..

The Effect of Supercritical Water on Vitrinite Reflectance as Observed in ContactMetamorphism and Pyrolysis Experiment. Barker C.E., Lewan M., and Bustin R.M.

Analysis of Microcracks in Artificially Coalified Peats. Cohen A.D., Prince C.M., Bailey A.M.,Ho C.S., Riese W.C, and Thibodeaux, S.

Abundance, Distribution and Origin of Sulfur in Coals in Wuda Coalfield, Inner Mongolia,Northern China. Dai S., Tang Y, Peng S., and Hou H.

6


Predictive Organic Facies Analysis, Follows B., and Tyson R. V.

Aspects of Coal Sample Preservation. Glick D., and Mitchell G.D.

The Effects of Igneous Intrusions on Coalbed Methane Potential of the Gunnedah Basin, NSW,Australia. Gurba, L, Weber C, Bunny, M, and Ward C; or, Elemental Carbon and VitriniteReflectance: Application of Electron Microprobe Technique in Regional Rank Studies. GurbaL., and Ward C.

Artificial Coalification Study of Two Permian Coals. Han Z.

Further Examination of the Ragged Edge of the Herrin Coal Bed, Webster County, WesternKentucky Coal Field. Hower J.C., and Williams DA.

Source Rock Organics and Reservoir Rock Facies Related to Oil in Coal Measures. Jin K. L.

Anthropogenic Organic Matter in the Great Marsh Area and its Implications. Mastalerz, M.,Souch C, FilipPelli G, Dollar N., and Perkins S.

Surface Properties of Photo-oxidized Bituminous-Rank Vitrinite. Mitchell G.D., and Davis, A.

Organic Geochemistry of Crude Oils and Source Rocks from the Silurian Strata in SouthernOntario, Canada. Obermajer M.., Fowler M.G., and Snowdon, L.R.

Coal Characterization Using Spin Electronic Resonance Spectroscopy. Panaitescu, C, Meghea,A., and Predeanu, G.

Relations between specific structural characteristics of Romanian coking coals. Panaitescu, C,and Predeanu, G.

Composition and Distribution Features of Fatty Acids in Salt-Lake Immature Oils, and,Biomarkers from Recent Salt Lake Sediments in Qaidaw Basin. Fan Pu.

Carbon Dioxide from Coal Combustion: Variation with Maceral Content. Quick J.C.

Natural Mixing of Crude Oils from Different Sources in the Bohai Bay Basin, China. Robison,CRRecent Developments in Fluorescence Analysis of Multiple Macerals (FAMM). Sherwood N.,and Kurusingal J.

Enhanced Petroleum Potential of Marine-influenced Coals in Mangahewa Formation, Taranaki

7


Basin. Sykes, R, Bartram, K M , Dow, M.J., and Suggate, R P

Relations Between Coal Petrology and Gas Content in the Upper Newlands Seam, CentralQueensland, Australia. Walker R., and Glikson M.

Quantitative Mineralogical Analysis of the Argonne Premium Coals using Rietveld-based X-rayDiffraction Techniques. Ward C.R., Taylor J.C., Matulis C.E., and Dale L.S.

Characterization of Solid Reservoir Bitumen: Insights to Origin, Timing, and Correlation.Wavrek D.A., Jarvie DM., and Burgess J.D.

Low Ash Peat Deposits From a Dendritic, Intermontane Basin in the Tropics: A New ModelFor Good Quality Coals. Wüst R.A.J., and Bustin, R.M.

Post-Meeting Field TripTentative Itinerary

Dave Tabet, Utah Geological Survey, Field Trip Leader

DAY 1 Wednesday, 29 September

9:00 am Vans depart the Cliff Lodge and follow road log to Soldier Summit ozokeritedeposit.

10:30 am. Tour ozokerite deposit and talk about geology, chemistry, and mining history11.30 am Follow roadlog to Price Utah and eat lunch (provided).1:00 pm Drive to road cut at junction of Price River Canyon and Willow Creek to see and

discuss geology of Spring Canyon Sandstone and Spring Canyon coals.1:45 pm Drive to and walk up Gentile Wash to see cyclic geology of these units, including

beach and near shore facies, and white cap development.3:45 pm Drive to and walk up Hardscrabble Canyon to see geology of above mentioned

units including compactional features under channel sandstones, dinosaur footprints, oyster deposits in lagoonal or estuarine environment, and reclaimed oldmine workings.

5:30 pm Check into motel in Price Utah (dinner, on your own, at local restaurants).

DAY 2 Thursday, 30 September

8:00 am Depart Price, and follow roadlog to Vernal, Utah.9:30 am Tour tar sand mining and recovery operation at Asphalt Ridge.11:30 am Lunch in Vernal (provided).

8


12:30 pm Follow roadlog to Bonanza, Utah.1:15 pm Tour gilsonite plant and deposit.3:15 pm Follow roadlog and arrive in Salt Lake City at 5:30 pm.

Hotel RegistrationThe Cliff Lodge at Snowbird Conference Center

Snowbird Conference CenterThe Cliff LodgeP.O. Box 929000Snowbird, UT 84092USA

Telephone 800-453-3000Fax 801-947-8227www.snowbird.com

Room costs for TSOP 1999 conference.

One bed, single occupancy $89two beds, single or double occupancy $89Suites, 1 parlor, 1 bedroom $179extra roll-away bed (per person) $20Dormitory accommodation for students $46

These prices do not include tax. To reserve a room at the Cliff Lodge at Snowbird ConferenceCenter, tell the hotel that you are attending the TSOP conference, and make your hotelreservation before August 29, to guarantee a room at the reduced TSOP rate. A deposit, bycredit card or personal check is required to hold a reservation beyond the 4:00 p.m. check-in.Deposits are refundable by calling the hotel 48 hours prior to scheduled arrival and obtaining acancellation number.

Transportation

Express vehicle service from Salt Lake City International Airport to Snowbird (8 am to 10 pm)Canyon Transportation Inc. Telephone 800-255-1814 (outside Utah), 801-255-1841 (insideUtah), or 742-3401 from Snowbird Conference Center. E-mail: [email protected]. Forbest service make reservations and tell Canyon Transport your name, flight number andtime of arrival. Round trip cost is about $40. Upon arrival at the airport, proceed to the baggage

9


claim area where you will find the Ground Transportation Desk next to the luggage claim area.Before you claim you luggage check in with the Canyon Transportation representative.

If you drive, follow the map shown below and, upon reaching Snowbird take ENTRY 4 to theCliff Lodge.

Recommended route from the airport to Snowbird.

Snowbird is only 25 miles (30 minutes) from downtown Salt Lake Cityand 29 miles (40 minutes) from the Salt Lake City InternationalAirport.Please Note: Due to major reconstruction of interstate 15 in Salt LakeCounty, we recommend using the following routes to Snowbird:From the airport: Take I-80 East to 1-215 South. Take exit 6 and goright at the light, toward the mountains. This road will lead youstraight to Ut-210 and up to Snowbird.From Downtown Salt Lake City: Take 700 East St. south to I-80East to the 1-215 Beltway South. Take Exit 6 and go left at the Light.

10


Weather

At the 8,100 ft. elevation of the convention center the mountain weather is unpredictable but youcan expect cool days and chilly nights so bring a sweater and a jacket. To prepare for thetypically bright sun, a hat and sunglasses are advised. Those going on the field trip should alsowear sturdy shoes and bring a raincoat.

Questions?

If you have special food or physical requirements or simply want further information pleasecontact any of the organizing committee members.

TSOP '99 Organizing Committee

David A. WavrekPetroleum Systems International576 E. South TempleSalt Lake City, UT 84102phone: (801) 322-2915fax:(801)322-2916email: dwavrek@petroleumsystems. com

Jeff QuickUtah Geological Survey1594 West North Temple, Suite 3110Salt Lake City Utah 84114-6100ph: 801-537-3372fax: 801-537-3400E-mail: [email protected]

Dave TabetUtah Geological Survey1594 West North Temple, Suite 3110Salt Lake City Utah 84114-6100ph: 801-537-3373fax: 801-537-3400E-mail: [email protected]

11


William Spackman appointedFounding Editor of the International

Journal Of Coal Geology.

Editor's note: The following is reprinted in part fromthe International Journal of Coal Geology #39,(1999) p. v - vi.

Professor William Spackman was the first Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of CoalGeology. He spent much time formulating theplan for the Journal and in assessing the need forsuch a publication. He put forth many of histhoughts along these lines in an Editorialpublished Volume 1, Number 1 of the InternationalJournal of Coal Geology . He envisioned "thecreation of an international, scholarly journal thatwill permit effective communication between thecoal geologist and other scientists and engineerswho are concerned with the nature of coal andcoal seams as well as those concerned with coalutilization". Further, he felt that this publicationhas to "be broad in scope and it must stimulatethe interdisciplinary thrusts that are required toadvance coal science and technology."

Dr. Spackman received his associate's degreefrom North Park College and the BA degree fromthe University of Illinois. His master's and PhDdegrees were granted by Harvard University.During World War II he worked in wood productsresearch at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.From 1947-1949 he was a Teaching Fellow atHarvard University.

In 1949 Dr. Spackman joined the faculty of theDepartment of Geology at The PennsylvaniaState University as an assistant professor. As hiswork progressed, he became more involved withcoal research than he envisioned would be thecase. He became director of the Coal ResearchSectionat Penn State yet was able to maintain histeaching and research efforts. He was promotedto professor in 1960.

In 1960 he was the lead author on the paper "Coaland coal seam composition as related topreparation and carbonization". This paper wasjudged by the American Iron and Steel Institute

to be the Outstanding Research Paper of the year.In 1976 Professor Spackman was honored for hisoutstanding research efforts by the IronmakingDivision of the Iron and Steel Society Theybestowed him with their highest honor, the Beckermedal. In 1977 the Coal Division of the GeologicalSociety of America honored him with the Gilbert H.Cady Award - their highest honor. TheInternational Commission for Coal Petrologyawarded Professor Spackman the ReinhartTheissen Medal in 1984.

Dr. Spackman has demonstrated leadership andvision in his research and teaching. Hiscontributions in coal science have directly led andpointed the way for the establishment of industriallaboratories in North America. The widespreadpractical application of coal petrography andpetrology has resulted from his initiative. Histeaching has provided first, second, and thirdgeneration students to support these efforts.

The International Journal of Coal Geology wishesto acknowledge Professor Spackman and hisefforts and add our congratulations and thanks forhis monumental contributions to coal geology. It iswith extreme pleasure that we announce hisappointment as Founding Editor of the InternationalJournal of Coal Geology. This designation will benoted henceforth in all issues of the Journal hefounded.

Russell R. DutcherHonorary Editor

12


Report on the 58th AnnualIronmaking Conference

The 1999 Ironmaking Conference was held inChicago from Sunday, March 21st to Wednesday,March 24 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel andConvention Center. Of interest to TSOPmembers were technical sessions on blast furnaceinjection of coal, coal and coke research, directreduction of iron, non-recovery coke making, andcoal and coke quality. Three TSOP memberswere on the program committee for the meetingincluding Gary Mitchell who is also on the vicechair of the ironmaking division, Jack Crelling,and H. S. Valia who received the Becker Award atthis meeting. (See article in this issue).

In the Coal and Coke Research Sessions, Y.Shigeno of Tohoku University in Japan and J. W.Evens of the University of California, Berkeleypresented a paper entitled "Infiltration ofMetallurgical Coke by Thermal Decomposition ofMethane and its Effect on CSR ThroughMicrostructural Changes". They showed thatmethane pyrolysis deposits carbon in the pores ofthe coke and thus restricts their reactivity duringoxidation and this is responsible for the beneficialincrease in the CSR (coke strength after reaction).

There were a number of papers on non-recoverycoke making. This is a coking process in whichnone of the gasses and tars evolved from the coalduring coking are recovered. All of the volatilesare burned in the process and what heat is notused in the coking process is used to generateelectrical power. There are two such plants inoperation in the U.S.A. now. One at Inland Steelin East Chicago just went on line. There is greatinterest in this process in the steel industryespecially because it has much fewerenvironmental problems than the byproductcoking process.

Two ironmaking processes that use coal and canbe studied using organic petrology are blastfurnace injection where coal is injected with theblast air in an effort to reduce the demand forcoke and the direct reduction of iron (done without a blast furnace). In the session that dealt withblast furnace injection, two student papers from

the University of New South Wales in Sydney,Australia were of petrographic interest.

L. Lu, V. Sahaijwalla, and D.J. Harris discussedtheir work on the structure of coal chars related tocoal injection. F. McCarthy, C. Wu, V.Sahaijwalla, and J. Hart discussed the effect ofsulfur on the reactivity of coal-derived blastfurnace char.

The papers in the session on direct reductionmainly dealt with the various processes that arebeing developed to reduce the iron ore directly,usually with a coal derived reducing gas. Verylittle petrographic work has been done in this areaand it represents a research opportunity.

13


Hardarshan Valia Receives The1999 Joseph Becker Award

Dr. Hardarshan Valia, a well known TSOPmember, of Ispat Inland Inc., East Chicago,Indiana became the 37th recipient of the JosephBecker Award at the 58th Ironmaking Conferenceheld in Chicago in March. The Becker award isgiven annually by the Ironmaking Division of theIron and Steel Society which is part of theA.I.M.E. The award is given for distinguishedcontributions in the field of coal carbonization. Dr.Valia has made contributions in a number of areasof carbonization and most recently he has beeninvolved with the installation and start up of thenew non-recovery coke oven battery at InlandSteel. The citation for the presentation of theaward stressed the many contributions andpersistent enthusiasm of Dr. Valia over his wholecareer in the steel industry

The Becker Award is one of the highest honorsavailable in the steel industry, and has now beenawarded to six TSOP members:

1976 - W. Spackman Jr.1986 - R. J. Gray1988 - R. R. Thompson1990-H. Marsh1996 - L. G. Benedict1999 - H . Valia

MaryAnn Malinconico ReceivesChrysalis Scholarship Award

MaryAnn L. Malinconico, TSOP Outreach Chair,received a partial Chrysalis Scholarship this pastApril from the Association for womenGeoscientists. The recipients of this award arefree to use the funds in any manner they wishtowards the completion of their thesis and Mastersor PhD degree program in a geoscience field.The applicant must be a woman whose educationhas been interrupted for at least one year, andhas contributed and will continue to contribute to

both the geoscience and the larger worldcommunity through her academic and personalstrengths.

MaryAnn is currently a doctoral student at theLamont - Doherty Earth Observatory of ColumbiaUniversity, New York, New York and expects tocomplete her dissertation, entitled "Organiclacustrine sedimentation, organic metamorphismand thermal history of selected Early Mesozoic riftbasins, eastern USA", in late fall 1999.

Availability of ReflectanceStandards

Because reflectance measurements are anessential part of coal petrography and coalpetrographic research, and because the olderglass standards eventually break down, theavailability of reflectance standards is of interestto the organic petrography community. At thistime there appears to be four sources ofstandards.

Karthik Krishnamurthy of UEC Coal and CokeLaboratories in Monroeville, PA has announcedthe availability of a mounted three glass standardwith reflectance in oil of approximately 0.50%(Glass #3 schott), 1.003% (Glass # 4 B&L), and1.82% (Glass # 6 B&L). These standards aremade up with the remains of the glass stock fromU.S. Steel and the late Don Cole who providedreflectance standards in the past. The UECstandards are available for $850.00 from:

Karthik Krishnamurthy400 Tech Center DriveMSC-96UEC Coal and Coke LaboratoriesMonroeville, PA 15146Ph: 412-825-2055Fax:412-825-2727e-mail: [email protected]

A second source of standards is Klein & BeckerGmbH & Co. in Germany. These standards areall mineral standards and cover a much higherrange of reflectance (up to 7.0% in oil) than thefamiliar glass standards. These mineral standards

14


come well mounted and identified and have theadvantage of being much more resistant toscratching than the glass standards.The standards available are:

Substance

DiamondCubic ZirconiaGGG*YAG**Leucosapphire

Ro % (in oil)

5.253.201.700.900.60

Approx. P

$880-$1980$537$553$528$520

* Gadolinium-Gallium-Garnet** Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet

The delivery on these standards takes at least 6-8weeks except for the diamond standard whichtakes four months or more. The price of thediamond standard varies with the size of thediamond used. Klein & Becker can be contactedat:Klein & Becker GmbH & Co.Schjllingstrasse 8-10D-55743 Idar-ObersteinGermanyPh: 06781-42079Fax: 06781-42870

Leica Microsystems Inc. report that they have atleast four reflectance standards available.

SubstancePrice Cat #

SiC 8.0Glass 1.25Leucosapphire 0.5NG4 0.0

Ro% (in oil) Approx.

$828 620615$691 620314

$1,527 621061$535 620616

They can be contacted at:

Leica Microsystems Inc.111 Deer Lake RoadDeerfield, IL 60016Ph: 847-405-0123Fax:847-317-7288

A fourth source for standards is Carl Zeiss Inc.Although information was difficult to obtain, theyapparently have at least a SiC standard available

for about $500.They can be contacted at:

Carl Zeiss inc.One Zeiss DriveThornwood, NY 10594Ph: 914-747-1800Fax: 914-682-8296e-mail: [email protected]

The above compilation is the result of anextended search and should be current andaccurate, except for the prices given which areonly approximate. If any reader has additional ormore accurate information, please send it to thenewsletter editors and it will be included in afuture newsletter issue.

Editor's Membership Notice

One of the sad parts of being any newslettereditor is receiving the inevitable, "Return ToSender, Address Unknown" after each mailing.Here at the TSOP editor's desk I have themisfortune of having a stack of orphaned Vol. 16,No. 1 Newsletters. Below is a list of the personsto whom they belong however due to any numberof circumstances, did not reach their destination.If any member knows the whereabouts of theseindividuals please contact us with any updatedinformation.

-editor

Katherine BrowmBrenda ClaxtonCheryl GullettYingting Guo

Jacek JaminskiGanjavar K. Khorasani

Dawn M. KosloskiMark Pasley

Ken PrattMichael Smith

Michelle SmytheBruce E. Torkelson

Harry VeldYunhe Zhang

15

Name of Publication Price (USD)

Fluoreszenz von Liptiniten und Vitriniten in Beziehung zu Inkohlungsgrad und $10Verkokungsverhalten - (in German with photomicrographs) M. Teichmuller, 1982

Fluorescence - microscopical changes of liptinites and vitrinites during coalification $ 5and their relationship to bitumen generation and coking behavior, TSOP Special PublicationNo. I (English translation by Neely Bostick, without photomicrographs) M. Teichmuller, 1984

Influence of Kerogen Isolation Methods on Petrographic and Bulk Chemical Composition $20

of a Woodford Shale Sample, TSOP Research Committee Report, October 1989

Fluorescence Microscopy Workshop Lecture Notes, 1989 TSOP Meeting $35

Organic Geochemistry, 2nd TSOP Meeting, Houston, TX, 1985; Vol. 11, No. 5, 1987 $ 5

Organic Geochemistry, 3rd TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1986; Vol. 12, No. 4, 1988 $ 5

Organic Geochemistry, 4th TSOP Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1987; Vol. 14, No. 3, 1989 $ 5

Organic Geochemistry, 5th TSOP Meeting, Houston, TX, 1988; Vol. 17, No. 2, 1991 $10

Organic Geochemistry, 6th TSOP Meeting, Urbana, IL, 1989; Vol. 17, No. 4, 1991 $10

Organic Geochemistry, 7th TSOP Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, 1990; Vol. 18, No. 3, 1992 $10

Organic Geochemistry, 8th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1991; Vol. 20, No. 2, 1993 $10

8th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, Lexington, KY, 1991 $ 5

Organic Geochemistry, 10th TSOP Meeting, Norman, OK, 1993; Vol. 22, No. 1, 1994 $10

12th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, The Woodlands, TX, 1995 $ 5

Organic Geochemistry, 11th TSOP Meeting, Jackson, WY, 1994; Vol. 24, No. 2, 1996 $35

International Journal of Coal Geology (IJCG), 12th TSOP Meeting, The Woodlands, TX, 1995;

Vol. 34, Nos. 3-4, 1997 $15

IJCG, 13th TSOP Meeting, Carbondale, IL, 1996; Vol. 37, Nos. 1-2, 1998 $15

IJCG, Special Issue: Appalachian Coalbed Methane; Vol. 38, Nos. 1-2, 1998 $20

Make checks payable to TSOP and send orders to:

Brian J. Cardott Orders by:Oklahoma Geological Survey telephone: 405/325-3031100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 fax: 405/325-7069Norman, OK 73019-0628 email: [email protected]. We accept checks, money orders and cash. Sorry, no credit cards.16


Calendar of Events

1999

Fall: International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrography, Bucharest,Romania.

August 22-26: American Chemical Society National Fall Meeting, NewOrleans, Louisiana

September: Sixteenth Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrology,Salt Lake City, Utah. For further information, contact either Jeff Quick (801) 585-7851 [phone], 801-585-7873 [fax], [email protected]) or Dave Wavrek (801)585-7907 [phone], 801-585-7873 [fax], [email protected]).

September 12 -15 : AAPG International Conference and Exhibition,Birmingham, England. For info, contact the AAPG Conventions Department at(918)584-2555.

October 18 - 20 : Third International Ash Utilization Symposium, Lexington,KY. For more information, contact Jim Hower at (606) 257-0261 [phone] / (606)257-0302 [fax] or contact the web-site address at http://www.flyash.org

October 25 - 28 : Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America,Denver, Colorado. For additional information, contact GSA at (303)-447-2020[phone] or (303) 447-6028 [fax].

2000

March 26 - 29 : 59th Ironmaking Conference, Pittsburgh, PA. For moreinformation contact ISS Headquarters at (412) 776-1535 [ext. 618] or visithttp://issource.org/.

March 26-31: American Chemical Society Annual Spring Meeting, SanFrancisco, California.

17


April 16-19: AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisiana.For more information contact the AAPG Convention Department at (918) 560-2679

August 6 -11 : Eleventh International Peat Congress - "Sustaining the World'sPeatlands", Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

August 20-24: American Chemical Society Annual Fall Meeting, WashingtonD.C.

November 13-16: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Reno,Nevada. For further information, contact GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303)447-6028.

2001

April 1-5 American Chemical Society Annual Spring Meeting, San Diego,California.

March 25-28 : 60th Ironmaking Conference, Baltimore, MD. For more informationcontact ISS Headquarters at (412)-776-1535 [ext. 618] or visit http://issource.org/.

August 26-30: American Chemical Society Annual Fall Meeting, Chicago, Illinois

November 5-8: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, BostonMassachusetts. For further information contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020 or faxthem at (303) 447-6028

2003November 2-5: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America,Seattle, Washington. For further information contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020or fax them at (303) 447-6028

This list is compiled from various Internet sources as well as information submitted by individuals.Accuracy of information cannot be guaranteed. All submissions are welcomed Please notify theeditor of any errors, changes, submissions, or deletions.

18

Name

Address

Last First Ml

City State/Province Zip Code Country

Business or Day Telephone Number Fax Number

Educationdegree year

E-mail Address

institution major subject

Principalactivitiesandinterests

Coal PetrologyOrganic GeochemistryKerogen PetrologyOther (please describe)

Professionalexperience andinterests relativeto organic petrology

Names and addressesof two people who arefamiliar with yourinterests/activities inorganic petrology

Membership categoryyou are applying for

full member ($20 00 US. $30 00 CN)

student rate ($15.00 US. $23.00 CN)

institutional member ($75 00 US)

Payment must be in US or Canadian

dollars, drawn from a US or Canadian

bank. TSOP assumes no

responsibility for cash lost in mail

I am familiar with the objectives of the Society, and agree to

adhere to, and abide by, TSOP constitution and bylaws

II agree/accept (please check box)

For TSOP Use OnlyDues Paid Cash

Check #

Received by:

Date:

signature

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16, No 2 June 1999

Editors' Choice Photomicrograph: View of a true cannel coal (about 60%sporinite) showing a predominance of fluorescing macrospores and microsporesin a non-fluorescing vitrinite matrix. This photomicrograph was taken undervertical illumination with a 50x oil immersion objective with blue lightfluorescence illumination. The width of the field left to right is 300 microns. Thesample is from the Armfield coal seam in eastern Tennessee and was providedby Professor Steven Shaver of Sewanee, The University of the South.

Call for photomicrographs: The editors welcome contributions of photomicrographs oforganic geological materials for future issues of the newsletter. At this time the

photomicrographs should be of high contrast suitable for digitized reproduction


NEWSLETTERVol. 16, No. 3 September 1999 ISSN-0743-3816

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 3 September 1999

The TSOP Newsletter

John C. Crelling / William W. HuggettCo-editors



Southern Illinois University

Carbondale Illinois 62901-4324 USA

Phone:(618)453-3351

Fax:(618)453-7393


[email protected]






Fax:(606)257-1147e-mail: [email protected]


WEBSITE!














Got Coal? Check us out: www.tsop.org

2


The 1998-99

President

Vice President

President Elect

Secretary/Treasurer

Editors

Councilor (1997-99)

Councilor(1998-00)

TSOP Council

Charles Barker

Timothy A. Moore

Cole R. Robison

Peter Warwick


Maria Mastalerz



A limited number of recent back issues of the TSOPNewsletter are available for members to take toconferences they are going to attend. Membershippacks and application forms are also available fordistribution to interested parties. TSOP is an all-volunteer organization that relies on an active growingmembership base in order to remain healthy. Onlythrough the efforts of all of its members can TSOPcontinue to meet its membership goals. If you areinterested in promoting TSOP and need some handoutsplease contact the following individuals.

For NewslettersJohn C. Crelling or William Huggett

Phone:(618)453-3351Fax: (6180 453-7393


For Information Packs:Cortland F. Eble

Phone: (606) 257-5500Fax:(606)257-1147

[email protected]

TSOP Mugs!


Jim HowerCAER

3572 Iron Works PikeLexington KY 40511

Phone: (606) 257-0261Fax: (606) 257-0302


"People come into my office say I look great andask if I've lost weight. Little do they realize it'sbecause my TSOP coffee mug is sitting right

there!"

AcknowledgmentThe editors wish to acknowledge the support of

John Mead, Director of the Coal ResearchCenter at SIUC, and his staff for assistance in

editing and printing this newsletter.

=>Attention<=Deadline for December issue is:

November 5

3


September Contents

Cover: Photomicrographs of concentric structure of Gilsonite derived carbonin nuclear graphite (Width of field left to right is 750) 1

Newsletter business, masthead, website info, archives info 2TSOP Council 3Research Committee report 4TSOP 1999 Annual Meeting in Snowbird Utah Program 5First announcement TSOP 2000 meeting Bloomington Indiana 11Obituary, TSOP election results 12Article: Uinta Basin Solid Hydrocarbons: New Data and New Insights 13Announcements of up-coming events 17TSOP Publications for sale 18Calender of Events 19Editors' Choice Photomicrograph 20

Research Committee Report

Four students submitted applications for theTSOP Student Grants Program by the March 31deadline. They were:

/ Nadir Taskin Akpulat, University ofCalgary, "Hydrocarbon generationkinetics of the Lower CretaceousOstracode Zone and quantitative basinmodeling, Alberta Basin, Canada.

/ Nicole Heller, Southern IllinoisUniversity, "Diagenetic and industrialhistory of a peat core: Charles EWheeler salt marsh, New Haven Co.,Connecticut".

/ Shona Ness, University of Calgary"Hydrocarbon generation, expulsion andmigration simulation within Triassicsuccession, Alberta Deep Basin".

/ Eric Zimmermann, Louisiana StateUniversity, "Provenance of the modernsediments of the Eastern PontidesProvince, NE Turkey: mineral chemicalevidence from heavy minerals.

Three reviewers, Brian Cardott, SuzanneRussell, and Maria Mastalerz, scored eachproposal. The scores were combined to rank theproposals. The winner of the 1999 TSOPStudent Grant of $1,000.00 is Nadir TaskinAkpulat of the University of Calgary. He will bepresenting a poster of his work at the 19thInternational Meeting on Organic Geochemistryin September and is notable to attend the TSOP annual meeting. Hissupervisor, Dr. Cynthia Riediger, is attendingTSOP and presenting their paper and she willreceive the check on his behalf.

The other students were thanked for theirparticipation and were given the opportunity toselect one TSOP publication.

All students were informed in writing when theirapplications were received and of their finalstatus. The next round of applications is duebefore March 31, 2000 (see TSOP website forforms and details).

4


PROGRAM

The Society for Organic Petrology16th Annual Meeting, September 26-30,1999

The Cliff Lodge at Snowbird Conference Center, Snowbird Utah

Sunday 26 September 1999

8:00 - 9:00 am Registration and Coffee

9:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. Short Course Maybird Room

Palynofacies and Organic Facies: New Approaches for the Millennium

Instructor: Richard Tyson

10:30 Break12:30 Box Lunch2:30 Break

4:00 - 7:00 p.m. General Registration

5:00-8:00 p.m. Poster set-up Wasatch Room

6.00 - 9:00 p.m. Reception Golden Cliff Room

8:00 - 12:00 p.m. Outgoing Council Meeting Board Room

Monday 27 September 1999

Technical Session Wasatch Room

7:30 a.m. General Registration and Coffee

5

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 3 September 19998:30 a.m. Welcome

8:35 a.m. Richard V. TysonKeynote Address: Reinventing Palynofacies for the 21st Century.

9:15 a.m. Ben Follows*. R. V. TysonPredictive Organic Facies Analysis.

9:40 a.m. Richard Doyle*. R.V. TysonOrganic Facies Cycles in the Type Kimmeridge Clay Formation, Dorset, U.K.

10:05 am. Coffee Break

10:20 a.m. N.T. Akpulat, Cindy Riediger. L. R. SnowdonInitial Results of Kinetic and Maturity Modeling of Hydrocarbon Source Rocksfrom Southern Alberta, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.

10:45 a.m. David A Wavrek, DM. Jarvie, J.D. BurgessCharacterization of Solid Reservoir Bitumen: Insights to Origin, Timing, andCorrelation.

11:15 a.m. Judith PotterA Genetic Approach to the Characterization of "Microbitumens "; implicationsfor thermal maturity determinations.

12:00 a. m. Luncheon and TSOP General Meeting Golden Cliff Room

2:00 p.m. Technical Sessions Wasatch Room

Neil Sherwood. J. Kurusingal, N. ZhongAdvances in Microfluorescence and FAMM® Analyses for Source RockEvaluation

2:25 p.m. Posters and Demonstration** Wasatch and Board Room

Poster 1 Rupert S. Adams*. R.M. BustinThe Effects of Surface Area, Grain Size and Mineralogy in Organic MatterSedimentation and Preservation Across the Modern Squamish Delta, BritishColumbia.

Poster 2 Takashi Iguchi

6

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 3 September 1999Relationship Between Degradinite Content and Source Rock Potential of TertiaryCoals of Hokkaido, Northern Japan.

**

Poster 3

Poster 4

Poster 5

Poster 6

Poster 7

Joeseph Kurusingal and Neil SherwoodFAMM Demonstration

Mark Obermajer. M.G. Fowler, L.R. Snowdon,Organic Geochemistry of Crude Oils and Source Rocks from the Silurian Stratain Southern Ontario, Canada.

Cornelia Panaitescu. A. Meghea, G. PredeanuCoal Characterization Using Spin Electronic Resonance Spectroscopy.

Cornelia Panaitescu. G. PredeanuRelations Between Specific Structural Characteristics of Romanian Coking Coals.

Zhang Songlin, Cui Mingzhong, Li Zhenxi, Li Jinggui, Fan PuDistribution and Composition Features of Fatty Acids from Recent Salt-LakeSediments in Qaidam Basin.

Zhang Songlin Cui Mingzhong, Li Zhenxi, Wang Youxiao, and FanPuComposition and Distribution Features of Fatty Acids in Salt-Lake ImmatureOils.

Poster 8 Cole R. RobisonNatural Mixing of Crude Oils from Different Sources in the Bohai Bay Basin,China.

3:15 p.m. Break

3:30 p.m. JR. Gibbins, John C. Crelling. M. Seitz, S. KennedyBRICCS: Bireflectance Imaging of Coal and Carbon Specimens

3:55 p.m. Lila W. Gurba. C. Weber. M. Bunny. C. WardThe Effects of Igneous Intrusions on Coalbed Methane Potential of the GunnedahBasin, NSW, Australia.

4:20 p.m. Rachael Walker*, and M. GliksonRelations Between Coal Petrology and Gas Content in the Upper Newlands Seam,

7


Central Queensland, Australia.

6:00 p.m. Dinner Magpie A Room

8:00 p.m. Incoming Council Meeting Board Room

Tuesday 28 September 1999

Technical Sessions Superior Room

7:30 a.m. General Registration and Coffee

8:30 a.m. Announcements

8:35 a.m. Colin R. Ward. J.C Taylor, C.E. Matulis, L.S. DaleQuantitative Mineralogical Analysis of the Argonne Premium Coals usingRietveld-based X-ray Diffraction Techniques.

9:00 a.m. Lila Gurba. C.R.WardElemental Carbon and Vitrinite Reflectance: Application of Electron MicroprobeTechnique in Regional Rank Studies.

9:25 a.m. Zhiwen HanArtificial Coalification Study of Two Permian Coals.

9:40 am. Coffee Break

9:55 a.m. Tim A. Moore. J.C. Shearer, K.N. Bassett, A. NicolCan Braided Rivers and Peat be Intimate?

10:20 am. Raphael A.J. Wüst*. R.M. Bustin.Low Ash Peat Deposits From a Dendritic, Intermontane Basin in the Tropics: ANew Model For Good Quality Coals.

10:45 a.m. James C. Hower. D.A.WilliamsFurther Examination of the Ragged Edge of the Herrin Coal Bed, WebsterCounty, Western Kentucky Coal Field.

11:10 a.m. Group Photograph

11.30 a.m. Lunch (on your own)

8

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 3 September 19991:00 p.m. Awards Presentation and Technical Session Superior Room

1:10 p.m. Arthur D. Cohen. CM. Prince, A.M. Bailey, C.S. Ho, W.C. Riese, S. ThibodeauxAnalysis of Microcracks in Artificially Coalified Peats.

1:35 p.m. Richard Sykes. KM. Bartram, M.J. Dow, R.P. SuggateEnhanced Petroleum Potential of Marine-influenced Coals in MangahewaFormation, Taranaki Basin.

2:00 p.m. Jin Kuili.Source Rock Organics and Reservoir Rock Facies Related to Oil in CoalMeasures.

2:25 p.m. Break

2:40 p.m. Maria Mastalerz. C. Souch, G. FilipPelli, N. Dollar, S. PerkinsAnthropogenic Organic Matter in the Great Marsh Area and its Implications.

3:05 p.m. Shifeng Dai. Yuegang Tang, Suping Peng, Huimin HouAbundance, Distribution and Origin of Sulfur in Coals in Wuda Coalfield, InnerMongolia, Northern China.

3:30 p.m. Jeffrey C. QuickCarbon Dioxide from Coal Combustion: Variation with Maceral Content.

3:55 p.m. Closing RemarksInstructions for Field Trip

DAY 1 FIELD TRIP (sold out)Wednesday 29 September

8:00 a.m. Load Vans

8:30 a.m. Depart Snowbird

Soldier SummitLunch (provided)Hardscrabble CanyonGentile Wash

9


Thursday30 September

Breakfast (on your own)

8:30 a.m.: Depart Price UtahWillow Creek CanyonAsphalt Ridge Tar SandsLunch (provided)American Gilsonite Co.

6:00 p.m.: Salt Lake City area, drop off at:AirportSnowbird Convention CenterOther area lodging

Editor's Choice Photomicrograph: We are always lookingfor new and interesting photomicrographs to grace the backpage of our newsletter. If you have any such photos of pastor current work the you think might qualify, please send theminto the editor.

Thanks

10


F i r s t Announcemen t

The Society for Organic Petrology17th Annual MeetingBloomington Indiana

Indiana University

September 17-20, 2000

Members of the organizing committee of the 17th Annual Meeting of the Society for OrganicPetrology extend a warm invitation to attend the meeting at Indiana University inBloomington Indiana.

Conference Highlights

• In-situ Analysis of Organic Matter - a pre-meeting short course the includes hands-on exercises.

• Special sessions on surface expressions of hydrocarbons and sedimentology oforganic matter-rich sequence.

• General session on organic petrology and organic geochemistry-related subjects.

• Field trip to examine organic-rich rocks in the Eastern Interior Basin.

Also...

• Special student conference registration rates.

• All sessions, lodging, and social events are conveniently located in the campusconference hotel: the Indiana Memorial Union.

Online registration and comprehensive conference information will be available soon atthe Indiana University Conference Bureau Web Site. ([email protected])

For program information: For logistical information:

Dr. Maria Mastalerz Conference Registrar(812)855-9416 (800)933-9330

[email protected] [email protected]

11


Frank Derbyshire1945-1999

Frank Derbyshire, a longtime director of theUniversity of Kentucky's Center for AppliedEnergy Research and a Professor in the Collegeof Engineering, Department of Chemical andMaterials Engineering passed away Tuesday.August 17 1999, from complications associatedwith a short illness.

Derbyshire graduated with a first class HonorsB.Sc. In Chemical Engineering from ManchesterUniversity, England followed by a M. Eng. FromMcMaster University, Ontario and subsequently aPh.D. from Imperial College, London. Dr.Derbyshire's career spanned nearly a thirty yearperiod and concerned primarily with research inthe coal and fuel sciences, carbon materials andassociated environmental concerns.

His experience in coal research commenced in1975 with the Coal Research Establishment of theNational Coal Board at Stoke Orchard,Cheltenham. This was followed by a period ofresearch with Mobile R & D Corporation, CentralResearch Division in Princeton, New Jersey. In1982 he moved to the Pennsylvania StateUniversity as Associate Professor in Fuel Sciencefor the department of Materials Science andEngineering where he developed his interests inthe use of carbon as a catalyst support. In 1986-87 he spent a year as a Visiting Research Fellowwith the Carbon Research Group In theDepartment of Chemical Engineering atLoughborough University. He later joinedSutcliffe Speakman Carbons as ResearchDirector with responsibility for the analytical andresearch departments before, in 1989, becomingDirector of the University of Kentucky Center forApplied Energy Research.

During the past ten years, Professor Derbyshirecontinued to distinguished himself as a trulyinternational recognized expert in coal scienceand carbon materials, and an effective andcapable administrator of the coal researchprogram at University of Kentucky.

Professor Derbyshire was an active member of

several divisions of the American ChemicalSociety, and several of the Advisory Boards of theAmerican Chemical Society and the PittsburghCoal Conference. In addition he was Co-ViceChairman of the 1992 Gordon Conference on theScience of Hydrocarbon Resources and Chairmanof the Steering Committee for the 1992Conference. In 1987 he was awarded the RichardA. Glenn Award by the Bituminous Coal ResearchAssociation. In 1997 he was the recipient of theHenry H. Storch Award in Fuel Chemistry from theAmerican Chemical Society - among the list of 31distinguished recipients of this award. ProfessorDerbyshire published extensively andauthoritatively on various aspects of coalliquefaction and on the production and propertiesof activated carbons, including 150 scientificpapers and 13 patents.

Frank supported TSOP through contributions fromUniversity of Kentucky's Center for AppliedEnergy Research for the1991 and 1997 meetingsas well as the TSOP participation in the Atlas ofCoal Geology project.

TSOP Election Results

Below are the results of the 1999 TOPSElection. The following individuals will serve in

the following positions.

President-Elect - Prasanta K. MukhopadhyayVice-President - David C. Glick

Councilor - Jeff C. QuickEditor - John (Jack) C. Crelling

The new council members will assume their dutiesat the upcoming annual meeting in Salt Lake City.At that time President Charles Barker will pass theduties of the president over to the currentpresident-elect, Cole R. Robison. Jeff Quick willtake over Maria Mastalerz's position as one of thetwo councilors, and Peter Warwick will continuedoing a fine job as Secretary/Treasurer. JackCrelling and Bill Huggett take over duties asnewsletter co-editors.

12

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 3 September 1999Uinta Basin Solid Hydrocarbons: NewData and New Insights

Tim E. Ruble1, Michael D. Lewan2 and

Brian J. Cardott3

'CSIRO Petroleum, Box 136, North Ryde, NSW,1670, Australia2U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, MS 977,Denver, CO, 80225, USA3Oklahoma Geological Survey, 100 E. Boyd St.,Norman, OK, 73019, USA

A number of terms have been used in theliterature for allochthonous, semi-solid or solidhydrocarbons (e.g., migrabitumen, solidhydrocarbon, solid bitumen, native bitumen,asphaltite, asphaltic pyrobitumen, and asphalt).Migrabitumen (preferred by Jacob, 1989), solidhydrocarbon (preferred by Landis and Castaño,1995), and solid bitumen (preferred by Curiale,1986) refer to amorphous, secondary maceralsthat occur either massive (vein fillings in fracturedrocks) or dispersed in hydrocarbon source rocksand reservoirs. Names for substances groupedunder asphaltite (soluble in organic solvents) orasphaltic pyrobitumen (insoluble in organicsolvents) are used strictly for vein deposits. Theseterms have propagated confusion on the originand significance of solid hydrocarbons.

Abraham (1918, 1960) developed ageneric classification for solid hydrocarbons basedon physical and chemical properties. Threecategories of native allochthonous substancesfound as vein deposits were defined: mineral wax(ozocerite), asphaltite (gilsonite, glance pitch,grahamite), and asphaltitic pyrobitumen(wurtzilite, albertite, impsonite). Jacob (1967,1989, 1993) modified Abraham's classificationand distinguished solid hydrocarbons optically bybitumen reflectance, fluorescence intensity,micro-flowpoint, and microsolubility. In Jacob'sgenesis scheme, three parallel maturation serieswere suggested for the formation of variousbitumen types, with convergence of two of theseries into epi-, meso-, and cata-impsonite in thebitumen reflectance range of 0.7-10% Rm.Gilsonite and ozocerite are members of the

groups associated respectively with asphalteneand paraffin-rich "prebitumens" (Jacob, 1989).Jacob conceded that nothing was knownregarding the alteration pathway of ozocerite, butthat gilsonite was thought to transform intograhamite with increased thermal alteration(although no documentation of this transition wasprovided). The classification scheme proposed byJacob (1989) emphasizes thermal processes inthe formation of various solid hydrocarbons anddiscounts the importance of other factors, such asweathering and source facies variability, for theformation of solid hydrocarbons with distinctchemical/physical properties.

In contrast, Hunt et al. (1954), Bell andHunt (1963) and Hunt (1963) used a variety ofgeochemical methods to clearly document anddevelop a facies association in the lacustrinesource-rocks of the Uinta Basin for the distinctsolid hydrocarbons present in this petroleumsystem. Ozocerite was thought to originate fromlow-grade oil shales in the basal Green RiverFormation, while gilsonite was correlated with therich oil-shales associated with the mahogany zoneof the upper Green River Formation. Other solidhydrocarbons, such as the pyrobitumen wurtzilite,were thought to originate from saline faciessource-rocks and were distinguished by their highsulfur content (Hunt et al., 1954). Subsequentexperimental results from hydrous pyrolysis of avariety of distinct source facies in the Uinta Basin(Ruble, 1996) have confirmed

many of the original associationsproposed by Hunt et al. (1954). In addition, recentwork by Verbeek and Grout (1993) has provideddetailed documentation of the processes whichled to the formation of the large hydraulicfractures in the Uinta Basin that are currently filledwith solid hydrocarbons. However, somequestions remain with regard to the exactmechanisms of formation and emplacement ofthe various solid hydrocarbon species within theseveins.

Curiale (1986) proposed a preliminarygenetic classification (based on origin) forsolid hydrocarbons, with two categories: pre-oil and post-oil

13


13Figure 1. Evolution of organic phases duringartificial maturation of Green River oil-shale.Quantitative yields of hydrocarbon gases ("),immiscible oil (A), bitumen (•), and kerogen (•)from the 72 h temperature series hydrouspyrolysis experiments for the mahogany shale.See Ruble (1996) for additional details.

. Names are not given to the solid hydrocarbonsin this scheme, but pre-oil solid bitumens refer toearly-generationproducts of rich source-rocks which were likelyextruded as viscous fluids and migratedminimum distances prior to filling fractures andvoids (Curiale, 1986). In contrast, post-oil solidbitumens are alteration products of conventionalcrude oils which may have undergoneconsiderable post-generation transport viasecondary migration from their original maturesource-beds. Following generation andexpulsion, both pre-oil and post-oil solidbitumens are subject to modification viabiodegradation, devolatilization and thermalalteration (Curiale, 1986). In principle, such agenetic classification scheme is preferable overthe traditional generic schemes because itincorporates all processes operative in the

petroleum system, including: source variability,thermal maturity, primary and secondarymigration effects, and alteration phenomena(e.g. biodegradation, devolatilization).Within the context of the Uinta Basin solidhydrocarbons, new information has recentlybeen acquired which appears to document theformation of both pre-oil and post-oil solidbitumens within a single petroleum system. Thenew experimental data which has provided theseinsights comes from a series of hydrouspyrolysis experiments involving two distinctfacies in the Green River Formation. Quantitativegeneration curves (mg/gTOC) for four differentorganic phases were followed with increasingthermal maturity throughout a 72 h hydrouspyrolysis temperature maturation series (Fig. 1).These four phases represent (1) the totalhydrocarbon gases, (2) the immiscible oil floatingon the water layer, (3) the solvent extractablebitumen from the rock chips, and (4) theinsoluble residual kerogen. The maturity trendsare characterized by an early zone of bitumengeneration, which is coincident with a significantdecrease in kerogen content within the sourcerock (Fig. 1). This low maturity bitumengeneration stage is followed by a main zone ofimmiscible oil generation. The zone of bitumen

14

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 3 September 1999generation maximizes at 330oC/72 h, then showsa sharp decline as the yields of immiscible oilrapidly increase (Fig. 1). These observationsstrongly support a product-precursor relationshipbetween the immiscible oil and bitumen phases(Lewan, 1994) and illustrates how a continuumexists between the probable starting material forthe formation of pre-oil and post-oil bitumens.Fractional composition of the experimentallyderived organic phases collected during hydrouspyrolysis of Green River oil shale clearlydistinguish between the immiscible oils, which areenriched in saturates, and the extracted bitumens,which are enriched in polars and asphaltenes (Fig.2). Comparison of these experimental results withthe fractional compositions of two different typesof Uinta Basin solid hydrocarbons provides newinsights into their likely origin. Gilsonite has beenpreviously suggested to originate as a pre-oil andcontains biomarker evidence indicating a very lowthermal maturity (Curiale, 1986). Fractionalcomposition of the Uinta Basin gilsonitescompares well with experimentally derivedbitumens and supports a pre-oil origin which hasbeen further modified by devolatilization andpossibly limited biodegradation to enhance therelative abundance of asphaltenes in comparisonto fresh experimental bitumens (migration effectsshould also not be discounted). In contrast, thefractional composition of ozocerite solid bitumensamples compare more favorably with thecomposition of immiscible oils generated duringhydrous pyrolysis, suggesting that these solidhydrocarbons are post-oil in origin and are likelyderived from devolatilization of a conventionalhigh-wax crude oil which migrated frommoderately mature basal lacustrine units in theUinta Basin source kitchen (see Ruble, 1996 forfurther details). Geochemical evidence in supportof such an origin is the higher maturity level ofozocerite in comparison to gilsonite, with the14b,17b/(14b,17b+14a,17a)-C29 sterane ratio of0.52 in ozocerite indicating an early oil-windowmaturity, while the ratio of ~0.24 for gilsonitesillustrating a pre-oil maturity level.

In the Uinta Basin there is clearly a sourcecontrol on the nature of the hydrocarbonsgenerated and on the type of solid bitumens

Figure 2. Ternary diagram comparing thefractional composition of the products fromartificial maturation of Green River oil-shale tosolid hydrocarbon samples from the Uinta Basin,Utah.

which are ultimately derived from suchhydrocarbons. Low grade oil shales fromnearshore open lacustrine depofacies withpredominantly benthic algal source materialappear to be the origin of high-wax crude oils andare also the likely source facies responsible forthe formation of ozocerite. This solid hydrocarbonis found in fractures and in brecciated zoneswithin the basal Green River Formation and thepredominance of extremely high molecular weightbranched, mono- and bicyclic alkanes up to C110

in ozocerite (del Rio and Philp, 1999) isapparently due to enhancement of suchcompounds as a consequence of devolatilizationof a crude oil precursor. The vein forminggilsonite deposits in the Uinta Basin appear tooriginate from very organic-rich offshore openlacustrine source facies deposited in a stratifiedlake with predominantly algal and bacterialbiomass (Shoell et al., 1994). This solidhydrocarbon was emplaced as an immaturepre-oil into large hydraulic fractures which formedas a probable consequence to overpressuresgenerated during an early stage of bitumen

15

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 3 September 1999generation as the Uinta Basin source kitchen wasburied to its maximum depth. The viscousbitumen which filled the veins subsequentlysolidified as a consequence of devolatilization andlimited but variable biodegradation, formingdistinct gilsonite types that can be recognizedbased on their physical (melting point) andgeochemical characteristics.Clearly understanding the processes which controlthe types of dispersed and massive solidhydrocarbons requires input from bothpetrographic and geochemical analyses and mostimportantly integration into the petroleum systemframework. The terminology associated withgeneric classification schemes is too ingrainedwithin the historical literature to be abandoned atthis stage and it may still have utility for thoseinterested in technological uses of solidhydrocarbons. However, adoption and refinementof a genetic classification of solid hydrocarbons byincorporating both experimental and natural datasets appears to offer an avenue for betterunderstanding the origin and role of thesematerials in petroliferous basins and should be afocus area for continuing research.

References Cited

Abraham, H, 1918, Asphalts and allied substances:

New York, van Nostrand, 606 p.

Abraham, K, 1960, Asphalts and allied substances, v.

1, 6th ed.: New York, van Nostrand, 370 p.

Bell, KG., and J.M. Hunt, 1963, Native bitumens

associated with oil shales, in I.A. Breger, ed.,

Organic geochemistry: The Macmillan Company, A

Pergamon Press Book, Earth Science Series,

Monograph 16, p. 333-366.

Curiale, J.A., 1986, Origin of solid bitumens, with

emphasis on biological marker results, in Advances

in Organic Geochemistry 1985: Organic

Geochemistry, v. 10, p. 559-580.

Hunt, J.M., F. Stewart, and P.A. Dickey, 1954, Origin

of hydrocarbons of Uinta basin, Utah: AAPG

Bulletin, v. 38, p. 1671-1698.

Hunt, J.M., 1963, Composition and origin of the Uinta

basin bitumens: Utah Geological and Mineralogical

Survey, Bulletin 54, p. 249-273.

Jacob, H., 1967, Petrologie von asphaltiten und

asphaltischen pyrobitumina: Erdöl und Kohle,

Erdgas, Petrochemie, v. 20, p. 393-400.

Jacob, H., 1989, Classification, structure, genesis and

practical importance of natural solid oil bitumen

("migrabitumen"): International Journal of Coal

Geology, v. 11, p. 65-79.

Jacob, H., 1993, Nomenclature, classification,

characterization, and genesis of natural solid

bitumen (migrabitumen), in J. Parnell, H. Kucha,

and P. Landais, eds., Bitumens in ore deposits:

New York, Springer-Verlag, p. 11-27.

Landis, C.R., and J.R. Castaño, 1995, Maturation and

bulk chemical properties of a suite of solid

hydrocarbons: Organic Geochemistry, v. 22, p.

137-149.

Lewan, M.D., 1994, Assessing natural oil expulsion

from source rocks by laboratory pyrolysis, in M. H.

Engel and S. A. Macko, eds., Organic

geochemistry, principles and applications: New

York, Plenum Press, p. 201-210.del Rio, J.C. and R.P. Philp, 1999, Field ionization

mass spectrometric study of high molecular weighthydrocarbons in a crude oil and a solid bitumen:Organic Geochemistry, v. 30, p. 279-286.

Ruble, T.E., 1996, Geochemical investigation of themechanisms of hydrocarbon generation andaccumulation in the Uinta Basin, Utah: Ph. D.dissertation, University of Oklahoma, Norman,Oklahoma, 333 pp.

Shoell, M., R.J., Hwang, R.M.K., Carlson, and J.E.Welton, 1994, Carbon isotopic composition ofindividual biomarkers in gilsonites (Utah): OrganicGeochemistry, v. 21, p. 673-683.

Verbeek, E.R. and MA. Grout, 1993, Geometry andstructural evolution of gilsonite dikes in the easternUinta Basin, Utah: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin1787-HH, Denver, U.S. Geological Survey, p. HH1-HH42.

16

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No.3 September 1999

CONFERENCE ON THE HISTORY OFGEOLOGIC PIONEERS

This meeting will be held in North America, thehomeland of our geologic pioneers, from August3-5,2000, and will combine theme-oriented andvolunteer papers with visits to their favoriteexposures.

The field trip will include ceremonies (memorialplaques will be installed at several sites) at thegraves of founders of the Geological Society ofAmerica, the American Association for theAdvancement of Science, and the AmericanAssociation of Petroleum Geologists.

The meeting is being hosted by the RensselaerCenter of Applied Geology located at 15 ThirdStreet in (downtown) Troy, New York (see below).This center has been named in honor of JeremiasVan Rensselaer (1783-1871), respected geologistwhose book Lectures on Geology (1825)has popularized the science.

Call for papers: Please send title fortheme-oriented or volunteerpaper/poster to:

Dr. Gerald M. Friedma

Rensselaer Center of Applied Geology(c/o Brooklyn College of the City University ofNew York, Brooklyn, NewYork)

15 Third Street, P.O. Box 746,Troy, NY 12181-0746

[email protected]: 518-273-3249

1st ANNOUNCEMENT

Southeast Asian Coal GeologyConference

Where: Bandung, Indonesia

When: 19-20 June 2000

Conference Abstracts due: 15 January 2000Conference Proceedings papers due: 1 April 2000Papers for published book due: 15 August 2000

TOPICS:exploration case studiesgeological influences on rankcoal as a source rock for oiltectonic/structural setting of coal depositscoal quality modelingresource estimatesmodern analogue studiessedimentological controls on coal distributioncoal palynology

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES:Pre-conference workshopsPost-conference field trip to an operating mineProceedings volume of papersInternational keynote speakers

HOSTED BY:Indonesian Association of Geologists (IAGI)Ministry of Mines and EnergyBandung Institute of Technology (ITB)

FOR MORE AND UPCOMING INFORMATION

VISIT:

http://www.cri.co.nz/seacgc (online after 13 August1999)

CONTACTS:Within Indonesia:Dr HadiyantoDirectorate of Mineral ResourcesJalan Soekarno-Hatta 444Bandung, IndonesiaPh. +62-22-5202698Fax. +62-22-5205809Email, [email protected]

Overseas:Dr T.A. MooreCRL EnergyP.O. Box 29-415Christchurch, New ZealandPh. +64-3-364-2768Fax. +64-3-364-2774Email. [email protected]

17

TSOP PUBLICATIONS
















Energy & Fuels, ACS symposium on kerogen/macerals; Vol. 8, No. 6, 1994 $10




Vol. 34, Nos. 3-4, 1997 $15



IJCG, 14th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1997; Vol. 39, Nos. 1-3, 1999 $25

Make checks payable to TSOP and send orders to:Brian J. Cardott Orders by:Oklahoma Geological Survey telephone: 405/325-3031100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 fax: 405/325-7069Norman, OK 73019-0628 email: [email protected].

We accept checks, money orders and cash. Sorry, no credit cards.


Calendar of Events 1999

September : Sixteenth Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrology, Salt Lake City, Utah.For further information, contact either Jeff Quick (801-585-7851 [phone], 801-585-7873 [fax],[email protected]) or Dave Wavrek (801-585-7907 [phone], 801-585-7873 [fax],[email protected]).

September 12 -15 : AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Birmingham, England. For info,contact the AAPG Conventions Department at (918)-584-2555.

October 18 - 20 : Third International Ash Utilization Symposium, Lexington, KY. For moreinformation, contact Jim Hower at (606)-257-0261 [phone] / (606)-257-0302 [fax] or contact theweb-site address at http://www.flyash.org

October 25 - 28 : Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Denver, Colorado. Foradditional information, contact GSA at (303)-447-2020 [phone] or (303)-447-6028 [fax].

2000


March 26-31: American Chemical Society Annual Spring Meeting, San Francisco, California


August 6 - 1 1 : Eleventh International Peat Congress - "Sustaining the World's Peatlands", QuebecCity, Quebec, Canada.

August 20-24: American Chemical Society Annual Fall Meeting, Washington D.C.


2001


March 25 - 28 : 60th Ironmaking Conference, Baltimore, MD. For more information contact ISSHeadquarters at (412)-776-1535 [ext. 618] or visit http://issource.org/.

August 26-30: American Chemical Society Annual Fall Meeting, Chicago, Illinois

November 5-8: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Boston Massachusetts. Forfurther information contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028

2003November 2-5: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Seattle, Washington. For

further information contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028

19

Fig. a. Artificially coalified, baytree peatfrom the Okefenokee Swamp of Georgiaat an early stage of alteration (2-weekexperiment at 60 C, 2100 psi). Notenumerous leaf cuticles (serrated), seedcoat (yellow, collapsed object, center-rt),resin spheres, and masses of darkmicrobiologically-produced psedo-micrinite (funginite ?). (All figures takenin TL and at same scale; scale bar = 100microns.

Fig.b. Same peat as in fig. a., but nowcoalified for 4 weeks at 175 C, 5,000 psi.Note color changes, serrated cutinite,resin spheres, and dark, fine-grainedpsuedomacrinite (funginite) in matrix.

Fig. c. Same peat type and coalificationstage as in Fig. b. Note relativelyuncompressed Semifusinite (center),Several resin spheres, and scatteredpsuedomicrinite and funginite withinmatrix. For more details on this work seeCohen and Bailey (1997): Int. J. CoalGeology., 34 (3-4): 163-194 and at theTSOP Annual meeting.

Editors' Choice Photomicrograph: Artificially coalified peat courtesy of ProfessorArt Cohen of the University of South Carolina.


NEWSLETTERVol. 16, No. 4 December 1999 ISSN-0743-3816

"Macerals on Fire" by Jeff Quick

Sample from the Ohai Coalfield, New Zealand, displaying a sideritenodule adjacent to a coal particle.

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 4 December 1999

The TSOP Newsletter

John C. Crelling/William W. HuggettCo-editors

The TSOP Newsletter welcomes contributionsfrom members and non-members alike. Itemsmay be submitted on computer disk, as an e-mailfile or as printed text via fax or regular mail. Wedo ask that any disk or e-mail file be written inWordPerfect 6.1, 7, 8, or 9.



Phone:(618)453-3351Fax:(618)453-7393


For purposes of registration of the TSOP Newsletter a permanentmailing is: The Society for Organic Petrology; c/o AmericanGeological Institute, 4220 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302-1502

Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) ispublished quarterly by The Society For OrganicPetrology and is distributed to all SocietyMembers as a benefit of membership.Membership in the Society is international and isopen to all individuals having an interest in thefield of organic petrology. For more informationon membership, Society activities, or to acquiremembership packs, please call or write:




Fax:(606)257-1147e-mail: [email protected] edu


WEBSITE!












Bowling Green, KY 42101Phone: (502) 745-3082


2


The 1999-00

President

Vice President

President Elect

Secretary/Treasurer

Editors

Councilor (1998-00)

Councilor(1999-01)

TSOP Council

Cole Robison

Dave Glick

Prasanta Mukhopadhyay

Peter Warwick



Jeff Quick


A limited number of recent back issues of the TSOPNewsletter are available for members to take toconferences they are going to attend. Membershippacks and application forms are also available fordistribution to interested parties. TSOP is an all-volunteer organization that relies on an active growingmembership base in order to remain healthy. Onlythrough the efforts of all of its members can TSOPcontinue to meet its membership goals. If you areinterested in promoting TSOP and need some handoutsplease contact the following individuals:


Phone:(618)453-3351Fax: (6180 453-7393


For Information Packs:Cortland F. Eble

Phone: (606) 257-5500Fax:(606)257-1147

[email protected]

<www.tsop.org> stop by for a visit!

TSOP Mugs!

Help support TSOP activities and get an elegantsporty and downright nifty genuine LouisvilleStoneware mug for your coffee, tea or hotchocolate. At only $10 these mugs are a terrificbuy, and they make wonderful gifts too. Be sure tobuy several, mugs get lonely too. To order pleasecontact:

Jim HowerCAER

3572 Iron Works PikeLexington, KY 40511

Phone: (606) 257-0261Fax: (606) 257-0302

Unsolicited endorsement #53 from a satisfiedTSOP mug owner

"It's a well documented fact that beveragesactually taste better in a TSOP coffee mug than

in any other mug on the market today."



editing and printing this newsletter.

^Attention^Deadline for March issue is:

February 11

3


December Contents

Cover: Photomicrograph of siderite nodule (top) intersecting the "bedding" ofcoal from the Ohai Coalfield, New Zealand. (Photo by Jeff Quick) 1

Newsletter business, masthead, website and archives info 2TSOP Council 3New Members 4Book Review: A Petrographic Atlas of Canadian Coal Macerals and Disbursed Organic Matter 5New Electronic Journal. Incoming/Outgoing council meeting notes 61999 TSOP Student Grant Winner 8Ken Kuehn wins award, Opinion: Teaching vs. Research 9Call For Papers - TSOP Bloomington 2000 11Calender of Events 13TSOP Publication for sale 15Editors' Choice Photomicrograph 16

New Members

Richard TysonFossil Fuels & Environmental GeochemistryDrummond Bldg., University of NewcastleNewcastle upon TyneUnited Kingdom NE1 7RUTel: 44 191 222 6605Fax: 44 191 222 5431e-mail: [email protected]

Takashi IguchiSenior GeologistJapan National Oil Corp2-2, Hamada 1-Chome, Mihama-KuChiba-Shi Japan 261-0025Tel: 81 43 276 4313Fax: 81 43 276 4062e-mail: [email protected]

Friso VeenstraElsevier ScienceMolenwere 1Amsterdam The Netherlands 1014 AGTel: 31 20 485 2838Fax: 31 20 485 2696e-mail: [email protected]

Joseph KurusingalCSIRO PetroleumPO Box 136North Ryde NSW Australia 1670Tel: 61 2 9490 8746Fax: 61 2 9490 8921e-mail: [email protected]

4


Book Review

A Petrographic Atlas of Canadian CoalMacerals and Dispersed Organic Matter,edited by Judith Potter, Lavern D. Stasiukand Alexander R. Cameron, CanadianSociety for Coal Science and OrganicPetrology/Geological Survey of Canada(Calgary)/Canmet Energy TechnologyCentre, 1999, 105pp, 24PI.

The Atlas is an extraordinary collection of finephotomicrographs, presented in a format whichmakes it especially useful as a teaching tool forstudents of coal and organic petrology, or as anauthoritative reference for perplexed orargumentative experts. Apparently, the plannersof the Atlas decided to employ a format thataddresses the need for an aid to the recognition ofmacerals and dispersed organics by those workingat the microscope. The plates are large (12x9in.), glossy and heavy, with up to 26 individualcolor or black and white photomicrographs to eachplate. They are spiral-bound in a hard cover. Theorganization of the 24 plates is unusual for thissubject matter, the usual grouping for which isaccording to maceral group. For the coalmacerals, covered in the first section, the primarybasis for grouping the photomicrographs is byrank (followed in some plates by geographicregion) and then maceral group. This is aconvenient arrangement for those wishing toconcentrate on the constituents occurring in anarrow rank range before advancing to anotherlevel of coalification. Those who are moreinterested in accessing the rank-wide range of anindividual maceral, however, will have to do alittle searching (unfortunately there is noalphabetical index). This section of the Atlas alsocontains a plate of black and whitephotomicrographs of cokes and covers a fewcommon minerals. A special bonus is aninformative series of maps, Stratigraphic sectionsand correlations of coal measures in the Canadiancoal regions.

The second section deals with dispersed organicmatter and bitumens, organized into platescovering herbaceous macerals; amorphous

macerals; alginite; acritarchs and algal matmicrotextures; organic fossils; and bitumens. Theexcellent photomicrographs of the whole rockspecimens in this section favor the fluorescencemode. Whereas the macerals illustrated in thefirst section are quite commonly encountered byorganic petrologists world-wide, much of thematerial presented in the second section could lieoutside the experience of many; consequently theAtlas will be of benefit to the experiencedpetrologist as well as the neophyte. It is not clearwhy the editors have avoided using the nowcommonplace telalginite/lamalginite subdivisionsof alginite.

This reviewer has encountered some minor errorsduring a reading of the Atlas, many of which couldhave been avoided by careful coordination andediting. The greatest problem foreseen is the lackof sufficient background to the terminologiesemployed in the descriptions. The introductionstates that it is not the purpose of the book torevisit basic principles; moreover, verycomprehensive lists of full references are includedthroughout. However, the maceral and dispersedorganic matter classifications given in theintroduction do not cover many of the termsemployed in the descriptions. There is also someinconsistent usage of terms and a fewquestionable identifications.

The problem in no way will overshadow the visualimpact and utility of this book. The price, atCA$138, reflects the expense of the reproducingphotographic plates, especially in color. Alreadypetrologists have recognized the advantages incost and convenience of sharing their imagesthrough electronic media. Nevertheless, a strongneed remains for another kind of convenience,that of high quality print images in a format thatcan be immediately available to the petrologist ashe plies his profession. This Atlas amply fills thatneed.

-Alan Davis

5


New Electronic JournalCALL FOR PAPERS

GEOCHEMICAL TRANSACTIONS

Geochemical Transactions, a new, all-electronic journal is now accepting manuscriptsfor review. The journal is published by theRoyal Society of Chemistry, in collaborationwith the Division of Geochemistry of theAmerican Chemical Society, and is devoted toall areas of geochemical research.Geochemical Transactions coverage includesthe following:

• Organic and inorganic geochemistry,biogeochemistry

• Aquatic and marine chemistry• Chemical and elemental cycles• Numeric and computational models of

geochemical processes• Instrumental and analytical techniques

The launch date of the journal is January 2000.All manuscripts should be submitted to theRoyal Society of Chemistry and will bereviewed by at least two expert referees. Forinformation on how to submit a manuscript,visit the RSC website:

The editorial board includes:

Editor-in-ChiefDr. Scott A. Wood, University of Idaho, USA

Associate EditorsDr. Ken Anderson, Argonne NationalLaboratory, USA

Dr. William Casey, University of California,Davis, USA

Dr. George Luther, University of Delaware,USA

Dr. Martin Schoonen, State University ofNew York, Stony Brook, USA

Dr. Jack Tossell, University of Maryland.USA

Dr. Heinrich Holland, Harvard University,USA

Dr. Vala Ragnarsdottir, University of Bristol,UK

Advantages of publishing in GeochemicalTransactions are:

Rapid publicationEnhanced presentation of resultsInteractive imagesHigh refereeing standardsFully searchableFully archivedE-mail alerting servicesCovered in major citation index andabstracting services

Review of Outgoing andIncoming 1999 TSOP Council

Meetings

Outgoing Council Meeting

The 1998-1999 Outgoing TSOP Council metSeptember 26, during the Annual TSOPmeeting that was held at the Cliffs Lodge inSnowbird, Utah. The meeting was called toorder by outgoing President Charlie Barkerwith eleven TSOP Council members andcommittee chairs in attendance. TSOPAnnual meeting chairs presented reports ofpast and upcoming meetings and plans whichincluded the 1998 Halifax, 1999 Snowbird,2000 Bloomington, 2001 Houston, 2002Banff, and the 2003 Washington, D.C.(Reston) meetings. TSOP Committee reportswere given by the Annual Meeting AdvisoryCommittee which discussed TSOP-sponsoredsessions held in conjunction with upcomingAAPG, ICCP, New Zealand MiningConference, and regional GSA meetings.

The Awards Committee reported that acertificate and $250 check for the 1998 BestStudent Award was presented to Nick Wilsonand a certificate was presented to honor pastTSOP Presidents K. Kuehn and J. Levine.Charlie Barker presented the results of the

6


1999 Ballot Committee which are as follows P.Mukhopadhyay - President-elect, D. Glick -Vice President, J. Quick - Councilor, and J.Crelling - Editor. There were no newnominations from the Honorary MembershipCommittee. The Membership Committeereport included a summary of the currentTSOP membership (178) provided by P.Warwick. A motion was passed to establish aTSOP Friendship Scheme to allow currentmembers to sponsor new members fromdeveloping countries.

The Internet Committee reported updates tothe TSOP web site <www.tsop.org> whichincluded notices of the TSOP Annualmeetings, new bibliographic references,instructions for the TSOP Student GrantsProgram, new publications, and links to relatedsites. Access to the web page ranges from300 to more than 400 visits per month. ThePublications Committee reported that1998-1999 publication orders totaled $320. Anupdated TSOP Publication List was presentedto the Council. The Outreach Committeereported that by the close of 1998 TSOP hadfive Industrial Sustainers which contributed atotal of $2,600, and in 1999 (as of September)TSOP had four Industrial Sustainers that hadcontributed a total of $2,100 to support TSOPactivities. A summary of expenses ($630) for1998-1999 advertising and announcementswas presented. The Research Committeereported the 1999 $1000 Student Grant Winnerto be Nadir Akpulat from the University ofCalgary.

A discussion of 1998-1999 TSOP activitiesfollowed with: 1) a request from the TSOPArchivist for Council members to submit oldTSOP related files to the Archives, 2) a reportfrom the TSOP Editor about the progress andexpenses of the 1999 TSOP Newsletter. BySeptember the Newsletter expenses totaled$3,725. 3) The TSOP Secretary reported thefinancial state of the organization. InSeptember, TSOP had a checking accountbalance of $8,781.09 and Vanguard Funds ata value of $16,378.15. The total assets of thesociety on that date were $25,159.24. FromOctober 1998 to September 1999, TSOP

income was $10,744 and expenses were$8,952. Charlie Baker concluded the meetingwith discussions on TSOP's role in theproposed Organization of Coal Geologists,TSOP credit card acceptance, and AAPG andAGI activities.

Incoming Council Meeting

The 1999-2000 Incoming TSOP Council metSeptember 27, at the Cliffs Lodge inSnowbird, Utah. The meeting was called toorder by incoming President Cole Robisonwith nine TSOP Council members andcommittee chairs in attendance. The councilpassed a motion for the Secretary to explorethe options available to TSOP 1) to acceptcredit cards and 2) to identify several mutualfund investment opportunities for theorganization. The Council approved changesin the TSOP Committee chairs to be asfollows: Nominating - Barker, HonoraryMembership - Glick, Membership chair-Warwick.

Seven new members that applied for TSOPmembership in 1999 were approved by theCouncil. The following TSOP members wereapproved to continue or begin serving asTSOP Liaisons to other organizations: LiaisonCommittee chair - Glick; AASP - Demchuk;AAPG-EMD - Hower and Cardott; Am. Chem.Soc. Fuel Div. - Schobert; Am. Chem. Soc.Geochem. Div. - Crelling; AGI - Barker;ASTM Stanton, Canada liaison - P.Mukhopadhyay; Canadian Soc. Coal Sci. -Potter; Eastern Canada - Dawson; EuropeanAsso. Organic Chemists - Eglinton; GSA CoalDiv. - Eble; ICCP - Burgess; South America -Kalkreuth; Standards - Hutton; New Zealand- Moore; China - Kuili Jin; India - Varma.TSOP Council approved a new operatingbudget for 1999 - 2000 and agreed to hold amidyear meeting in late March 2000.

7


1999 TSOP Student GrantWinner

HYDROCARBON GENERATION KINETICSOF THE LOWER CRETACEOUS

OSTRACODE ZONE AND QUANTITATIVEBASIN MODELING, ALBERTA BASIN,

CANADA

N. T. AkpulatUniversity of Calgary

SUMMARY OF INVESTIGATIONThe Lower Cretaceous Ostracode Zone is theonly proven hydrocarbon source rock ofCretaceous age that has contributed significantquantities of high gravity, low sulphur oil (oilfamily Q) to Lower Cretaceous MannvillePetroleum Systems (Riediger et al., 1997;Karavas et al., 1998). An Ostracode Zonecontribution to any given Mannville oil isreadily recognized by the presence of the socalled "Q" compounds, whose biologicalprecursor compound(s) remain unknown.

The Devonian-Mississippian ExshawFormation is the dominant source forMannville oils in the southern Alberta, yetthese oils are generally of lower quality, andare commonly biodegraded, relative to oilsfrom other source rocks. Mixing of Exshawoils with Ostracode Zone-oils (Family EQ) iswell documented (Karavas, et al., 1998,Riediger et al., in press), and results is animprovement in oil quality. Family EQ oils arerarely biodegraded.

The Ostracode Zone is heterogeneous in bothlithology and organic geochemicalcharacteristics, reflecting fluctuatingdepositional conditions, which is estuarine-brackish marine in general. The OstracodeZone generally contains oil-prone Type I andType II kerogen, however, there are a fewintervals containing gas-prone Type III kerogen(Riediger, et al. 1997).

The purpose of this study is (1) to characterizethe oil-prone facies using organic petrography

and organic geochemistry, (2) to map thedistribution of these facies in order to highlightareas most prospective for high qualityOstracode oils, (3) to determine the timing ofhydrocarbon generation from the OstracodeZone based on kinetic and maturity modelingdata and generation from other knownsources, (4) to understand the distribution ofOstracode Zone oils (Q family) and mixedOstracode-Exshaw oils (EQ family) insouthern Alberta, and the migration of Q oilsrelative to trap formation for the futurehydrocarbon exploration activities in theMannville Group of southern Alberta.

Methods

1. Outcrop and core description andsampling.

2. Rock-Eval / TOC analysis of potentialsource rock zones

3. Organic petrographic study of selectedsamples to characterize the source

rock kerogen and determine thethermal maturity.

4. Rock-Eval VI to obtain S2 data thatwill be used for kinetic modeling.

5 Input results into both 1-D and 2-Dbasin models (BasinMod) to get timing ofhydrocarbon generation relative to othersource rock horizons (e.g. ExshawFormation)

When the project is completed, we will knowthe characteristics and the distribution of theoil-prone facies within the Ostracode Zone insouthern Alberta. Understanding of thekinetics, timing and the migration ofhydrocarbons will provide a significantcontribution to the exploration activitiesongoing in the Lower Cretaceous reservoirs insouthern Alberta.

REFERENCES

Karavas, F A , Riediger, C.L., Fowler, M.G.,and Snowdon, L.R., 1998. Oil families in

8


Mannville Group reservoirs of southwesternAlberta, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin.Organic Geochemistry 29, 769-784.

Riediger, C.L., Fowler, M.G., and Snowdon,L.R., 1997. Organic Geochemistry of the LowerCretaceous Ostracode Zone, a blackish/non-marinesource for some lower Mannville oils inSoutheastern Alberta. In: Petroleum Geology ofthe Cretaceous Mannville Group, Western Canada.S.G. Pemberton and D.P. James (eds.). CanadianSociety of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 18, 93-102

Riediger, C.L., Fowler, M.G., and Snowdon,L.R., MacDonald R., Sherwin, M.D., in press.Origin and Alteration of Lower CretaceousMannville Group oils from the Provost oil field, eastcentral Alberta, Canada. Bulletin of CanadianPetroleum Geology.

Kuehn Wins Award

TSOP Past President Kenneth W. Kuehn('97-'98) was recently honored by WesternKentucky University's Ogden College ofScience, Technology, and Health as recipientof their 1999 Award for Outstanding PublicService. He was selected from among 300faculty within the College by a committee ofpeers and administrators. A TSOP membersince the 1984 charter year, Ken served on thegoverning Council for a total of eight years.

"My years with TSOP Council were very busyones but very rewarding ones as well.Thankfully, our Society's diverse mix ofspecialities and workplace cultures always keptbusiness matters lively and interesting. Iencourage every member to participate inSociety leadership in some way.

Aside from my professional service activities,I am most proud of having obtained asubstantial grant to preserve an historicallysignificant, 350-year-old oak in my home townof Bowling Green, Kentucky. Our great 'BentTree' has received special recognition by thestate and is undergoing a similar process withthe federal government. Thanks to the grant,our community's most famous landmarkshould survive another 100 years of humanendeavor."

A Professor of Geology, Ken has beenemployed by Western Kentucky Universitysince 1984. In 1990 he won the OgdenCollege annual award for OutstandingTeaching, and in 1997 he was honored by theKentucky Society of Professional Geologistswith their Distinguished Service Award. Ken ispresently enjoying a sabbatical leave ofresearch, travel, visiting friends, and creativewriting. He looks forward to many more yearsof association with TSOP and his many friendsand colleagues there.

OPINION

TEACHING VS. RESEARCH

A number of TSOP members have academicaffiliations and an issue that is becoming aproblem on campuses across the country is apush by misguided administrators and statelegislatures to pit research and teaching againsteach other. They end up downgrading research tothe point that some faculty are asking if researchis still a respectable activity on their campuses.

Although teaching alone may be the mainobjective of most small colleges, research leadingto the development of new knowledge andconcepts is the other fundamental objective ofuniversities. This is not a new idea. Over thecenturies universities have preserved anddisseminated the accumulated knowledge of pastscholarship as well as generated new knowledgefrom research. Research and teaching arecomplementary to each other and form an inherentpart of the idea of a university. This is reflected inthe work assignments of most science facultywhich tend to be split equally between teachingand research.

Graduate education in science requires research.The goal of graduate education is to educatestudents to identify, analyze and resolve scientificproblems. For this reason an essential part of ascience degree at the master's and doctoral levelis the defense of a completed research project inthe form of a thesis or dissertation. As aconsequence, in graduate education teaching andresearch are often the same thing.

Teaching and research are related in other ways.


Teachers without research quickly becomeobsolete, while teaching professors involved inresearch tend to be on the frontiers of their fields.They are aware of the current literature in their areaof interest, they are in communication with otherscientists in their field, and they get their studentsinvolved in these activities. Significant studentlearning in science takes place outside of theclassroom; it takes place at the side of theprofessor in the laboratory, in the field, atprofessional meetings, research conferences, andinformal gatherings. Both TSOP and the CoalGeology Division of GSA recognizes this fact insponsoring of student research grants and meetingsubsides for students. Another relationshipbetween teaching and research is that goodresearchers are very enthusiastic about theproblems they are working on and this enthusiasmcarries over into the classroom. Enthusiasm is anessential of good teaching.

The research induced interaction betweenuniversity, industry and government researchagencies is another example of the beneficialrelationship between research and teaching. Directhelp from industry and government agencies is verycommon in the form of access to samples anddata, permission to visit facilities, the analysis ofresearch samples, and even summer employmentof some students. Similar indirect help in the formof donated used equipment and teaching materialsis also common. Also of considerable value to thestudent is the contact with other non-universityprofessionals. Such contact gives the students aclear view into the realities of a professional careerin their chosen field and may even open uppermanent job opportunities. TSOP is an idealvehicle for this kind of interaction and has a historyof fostering this very thing.

A very important aspect of the relationship betweenresearch and teaching is external funding. Federaland state governmental agencies and industrial andother private concerns provide grants and contractsto some university faculty to conduct research inselected areas and on specific projects. Thesegrants and projects are awarded on a competitivebasis.

These funding awards come from outside normaluniversity funding channels and not from universityfunds. In fact, the universities charge the grant orcontract a fee, called overhead, which usuallyamounts to more than forty percent of the fundingreceived. Millions of dollars come into university

accounts every year by this means. The individualresearcher has no control over this fee and,indeed, is responsible for completing theobjectives of the project without access to it. Theremaining funds that the researcher receives areused to pay students and technicians to helpconduct the research, to purchase any suppliesthat will be used in the research, and to pay forany required services. Thus, there are usually nodirect costs to the university for the research.There are, however, a number of benefits from thisfunding to teaching. First, students, bothundergraduate and graduate, can get paid fromthese funds so that they gain both financial aidand work experience. Second, various kinds ofscientific equipment can be obtained from thesefunds. This allows students to learn on the latestequipment and to work on a wider variety ofproblems.

In summary, research is an inherent part of theidea of the university. Graduate education requiresresearch. Research keeps faculty at the frontiersof their fields and enhances their teachingabilities. The research induced interactionbetween university, industry, and governmentresearch agencies provides opportunities forstudent support and participation. Outside fundingfor research covers the actual cost of thatresearch, pays students and technicians, allowsthe purchase of equipment, and provides anadditional source of funds to the university.Research and teaching are not mutually exclusive;they are, in fact, complementary. A universityscience professor cannot teach well withoutresearch and a good researcher needs to teachand to interact with young and questioning minds.

Jack CrellingProfessor of GeologySouthern Illinois University at CarbondaleCarbondale, IL 62901

10


CALL FOR PAPERSTSOP - Bloomington 2000

The Organizing Committee of the 17th Annual Meeting of the Society for Organic Petrology in Bloomingtoninvites you to submit an abstract.

Abstract deadline: April 1, 2000

Abstract should be written in English, single-spaced and in 11 point font. Please use the example below forabstract formatting, or refer to Abstracts and Programs, vol. 15 , TSOP - Halifax'98.

Characteristics of Block Coals from Indiana; Inferences on Changing DepositionalEnvironment

MASTALERZ, M. and PADGETT, P.L., Indiana Geological Survey, Indiana University,Bloomington, IN, 47405-2208, EBLE, C, Kentucky Geological Survey, University of Kentucky,Lexington, KY 40506

The purpose of this study is to investigate differences in petrology, palynology, and coalquality between the Lower Block and the Upper Block Coal Members of the (Pennsylvanian)

Abstracts can be up to 5 pages in length, including figures and tables.

Abstracts can be sent by post (including a diskette in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect) or electronically by e-mail to: [email protected]. The Organizing Committee will make final decisions about the acceptanceor rejection of abstracts by April 15, 2000.

For information about the conference visit our website: http://adamite.igs.indiana.edu/tsop/For information about the program contact: Maria Mastalerz at (812) 855-9416, e-mail:[email protected]

11


PROGRAM

The Society for Organic Petrology17th Annual Meeting, September 17-20, 2000

Bloomington, IN

17 September - Sunday

Short course: In-situ Elemental Analysis of Organic Matter

Instructors: R. M. Bustin, The University of British Columbia; M. Mastalerz, Indiana University; L. Gurbaand C. Ward, The University of New South Wales; and M. Dorais, Indiana University

The short course will present recent advances in electron microprobe analysis of organic matter with aspecial reference to light elements: C, O, and N. It will consist of three parts: 1) presentations discussingmethodological aspects of the technique as well as those showing examples of the applications and theirsignificance; 2) demonstration of the technique and hands-on exercise using the instrument; and 3)discussion on the advantages, limitations, and further direction. Instructions will be given by a group ofresearchers actively involved in electron microprobe studies representing different laboratories worldwide.

Limit: 20 persons

18 September - Monday

Special Session I - Surface Expressions of Hydrocarbons

Chairs: L. Pratt and J. Rupp, Indiana University

Numerous occurrences of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons at the surface of the earth indicate thatpetroleum-bearing systems are dynamic and many processes that control hydrocarbon distribution are atwork. In addition to naturally occurring hydrocarbons, numerous accumulations of manmade petroleum andrelated products are found at the surface of the earth. This session will address recent studies of the variousoccurrences of hydrocarbons at the surface of the earth and how these occurrences contribute to ourunderstanding of petroleum systems in the geological context. The role of bacteriological degradation of bothnatural and manmade petroleum products will be addressed, including new developments in the area ofbioremediation, and how the knowledge of surface hydrocarbon chemistry can be applied towardenvironmental restoration.

Special Session II - Sedimentology of Organic Matter-bearingSequences

Chair: E. P Kvale, Indiana University

Organic geochemistry and petrology techniques combined with clastic sedimentology can be valuable in thedetermination of the character of the depositional system of an organic matter-bearing deposit. This sessionwill explore transport and depositional processes as well as water chemistry of a variety of modern and

12


ancient organic matter-bearing depositional systems spanning lacustrine and fluvial to marine.

Poster Session

19 September - Tuesday

General Technical Session

20 September - Wednesday

Field Trip

A one-day field trip will examine exposures of organic-rich Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the EasternInterior Basin of the United States. This trip will focus on the middle Carboniferous sedimentary sequencethat is composed of carbonate rocks. These rocks form a shallowing-upward sequence that ranges fromsubtidal wackestones with echinoderm assemblages and silica concretions (geodes) to supertidalsedimentary units that include high TOC algal laminae in a dolomitic section. Organic matter found in amassive shoal facies of a thick grainstone, the famous "Indiana limestone" building stone, is also host toliquid hydrocarbon seeps that will be examined.

Limit: 20 persons

Calendar of Events

2000

February 28 - March 1 :13th Utility Coal Conference, St Louis Mo.

March 6-9 : 25* International Technical Conference on Coal Utilization and Fuel Systems, Clearwater,Florida


March 26-31: American Chemical Society Annual Spring Meeting, San Fransisco, California


May 7-11 : 22nd Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Gatlinburg, TN

May 8-11 : Effects of Coal Quality on Power Plant Performance: Ash Problems, Management and Solutions,Park City Utah

13


March 26-30: 219th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Fuel Division, San Francisco.

July 3-6 : International Symposium on Alcohol Fuels, Stockholm Sweden

August 6 - 1 1 : Eleventh International Peat Congress - "Sustaining the World's Peatlands", Quebec City,Quebec, Canada.

August 13-16: Fifth International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, Cairns, Australia

August 20-24: American Chemical Society Annual Fall Meeting, Washington D.C.

September 17-20: Seventeenth Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrology, BloomingtonIndiana. For further information contact Dr. Maria Mastalerz at (812) 855 9416 or e-mail at:[email protected]

October 9-12 : Mine Expo 2000, Las Vegas Nevada


2001

January 22-26 :14th International Symposium on Management and Use of Coal Combustion Products,San Antonio Texas


March 25 - 28 : 60th Ironmaking Conference, Baltimore, MD. For more information contact ISSHeadquarters at (412)-776-1535 [ext. 618] or visit http://issource.org/.August 26-30: American Chemical Society Annual Fall Meeting, Chicago, Illinois

September: Eighteenth Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrology, Houston

November 5-8: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Boston Massachusetts. For furtherinformation contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028

2002September: Nineteenth Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrology

October 27-30: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Denver, Colorado. For furtherinformation contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028

2003September: Twentieth Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrology, Reston VA

November 2-5: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Seattle, Washington. For furtherinformation contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028

14

TSOP PUBLICATIONS




















Vol. 34, Nos. 3-4, 1997 $15



IJCG, 14th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1997; Vol. 39, Nos. 1-3, 1999 $25IJCG, Special Issue: Applied Topics in Coal Geology; Vol. 41, Nos. 1-2, 1999 $25


Brian J. Cardott Orders by:Oklahoma Geological Survey telephone: 405/325-3031100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 fax: 405/325-7069Norman, OK 73019-0628 email: [email protected].



Editors' Choice Photomicrograph

Editors' Choice Photomicrograph: View of a Pre-Cambrian meta-anthracite of algal origin, Michigamme Formation, Michigan, in polarized light with analyzerand retarder plate showing anisotropic graphite crystals of two sizes. Width of field leftto right is 250 micrometers. Sample courtesy of Dr. James Hower, Center for AppliedEnergy Research, Lexington, Kentucky

Call for Photomicrographs: The editors welcome contributions of photomicrographsof organic geologic materials for future issues of the newsletter.


NEWSLETTERVol. 17 No. 1 March 2000 ISSN-0743-3816

Korean Bongmyung Anthracite, courtesy Ralph Gray



Co-editors

The TSOP Newsletter welcomes contributionsfrom members and non-members alike. Itemsmay be submitted on computer disk, as an e-mailfile or as printed text via fax or regular mail. Wedo ask that any disk or e-mail file be written inWordPerfect 6.1, 7, 8, or 9.



Phone:(618)453-3351Fax:(618)453-7393


For purposes of registration of the TSOP Newsletter a permanentmailing is: The Society for Organic Petrology; c/o AmericanGeological Institute, 4220 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302-1502

Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) ispublished quarterly by The Society For OrganicPetrology and is distributed to all SocietyMembers as a benefit of membership.Membership in the Society is international and isopen to all individuals having an interest in thefield of organic petrology. For more informationon membership, Society activities, or to acquiremembership packs, please call or write:

Peter WarwickU. S. Geological Survey

956 National CenterReston, VA 20192

Tel: (703) 648-6469Fax::(703) 649-6419

e-mail: [email protected]


WEBSITE!

www.tsop.orgYou'll find the TSOP discussion forum,links to other related sites, schedules,dates, meeting updates, and tons of

other useful information!





Photocopies of desired materials will beprovided at a cost immediately uponapproval of your request form. Sorry,

but no copies of publications which arecurrently for sale by TSOP can be







2


The 1999-00

President

Vice President

President Elect

Secretary/Treasurer

Editors

Councilor (1998-00)

Councilor(1999-01)

TSOP Council

Cole Robison

Dave Glick


Peter Warwick



Jeff Quick


A limited number of recent back issues of the TSOPNewsletter are available for members to take toconferences they are going to attend. Membershippacks and application forms are also available fordistribution to interested parties. TSOP is an all-volunteer organization that relies on an active growingmembership base in order to remain healthy. Onlythrough the efforts of all of its members can TSOPcontinue to meet its membership goals. If you areinterested in promoting TSOP and need some handoutsplease contact the following individuals:


Phone:(618)453-3351Fax: (6180 453-7393


For membership information Including adownloadable membership application:

www.tsop.org..or contact membership chairman:

Peter Warwick(703) 648-6469

[email protected]

TSOP Mugs!


Jim HowerCAER


Phone: (606) 257-0261Fax: (606) 257-0302


"TSOP coffee mugs actually increase in valueover time, so the sooner you get one, the more it

will be worth."



editing and printing this newsletter and directory.

Deadline for June issue is:

May 26

Attention

3


March Contents

Cover: Korean Bongmyung Anthracite, 450X oil w/ polarizer and plate 1Newsletter business, masthead, website info, archive info 2TSOP Council 3Announcement: 20th international Meeting on Organic Geochemistry 4Honorary Member Nominations Solicitation, Fellowship announcement 5Article: Asphaltene As A Standard For Fluorescence Alteration Studies . . . 6Second announcement: TSOP 2000 Bloomington! 9Obituary 12Calender of Events 13TSOP publications or sale 14Editor's Choice Photomicrograph 16

20th International Meeting On Organic Geochemistry

Nancy 6-11 September 2001

Scientific Program

Oral and poster presentations on thefollowing topics:

Petroleum GeochemistryBiogeochemistryEnvironmental GeochemistryNew Techniques and DevelopmentsHot and Controversial Subjects

Abstracts should be submittedelectronically on a 3.5" disk or by e-mail. A

hard copy should also be sent to:

IMOGUMR 7566 G2R Universite' Henri Poincare'

BP23954506 Vandoeuvre Cedex France

Fax:(33) 3 83 91 38 01

e-mail:[email protected]

Deadline for submission ofabstracts is

December 1st 2000

For information, please feel free to contactus by e-mail or at the addresses above or

visit the web-site.

4

(This is not a complete list, and other suggestionsare welcome)

Abstracts

Abstract forms and instructions can bedownloaded from the web:

http://www.imoq.uhp-nancy.fr


Honorary Member NominationsSolicited

The Honorary Membership Selection Committeesolicits nominations for TSOP Honorary Member. Thisis the Society's most prestigious award and shall belimited to a select few, with no more that two awardsbeing made each year. Honorary Member statusacknowledges sustained professional excellence inresearch, service, or education to the Society. Theawardees are formally recognized at the annualmeeting, presented with a plaque, and granted alifetime, dues-free membership in the Society.

A nominee must be a living person distinguished in ascientific discipline of significance to the Society.Nominees do not need to be former or currentmembers of TSOP, but must be sponsored by a TSOPmember, who will supply a letter of nomination (or abrief vita) detailing how and why the nominee qualifiesfor the award. Nominees will not be asked to supplytheir own vita. The letter should address how thenominee has demonstrated contributions in one ormore of the following categories:

A. Research Contribution: Significant researchcontributions in organic petrology or related

disciplines. Contributions must demonstrate ahigh degree of original research in organic

petrology or related disciplines.

To qualify within this category, nominees mustpossess a sustained record of professionalpublication and achievement. Contributions(publications, state-of-the-art technologies, or othercontributions) must demonstrate internationalimpact.

ORService Contribution to TSOP: Significantcontributions to TSOP in a leadership role thathave enabled the Society to stimulate interest andpromote research in organic petrology.

Various contributions are possible in this category.For example, contributions may be related toeducational activities, administrative duties, or thedevelopment of TSOP as a society. Contributionsmust demonstrate a high degree of dedication andleadership in overall support of the goals of TSOP.

OREducation contribution: Significant contributions as a

teacher in organic petrology or related disciplines.

To qualify in this category, nominees must havedemonstrated a high degree of dedication andsignificant impact as a teacher of organicpetrology or related disciplines.

Letters of nomination should be submitted byMay 15 to the Committee Chair:

David Glick209 Spring Lea Dr.

State College, PA 16801e-mail: [email protected]: 814 237-1094

Attention:New fellowships are now available for minority

students (african-americans, native-americans,hispanic-americans, etc.) seeking Ph.D degrees inpalynology, Paleoecology, coal petrology or relatedtopics at the University of South Carolina.Requirements include: An MS degree in geology orbiology or a related field, a GPA of at least 3.00,and a GRE score of at least 1050.

This fellowship will pay a stipend of $15,000 peryear, plus $10,000 per year for additionalexpenses, including tuition, books, health care, acomputer or lab equipment, and travel expenses toattend a professional conference.

For application forms and further information,contact Dr. Art Cohen, Dept. of GeologicalSciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia,SC 29208 ([email protected]). For furtherinformation regarding potential thesis topics checkout:

www.qeol.sc.edu/COHEN/COHEN/COHEN.HTM

Dr. Arthur D. CohenProfessor of Geological Sciences and MarineSciencesUniversity of South CarolinaColumbia, SC 29208(Tele: 803-777-4502 FAX: 777-6610)

5


ASPHALTENE AS A STANDARD FORFLUORESCENCE ALTERATION STUDIES

Ronald W. T. Wilkins1, Xiao Xianming2 andLui Zufa2

1CSIRO Petroleum, PO Box 136, North Ryde,NSW 1670, Australia2State Key Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry,Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, ChineseAcademy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, PRChina

For laser fluorescence alteration studies onmacerals it is essential to use a standard materialto check instrumental operating settings and forinstrumental cross-calibration. Although laserpower can be monitored, as many factorscontribute to the intensity measurements - such asbeam alignment and spot size at focus on themaceral surface - checks by standard materialscannot be dispensed with.

At present wholly suitable standards are notavailable for the measurement of eitherfluorescence intensity or fluorescence alteration ofmacerals. The desirable properties of afluorescence intensity standard have been listedby Vieth-Redeman (1990) and amplified in theICCP Handbook Supplement (ICCP, 1993):

1. The standard should be a solid with afluorescence emission in the visible part ofthe spectrum.

2. The fluorescence intensity should be of thesame order as coal macerals.

3. The depth of penetration of the excitationradiation should be similar to coal macerals.

4. The fluorescence emission should be broadband so that the material is useful for a rangeof wavelengths.

5. The fluorescence properties should not alterduring storage or prolonged radiation.

An additional important property is homogeneity.All of the above criteria apply to fluorescencealteration, except, of course, alteration standardsshould have a strong positive or negative(Ottenjann, 1988) alteration on irradiation. It isimportant to note that for laser fluorescencealteration studies, the determination of

fluorescence intensity relative to a standard is notsufficient, because the alteration curve shapevaries with the laser power. Establishing thecorrect level of laser power is therefore animportant part of instrumental calibration forfluorescence alteration studies on macerals. Inpractice, for instrumental cross calibration, wesearch for the level of laser power which gives thecorrect alteration curve shape for both low andhigh rank reference standards, then adjust thefluorescence intensity level to match the primaryinstrument value by adjusting the photomultipliertube voltage.

Although uranium-doped glasses, which serve asrelative standards, have been an essential aid inmodem fluorescence intensity studies ofmacerals, they are not ideal according to theabove criteria. Some strongly absorbing glassesmanufactured by Schott Mainz and tested byVieth-Redeman (1990) showed promise but theiralteration characteristics, of quite different originto those of macerals, caused measurementproblems.

In our own work (e.g. Veld, 1997; Wilkins et al.,1992, 1995, 1998) the preferred standardmaterials have been two reference coals *containing relatively homogeneous telovitrinites,one with a strongly positive and the other with astrongly negative alteration pattern. The laserbeam at focus on the maceral surface leaves atiny burn mark, which enables the previouslyirradiated areas to be readily located. The epoxyresin blocks containing the coal grains are storedin a vacuum desiccator when not in use. However,both coals are susceptible to atmosphericoxidation with loss of fluorescence intensity,requiring the surface to be cut back and re-polished every few weeks or months according tothe extent of use. Residual uncertainty about thehomogeneity of the samples requires manymeasurements to be averaged.

During a recent study (Xiao et al., 1998) it wasnoted that pure samples of asphaltene haveproperties which make them attractive candidatesas fluorescence alteration standards. Xiao et al.(1998) have described a method of preparation ofasphaltene for optical measurements, bypetroleum ether precipitation from crude oil, orcoal and source rock extracts. A most important

6


part of the process, as far as the fluorescenceproperties are concerned, is the removal of tracesof free hydrocarbons from the asphaltene byexhaustive washing with petroleum ether. Aminimum of 8 washes is required. A well-preparedasphaltene sample is vitrinite-like under themicroscope but without structure and with a highdegree of optical homogeneity. The fluorescencealteration of such an asphaltene sample istypically positive.

A Permian coal from Leping, China containing >90% suberinite was used to prepareapproximately 1 gram of asphaltene which wassubsequently heated to 320°C and mounted inepoxy resin blocks. The reflectance in air (Ra%) ofthe asphaltene is 6.1 (Ro% is approximately 0.31)and the fluorescence alteration is moderatelypositive. Fig. 1 shows the results of variation inlaser power on the fluorescence alteration. Thereis a linear relationship between initial (0s) andfinal (400s) fluorescence intensities and laserpower and a slight increase in the fluorescencealteration ratio (final/initial fluorescence intensity)for calculated laser power values between 0.15and 0.6 mW at the surface of the sample.Standard operating conditions for the laserRaman microprobe on which these measurementswere made are listed in Wilkins et al. (1992,1995).

To test for the stability of the Leping asphaltene inair, one block was stored in a vacuum desiccatorand another was exposed to air for a period of 6months. Stains develop on the surface ofasphaltenes that have not been well washedduring preparation, but the exposed Lepingasphaltene surface remained clean andfluorescence alteration measurements taken fromtime to time showed no clear evidence of theprogress of oxidation. Table 1 compares meanfluorescence alteration parameters on the storedand exposed samples, based on tenmeasurements per sample. The fluorescenceintensities and alteration ratios are similar to manyvitrinites with an equivalent vitrinite reflectance ofabout 0.65%.

Although differences between the different sets ofmeasurements are evident, it is just as likely thatthey are due to difficulties in maintainingexperimental conditions over such a period, as

0.00 0.2S 0.50 0.75Laser power [mW]

Figure 1. Effect of level of laser poweron fluorescence alteration of asphaltene fromLeping coal. The alteration ratio (R) is the ratio offinal (400s) to initial (0s) fluorescence intensity

due to changes in the fluorescence properties ofthe asphaltene. We conclude that at least thereare no important changes in the fluorescence ofthe asphaltene sample caused by atmosphericoxidation under ambient laboratory conditionsover a period of months, though the sampleshould be kept in a desiccator when not in useand lightly repolished from time to time.

Unfortunately in one respect the Lepingasphaltene sample is not ideal as a standard. Incontrast to many previously studied asphaltenes(Xiao et al., 1998) the Leping sample is lesshomogeneous. Typically fluorescence alterationratios measured on a single grain have a standarddeviation of .05 but if the measurements aremade on several grains this figure increases toabout 0.15. The origin of this variation is notunderstood. Blocks of the Leping asphaltene areavailable from the authors for interlaboratory

7


Table 1. Fluorescence alteration results on Leping asphaltene

Block111

2

CommentsAfter first polishExposed to air 6 monthsExposed to air 6 months; re-polishedStored in vacuum desiccator6 months

F 400s*787577207410

7621

F 0s*408741803769

4012

F 400s/F 0s*1.931.851.97

1.90

*For measurements on the same grain, standard deviations for F 400s, F 0S and F 400s/F 0s areapproximately 180, 100 and 0.05.

comparisons of fluorescence alteration studies onmacerals.

We thank Walter Pickel, Joseph Kurusingal andNeil Sherwood for valuable discussions.

References

ICCP Handbook (1993 Supplement)Fluorescence microscope photometry. Part 1 -Determination of intensity. 14 pp.

Ottenjann, K. 1988 Fluorescence alteration and itsvalue for studies of maturation and bituminization.Org. Geochem. 12, 309-321.

Veld, H., Wilkins, R. W. T., Xiao Xianming andBuckingham, C. P. 1997 A fluorescence alterationof multiple macerals (FAMM) study ofNetherlands coals with 'normal' and 'deviating'vitrinite reflectance. Org. Geochem. 26, 247-255.

Vieth-Redeman, A. 1990 Development of astandard for fluorescence intensity measurements- report on state of work. ICCP Meeting,Wollongong, Australia.

Wilkins, R. W. T., Wilmshurst, J. R., Russell, N.J., Hladky, G., Ellacott, M. V. and Buckingham, C.1992 Fluorescence alteration and the suppressionof vitrinite reflectance. Org. Geochem. 18, 629-640.

Wilkins, R. W. T., Wilmshurst, J. R., Hladky, G.,Ellacott, M. V. and Buckingham, C. P. 1995Should fluorescence alteration replace vitrinitereflectance as a major tool for thermal maturitydetermination in petroleum exploration? Org.Geochem. 22, 191-209.

Wilkins, R. W. T., Buckingham, C. P., Sherwood,N., Russell, N. J., Faiz, M. and Kurusingal, J.1998 The current status of the FAMM thermalmaturity technique for petroleum exploration inAustralia. APPEA Journal 38, 421-437.

Xiao Xianming, Wilkins, R. W. T., Lui Zufa andFu Jiamo 1998 A preliminary study of the opticalproperties of asphaltene and their application tosource rock evaluation. Org. Geochem. 28, 669-676.

8


TSOP 2000!The 17th Annual Meeting of The Society For Organic

Petrology

Bloomington, IndianaSeptember 17-20, 2000

The Organizing Committee of the 17* Annual Meeting of the Society for Organic Petrology inBloomington invites you to submit an abstract.

Abstract deadline: April 1, 2000Abstracts can be up to 5 pages in length, including figures and tables.

Abstracts can be sent by post (including a diskette in Microsoft Word or Wordperfect) orelectronically by e-mail to: [email protected]. The Organizing Committee will make final

decisions about the acceptance or rejection of abstracts by April 15, 2000.

For information about the conference visit our website: http://adamite.igs.indiana.edu/tsop/For information about the program contact: Maria Mastalerz at (812) 855-9416, e-mail:

mmastale@,indiana.edu

Conference HighlightsIn-Situ Analysis of Organic Matter, a pre-meeting short course including

hands-on exercises.The short course will present recent advances in electron microprobe analysis of organic matter with a specialreference to light elements: C, O, and N. It will consist of three parts: 1) presentations discussingmethodological aspects of the technique as well as those showing examples of the applications and theirsignificance; 2) demonstration of the technique and hands-on exercise using the instrument; and 3) discussionon the advantages, limitations, and further direction. Instructions will be given by a group of researchersactively involved in electron microprobe studies representing different laboratories worldwide.

Limit: 20 persons

9





Numerous occurrences of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons at the surface of the earth indicate that petroleum-bearing systems are dynamic and many processes that control hydrocarbon distribution are at work. In additionto naturally occurring hydrocarbons, numerous accumulations of manmade petroleum and related products arefound at the surface of the earth. This session will address recent studies of the various occurrences ofhydrocarbons at the surface of the earth and how these occurrences contribute to our understanding of petroleumsystems in the geological context. The role of bacteriological degradation of both natural and manmade petroleumproducts will be addressed, including new developments in the area of bioremediation, and how the knowledgeof surface hydrocarbon chemistry can be applied toward environmental restoration.

Special Session II - Sedimentology of Organic Matter-bearing Sequences


Organic geochemistry and petrology techniques combined with clastic sedimentology can be valuable in thedetermination of the character of the depositional system of an organic matter-bearing deposit. This session willexplore transport and depositional processes as well as water chemistry of a variety of modern and ancient organicmatter-bearing depositional systems spanning lacustrine and fluvial to marine.

Poster Session




Field Trip

A one-day field trip will examine exposures of organic-rich Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the Eastern InteriorBasin of the United States. This trip will focus on the middle Carboniferous sedimentary sequence that is composedof carbonate rocks. These rocks form a shallowing-upward sequence that ranges from subtidal wackestones withechinoderm assemblages and silica concretions (geodes) to supertidal sedimentary units that include high TOCalgal laminae in a dolomitic section. Organic matter found in a massive shoal facies of a thick grainstone, thefamous "Indiana limestone" building stone, is also host to liquid hydrocarbon seeps that will be examined.Limit: 20 persons

10

THE SOCIETY FOR ORGANIC PETROLOGY17th Annual Meeting, September 17-20, 2000

Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana USA

REGISTRATION FORM(Please print legibly or type.)

NAME:Last

BADGE NAME:

First

TITLE:

ORGANIZATION:

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER: .*Your SSN is required by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, for education relatedIRS tax credits and deductions.

MAILING ADDRESS:

CITY:

COUNTRY:

Department

STATE:

E-Mail:

Building

ZIP:

Conference Registrationincludes conference materials,an Opening Reception, oneluncheon, daily refreshmentsand two continental breakfasts.We have also scheduled abanquet to conclude theconference.

TELEPHONE:( ) .

FAX NUMBER: ( ).

A block of hotelrooms has beenreserved in theconferenceheadquarters hotel,the IndianaMemorial Union,located on the 900block of EastSeventh Street.Please make yourreservationsdirectly by calling 800-209-8145 or by faxing yourreservation request to the IMU at 812-855-3426. Pleaseidentify yourself as a member of the TSOP conference,#401-00.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Questions about registration, housing, and transportationshould be addressed to IU Conferences at (812) 855-4224or e-mail the conference registrar at [email protected].

Questions about the program should be addressed toDr. Maria Mastalerz, [email protected] or by calling(812) 855-9416.

Visit our conference website:http://adamite.igs.indiana.edu/tsop/

Web registration is encouraged. For those who cannot registeronline, the registration form and payment should be sent to theConference Registrar. =>

REGISTRATION FEES

By After Amt.Sept. 1 Sept. 1 Paid

Non-member $175.00Member $145.00 $160.00Students $25.00Post-conferenceField TripPre-conferenceShort CourseBanquet TicketSept. 18, 2000

$20 x_

$200.00 $.$$25.00 $.

$50.00 $50.00 $.

$40.00 $40.00 $-

(# persons) $

Total Paid $

PAYMENT OPTIONS

Amount Paid: (total from above) $

order you will receive an invoice for payment.

Purchase order number:

Person to contact:(who issued the purchase order)Contact's telephone #

Please make payment in U.S. dollars.Checks should be drawn on a bank whichdoes business in the United States. Pleasemake checks payable to IndianaUniversity Conferences, #401-00.

SEND FORM & PAYMENT TO:Conference RegistrarIU ConferencesP.O. Box 249Bloomington, IN 47402

FULL PAYMENT IS DUE BY SEPTEMBER L 2000 FOR LOWEST RATES.

11

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Signature: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Purchase Order If you submit a purchase

Check


IN MEMORY OF RAYMOND "PUTT" M. PATALSKY

Mr. Raymond M. Patalsky, a well known,industrial coal petrographer and coal scientistdied of liver cancer on December 17,1999 athis home in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Raywas part owner and president of CoalPetrographic Associates (CPA). His companywas probably the largest independent coaland coke petrographic laboratory in the UnitedStates. Ray graduated from DuquesneUniversity. His experience with coal began in1957 when he was employed at U. S. Steel'sResearch Laboratory in Monroeville where heworked with the group that developed theprediction of coke stability, carbonizationpressure and volume change frompetrographic analyses which incorporatedvitrinoid reflectance with maceral and mineralanalyses. He developed his skills in theapplication of microscope techniques ininvestigations of coke structure, carbonmicrotextures, roof carbon, form cokes,carbon anodes, tars, pitches, mesophase andother materials including ore pellets, flue dustslags, etc. In 1968 he was assigned to agroup that provided technical assistance tocoke plants where he worked on bulk densitycontrol, stage charging and steam aspirationof coke ovens to improve coke quality andreduce emissions. He also worked inimproved coke quenching. In 1972 he left U.S. Steel to set up a coal petrographiclaboratory for J & L Steel Corporation, wherehe was a Senior Research Engineer engagedin coal exploration work related to minedevelopment and in the improvement of coalbeneficiation and the formulation of cokingcoal blends. He was responsible for theacquisition and allocation of coals for all ofthe coke plants. When J & L was purchasedby LTV, Ray continued his work with LTV untilhe formed his own company together withsome associates from W. F. Berry Associatesin 1988. Under Ray's guidance, the new

company, Coal Petrographic Associates, grewto employ 10 full time and 5 part timeemployees that service the petrographicrequirements of most of the majormetallurgical coal producers in the UnitedStates. Ray and his group were also active incharacterizing coals and chars for use in theproduction of ferrosilicon and silicon in electricarc furnaces. Ray published on a wide varietyof subjects that are related to coal, coke andother carbons. He was a member of TSOP,and ICCP and was very active in ASTMwhere he worked on standards related to cokereactivity, coal oxidation as well as maceraland vitrinite reflectance analysis.

Ray is survived by his wife, Mary Louise; asister, Helen; two stepchildren; three children,Terry, Ray and Lynn, and sevengrandchildren. Ray will be missed by all ofthose that knew him in a personal orprofessional capacity. Both his golf buddiesand his professional associates held Ray inhigh esteem. The very large number ofpersons from mining operations, coke plantsand laboratory facilities that attended his lastservices attest to his enormous popularity andrespect as a special person and an expert inhis field.

Kevin DeVanney of Coal Tech will combinehis company with CPA and assume Ray'sposition and continue his work in servicing theneeds of those that explore, develop and usecoal. The new company is called CoaltechPetrographic Associates, Inc.

By Ralph J. Gray

12


Calendar of Events

2000March 26 - 29 : 59th Ironmaking Conference, Pittsburgh, PA. For more information contact ISSHeadquarters at (412)-776-1535 [ext. 618] or visit http://issource.org/.March 26-31: American Chemical Society Annual Spring Meeting, San Francisco, CaliforniaApril 16-19: AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, New Orleans, Louisiana. For more informationcontact the AAPG Convention Department at 918 560-2679May 3-4 .North American Coalbed Methane Forum - Spring Session at Holiday Inn at Meadow LandsPA. For m o r e information contactIhor Havryluk at (412) 798-1391 or Kashi Aminian at (304) 293-7682 Ext. 3406May 7-11:22nd Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Gatlinburg, TNMay 8-11 : Effects of Coal Quality on Power Plant Performance: Ash Problems, Management andSolutions, Park City UtahJuly 3-6: International Symposium on Alcohol Fuels, Stockholm SwedenAugust 6 -11: Eleventh International Peat Congress - "Sustaining the World's Peatlands", Quebec City,Quebec, Canada.August 13-16 : Fifth International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, Cairns,AustraliaAugust 20-24: American Chemical Society Annual Fall Meeting, Washington D.C.September 17-20: Seventeenth Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrology, BloomingtonIndiana. For further information contact Dr. Maria Mastalerz at (812) 855 9416 or e-mail at:[email protected] 9-12: Mine Expo 2000, Las Vegas NevadaNovember 13-16: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Reno, Nevada. For furtherinformation, contact GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028.

2001

January 22-26:14th International Symposium on Management and Use of Coal CombustionProducts, San Antonio TexasApril 1-5 American Chemical Society Annual Spring Meeting, San Diego, CaliforniaMarch 25 - 28 : 60th Ironmaking Conference, Baltimore, MD. For more information contact ISSHeadquarters at (412)-776-1535 [ext. 618] or visit http://issource.org/.August 26-30: American Chemical Society Annual Fall Meeting, Chicago, IllinoisNovember 5-8: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Boston Massachusetts. For

further information contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028

2002

September: Nineteenth Annual Meeting of The Society For Organic Petrology, Alberta

2003November 2-5: Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Seattle, Washington. Forfurther information contact the GSA at (303) 447-2020 or fax them at (303) 447-6028

13


Send to:Publications Order Form

Brian J. CardottOklahoma Geological Survey100 E. Boyd St., Rm.N-131Norman, OK 73019-0628 USA

telephone: 405/325-3031fax: 405/325-7069email: [email protected]

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1) Cash, check, or money order in U.S. Dollars. Receipts are sent for all cash payments. Checks/moneyorders should be made payable to TSOP and must be drawn on a bank in the U.S.A. TSOP assumes noresponsibility for cash lost in mail.2) International money orders (postal orders) can be drawn in U.S. funds for a very small fee and are available frompost offices in many countries. Make the money orders payable to TSOP and send to Brian Cardott at the aboveaddress.3) Credit Card: Please complete the information below, being certain to enter the name exactly as it appears on thecard. Please enter your billing address. Mail completed form to Brian Cardott at the above address. Payment is in USDollars. Please print clearly!!!

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Organic Geochemistry, 10th TSOP Meeting, Norman, OK, 1993; Vol. 22. No. 1, 1994 $10




International Journal of Coal Geology (IJCG), 12th TSOP Meeting, The Woodlands, TX, 1995;Vol. 34, Nos. 3-4, 1997 $15



IJCG, 14th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1997; Vol. 39, Nos. 1-3, 1999 $25


Brian J. Cardott Orders by:Oklahoma Geological Survey telephone: 405/325-3031100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 fax: 405/325-7069Norman, OK 73019-0628 email: [email protected].


15



Editors' Choice Photomicrograph: Fusinite from an Eastern KentuckyClean Coal. This is also an excellent example of the phenomenon known as "ExcessiveRetro Reflectance" whereby a complete image of the petrographer is reflected back into thecamera. Sample courtesy of Dr. James Hower, Center for Applied Energy Research,Lexington, Kentucky Field of view approximately 225 microns left to right.


NEWSLETTERVol. 17 No. 2 June 2000 ISSN-0743-3816

Indiana University, Bloomington IndianaThe 17th Annual Meeting of The Society For Organic Petrology



Co-editors

The TSOP Newsletter welcomes contributions frommembers and non-members alike. Items may besubmitted on computer disk, as an e-mail file or as printedtext via fax or regular mail. We do ask that any disk or e-mail file be written in WordPerfect 6.1, 7, 8, or 9.



Phone:(618)453-3351Fax:(618)453-7393


For purposes of registration of the TSOP Newsletter apermanent mailing is: The Society for Organic Petrology;c/o American Geological Institute, 4220 King Street,Alexandria, VA 22302-1502

Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) is publishedquarterly by The Society For Organic Petrology and isdistributed to all Society Members as a benefit ofmembership. Membership in the Society is internationaland is open to all individuals having an interest in the fieldof organic petrology. For more information onmembership, Society activities, or to acquire membershippacks, please call or write:



Tel: (703) 648-6469Fax::(703) 649-6419



WEBSITE!

www.tsop.orgYou'll find the TSOP discussion forum, links toother related sites, schedules, dates, meetingupdates, and tons of other useful information!


The official TSOP archival collection is nowavailable for your use.

The collection contains all of the society'snewsletters, publications, programs, field

guides, short course notes, ResearchCommittee reports, minutes of Council

meetings, and member directories.Photocopies of desired materials will be

provided at a cost immediately upon approvalof your request form. Sorry, but no copies ofpublications which are currently for sale byTSOP can be provided. Please make all

inquires to:






2


The 1999-00

President

Vice President

President Elect

Secretary/Treasurer

Editors

Councilor (1998-00)

Councilor (1999-01)

TSOP Council

Cole Robison

Dave Glick

PrasantaMukhopadhyay

Peter Warwick



Jeff Quick


A limited number of recent back issues of theTSOP Newsletter are available for members totake to conferences they are going to attend.Membership packs and application forms arealso available for distribution to interestedparties. TSOP is an all-volunteer organizationthat relies on an active growing membershipbase in order to remain healthy. Only throughthe efforts of all of its members can TSOPcontinue to meet its membership goals. If youare interested in promoting TSOP and needsome handouts please contact the followingindividuals:


Phone:(618)453-3351Fax: (6180 453-7393


For membership information Including adownloadable membership application:

www.tsop.org..or contact membership chairman:


[email protected]

TSOP Mugs!


Jim HowerCAER


Phone: (606) 257-0261Fax: (606) 257-0302


"TSOP coffee mugs are without a doubtTHE beverage container of the new Millennium.



editing and printing this newsletter and directory.

Deadline for September issue is:

August 25th

Attention

3


June Contents

Indiana University: Location of The 17th AnnualMeeting of The Society For Organic Petrology 1Newsletter Business, Masthead, Website info, Archive info 2TSOP Council 3TSOP 2000: Annual Meeting Schedule 5Annual Meeting: General Program 7Article: Coal Sample Banks In The USA 8Merger announcement 13Announcement: AAPG & IAGI Conference, Bali, Indonesia . . . . 14TSOP Publications for sale 15Editor's Choice Photomicrograph 16

4


TSOP 2000!The 17th Annual Meeting of The Society

For Organic Petrology

Bloomington, Indiana

September 17-20, 2000


In-Situ Analysis of Organic Matter, a pre-meeting short course including hands-onexercises.The short course will present recent advances in electron microprobe analysis of organic matter with a special reference to lightelements: C, O, and N. It will consist of three parts: 1) presentations discussing methodological aspects of the technique as55well as those showing examples of the applications and their significance; 2) demonstration of the technique and hands-onexercise using the instrument; and 3) discussion on the advantages, limitations, and further direction. Instructions will be givenby a group of researchers actively involved in electron microprobe studies representing different laboratories worldwide.

Limit: 20 persons!

5





Numerous occurrences of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons at the surface of the earth indicate that petroleum-bearing systems aredynamic and many processes that control hydrocarbon distribution are at work. In addition to naturally occurring hydrocarbons,numerous accumulations of manmade petroleum and related products are found at the surface of the earth. This session will addressrecent studies of the various occurrences of hydrocarbons at the surface of the earth and how these occurrences contribute to ourunderstanding of petroleum systems in the geological context. The role of bacteriological degradation of both natural and manmadepetroleum products will be addressed, including new developments in the area of bioremediation, and how the knowledge of surfacehydrocarbon chemistry can be applied toward environmental restoration.

Special Session II - Sedimentology of Organic Matter-bearing Sequences


Organic geochemistry and petrology techniques combined with clastic sedimentology can be valuable in the determination of thecharacter of the depositional system of an organic matter-bearing deposit. This session will explore transport and depositionalprocesses as well as water chemistry of a variety of modern and ancient organic matter-bearing depositional systems spanninglacustrine and fluvial to marine.

Poster Session




Field Trip

A one-day field trip will examine exposures of organic-rich Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the Eastern Interior Basin of theUnited States. This trip will focus on the middle Carboniferous sedimentary sequence that is composed of carbonate rocks. Theserocks form a shallowing-upward sequence that ranges from subtidal wackestones with echinoderm assemblages and silicaconcretions (geodes) to supertidal sedimentary units that include high TOC algal laminae in a dolomitic section. Organic matterfound in a massive shoal facies of a thick grainstone, the famous "Indiana limestone" building stone, is also host to liquidhydrocarbon seeps that will be examined.Limit: 20 persons

6

The Society for Organic Petrology17th Annual Meeting, September 17-20

Bloomington, Indiana

General Program

Sunday 17 September 2000

8:00 - 9:00 am Registration and Coffee, Indiana Geological Survey 2019:00 am - 4:00 pm Short course: In-situ elemental analysis of organic matter

Instructors: Bustin, R.M., Mastalerz, M., Gurba, L., Ward, C. and Walker, R. I., Geology Building

12:00-6:00 pm3:30-5:00 pm6:00 - 9:00 pm8:00- 12:00 pm

Monday

7:00 - 8:15 am7:00 am -12:008:15-8:30 am

8:30-12:0010:00 -10:3012:00-1:30 pm1:30-5:00 pm

3:00 - 3:30 pm

7:00 pm8:00 - 12:00 pm

Tuesday

7:00-7:55 am

8:00-12:00 am10:00 - 10:30 am12:00-1:30 pm1:30-5:00 pm3:00-3:30 pm5:00 pm

Wednesday

General Registration, Conference Lounge, Indiana Memorial Union (IMU)Poster set-up, Walnut Room, IMUReception, University Club, IMUOutgoing Council Meeting, Charter Room, IMU

18 September 2000

Continental Breakfast served in Conference Lounge, IMUGeneral Registration, Conference Lounge, IMUWelcome, Oak Room, IMU

Special Session I - Organic matter and metals - L. Pratt and J. RuppBreak and poster sessionLuncheon and TSOP General Meeting, Frangipani Room, IMUSpecial Session II - Sedimentology of organic matter-bearing sequences - E.Kvale and E. ElswickBreak and poster session

Banquet, Frangipani Room, IMUIncoming Council Meeting, Charter Room, IMU

19 September 2000

Continental Breakfast served in Conference Lounge, IMU

General Technical Session, Oak Room, IMUBreak and Group Photo

Lunch (on your own)General Technical Session, Oak Room, IMUBreak and Poster SessionPresentation of TSOP Awards, Oak Room, IMUClosing RemarksInstructions for Field Trip

20 September 2000

7:30 am - 4:30 pm Fieldtrip, meet at the Indiana Geological SurveyLeaders: L. Pratt, J. Rupp, and B. Keith

7


COAL SAMPLE BANKS IN THEUSA

Because carefully collected and properly handled coalsamples are essential for research in organicpetrology, the editors of the Newsletter thought that areview of the three major coal sample banks in theUSA would be useful. The oldest and largest coalsample bank is the one at Penn State University. Thepremium sample bank at Argonne National Laboratorycontains eight samples that have been collected,processed, and stored in the most pristine conditionsand the sample bank of the Illinois Basin Coal SampleProgram (IBCSP) contains twelve sample from theIllinois Basin.

The Penn State Coal Sample Bankand Database

For nearly 35 years various governmentagencies have funded the operation of a samplebank and gradual expansion of a collection ofcoals from around the United States. Thesegrants and contracts also helped to provide morethan basic characterization of each coal, makingthe collection an extremely value asset to PennState's coal research programs. With permissionor by contractual agreement, small subsamplesof these coals have been made available, uponrequest, to any researcher in need of coal. Fora small reimbursement, to recover the cost oftime involved in dealing with specific requests,samples and analytical data have been providedto many thousands of governmental, universityand private researcher through out the world. Atthe time of this writing, The Penn State CoalSample Bank and Database continues to existmuch as it has for the past 10 years.Until April of last year, Penn State maintained asuite of 56 coals and a correspondingcomputerized database for use by DOEcontractors and grantees. This includes 33 well-preserved DECS samples, collected in anongoing effort begun in 1989, and 23 olderPSOC samples. These samples and many ofthose collected over the entire lifetime of theproject have been abandoned in place to TheEnergy Institute at The Pennsylvania StateUniversity by The Department of Energy. Thecoals represent a wide spectrum of the majorcoalfields of the United States and were selectedin order to achieve a useful distribution of

important coals by rank, geologic province,maceral composition, sulfur content and forms,and ash yield and composition. Dueconsideration was also given to the prior use ofthese coals by researchers and to their economicimportance. Most were collected as full-seamchannel samples; however, drill cutting, workingsection of seam, bench, lithotype and run-of-minesamples were also acquired.

Sample Collection and Processing - DECSseries samples are the newest and best preservedsamples in the collection, and should be chosenwhen possible for research requiring moderatequantities of sample. They were collected in 180kg (400 Ib.) quantities from recently exposedareas of active mines, where they were placed in113 L (30 gal.) steel drums with high-densitygaskets and purged with argon. As soon asfeasible after collection, processing wasperformed in order to obtain representativesubsamples. These were sealed under argon infoil multilaminate bags, which have been shownby annual monitoring to preserve samples verywell, and are kept in refrigerated storage (3°C).DECS samples are available in packages forthree nominal sizes: 70 g (2.47 oz.) at minus 0.20mm (-60 mesh), 300 g (2/3 Ib) at minus 0.85 mm(-20 mesh) and 2.3 kg (5 Ib) at 6 mm (-1/4 inch).The 300g containers are the ones most oftenrequested by research agencies. Also, some non-representative blocks of coal, sealed in argon andrefrigerated, are also available for certain coals inthe Sample Bank. Older PSOC samples werecollected similarly, but 300 g samples were sealedunder argon in polyethylene bags which were thensealed in steel cans. Larger quantities werestored in polyethylene buckets or drums.

Analysis - Each of the Sample Bank coals hasbeen subjected to the following analyticalprocedures'. proximate analysis, ultimateanalysis, sulfur forms, calorific value, maceralanalysis, mean maximum vitrinite reflectance(VR0), ash fusion determination, free swellingindex, Hardgrove grindability, major inorganic andtrace elements, equilibrium moisture, and CO2.Gieseler plastometry and a standardizedliquefaction test were performed on appropriatesamples. NMR, py/gc/ms and additional traceelement results were obtained on selected DECSsamples.

8


Sample Seam Rank Type State Ash Sulfur Vit Vit Ro

DECS-1DECS-2DECS-3DECS-4DECS-5DECS-6DECS-7DECS-8DECS-9DECS-10DECS-11DECS-12DECS-13DECS-14DECS-15DECS-16DECS-17DECS-18DECS-19DECS-20DECS-21DECS-22DECS-23DECS-24DECS-25DECS-26DECS-27DECS-28DECS-29DECS-30DECS-31DECS-32DECS-33

BottomIllinois #6Coal Basin MBlueHiawathaBlind CanyonAdaville #lSmith -RolandDietzRosebudBeulahPittsburghSewellUpper KittanningLower SunnysideBlind CanyonBlind Canyon*Kentucky #9Pocahontas #3Elkhorn #3Lykens- Valley #2Upper KittanningPittsburghIllinois #6PustWyodakDeadmanGreenUpper Banner #3Splash DamPond CreekStockton-LewistonOhio #4a

subChvCbmvbhvCbhvCbhvAbhvCbsubCsubCsubCligAhvAbmbvhvAbhvAbhvAbhvAbhvBblvbhvAbanhvAbhvAbhvCbLigAsubBsubAhvCbhvAbmvbhvAbhvAbhvBb

C/SC/SC/SC/S

c/wc/wC/SROMD/SC/WC/SC/SC/S

c/ws/sc/wC/SC/SC/SC/SC/SC/LC/SC/SC/SROMD/SC/SC/SC/SC/SC/SC/S

TXILCONMUTUTWYWYMTMTNDPAWVWVUTUTUTKYVAKYPAPAPAILMTWYWYAZVAVAKYWVOH

15.816.25.46.28.55.84.213.86.412.69.610.34.210.510.113.96.612.34.65.511.223.39.413.411.97.613.96.16.43.910.920.312.0

0.994.520.650.465.60.400.980.730.411.160.741.120.621.801.670.470.444.240.740.970.501.713.875.530.720.430.720.400..590.790.600.733.74

788794886669957988747483778977778086897887307990748674767177736877

0.360.521.280.510.590.660.450.370.380.420.350.871.351.070.800.640.590.561.710.875.190.770.730.490.280.290.460.431.001.160.990.900.51

* Limited availability, C/S=Chan. Seam, C/W=Chan. Work, ROM=Run of Mine, D/S=Drill Seam

Sample Availability - Coal samples from theSample Bank are available to all members of thecoal research community. Assistance can begiven in identifying samples that matchspecifications or that best suit the research needsof the requestor. A nominal cost plus shippingand handling is charged for samples up to 1 kg of-0.85 mm (-20 mesh) coal or 300 g of -0.25 mm(-60 mesh) coal. Beyond this limit and for largerquantities or special preparation of samples,provision will be at cost to the requestor forpreparation, mailing and handling.

Penn State currently maintains a Sample Bankthat contains over 1000 samples in addition to the56 coals. If a researcher's needs cannot be metfrom the 56 coals, then suitable samples can beprovided from the larger bank; there is a chargefor this service. A booklet describing the entire

Penn State Coal Sample Bank and Database isavailable from the Coal and Organic PetrologyLaboratories.

Coal Database. Printouts and Searches - Thedata that have been assembled by Penn State onthe Sample Bank of 56 coals have beencomputerized and are available for a fee. Inaddition to the analytical data described above,the Coal Database includes details on samplehistory, location, geology, and seam stratainformation. Full (four page) printouts of data in8 1/2 by 11" format can be provided for anysample. A staff of professionals at Penn Statecan undertake Database searches to identifysamples meeting specified criteria. Simplesearches resulting in tables of data or a set ofprintouts or for more extensive searches,statistics or electronic transmission of data sets

9

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 17 No. 2 June 2000can be performed for a fee. Investigators canperform their own simple searches on our website (http://www.ems.psu.edu/COPL). It includeslimited data for all DECS samples and a selectedsubset of other Penn State samples.

Ordering and Assistance - Request forms, abooklet describing the entire Penn State CoalSample Bank and Database, and assistance inacquiring samples and data can be obtainedfrom:

Coal and Organic Petrology LaboratoriesThe Pennsylvania State University105 Academic Projects BuildingUniversity Park, PA 16802-2300Phone: (814) 865-654Fax: (814) 863-7432Email: [email protected]://www.ems.psu.edu/COPL

The Argonne Premium Coal SampleProgram

The purpose of the Argonne Premium CoalSample Program is to supply highly uniform,premium (unexposed to oxygen) coal samples toresearchers investigating coal structure,properties and behavior, and to maintainaccessible databases of published reportsdescribing work carried out with ArgonnePremium Coal Samples. By ensuring sampleuniformity and maintaining premium quality theArgonne Program assures researchers thatresults generated from analysis of ArgonnePremium Coal Samples are comparable withresults generated by other workers usingpremium coal samples. Hence, by maintaininglong term supplies of high quality coal samples,the APCS program is intended to allowresearchers to develop, over time, acomprehensive data base of information for acarefully selected suit of U.S. coal samples. Todate, more than 22,000 coal samples have beenshipped to 876 Government, Academic andIndustrial researchers all over the world.

The premium coal samples produced from eachcoal and distributed through this program arechemically and physically as identical aspossible, have well-characterized chemical andphysical properties, and will be stable over long

periods of time. To achieve these goals, coalshave been mined, transported, processed into thedesired particle and sample sizes, packaged inhumid nitrogen environments as free of oxygenas possible, and carefully characterized by avariety of techniques.

Selection of the Coals - It was decided toinclude a set of eight coals in the program. Theselection of these eight coal samples was basedon those parameters which would representsignificant differences among the available coaltypes mined in the United States and maximizeour understanding of the fundamental propertiesof coal. A cluster analysis of whole coal seamdata from the Pennsylvania State Coal SampleData Base was carried out with data from 200samples to establish desirable choices in terms ofthe significant compositional parameters, C, H, Oand S. Using increasing carbon and decreasingoxygen on one axis and hydrogen and sulfurcontent on the other, the cluster analysis providedidentification of compositional characteristics foreight coal samples. With help from the U. S.Geological Survey, individual coals wereidentified for collection. The compositionalcharacteristics, primarily carbon content, wereused to guide the selection of five of the coals.These provided a rank range from lignite throughlow volatile bituminous. Anthracites were notincluded because of their low reactivity andrelative scarcity. The other three were selected togive a range of sulfur contents, a larger contentof macerals other than vitrinite, and a range ofbituminous coals with varied Paleobotanicalsource material. Within the compositionalconstraints from the cluster analysis one of thesamples was selected for its known cokingproperties.

Sample Descriptions - The full set of eight coalsfor the Premium Coal Sample Program includesa lignite, subbituminous, high volatile, mediumvolatile and low volatile bituminous, as well as aliptinite-rich, an inertinite rich and a coking coal.The coals were selected on the basis of C, H, Sand O contents as well as maceral content andgeological age. Ampoules containing 5 grams of-100 mesh or 10 grams of -20 mesh materialfrom each sample are available. Some analyticalinformation is available. The methods ofselection, collection, transportation, processing,

10


packaging, distribution and characterization aresummarized. The eight samples were eachcollected in about 1 to 1 1/2 ton quantities, placedin steel drums, purged with argon and taken toArgonne National Laboratory (ANL) forprocessing. After transfer to a nitrogen-filledenclosure, they were crushed, pulverized, mixedand packaged in sealed amber borosilicateampoules. Five-gallon carboys hold about 80% ofthe batch in reserve for filling more ampoulesafter the original samples (about 5,000 of -20mesh or 10,000 of -100 mesh) are depleted.

The first sample is an Upper Freeport seam,medium-volatile bituminous coal which wascollected from an underground mine near HomerCity (Indiana County) Pennsylvania in January1985. The seam was 4' thick where it wassampled. The sample was collected in specialdouble-plastic bags and transferred to thestainless steel drums at the surface. The secondsample is from the Wyodak-Anderson seam, asubbituminous coal collected about 6 milesnortheast of Gillette, (Campbell County)Wyoming in October 1985. The seam was about120' thick at the collection site. The sample forprocessing consisted of a 6" core sample throughthe entire seam. The third sample is ahigh-volatile bituminous coal, from the Illinois #6or Herrin seam, and was collected about 60 milessoutheast of St. Louis in St. Clair County inIllinois in December 1985. The 55-gallon drumswere taken into the underground mine for this andail subsequent underground mines because theseam was 7' thick at the Illinois site and at least6' thick for all other underground samples. Thefourth sample (high-volatile bituminous) wasobtained underground from the Pittsburgh seam(sometimes referred to as Pittsburgh #8) and wascollected about 60 miles south of Pittsburgh inGreene County, Pennsylvania in March 1986.This seam was 6' thick at the collection site. Thesample drums were taken into the mine forloading. The fifth sample is a low-volatilebituminous from the Pocahontas #3 seam,collected underground in Buchanan County,Virginia in June 1986. This seam was 6' thick atthe collection site and the drums were loaded inthe mine. The sixth sample (high-volatilebituminous) is an underground Blind Canyonseam sample collected in Emery County, Utahabout 150 miles southeast of Salt Lake City in

August 1986. The seam was about 7' thick at thecollection site. Drums were loaded in the mine.The seventh sample (high-volatile bituminous)is from the Lewiston-Stockton seam of theKanawha formation. This was collectedunderground about 20 miles east of Charleston inKanawha County, West Virginia in October 1986.The seam was about 6' thick at the collection siteand the drums were loaded in the mine. Theeighth sample is a lignite from the Beulah-Zapseam collected in Mercer County, North Dakota,about 8 miles northwest of Beulah in November1986. The seam was about 18' thick at thecollection area. Collection was done byaccumulating about 50 3" core samples spacedabout 20' apart in each direction.

Ordering and Assistance - To make informationconcerning the Argonne Premium coals moreaccessible to researchers, a World Wide Webhome page was created in 1995 to provideaccess to APCS information available via theinternet. The APCS Home Page can be reachedvia the Argonne National Laboratory World WideW e b H o m e P a g e a t :http://www.anl.gov/PCS/pcshome.html. TheWWW home page provides complete access toessentially all of the information currentlycontained in the APCS Users Handbook. Fullysearchable bibliographic information for all of thereferences currently in the citations database isalso available on-line via the APCS Home Page.A facility for on-line users to submit referencesfor inclusion in the APCS bibliographic databaseshas recently been added to help ensure that thedatabases are as complete and up-to-date aspossible.

Illinois Basin Coal Sample Program

The major objective of the IBCSP is to providereproducible coal samples that facilitatecomparisons of results among laboratoriesstudying Illinois Basin coals. The IBCSP providesfor the distribution of samples of coal from itsstorage, tips on how to use the samples, andinformation developed over the years on theproperties of these coals. A 5-year minimum lotlife cycle was the program's objective from thebeginning. The amounts used initially for coalcleaning projects resulted in 3 tons becoming thestandard lot size. The IBCSP maintains multi-ton

11

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 17 No. 2 June 2000quantities of a few coals under conditions thatminimize their deterioration in storage. Coals areselected primarily to meet the needs of coalresearch projects funded by the Illinois CoalDevelopment Board (ICDB, previously the IllinoisCoal Research Board) through the Illinois CleanCoal Institute (ICCI). The ICCI requires itscontractors to use at least one coal from theIBCSP. This requirement provides a commoncoal through which to link the results with otherresearch funded by the ICCI. To maintain this linkwith previous research, samples of the same coalshould be available for a number of years. Thegoal of a 5 to 10 year lot life cycle has beenachieved.Sample Descriptions -IBC-101: High Organic Sulfur Herrin Coal(Illinois No. 6) - This Herrin (Illinois No. 6) coal,obtained in 1983 from a commercial preparationplant in west-central Illinois, has the highestorganic sulfur content of any coal in the programand one of the lowest pyritic sulfur values for aconventionally washed coal.IBC-102: High Pyritic Sulfur Colchester Coal(Illinois No. 2) - This Colchester (Illinois No. 2)coal was obtained in 1983 from a western Illinoispreparation plant at a mine that is now closed.This coal is low in organic sulfur and high inpyritic sulfur. Its pyrite is oxidized to sulfate at anunpredictable rate when the coal is exposed toair. Sulfatic sulfur content as high as 0.2% to0.3% has been observed in samples driedovernight in air.IBC-103: Typical 1:1 Ratio of Pyritic toOrganic Sulfur Coal (Mixed Springfield[Illinois No. 5] and Herrin [Illinois No. 6]Coals) - This blend, 80% Springfield (Illinois No.5) coal and 20% Herrin (Illinois No. 6) coal, wastaken in 1983 from a southern Illinois washingplant. It is the highest rank coal in the program.The supply is nearly depleted, and the amountremaining is reserved for previous users. SeeIBC-106 for another 1:1 pyritic to organic sulfurcoal (although lower in rank).IBC-104: High Ash, High Sulfur Herrin Coal;(Illinois No. 6) - This run-of-mine Herrin (IllinoisNo. 6) coal was obtained from a southwesternIllinois mine in 1984. It was selected as a feed forphysical cleaning tests. About 60% of its sulfur ispyritic. The supply of this coal is depleted.IBC-105: Near-Pristine Coal; Channel Sampleof Herrin (Illinois No. 6) - Selection of the

source of this Herrin (Illinois No. 6) coal was bythe U.S. DOE funded APCSP. The IBCSPobjective was to make larger samples of a nearpristine Illinois coal available for engineeringprojects. The coal was obtained in 1985 from thesame block where Argonne collected its lot. Itwas blanketed with argon at the mine to providean inert environment and processed undernitrogen at ANL in a controlled humidityenvironment.IBC-106: Typical 1:1 Ratio Pyritic to OrganicSulfur Illinois Basin Coal; Springfield (IndianaV) Coal - This Springfield (Indiana V) coal wasobtained in 1987 from a southwestern Indianawashing plant. It is the first 100% Springfield Coalin the program. The Indiana V seam is calledIllinois No. 5 in Illinois. This lot is nearly depletedand the remainder is available only to previoususers. The lot was replaced by IBC-110.IBC-107: 34S/32S Isotopically CharacterizedCoal; Herrin (Illinois No. 6) - This Herrin (IllinoisNo. 6) coal has a significant difference in the ratioof 34S/32S isotopes in the organic and pyriticforms of sulfur. It is recommended forresearchers who propose to follow the fate offorms of sulfur in chemical reactions of coal bymonitoring the ratio of sulfur isotopes in theproducts.IBC-108: Very Low Pyrite and Ash, MicronizedCoal; Mixed Springfield (Illinois No. 5) andHerrin (Illinois No. 6) coal - This state-of-the-artphysically cleaned blend of Herrin (Illinois No. 6)coal and Springfield (Illinois No. 5) coal (80% and20%, respectively) is a micronized coal with lowpyritic sulfur. It was produced by an advancedfroth flotation process (microbubble columnflotation) in 1988. It is delivered to requesters asa filter cake (approximately 45% ± 5% moisture).It is ideal for users wanting an Illinois coaldeep-cleaned with respect to pyrite and othermineral matter.IBC-109: Low Sulfur, High Chlorine Coal;Herrin (Illinois No. 6) - This relatively low sulfurHerrin (Illinois No. 6) coal was obtained in 1988from a southern Illinois preparation plant. It isuseful for those seeking a high chlorine contentcoal. This coal is a good choice for those wantingto study a coal that will meet 1.2 pounds of sulfurdioxide per million Btu after deep cleaning toremove pyrite.IBC-110: Typical 1:1 Ratio Springfield Coal(Indiana V) - This Springfield (Indiana V) coal

12

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 17 No. 2 June 2000was obtained in October 1991 from asouthwestern Indiana washing plant (jig) as areplacement for IBC-106.IBC-111: Danville (Indiana VII) Coal ( IllinoisNo. 7 ) - This lot of Danville (Indiana VII) coalwas obtained in November 1992 from a productstream out of a Baum jig water-washer plant at asurface mine in western Indiana. This seam isequivalent to the Illinois No.7 in Illinois.IBC-112: Typical 1:1 Ratio of Pyritic toOrganic Sulfur Illinois Basin coal; Herrin(Illinois No. 6)Coal - This coal is from an underground mine insouthern Illinois where it was washed in aconventional preparation plant. The sulfur contentof this float is typical of much of the high sulfurcoal in the Illinois Basin.Ordering and Assistance - Information onordering and sample availability can be obtainedfrom:Manager, IBCSPPhone:(217)244-4990Illinois State Geological SurveyFax:(217)333-8566615 East Peabody DriveE-mail: [email protected], IL 61820

MERGER

COALTECH USA and COAL PETROGRAPHICASSOCIATES (both PennsylvanianCorporations) merged on January 1,2000. Thisenabled the new company to expand it's technicalexpertise and services offered in the field of coal,coke and specialty carbon evaluations.

The history of the company dates back to theearly 1970's when Bill Berry left Bituminous CoalResearch (BCR) to form W.F. Berry Associatesand provide petrographic and consulting servicesto the coal and steel industries. By the mid 70's,the company expanded it's testing capabilitiesand continued involvement in petrographicconsulting projects. The company rapidly gaineda reputation for expertise in the field of appliedcoal petrography. In 1981, SGS bought W.F.Berry Associates. The following year, SGSpurchased CT&E. W.F. Berry Associates

retained its name and operated as CT&E'sAmerican coal petrography laboratory. The nextmajor change in the company came in 1989. Inthat year the business was purchased from CT&Eby Ray Patalsky to form Coal PetrographicAssociates (CPA). Ray Patalsky ran thiscompany until his death in late 1999.

Effective January 1, 2000, CoalTech USA andCoal Petrographic Associates merged to form

COAL TECH PETROGRAPHIC

ASSOCIATES, INC. The new company is nowheaded by Kevin DeVanney (President andmajority shareholder).

COAL TECH PETROGRAPHIC

ASSOCIATES, INC. currently has a staff ofthirteen full time employees with college degreesin geology, chemistry, biology, and business.The company also uses several independentconsultants to enhance its services. The mainclientele are companies in the USA, howeverover the past few years the client base hasexpanded internationally. The company is nowone of the top three largest independentmetallurgical coal and coke specialty laboratoriesin North America.

The company, located at, 3100 Braun Avenue,Murrysville PA 15668, and provides coal andcoke microscopy and testing as well asspecialty carbon microscopy. Technicalconsulting and expert witness services alongwith coal/coke laboratory quality audits andforensic work pertaining to carbon smeltingand reduction are also available. The companyalso offers technical training and seminars.

For more information you may contact them at:(724) 327-2866 ph(724) 733-4484 [email protected]

13

AAPG INTERNATIONALCONFERENCE & EXHIBITION

OCTOBER 15-18, 2OOO

New at an AAPG international meeting: Support of the technical program byTSOP provided through "Cooperating Organization" status — and ContinuingEducation Unit credit for attending!

The theme for the conference is "Energy for the New Millennium" and isdeveloped through the four pillars of the technical program: Business Strategies;Rocks, Tools and Technology; Regional Geology; and Alternate Energy. A seriesof short courses and field trips within Indonesia and Australia supplement the oraland poster sessions.

Affordable Bali is an island of spiritual enchantment, and for 2000, careerenhancement!

Announcements and registration forms now available!For more information, contact:

AAPG - American Association of Petroleum GeologistsPhone: 1-800-364-2274 (USA and Canada only) or (918) 560-2679Fax: (918) 560-2684 • E-mail: [email protected] • www.aapg.org

IPA - Indonesian Petroleum AssociationPhone: (62-21) 572-4284 • Fax: (62-21) 572-4259 • E-mail [email protected]

BALI 2 0 0 0 COOPERATING ORGANIZATIONS: TSOP, PESA, SEG, SPWLA, SPE, AND CPC

14

Broaden your industryexperience while earningeducational credit—

TSOP PUBLICATIONS

TSOPNumber Name of Publication Price (USD)

(includes shipping)1. Fluoreszenz von Liptiniten und Vitriniten in Beziehung zu Inkohlungsgrad und $10

Verkokungsverhalten - (in German with photomicrographs) M. Teichmuller, 1982

2. Fluorescence - microscopical changes of liptinites and vitrinites during coalification $ 5and their relationship to bitumen generation and coking behavior, TSOP SpecialPublication No. I (English translation by Neely Bostick, without photomicrographs)M. Teichmuller, 1984

3. Influence of Kerogen Isolation Methods on Petrographic and Bulk Chemical Composition $20of a Woodford Shale Sample, TSOP Research Committee Report, October 1989

4. Fluorescence Microscopy Workshop Lecture Notes, 1989 TSOP Meeting $35

5. Organic Geochemistry, 2nd TSOP Meeting, Houston, TX, 1985; Vol. 11, No. 5, 1987 $ 5

6. Organic Geochemistry, 3rd TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1986; Vol. 12, No. 4, 1988 $ 5

7. Organic Geochemistry, 4th TSOP Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1987; Vol. 14, No. 3, 1989 $ 5

8. Organic Geochemistry, 5th TSOP Meeting, Houston, TX, 1988; Vol. 17, No. 2, 1991 $10

9. Organic Geochemistry, 6th TSOP Meeting, Urbana, IL, 1989; Vol. 17, No. 4, 1991 $10

10. Organic Geochemistry, 7th TSOP Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, 1990; Vol. 18, No. 3, 1992 $10

11. Organic Geochemistry, 8th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1991; Vol. 20, No. 2, 1993 $10

12. 8th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, Lexington, KY, 1991 $ 5

13. Organic Geochemistry, 10th TSOP Meeting, Norman, OK, 1993; Vol. 22, No. 1, 1994 $10

14. Energy & Fuels, ACS symposium on kerogen/macerals; Vol. 8, No. 6, 1994 $10

15. 12th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, The Woodlands, TX, 1995 $ 5

16. Organic Geochemistry, 11th TSOP Meeting, Jackson, WY, 1994; Vol. 24, No. 2, 1996 $35

17. International Journal of Coal Geology (IJCG), 12th TSOP Meeting, The Woodlands, TX,1995; Vol. 34, Nos. 3-4, 1997 $15

18. IJCG, 13th TSOP Meeting, Carbondale, IL, 1996; Vol. 37, Nos. 1-2, 1998 $15

19. IJCG, Special Issue: Appalachian Coalbed Methane; Vol. 38, Nos. 1-2, 1998 $20

20. IJCG, 14th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1997; Vol. 39, Nos. 1-3, 1999 $25

21. IJCG, Special Issue: Applied Topics in Coal Geology; Vol. 41, Nos. 1-2, 1999 $25

Please complete a TSOP Publications Order Form. Make checks payable to TSOP.Send orders to:

Brian J. CardottOklahoma Geological Survey telephone: 405/325-3031100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 fax: 405/325-7069Norman, OK 73019-0628 email: [email protected].

We accept checks, most major credit cards, and money orders.

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 17 No.2 June 2000

Editor's Choice Photomicrograph

Editor's Choice Photomicrograph: Top: Early carboniferousChinese Anthracite from Jinzhushan, Hunan. Bottom: Russian Anthracite fromthe Gertowski Basin. Photomicrographs courtesy of Dr. Barbara Kwiecinska,Institute of Geologic and Mineral Deposits, Academy of Minerals andMetallurgy, Krakow, Poland.

16


NEWSLETTER

Vol. 17 No. 3 September 2000 ISSN-0743-3816

Thiessen Medal Awarded To Ralph J. Gray



Co-editors

The TSOP Newsletter welcomes contributions frommembers and non-members alike. Items may besubmitted on computer disk, as an e-mail file or as printedtext via fax or regular mail. We do ask that any disk or e-mail file be written in WordPerfect 6.1, 7, 8, or 9.



Phone:(618)453-3351Fax:(618)453-7393


For purposes of registration of the TSOP Newsletter apermanent mailing is: The Society for Organic Petrology;c/o American Geological Institute, 4220 King Street,Alexandria, VA 22302-1502

Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) is publishedquarterly by The Society For Organic Petrology and isdistributed to all Society Members as a benefit ofmembership. Membership in the Society is internationaland is open to all individuals having an interest in the fieldof organic petrology. For more information onmembership, Society activities, or to acquire membershippacks, please call or write:

Peter WarwickU.S. Geological Survey


Tel: (703) 648-6469Fax::(703) 649-6419



WEBSITE!

www.tsop.orgYou'll find the TSOP discussion forum, links

to other related sites, schedules, dates,meeting updates, and tons of other useful

information!


The official TSOP archival collection is nowavailable for your use.

The collection contains all of the society'snewsletters, publications, programs, field

guides, short course notes, ResearchCommittee reports, minutes of Council

meetings, and member directories.Photocopies of desired materials will be

provided at a cost immediately uponapproval of your request form. Sorry, but nocopies of publications which are currently

for sale by TSOP can be provided. Pleasemake all inquires to:



Bowling Green, KY 42101Phone: (502) 745-3082


Be sure to visit our website at:www.tsop.org

2


The 1999-00

President

Vice President

President Elect

Secretary/Treasurer

Editors

Councilor (1998-00)

Councilor(1999-01)

TSOP Council

Cole Robison

Dave Glick


Peter Warwick



Jeff Quick


A limited number of recent back issues of theTSOP Newsletter are available for members to taketo conferences they are going to attend.Membership packs and application forms are alsoavailable for distribution to interested parties. TSOPis an all-volunteer organization that relies on anactive growing membership base in order to remainhealthy. Only through the efforts of all of itsmembers can TSOP continue to meet itsmembership goals. If you are interested inpromoting TSOP and need some handouts pleasecontact the following individuals:


Phone:(618)453-3351Fax: (6180 453-7393


for membership information Including adownloadable membership application:

www.tsop.org.. or contact membership chairman:


[email protected]

TSOP Mugs!

Help support TSOP activities and get an elegant, sporty anddownright nifty genuine Louisville Stoneware mug for yourcoffee, tea or hot chocolate. At only $10 these mugs are aterrific buy, and they make wonderful gifts too. Be sure tobuy several, mugs get lonely too. To order please contact:

Jim HowerCAER


Phone: (606) 257-0261Fax: (606) 257-0302

Unsolicited endorsement #55 from a satisfied TSOP mugowner:

"I never go anywhere without my TSOP coffee mug: towork, the beach, the gym, field work, you name it!"

AcknowledgmentThe editors wish to acknowledge the support of JohnMead, Director of the Coal Research Center at SIUC,and his staff for assistance in editing and printing this

newsletter and directory.

Deadline for December issue is:

November 17th

3

Attention


September Contents

Cover: Ralph J. Gray receives the Thiessen Medal 1Newsletter business, Masthead, Website info, Archive info 2TSOP Council 3Membership directory updates 4Thiessen Medal awarded to Ralph J. Gray 5Article: TSOP and ICCP Suggested Classification of Organic Matter In Coal and Isolated Kerogen 6

Announcement: The Society For Organic Petrology 18th Annual Meeting - Houston .. 8Earth Science Week Announcement 9TSOP Membership Application 10Geotimes Ad 11Editors' Choice Photomicrographs 12

Announcement

The North American Coalbed Methane Forum, Inc.

Will hold it's fall session on October 31-November 1, 2000:at the Lakeview Conference Center near Morgantown W.V.

For information please contact:

Ihor Havryluk at412-798-1391

-or-

Kashi Aminian at304-293-7682 ext. 3406

4


Thiessen Medal Awarded to Ralph. J. Gray

The Thiessen Medal for the year 2000 has been awardedto Ralph J. Gray by the International Committee for Coaland Organic Petrology for his distinguished achievementsin the application of organic petrology to industrial problems.The Thiessen Medal is the highest internationalrecognition for organic petrologists.

Ralph J. Gray received a B.S. degree in Geology in 1950and the M.S. degree in Geology in 1951 at West VirginiaUniversity where he studied under Dr. Auriel T. Cross. Heworked with Dr. James M. Schopf from 1952 to 1956 heworked as a geologist for the U.S. Geological Survey atOhio State University relating transmitted light to reflectedlight techniques for coal petrographic analysis. For most ofhis professional career from 1957 until 1983 he was aResearch Consultant for U. S. Steel Corporation where heworked on a variety of projects including the developmentof a microscope system for the analysis of coal, coke andcarbons; the development of a petrographic technique forthe prediction of metallurgical coke quality that is still usedwidely; the reactivity of metallurgical coke; and theformulation of coking blends. It is for this coke quality workthat he is best known. However, he was one of the earliestworkers to use reflectance analysis in studies of dispersedvitrinites and he related coke carbon forms andmicrostructures to coke reactivity in CO2 and developedsystems for predicting pressure and volume changes frompetrographic data. His studies of weathered coal resultedin a petrographic technique for its detection andquantification and in an alkali extraction and solventtransmission technique for quantifying the extent of coaloxidation which is now an ASTM standard. His expertise inthe petrography of graphites, baked anodes and otherindustrial carbons is recognized internationally. He has alsomade major contributions to the development of automatedcoal petrography and the petrographic selection of coal foruse in electric furnaces for the production of silicon andferrosilicons.

Perhaps his greatest contribution to the field is his skill andenthusiasm as a teacher. He is a patient and inspiredteacher and he has been teaching the skills of criticalobservation in organic petrology for fifty years and manypast and current members of TSOP have benefited fromhis instruction.

His professional accomplishments and enormouscontributions have also been recognized by the Iron andSteel Society of the American institute of Mining,Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers with the Joseph

Becker Award, by the Coal Division of the GeologicalSociety of America with the Gilbert H. Cady Award, and bythe American Society for Testing and Materials with the R.A. Glenn Award.

Ralph J. Gray is an original member of The Society forOrganic Petrology and he has also been awarded theSociety's highest recognition of Honorary Member status.

Membership Directory Updates

Roger TraderU.S. Geological Survey2775 Altamesa Blvd.Fort Worth Texas 76132

Stan TeermanChevronChevron Park B23406001 Bollinger Canyon Blvd.San Ramon CA 94583-0592Ph: 925-842-0592

Any any changes need to be made to themembership directory, please bring them to theattention of the Co-editors-Thank youWilliam Huggett: [email protected] Crelling: [email protected]

Election Results

2000

President-elect: ELECTED-Tim Moore

Vice President: ELECTED-Neil Sherwood

Councilor: ELECTED-MaryAnn Malinconico

Editor: ELECTED-Jack Crelling

5


TSOP and ICCP Suggested Classification ofOrganic Matter in Coal and Isolated

Kerogen

Over the past few years both TSOP and the ICCP havebeen grappling with amorphous organic matterclassification. A preliminary presentation was made toeach organization in 1998. At both meetings there wassupport for the proposal presented and agreement thatTSOP and ICCP should work together on the project. TheMarch 1999 TSOP Newsletter contained a lengthydiscussion of this topic. A table showing the correlationbetween organic matter in polished block and organicmatter in strewn mounts was revised by Jack Burgess,Carolyn Thompson-Rizer, Lavem Stasiuk, and AdrianHutton. It was circulated to members of ICCP forcomment, earlier this year. The table was devised to showthe equivalence of the recognisable organic matter groupsin reflected light microscopy and with transmitted lightmicroscopy (strewn mounts). We suggest that theclassification of amorphous organic matter in strewnmounts now use the term "amorphinite" (after Van Gijzel,1982 and Senftle et al., 1987). Amorphinite is equivalent toalginite, although we recognize that some workers mightuse amorphinite as equivalent with bituminite. Please seethe table. The possible use of the term was canvassed atICCP in 1998. The use of the amorphinite classification isfor organic matter in strewn mounts. Alginite classification,such as lamalginite and telalginite (Hutton and Cook,1980), is for organic matter in polished mounts.

One comment about the suggested table is that thevitrinite terms should be in line with those accepted by theICCP. We welcome more comments. Following additionalinput, the table will be finalized and an accompanying textprepared for presentation to both TSOP and ICCP. Jack,Carolyn, Lavem, and Adrian welcome your comments.Please forward comments to Adrian by email toadrian [email protected].

At the ICCP meeting in Bucharest in 1999, Lavern Stasiukcanvassed the idea that an atlas or CDROM ofphotographs of dispersed organic matter should becompiled and he agreed to coordinate such a project.Lavern would like to start compiling photographs now fromboth whole rock and isolated kerogen samples. Pleasesend images and sample information directly to Lavern.His email address is: [email protected]

Jack Burgess suggested that we should includeinformation with each image, where available:

-Brief description, as seen by the operator,should be included as this would help inclassifying the organic matter maturity of thesample.

-Rock-Eval analysis would also be useful inorder to correct for vitrinite reflectancesuppression

-geologic age

-formation

-lithology

-type of sample

-well depth

-other relevant information

References Cited

Hutton. A.C. and Cook, A.C., 1980, Influence of alginiteon the reflectance of vitrinite from Joadja, NSW, andsome other coals and oil shales containing alginite. Fuel,59, pp. 711 - 714.

Senftle, J.T., Brown, J.H., and Larter, S.R., 1987,Refinement of organic petrographic methods for kerogencharacterization. Int. J. Coal Geology, 7, pp. 105- 117.

Van Gijzel, P., 1982, Characterization and identificationof kerogen and bitumen and determination of thermalmaturation by means of qualitative and quantitativemicroscopical techniques. In: F.L. Staplin, W.G. Dow,C.W.D. Miner, D.I. O'Connor, S.A. J. Pocock, P. VanGijzel, D.H. Welte and M.A. Yukler (Eds.), How toassess maturation and paleotemperature, SEPM ShortCourse No. 7, Soc. Econ. Paleont. Mineral., Tulsa, pp.159-216.

6

TSOP and ICCP Suggested Classification of Organic Matter in Coal and Isolated Kerogenfrom Petroleum Source Rocks, Oil Shale, Clastics, and Carbonate Rocks1

Type of Sample:

Preparation:

MicroscopeIllumination:

VITRINITE

LIPTINITE

INERTINITE

ZOOCLASTS

Whole Rock Sample

Polished Mount

Reflected White orBlueTelinite

Collinite

Vitrodetrinite

Alginite

Lamalginite4

Telalginite5

Bituminite

Exsudatinite

Fluorinite

Liptodetrinite

Sporinite

Cutinite

Suberinite

Resinite

Bitumen

Oil

Fusinite

Semifusinite

Funginite

Secretinite

Macrinite

Micrinite

Inertodetrinite

Scolecodonts

Graptolites

Chitinozoans

Isolated Kerogen 2

Polished (Pellet) Mount

Reflected White or Blue

Telinite

Collinite

Vitrodetrinite

Alginite

Lamalginite4

Telalginite5

Bituminite (Amorphinite)*

Exsudatinite

Fluorinite

Liptodetrinite

Sporinite

Cutinite

Suberinite

Resinite

Bitumen

Oil

Fusinite

Semifusinite

Funginite

Secretinite

Macrinite

Micrinite

Inertodetrinite

Scolecodonts

Graptolites

Chitinozoans

Strewn Slide

Transmitted and ReflectedWhite or BlueTelinite

Collinite

Vitrodetrinite

Amorphinite3

Bituminite (Amorphinite)*

Exsudatinite

Fluorinite

Liptodetrinite

Sporinite

Cutinite

Suberinite

Resinite

Bitumen

Oil

Fusinite

Semifusinite

Funginite

Secretinite

Macrinite

Micrinite

Inertodetrinite

Scolecodonts

Graptolites

Chitinozoans

Footnotes1. Outcrop, core, side-wall core, well cuttings samples at moderate thermal maturity (within the oil window 0.5 to 1.3% Ro).2. Sample processed with HC1 and HF acids.3. When structures are identifiable, may be classified as an alginite type.4. Examples of lamalginite genera or organisms include: Pediastrum, Nostocopsis, Dinoflagellates & Acritarchs.5. Examples of telalginite genera or organisms include: Botryococcus, Gloeocapsomorpha, & Tasmanitids

* new term needed

7

8

The Society for Organic Petrology18th Annual Meeting

You are invited to Houston, Texas,for TSOP's 18th Annual Meeting

23-26 September 2001

Conference Highlights:* All sessions conveniently located on Houston's

west side at the Westchase Hilton Hotel andConference Center

* Joint TSOP/HOGS (Houston GeochemicalSociety) technical session on Gulf of Mexicogeochemistry

* General technical sessions on organic petrologyand organic geochemistry

* Special student registration rates

* Post-conference fieldtrip (still being planned)

(for more information contact C. R. Robison at (713) 432-6828 or by e-mail atrobiscr@texaco. com)

9

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TSOP Newsletter Vol. 17, No 3 September 2000


Pyrolytic carbon from a by-product coke oven roof. Photomicrograph taken in reflected lightwith polarizer and interference plate. Width of field approximately 300 microns

Baked carbon anode. Large particle on left is calcined petroleum coke and finer grainedmatrix material is carbonized coal tar pitch binder.

Photomicrographs courtesy of Ralph J. Gray


NEWSLETTERVol. 17 No. 4 December 2000 ISSN-0743-3816

Memorial Union, Indiana University, Bloomington IndianaSite of the TSOP 2000 Annual Meeting

TSOP ConferenceBloomington, Indiana

September 2000

First row, l-r:Jenny Wong, Suzanne Russell, Sue Rimmer, P. K. Mukhopadhyay (Muki), Miryam Glickson,Maria Mastalerz, Sarah Pietraszek-Mattner, MaryAnn Malinconico, Takashi Hasegawa

Second row l-r: Nelson Shaffer, Art Cohen, Colin Ward, Lila Gurba, Abhilit Basu, Michelle Hawke, IvanaSykorva, Raymond Pheifer, Tanaporn Sakulpitakphon, Zhongsheng Li

Third row, l-r: Zhiwen Han, Tim Moore, Bill Huggett, Jim Hower, Lavern Stasiuk, Jack Crelling,Erwin Zodrow, Erika Eiswick, Jack Burgess, Carolyn Thompson-Rizer, Andrzej Radlinski

Fourth row, l-r: Jeff Quick, Cole Robison, Peter Warwick, Chen-Lin Chou, Dave Glick, Neil Sherwood,Cortland Eble, Juergen Schieber, Tracy Branam, Brian Cardott, Marc Bustin, John Comer, MichaelKruge, Kenneth Kuehn

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000

The Society For OrganicPetrology

The Society for Organic Petrology: c/oAmerican Geological Institute, 4220 KingStreet, Alexandra, VA 22302-1520

Co-editors:

John C. Crelling & William W. Huggett

The TSOP Newsletter welcomes contributionsfrom members and non-members alike.Items may be submitted on computer disk, asan e-mail attachment or as printed text via faxor regular mail. The format may be in eitherMS word or WordPerfect.Please sent to:

John C. Crelling /William W. HuggettDepartment of Geology

Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale Illinois 62901-4324

Phone:(618)453-7381Fax:(618)453-7393


Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743) ispublished quarterly by The Society ForOrganic Petrology and is distributed to allSociety Members as a benefit of membership.Membership in the Society is internationaland open to all individuals having an interestin the field of Organic Petrology. For moreinformation on membership, Society activitiesor to inquire about membership packs pleasecontact:


956 National CenterReston VA 20192

Tel: (703) 648-6469Fax: (703)648-6419

e-mail: [email protected] Information may also be obtained

on our website:www.tsop.org

DecemberContents

Cover Memorial Union, Indiana University, BloomingtonIndiana. Site of the 17th annual TSOP meeting.

2. Group Photo.

4. President's Letter

6. Announcement and Call For Papers: 53rd

International Committee for Coal and OrganicPetrology Annual Meeting

8. Article - Brian Cardott: American Association ofPetroleum Geologists and Energy Minerals DivisionLiaison.

9. Call for research proposals

11. 2000 TSOP Graduate Student Research Grants

16. Annual Meeting Review

17. Obituary: Marlies Teichmuller

19. TSOP - Houston 2001: Call For Papers

21. Review: Outgoing & Incoming 2000 TSOP CouncilMeetings

22. 2000 - 2001 TSOP Council Members andCommittee Chairs

23. NEW TSOP Members

25. TSOP Publications for sale

27. Call for slides, Special subscription offer, ArchivesInformation

28. Editors' Choice Photomicrographs

3


President's Column

Beginning of a New Millennium: New Directions for TSOPPrasanta K. Mukhopadhyay (Muki)

(e-mail: [email protected])

This is my first column in the Newsletter as thePresident of TSOP. I wish you all a Happy andProsperous New Year and a New Millennium. Recently,TSOP Secretary-Treasurer Peter Warwick hasinformed me that eight new members have joinedTSOP since September 19, 2000. These newmembers are Elvira Barcelona, Gareth Chalmers, R.Vance Hall, Maria Hamor-Vido, Christopher M. Kravits,Tanaporn Sakulpitakphon, Li Zhongsheng, and ErwinL. Zodrow. I congratulate them all for becoming TSOPMembers. I also welcome all members of TSOP fortheir active support for the society. TSOP is in itseighteenth year and has already become a globalsociety. If you look at the current characteristics of theTSOP council, it will reveal the global locations ofvarious members. Therefore, I would like to encourageand request all members, especially our studentmembers and the members outside North America toparticipate in various TSOP activities.

I thank Cole Robison, former President (1999-2000) ofTSOP for his excellent service to TSOP during hisPresidency. Our annual meeting is a great place tomeet new and old friends, acquire many new ideas forfuture research, and participate in entertainingdiscussions during the scientific sessions and TSOPCouncil Meetings. The 17th Annual Meeting of TSOPwas held in Bloomington, Indiana during September17-20,2000. The meeting was excellent and very wellorganized. I thank Maria Mastalerz and her team ofvolunteers and scientists for organizing the meetingvery well. Please join us in our annual meeting inHouston, Texas next year. For any informationregarding the 18th Annual Meeting (September 23-26,2001) of TSOP in Houston, Texas, please contact ColeRobison (e-mail: [email protected]). All membersare welcome to join next year's Midyear Meeting(tentatively scheduled during the 3rd week of March,2001) in Reston, Virginia and the Outgoing CouncilMeeting of TSOP in Houston, Texas at their ownexpenses. If you are interested in joining the TSOPMidyear Meeting in Reston , please contact Peter

Warwick, US Geological Survey (e-mail:[email protected])This year, Suzanne Russell has accepted theposition of Chair of the Research Committee. Icongratulate Suzanne for taking this position. Itdelights me to see Suzanne has accepted thechallenges of co-ordinating the future research goalof our whole group. In order to diversify organicpetrology and conduct research in new frontiers ofscience in the 21st Century, I have proposed threenew research topics to the Research Committee atthe Bloomington Meeting. These topics include:

"Organic Matter in Meteorites and OtherPlanets: Fingerprinting Origin of Life andHydrocarbons in Extraterrestrial Environment".For this topic, we may communicate theastrogeology groups in other societies to getsamples from various carbonaceousmeteorites. We plan to request NASA to senda part of the sample from Mars at a certainpoint in time, when the samples are madeavailable in the future. Accordingly, this year(2000-2001), we might begin a round robinstudy on petrology of the organic matter inCarbonaceous Meteorites;"The relationship and genesis of reflectance ofthe humic vitrinite, suppressed vitrinite, andsolid bitumen especially under variabledepositional environment". We plan tocommence some form of round robin analysisnext year"Evaluation of Global Climate Change in theQuaternary by studying the petrology of thepeat and early lignite (if available) comparingthe deposits from cold arid to humid tropicalenvironments". This would be quite topical atthis stage of controversy on global climatechange. We plan to begin some round robinanalysis sometime soon.

/ would, therefore, request the memberswho are either interested in participating in any ofthese research projects or planned to send a newresearch proposal, to contact Suzanne Russell,

4

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000Chairperson, Research Committee (e-mail:[email protected]). Along with these researchtopics, we have also planned to pursue the publicationof a book on "Source Rocks for Petroleum - Examplesfrom the North and South America" jointly with AAPG.

Carolyn Thompson-Rizer, Past Chairperson of theTSOP Research Committee has resigned this yearfrom her position as Chairperson of the researchcommittee. Under Carolyn's leadership, the researchcommittee has done an excellent job over the pastseveral years. I thank Carolyn for her dedicatedservice to TSOP. A research subcommittee (includesJack Burgess, Adrian Hutton, Lavern Stasiuk, andCarolyn Thompson-Rizer) has completed their worklast year on the classification of dispersed organicmatter. An unmodified version of the classification hasbeen included in the last issue of TSOP Newsletter(volume 17, no.3). The modified version of theclassification of dispersed organic matter will bepublished in the future issue of the Newsletter.

At the incoming council meeting in Bloomington,Indiana, the 2000-2001 TSOP council has set up a newTSOP Committee on Geochemistry to bridge the gapbetween the TSOP members specialized ingeochemistry and those specialized in organicpetrology. I congratulate Michael A. Kruge who hasaccepted the position of the Chairperson forGeochemistry Committee for this year (2000-2001).

Currently, TSOP is affiliated with the AmericanAssociation of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) as an"Associated International Organizations" (see AAPGBulletins) and with the American Geological Institute(AGI) as a "Member Society" (see GEOTIMES). In thisDecember, 2000 issue of the Newsletter, Brian Cardott(e-mail: [email protected]), a liaison for TSOP withAAPG, has written a short article about the status ofour affiliation with AAPG. As a liaison person for TSOPin AGI, I will address only the following issuesconcerning AGI. In the future issue of TSOPNewsletter, I will include some details about theactivities of AGI.

The American Geological Institute (AGI) willrelease the ninth edition of the GeoRef Thesaurusin November 2000. The ninth edition containsapproximately 28,000 terms, of which nearly 1,500are new additions.Recently, AGI has invited their member societiesto write something about their organization in thespecial issue of the GEOTIMES magazine on the

"Technology in the Earth Sciences". According,TSOP Council has chosen to place a coloradvertisement in the GEOTIMES. If you areinterested in this color Advertisement, pleaselook at page 61of the November, 2000 issue ofGEOTIMES. I thank MaryAnn L. Malinconicoand Dave Glick for their excellent work on thisissue.The American Geological Institute now has onits web site 'The Geosciences Calendar'containing entries submitted by organizers ofmeetings of interest to geoscientists. Itscoverage is broad, and primarily focuses onthe earth sciences but also includes otherphys i ca l s c i e n c e s , e n g i n e e r i n g ,instrumentation, and pertinent aspects ofeducation, law, and social sciences. Theamount of detail for each meeting isdetermined by the organizers' submission.Dave Glick (e-mail: [email protected]) has includeda link to AGI's calendar at the top of the TSOPweb site's calendar page; to go to AGI'sdirectly, use http://calendar.agiweb.org/.TSOP's own calendar endeavors to includeconcise listings for meetings of specific interestto organic petrologists and organicgeochemists, with a link to the meeting ororganizer web page. Organizers of organicpetrology and geochemistry meetings areencouraged to submit a posting to the AGIcalendar, as well as notifying Dave Glick of thedetails for inclusion on TSOP's calendar([email protected]). I thank Dave who haswritten this part of the information concerningAGI.

At this stage, TSOP Newsletter requires yourcontribution to make its future issues moreattractive and interactive. Therefore, I request allmembers to contribute some news or short articlesor photographs to the TSOP Newsletter. If youplanned to send some articles or information,please contact TSOP Newsletter Editors JackCrelling (e-mail: [email protected]) or BillHuggett (e-mail: [email protected]).

Finally, I thank C. Barker, B. Cardott, J. Hower, C.Robison, C. Thompson-Rizer, and all the 2000-2001 TSOP Council Members for their help onvarious issues that I have confronted until now.

5

ANNOUNCEMENT

53rd International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology (ICCP) Annual Meetingincluding

The Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP)/ICCP one-day session

August 12-19,2001

organised by the

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)Copenhagen, Denmark

G E U S

The organising committee of the 53rd ICCP annual meeting, including the one-day TSOP/ICCPsession, extends an invitation to attend the meeting hosted by the Geological Survey of Denmarkand Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark.We cordially invite you to submit an abstract and present an oral presentation and/or poster at theTSOP/ICCP session. All subjects dealing with organic petrography are welcome, but weparticularly welcome presentations focusing on 'Organic petrology applied to petroleum andCoalbed methane studies'.More comprehensive information will be supplied by mail to members of ICCP and TSOP and willbe available on www.geus.dk/ICCP2001 or contact

H.I. Petersen:P. Rosenberg:

e-mail: [email protected]: [email protected]

Phone: +45 3814 2455Phone: +45 3814 2454

Call for papers !

one-day TSOP/ICCP SESSION, 15th August 2001

at the 53rd ICCP meeting, 12-19 August 2001, Copenhagen, Denmark

The 53rd ICCP meeting includes a one-day TSOP/ICCP session, which has been organised togetherwith Dr. Charley Barker.

All kind of topics dealing with organic petrography are welcome, although we will in particularwelcome presentations dealing with

"Organic petrology applied to petroleum and Coalbed methane studies".

We encourage you to take the opportunity to make a presentation, either as an oral presentation oras a poster. The oral presentations are scheduled to 25 min., including some minutes to questions.

X Deadline for submission of abstracts is April lst 2001

Abstracts up to 4 pages (including figures) will be accepted. Leave 2 cm margins on both sides, useVA line spacing and a 12-point GC Times Roman (or similar) font. Title of abstract should be in 12-point bold and include names of authors (12-point) and affiliations (10-point).Example:

Hydrocarbon traces in the Tertiary basalts of the Faeroe Islands

T. Laiera, H. P. Nytofta, O. Jørgensenb and G. H. Isaksenc

aGeological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, ....bNational Institute of Occupational Health,

cExxon Production Research Co

Hydrocarbons in the form of.

Please enclose a copy of your abstract on a diskette (Word, WordPerfect) or send an e-mail with theabstract attached to: [email protected]

It is planned to publish the papers presented at the TSOP/ICCP session as a special issue of theInternational Journal of Coal Geology. Please consider submitting a paper for this publication and,if so, we would encourage you to submit your manuscript at the meeting.

X Deadline for submission of manuscripts will be November 1st 2001

! For information about the ICCP/TSOP meeting, visit our website: www.geus.dk/ICCP2001

7

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000American Association of Petroleum

Geologistsand Energy Minerals Division Liaison

Brian J. Cardott

TSOP was approved as an "Associated Society" ofthe American Association of Petroleum Geologists(AAPG) on June 12, 1994 (TSOP Newsletter, v.11, nos. 3-4, p. 5). An Associated Society ofAAPG is defined as "duly organized groups orsocieties which serve the needs of members of theAssociation in topically and/or geographicallydefined areas and which by objects, aims,constitutions, bylaws, or practice are functioning inharmony with the objects and aims of theAssociation." Benefits for AAPG AssociatedSocieties include the following: (1) free 1/4-pageblack and white ad annually in AAPG Explorer; (2)twenty percent discount off published ad rates inExplorer and Bulletin; (3) annual meeting listing onthe Bulletin meetings calendar; (4) AssociatedSociety members pay AAPG Member rate on pre-and on-site registration at annual AAPGconvention and other AAPG meetings for whichAAPG is financially responsible (e.g., selectedsectional meetings); (5) access to AAPG mailinglists at Affiliated Society rate (approximately cost+ 10%), subject to approval of material to bemailed; (6) priority consideration of proposedtechnical sessions at AAPG meetings; (7) prioritytreatment of requests for business meetings andsocial functions at AAPG meetings; (8) priorityaccess to utilization of AAPG services(membership maintenance, directories,composition and printing, meetings management,etc.) through contractual agreements; and (9)cooperative continuing education, publishing andmarketing ventures. TSOP is listed in the"Directory of Associated and Affiliated Societies" inthe AAPG Bulletin. More information about theAAPG can be obtained from their website atwww.aapg.org.

The Energy Minerals Division (EMD) is one ofthree divisions in the AAPG. The other twodivisions are the Division of Professional Affairs(DPA) and Division of Environmental Geosciences(DEG). Membership in the divisions is in additionto membership in the AAPG.

The EMD was established in 1977 "as aninternational forum for those working in theexploration, development, and production ofenergy sources other than conventional oil andnatural gas. The purpose of EMD is to advancethe science of geology as it relates to remotesensing and to any earth materials capable ofbeing used for energy production, to provide aforum for addressing developments in mineral andenergy economics and in fuels supply andutilization technology, and to promote theintegration of geoscientific knowledge with those inrelated professions and activities" (from EMDwebsite). Technical committees of the EMDinclude: coal, Coalbed methane, oil shale, tarsands, remote sensing, geothermal, nuclearminerals, gas hydrates, and energy economics andtechnology. EMD certifies coal professionalsthrough the "Certified Coal Geologist" program.

Regular EMD functions at the AAPG annualconvention are oral and poster sessions, shortcourses, field trips, business meetings, and aluncheon. Themes of EMD-sponsored sessions atthe 2000 AAPG annual convention in New Orleanswere: sequence stratigraphy of coal-bearing strata;growth industries and applications for the 21st

century: gas hydrates, oil shales, tar sands,Coalbed methane, and geothermal reservoirs; andenvironmental and geohazard implications of gashydrates. TSOP cosponsored a theme with AAPGand SEPM on "Petroleum systems: new insightsrelated to organic maturity indicators."

The EMD website (www.emdaapg.org) containsgeneral information on EMD technical areas andregional sections. The website is still in the earlyplanning stages. Future additions to the websitewill include several items in the Members Onlysection (member directory; EMD proceduresmanual; technical article, references, and weblinks for each EMD technical area).

EMD is a cosponsor of the journal "NaturalResources Research." The "Atlas of CoalGeology" (AAPG Studies in Geology 45) was ajoint project between TSOP and EMD. As anofficially recognized Associated Society of AAPG,TSOP has the opportunity for further collaborationwith AAPG through joint sessions and publications.TSOP also benefits from the publicity that AAPGprovides.

8

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000Call for Research Proposals

The Research Committee chairmanship hasrecently passed from Carolyn Thompson-Rizer tome. Carolyn has provided much appreciatedassistance in this transition and I gratefullyacknowledge it. Supporting the ResearchCommittee are Tim Moore, President-Elect, andJeff Quick, Councilor.

We presently have one working subcommittee,Kerogen Classification, with members JackBurgess, Adrian Hutton and Vern Stasiuk (see thePresident's message in this issue and also theSeptember 2000 Newsletter). Ideas for additionalsubcommittees were proposed by Muki and JackCrelling at the Annual Business Meeting inBloomington. The subjects proposed are listedbelow:

1) "Organic Matter in Meteorites and on OtherPlanets: Fingerprinting the Origin of Life andHydrocarbons in the Extraterrestrial Environment"

This subcommittee could communicate with NASAand existing astrogeology groups in other societiesto obtain samples from various carbonaceousmeteorites and from the Mars Probe when it will berecovered in the future. A round robin study onthe petrology of the organic matter inCarbonaceous Meteorites could be conducted.Recent ACS Geochemistry Division abstractsshow that geochemists have already started thistype of work.

2) Compile a volume in association with AAPGpublication on "Source Rocks for Petroleum in aSequence Stratigraphic Framework: Examplesfrom North and South America". This could bebroadened to a world perspective if enough dataand samples were available from other parts of theworld. Muki has already discussed this conceptwith the AAPG Editor at the AAPG AnnualConference this year in New Orleans. Theinitial concept for the volume is to include aspectsof the sedimentary environment ofsource rock deposition and geochemical data.Both transmitted and reflected lightmicroscopy would be incorporated. Collaborationwith AAPG would be similar to theCoal Atlas where TSOP is benefiting from AAPGsales.

3) Evaluate more precisely the relationshipbetween vitrinite and solid bitumen reflectance,especially when vitrinite reflectance is suppressedand the solid bitumens have various compositions.

4) Evaluate global climate change in theQuaternary period by studying the petrology ofpeat and early lignite (if any) deposits, comparingthose from cold, arid climates to those from humid,tropical environments.

5) A study of pre-Silurian "vitrinitic"(proposed informally by Ray Pheifer)

material

These topics are offered with the intent ofinteresting TSOP members in submitting a formalproposal to pursue one of these or other ideas.Starting a subcommittee is a simple process. Aproposal is submitted using the format provided inthis Newsletter. Council will approve proposals attheir spring and fall meetings. Monetary grantsare available through Council to pursuesubcommittee activities. A subcommitteechairman will be nominated by the researchcommittee chairman (volunteers are encouraged)and approved by Council. A subcommittee isdiscontinued when there has been no activity fortwo years.

Those wishing to start a subcommittee or workinggroup should complete the enclosed form andsend to

Suzanne J. RussellShell E&P Technology, Applications and Research3737 Bellaire Blvd.Houston, TX 77025Phone:713-245-7603Fax: 713-245-7599Email: [email protected]

Address Corrections

Kevin DeVanneyCoalTech Petrographic Associates3100 Braun AvenueMurrysville, PA 15668

Phone: (724) 327-2866Fax: (724) [email protected]

9

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000TSOP Research Committee Proposal Form

For Subcommittees and/or TSOP Sponsored Projects

Title of subcommittee:

Title of project:

Why is this project of benefit to TSOP? (use additional paper where needed)

Goal(s):

Approach or method(s):

Anticipated products:

Suggested subcommittee chairman:

Suggested subcommittee members:

Estimated time for completion of project:

Estimated cost of project:

10

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 20002000 TSOP Graduate Student

Research Grants

This year's competition for the TSOP GraduateStudent Research Grant resulted in two $1000awards. The two grant recipients are listed below:

Michelle Hawke, University of British Columbia, for"Anthropogenic trace metals in peats in theenvirons of industrial point sources-a combinedgeochemical and petrographic approach."

Rachel Walker, Indiana University, for "Elementalcomposition of coal macerals; distribution ofnitrogen as determined from an electronmicroprobe".

A total of nine applications from five countries(Brazil, Canada, Greece, Spain and USA) werereceived. The applicants were four Master'scandidates and five PhD candidates. TSOP grantapplication reviewers were Sharon Crowley, U.S.Geological Survey; Dave Glick, Penn State(retired); and Ken Kuehn, Western KentuckyUniversity.

Other applicants and their research topics follow:

Marleny Blanco, Universidade Federal do RioGrande do Sul (Brazil), "Organic Petrology, OrganicGeochemistry and Palynofacies of JurassicSediments from the Tectono-Stratigraphy UnitPlacetas, Cuba".

Angel Francisco Callejon, University of Houston,"Oil generation potential of coals and coaly shalesin the Eastern Venezuelan Basin".

Tara Curtin, University of Arizona, "Seasonalclimate signals preserved in laminated lacustrinerocks in Triassic Lake Ischichuca in theIschigualasto Basin, NW Argentina".

Beatriz Gomez Vicente, Instituto Nacional delCarbon (Spain), "Chemical and energy potential ofshales".

Andreas lordanidis, Aristotle University ofThessaloniki, Organic Geochemistry of Greeklignites from Florina-Amynteon-Ptolemais Basin,Northern Greece".

Heidi Anne Justman, New Mexico Institute ofMining and Technology, "An Evaluation of thesource rock, reservoir rock and sequencestratigraphy for the Brushy Canyon Formation'shydrocarbon accumulations of the Delaware Basin,Southeastern New Mexico'.

Thomas Kastner, University of South Carolina,"Organic geochemistry of Amazon deep sea fansediments-an investigation of tropical climatechange during the last glacial-interglacial cycle".

This year's awardees have provided synopses ofthe research projects supported by the TSOP grant.

The use of peatlands in monitoringheavy metals in the environs of

point sources-methods,advantages, and future approaches.

Hawke, M.I., and Bustin, R.M., Department of Earthand Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia,Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4 and Goodarzi, F.,Geological Survey of Canada-Calgary, 3303 3rd St.NW, Calgary, AB, T2M 2A7

Many aspects of trace element partitioningin the environment are poorly understood, and thusit is difficult to accurately assess the impact that ananthropogenic source of heavy metals will have onthe surrounding environment. The capacity fororganic sediments to sequester and retain metalshas long been recognized, and the potential forpeatlands to act as sinks for atmospheric andgroundwater contamination in areas of elevatedpollution has been discussed by several authors(e.g. Mathews and Bustin, 1994; Görres andFrenzel, 1997; West et al., 1997). Measuring theemissions released from a given source anddetermining the impact on the surroundingenvironment remains difficult. In particular, manyof the environmental trace element studiesconducted to date have ignored the impact ofnaturally-occurring geogenic trace elements, orhave made erroneous or questionableoversimplifications in calculating "background"levels. Clearly, a better understanding of the fate

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TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000of fugitive trace metals in the surroundingenvironment is needed. A combination of chemicaland organic petrological techniques may yield agreat deal of information concerning the processesresponsible for the partitioning of trace elementswithin peatlands. A study of peatlands in theenvirons of point sources of trace elementcontamination offers an opportunity to developmethodologies to use peatlands to monitor thedistribution of trace metal pollutants, and to developan understanding of the role of organic deposits insequestering geogenic and anthropogenic traceelements.

The objectives of this research are 1) tomeasure the concentration of selectedenvironmentally-significant trace elements (Sb, As,Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni and Zn) in peat profiles from thearea surrounding the point sources, and todetermine the source (geogenic or anthropogenic orboth) and b) to determine the mode of occurrenceof the trace metals, through the combined use ofsequential extraction techniques and microscopy.

Two types of point sources were selected: alead-zinc smelter and a group of coal-fired powerplants. Both types of industries have been cited asmajor sources of atmospheric trace metal pollution.A series of sampling sites were selected from thearea surrounding the point sources, based on theavailability of organic sediments, distance from thepoint source, and direction of prevailing winds. Aprofile was sampled from each site, along withmineral soil from nearby. In the case of thesmelter, two sites were in close proximity to thesmelter, and two "background" sites were locatedover 10 km away, and were underlain by differentbedrock from the sites near the smelter. In thecase of the generating stations, one site waslocated near the four power plants, and one sitewas 13 km upwind of the plants. The underlyinggeology differed between the two sites. Total traceelemental concentrations were measured by INAAand ICP-MS from bulk samples taken from varyingdepths within each profile. This data was comparedwith atmospheric deposition data obtained frommoss monitoring stations, which are part of aconcurrent Geological Survey of Canada study,under the direction of Dr. F. Goodarzi. The mossmonitoring stations consist of flat square mesh bagsstuffed with acid-washed Sphagnum moss, whichare mounted in frames on top of 2 m poles, and are

exposed to the air for three months. Approximately30 moss monitoring stations are located in eachfield area, and are situated in order to delineate theimpact of atmospheric fallout throughout the area.Peat elemental data was also compared to that ofmineral soils. The ash content and mineralogy ofthe peat ash were also considered in thiscomparison of data. Methodologies that have beencommonly employed in environmental studies, suchas normalization to "conservative" elements, andcalculations of element ratios with publishedabundance ratios, were also employed, but werefound to be of little value.

The smelter site is situated in an area in whichthe bedrock is highly variable over short lateraldistances. Elemental concentrations varythroughout the vertical peat profiles, indicating thatthere is post-depositional mobility ofatmospherically deposited trace elements, and thatbedrock geochemistry exerts a major influence onpeat chemistry. One background site, for example,has considerably different ash mineralogy andpatterns of trace element distribution from the moreheavily impacted sites located near the smelter.Trace elemental concentrations increase with depthat the background site, while the concentration oftrace elements are much higher and generallydecrease with depth at the sites located close to thesmelter. Arsenic, however, was often found toincrease in concentration with increasing depth,suggesting that it forms a mobile species in the peatprofiles. Peat trace metal concentrations areextremely high near the smelter and decreaserapidly with distance.

The trace elemental concentrations from thepower plant sites indicate that the power plants arenot major sources of trace elements to thesurrounding environment and that most of themeasured trace elements are geogenic in origin.Trace element concentrations are typically higher atthe background site (arkosic sandstone bedrock)than at the site located near the power plants(calcareous sandstone bedrock).

The peat results were compared to atmosphericdeposition values measured by moss monitoringstations, and to the bulk trace elemental contents ofthe mineral soils. It was found that high values foratmospheric metal deposition correlated with theoccurrence of high peat metal values, while the

12

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000areas near the background sites were subject tovery little atmospheric deposition. At the highlyimpacted sites close to the smelter, metalconcentrations were found to be much higher in thepeats than in the nearby mineral soils, indicatingthat preferential sequestration occurs within theorganic sediments, and that the high concentrationsof trace elements are attributable to anthropogenicfactors. At the smelter background sites and thepower plant sites, the trace metal concentrationsare higher within the mineral soils, which suggeststhat the majority of the metals are geogenic inorigin.

In order to further distinguish betweengeogenic and anthropogenic inputs, the peats wereexamined with reflected light microscopy. Themorphology of the particles can frequently be usedto identify origin, as fly ash particles are commonlyspherical or rounded in shape, while detrital mineralmatter is more typically angular. Highly reflectingcircular or spherical fly ash particles were foundwithin the upper portions of the peat profiles closestto the smelter, while these particles are absent fromthe sites farther away. No fly ash particles werefound within the peats from the environs of thepower plant. The highly contaminated smelter sitesshow evidence of permineralization in associationwith organic matter (commonly within cell walls orwithin cell lumina). The importance of organicmatter in the precipitation of certain mineralphases, particularly sulphides and Fe-Mn hydrousoxide species, is well known. An examination ofpeats containing high concentrations of traceelements and sulphides using coal petrographictechniques will provide insight into the neoformationof mineral matter. Further investigations, usingSEM-EDX to identify the elemental composition ofdiscrete particles, are planned.

Sequential extraction requires the use of aseries of reagents that selectively extract a givenphase from the sample, allowing for thedetermination of the concentration of the elementspresent in each phase. In this way, it can bedetermined which elements are readily mobile,which elements are in less mobile forms, and whichelements are associated with the mineral fraction.The sequential extraction procedure used in thisresearch was developed from methods described in

Tessier et al., (1977), Hall et al., (1996a,b), Land etal., (1999), Clark et al., (1997), and Kersten andFörstner (1987). Phases of elemental associationextracted are: water soluble, exchangeable,associated with carbonates, associated with oxidesof iron and manganese, associated with organicmatter and bound in mineral matter. Elementalanalysis of the extracts was performed by ICP-MS.This phase of the study is currently in progress.

Although there has been considerableresearch directed towards measuring trace metalsaround point sources such as smelters and thermalgenerating stations, the approach used in this studyencompasses a broader range of detection methodsthan has been used previously. The ability todifferentiate between geogenic and anthropogenicinputs has presented a major problem inenvironmental studies, particularly in areas withcomplex bedrock geology. The concurrent use ofseveral different detection methods may provideinformation which, when combined, can eliminatemuch of the uncertainty that has plagued previousstudies.

References:

Clark, M.W., McConchie, D., Lewis, D.W. andSaenger, P. (1998) Redox stratification and heavymetal partitioning in Avicennia-dominatedmangrove sediments: a geochemical model.Chemical Geology, 149: 147-171.

Görres, M. and Frenzel, B. (1997) Ash and metalconcentrations in peat bogs as indicators ofanthropogenic activity. Water, Air and SoilPollution, 100: 355-365.

Hall, G.E.M., Vaive, J.E., and MacLaurin, A.I.(1996) Analytical aspects of the application ofsodium pyrophosphate reagent in the specificextraction of the labile organic compounds ofhumus and soils. Journal of GeochemicalExploration, 56: 23-36.

Hall, G.E.M., Vaive, J.E., Beer, R., and Hoashi, M.(1996) Selective leaches revisited, with emphasison the amorphous Fe oxyhydroxide phaseextraction. Journal of Geochemical Exploration,56: 59-78.

13

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000Kersten, M., and Förstner, U. (1987) Effect ofsample pretreatment on the reliability of solidspeciation data of heavy metals-Implications for thestudy of early diagenetic processes. MarineChemistry, 22: 299-312.

Land, M., Ohlander, B., Ingri, J., and Thunberg, J.(1999) Solid speciation and fractionation of rareearth elements in a spodosol profile from northernSweden as revealed by sequential extraction.Chemical Geology, 160:121-138.

Mathews, W.H. and Bustin, R.M. (1994) Tracemetal geochemistry of peat under a sanitary landfill-a reconnaissance. Environmental Geology, 23: 14-22.Tessier, A., Campbell, P.G.C. and Bisson, M.(1979) Sequential extraction procedure for thespeciation of particulate trace metals. AnalyticalChemistry, 51: 844-851.

West, S., Charman, D.J., Grattan, J.P., andCherburkin, A.K. (1997) Heavy metals in Holocenepeats from southwest England: Detecting miningimpacts and atmospheric pollution. Water, Air andSoil Pollution, 100: 343-353.

Elemental composition of coalmacerals; distribution of nitrogen asdetermined from an electronmicroprobe.

Rachel WalkerDepartment of Geological Sciences, Indiana

University.

1.0 Introduction to problem

The elemental composition of coal is commonlydetermined using bulk coal samples (e.g.: CHNanalysis, with O determined by difference), whichprovide data representing an average of allmacerals present. Although some macerals(usually vitrinite) may be separated by hand andanalysed, this is a time consuming process, whichmay still result in mixed samples, especially whenmacerals are finely interspersed. Most maceralsoccur only in association with other macerals andcannot be successfully separated by hand. Densitygradient centrifugation (DGC) has been applied with

some success in these situations, with maceralgroups separating out during centrifugation due toinherent density differences. Careful application ofDGC can also yield concentrations of subsets ofmacerals e.g.: cutinite from liptinites in general(Stankiewicz, B. A., 1995). However, even thismethod cannot produce entirely pure sets ofmacerals but a sample which is dominated by theparticular maceral wanted, with some degree ofcontamination from other maceral fragments.Recent research has looked to applying electronmicroprobe technology to the question of maceralchemical composition (Bustin et al., 1993;Mastalerz & Bustin, 1993a, b; Bustin et al., 1996).The advantages of this technique include the abilityto determine the composition of specific maceralsin-situ, with an electron beam size of several mm.In this technique both definite identification andelemental compositions of individual macerals canbe obtained.

Although results from the microprobe have beenproven reliable for elements such as C, O, and S,it has not been so for nitrogen (Bustin et al., 1993,Ward & Gurba, 1998). Nitrogen has proven difficultto accurately measure due to low peak tobackground ratios and its high volatility, along withinterference from other elements including carbon.The unreliable results gained for N has often led toit not being included in published studies utilisingthe electron microprobe for coal composition(Stankiewicz et al., 1996, Stankiewicz, Kruge &Mastalerz, 1996, Gurba & Ward, 1998). The abilityto precisely determine the nitrogen content ofmacerals is very important. Very little is knownabout the variation in N content both between andwithin macerals. C/N ratios are also important indiscriminating between marine and terrestrialorigins for kerogens (Meyers, 1994). The ability todetermine N would make the electron microprobefully applicable to organic matter studies.

2.0 Proposed Research

The purposes of this study are 1) to resolve thenitrogen problem and propose a technique thatwould lead to reliable and precise determination ofthis element and 2) to study nitrogen variationwithin vitrinites covering a range of ranks.

14

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000The microprobe nitrogen standard currently used isboron nitride, with approximately 56 wt % N, whichmay not be suitable for analyzing organic matter,which typically contains only a few percent N.Prospective new standards chitin (6.8 wt% N) andasphalt (2.3 wt% N), which exhibit similar nitrogenpeaks to coals and kerogens, will be tested in orderto determine their usefulness. A search will also bemade for other suitable standard materials, withappropriate testing carried out on any found to bepromising. Preliminary observations suggest greatpotential for these two standards. After the tests onthese two standards have been completed, arecommendation will be made about the finalstandard choice and its incorporation into a lightelement analysis routine.

The second objective will involve mapping thevariation in N content within vitrinites from a rangeof coal ranks. Seven samples of hand-separatedvitrinite, originating from coals with ranks rangingbetween 0.5% and 5.3% have been obtained, alongwith corresponding ultimate analysis of theseparates. From these vitrinites, polished pelletswill be made and prepared for use in the electronmicroprobe. Twenty-five analyses per sample willbe obtained under the microprobe to achieve anaverage composition for the samples. In addition,transects will be made across single vitrinite layersin order to investigate N variation within individualvitrinites of various ranks.

3.0 Significance

The ability to determine the light elementcomposition of individual macerals will contributegreatly to understanding the influence of rank uponeach maceral group as well as helping to explain,on a more detailed level, coking properties andhydrocarbon generation. The ability to accuratelydetermine N within macerals is central to this, as itthen allows, along with knowledge of C, O, S andminor elements, better calculation of H contents.This would then be applied to ongoing researchaimed at characterizing the chemistry of individualmacerals within the Lower Block Coal Member of

southern Indiana, in order to fully understand itsbehaviour in coking applications.

4.0 References

Bustin, R.M., Cameron, A., Grieve, D., Kalkreuth,W., 1985. Coal Petrology,Its Principles, Methods and Applications. Geol.Soc. Canada, Short Course Notes, 2nd edn, Victoria.

Bustin, R.M., Mastalerz, M., Wilks, K.R.,Lamberson, M.N., 1993. Direct major (C, O, N)andminor element analysis of macerals byElectron Microprobe. Energy Sources, Vol. 00, p.61-77.

Bustin, R.M., Mastalerz, M., Raudsepp, M., 1996.Int. J. Coal Geol., Vol. 32, p. 5-30.

Gurba, L.W., Ward, C.R., 1998. Vitrinitereflectance anomalies in the high-volatile bituminouscoals of the Gunnedah Basin, New South Wales,Australia. Int. J. Coal Geol., Vol. 36, p. 11-140.

Mastalerz, M., Bustin, R.M., 1993a. Electronmicroprobe and micro-FTIR analyses applied tomaceral chemistry. Int. J. Coal Geol., Vol. 24, p.333-345.

Mastalerz, M., Bustin, R.M., 1993b. Variation inmaceral chemistry within and between coals ofvarying rank: an electron microprobe and micro-Fourier transform infra-red investigation. J.Microsc. Vol. 171, p. 153-166.

Meyers, P.A., 1994. Preservation of elemental andisotopic source identification of sedimentary organicmatter. Chem. Geol. Vol. 114, p. 289-292.

Stankiewicz, B.A., 1995. Geochemistry andPetrology of coal and kerogen m a c e r a l s .Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Geology,Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Stankiewicz, B.A., Kruge, M.A., Mastalerz, M.,Salmon, G.L., 1996. Geochemistry of the alginiteand amorphous organic matter from Type I l -Skerogens. Org. Geochem., Vol. 24, p. 495-509.

Stankiewicz, B.A., Kruge, M.A., Mastalerz, M.,1996. A geochemical study of macerals from a

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TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000Miocene lignite and an Eocene bituminous coal,Indonesia. Org. Geochem., Vol. 24, p. 531-545.

Ward, C.R., Gurba, L.W., 1998. Occurrence anddistribution of organic sulphur in macerals ofAustralian coals using electron microprobetechniques. Org. Geochem., Vol. 28, p. 635-647.

Suzanne Russell and Carolyn Thompson-Rizer

17th Annual Meeting of the Societyfor Organic Petrology,Bloomington, IN

The 17th Meeting of the Society for OrganicPetrology was held at the Indiana Universitycampus in Bloomington from September 17 to 20,2000. Sixty participants attended the meeting fromthe following countries: Australia, Canada, CzechRepublic, Japan, New Zealand, and the UnitedStates.

The meeting began with a short course on"In-situ analysis of organic matter; applicationof electron microprobe technique" held at theIndiana Geological Survey and the Department ofGeological Sciences. The short course was taughtby Marc Bustin from the University of BritishColumbia, Canada; Lila Gurba and Colin Wardfrom the University of New South Wales, Australia;and Maria Mastalerz from Indiana University. Itincluded oral presentations as well as ademonstration of the electron microprobetechnique. The short course was attended by fifteenparticipants.

The oral presentations took place onSeptember 18 and 19. The first day included twospecial sessions: Organic Matter and Metalschaired by Lisa Pratt and Barry Maynard, andSedimentology of Organic Matter-bearingSediments chaired by Erik Kvale and EricaElswick. On the second day there was a generalsession chaired by Maria Mastalerz and MiryamGlikson. A poster session was also held duringthese two days of the conference. In total, thirtyeight papers were presented during the conference.

Six papers; two oral presentations and fourposters were delivered by students who came fromthe University of British Columbia, Indiana

University-Purdue University, University ofKentucky, and Indiana University. The winner of theBest Student Paper Award and recipient of a checkfor $250 was Michelle Hawke from UBC for herposter "The use of peatlands in monitoringcontaminant heavy metals in the environs of pointsources - methods, advantages, and futureapproaches." The winners of the Furthest TravelAward were Lila Gurba, Colin Ward, and NeilSherwood from Sydney, Australia.

The conference concluded with a field tripthat analyzed the Lower Pennsylvanian sedimentsin Indiana. The field trip was organized and led byErik Kvale and Maria Mastalerz. Fifteenparticipants attended the field trip.

Maria Mastalerz,17th Annual Meeting Organizing Committee, Chair

TSOP Coffee Mugs!

Show your support and your class by purchasinga unique, one-of-a-kind coffee mug with theTSOP logo on it. Showing up at meetings withthis mug you're sure to generate coffee-mug-envyevery time! These mugs, direct from theLouisville Stoneware Kilns, will last a lifetime ofresearch and graduate students. At $10.00 eachthey shouldn't last long. To order yours contact:

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...and we thank you for your support!

16

Marlies Teichmüller (1915-2000)

A Tribute to an Organic Petrologist

P.K. Mukhopadhyay (Muki)

Global Geoenergy Research Ltd., PO Box 9469, Station A, Halifax, NS, Canada B3K 5S3(e-mail: [email protected])

Marlies Teichmuller, a legendary organicpetrologist and a geologist died on September 12,2000 at the age of 85. It is a great loss for thesocieties that are dealing with organic matter insediments and to her broader friend circle in earthsciences community. I lost one of my mentors andfriend of 25 years.

During my stay in Aachen, Germanybetween 1975-1976, I first met her and Mr.Teichmuller in Krefeld, Germany at a specialmeeting honoring Prof. E. Stach. During thatperiod of my stay in Germany, I had severalmicroscope sessions with Marlies addressingvarious issues on the organic matter fluorescence.Those sessions have thrown new light on myviews about maceral identification and havechanged some of my earlier concepts on maceralgenesis. During 1980-1985, I used to visit her inKrefeld occasionally. During that time, she alsoused to visit the institute (ICH-5) in KFA, Juelich,Germany. I will always cherish my moments about

her especially with respect to our discussions onvarious aspects of organic petrology. I havealways enjoyed sitting down with her at themicroscope and discussing various aspects ofamorphous organic matter. I had observed herpassion to build new dynamic concepts on organicpetrology. During my short stay in Juelich in 1999,I wanted to visit to her on her 85th birthday. I wasunable see her due to strict restrictions from herdoctor for visitors. However, I was extremelydelighted to know later when I heard from herrelatives that she had asked about me and sentgood wishes to me. As a person she had alwaysbeen a very gentle, kind-hearted, and a wonderfulhuman being.

In her early days (1930's through 1950's),Marlies was associated with two renowned organicpetrologists in Krefeld, Germany. One of them isthe famous coal petrologist Prof. E. Stach and theother is the well-known palynologist Dr. R.Potonie. Between 1950 and 1993, she becameone of the most prolific writers in the science of

17

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000coal and organic petrology and their applicationsto various aspects of earth sciences. During thattime, she had published innumerable articles onthat subject in both English and Germanlanguages. She was one of the main drivingforces for the publications of three editions ofcoal/organic petrology and ICCP Handbook. Atthe age between 80 and 83, she worked extremelyhard in contributing and pushing for thepublication of "Organic Petrology" (Publ.Gebruder Borntraeger, Berlin-Stuttgart) that cameout in 1998. Her intuitive vision has inspiredinnumerable organic petrologists, geologists, andorganic geochemists of the world throughout herworking career (1950-1999).

She was one of the founding members ofthe International Committee of Coal and OrganicPetrologists (ICCP) and an Honorary Member ofthe Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP). In

1984, TSOP has published an English (translatedby N. Bostick) version of one of her mostoutstanding papers on fluorescence microscopyas a special issue. The 'International Journal CoalGeology' has already dedicated one volume(volume 13) as a tribute to her and her husband.Another short tribute to both of them was writtenby W. Kasig (1992; Int. Jour. Coal Geol. v. 21, p.99-112).

As discussed earlier, she had published someoutstanding papers on coal and organic petrologyand their application to basin evolution andpetroleum or coal exploration. Therefore, inmemory of Marlies Teichmuller, I would like tomention some of these outstanding publications.These publications have pointed to new directionsin the science of organic petrology that could beuseful to all scientists throughout the world in thefuture. The publications that I like to mention are:

Teichmuller, M. 1962. Die Genese der Kohle. C. R. 4th Congr. Int. Strat. Geol. Carbonifere,Heerlen 1959, 3, pp. 699-722.

. 1974. Generation of petroleum-like substances in coal seams as seen under themicroscope. In: Tissot, B. and Biener, F. (Eds), Advances in Organic Geochemistry 1973, Technip Paris, pp. 321-348.

-. 1975. Origin of petrographic constituents of coal. Stach's Textbook on CoalPetrology. Gebruder Borntraeger, Berlin-Stuttgart, pp. 219-294.,

. 1982. Fluoreszenzmikroskopische Anderungengen von Liptiniten und Vitrinitenmit zunehmenden Inkohlungsgrad und ihre Beziehungen zu Bitumenbildung und Verkokungsverhalten. Edited by Geol. LandesamtNordrhein -Westfalen, Krefeld, 119 pp.

. 1982. The importance of coal petrology in prospecting for oil and natural gas.Stach's Textbook of Coal Petrology, 2nd Edition, Gebruder Borntraeger, and Berlin-Stuttgart, pp. 339-412.

. 1986. Organic Petrology of source rocks, history, and state of the art. Org.Geochem. 10, 581-599.

. 1987. Recent advances in coalification studies and their application to geology. In:Scott, A. C. (ed.): Coal and Coal-Bearing Strata: Recent Advances. Geol. Soc. Spec. Publ., Blackwell Sci. Publ., Oxford, 32, pp. 127-170.

. 1989. The genesis of coal from the viewpoint of coal petrology. Int. Jour. CoalGeol. 12,1-87.

and Ottenjann, K. 1977. Art und Diagenese von Lipniten und lipoiden Stoffen ineinem Erdolmuttergestain auf Grund fluoreszenzmikroskopischer Untersuchungen. Erdol und Kohle 30,387-398)

and Teichmuller, R. 1968. Geological aspect of coal metamorphism. In:Murchison, D. and Westoll, T.S (Eds) Coal and Coal-bearing Strata, Oliverand Boyd Publications, Edinburg and London, pp. 233-267).

and Teichmuller, R.. 1979. Diagenesis of Coal (Coalification). In: Larsen G. andChilinger, G. V. (Eds), Diagenesis of Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks, Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 207-246.

and Wolf. M. 1977. Application of fluorescence microscopy in coal petrology andoil exploration. Jour. Micros. 109 ,1 , 49-73.

Ottenjann. K. Teichmuller, M., Wolf, M. 1974. Spektrale Fluoreszenzmessungen an Sporinitenmit Auflicht-Anregung, eine mikroskopische Methode zur Bestimmungengen des Inkohlungsgrades gering inkohlter Kohlen. Fortschr.Geol. Rheinld. U. Westf. 24,1-36.

Taylor, G. H., Liu, S. Y. and Teichmuller, M. 1991. Bituminite - a TEM view. Int. J. Coal Geol.18,71-85.

Taylor, G.H., Teichmuller, M. 1993. Observations on fluorinite and fluorescent vitrinite with thetransmission electron microscope (TEM). Int. J. Coal Geol. 22, 61-82.

(This same article will appear in a future issue of The International Journal of Coal Geology)

18


TSOP-Houston 2001CALL FOR PAPERS

The Organizing Committee for the 18th Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrologyinvites you to present a paper or poster at the meeting. Extended abstracts of yourpresentation are due by June 1, 2001. Abstracts should be written in English, single-spacedin 12-point font, and no more than 5 pages long, including figures and tables. For properformatting, refer to the Abstracts and Programs, vol. 17, Bloomington 2000.

Abstracts can be submitted by mail (if a PC microdisk is included, the abstract must be inMicrosoft Word or WordPerfect format). Electronic submission of abstracts is preferred, andthe abstract should be sent as an attached file to an e-mail message to [email protected] Organizing Committee will make final decisions about acceptance or rejection ofabstracts by June 15, 2001.

PROGRAM

Sunday. September 23

Short course: Biomarkers in Oil-Source Rock and Oil-Oil Characterizations andCorrelationsInstructor: Dr. Marcio Rocha Mello, Petroleum and Environmental Geo-Services Ltda., Riode Janeiro, BrazilThis course is a daylong presentation focusing on recent developments in the use ofsaturated and aromatic hydrocarbon biomarkers in oil exploration and production.

Class Size Limit: 25 persons

Monday. September 24 (morning)

Special Session - Co-sponsored by the Houston Organic Geochemical Society (HOGS)The Organic Geochemistry of the World's Deepwater Areas

Monday. September 24 (afternoon)

19


Monday. September 24 (afternoon)

General Technical Session: Coal/Organic Petrology and Geochemistry

Tuesday. September 25


Sunday evening, Sept. 23 through Tuesday noon, Sept. 25Poster Session

Wednesday. September 26

Field Trip - This is a daylong field trip to the Offshore Drilling Platform Museum inGalveston, Texas.

Limit: 20 persons

For information about the conference, visit the TSOP website: http://www.tsop.org. Forinformation about the program, contact Cole Robison (713) 432-6828 or [email protected].

Venue:The meeting will be held at the Westchase Hilton and Towers in west Houston. The hotel isequidistant from both of the city's major airports (George Bush Intercontinental and HoustonHobby Airport). Express Shuttle Bus provides reasonable cost transportation between thehotel and the airports. The hotel is just a few blocks east of the Sam Houston Tollway andconvenient to shopping in the Galleria and only about 10 miles from the Museum District andthe Texas Medical Center. Excellent restaurants and entertainment are within walkingdistance of the hotel.

20


Review of Outgoing and Incoming 2000TSOP Council Meetings

Outgoing Council MeetingThe 1999-2000 Outgoing TSOP Council metSeptember 17, during the Annual TSOP meetingthat was held at the Indiana Memorial Union on thecampus of the University of Indiana, Bloomington.Outgoing President Cole Robison called the meetingto order with twelve TSOP Council memberscommittee chairs, and members in attendance.TSOP Annual meeting chairs presented reports ofpast and upcoming meetings and plans whichincluded the 1999 Snowbird, 2000 Bloomington,2001 Houston, 2002 Banff, 2003 Washington, D.C.,2004 Louisville, Cincinnati, Covington(?), and the2005 Halifax(?) meetings. TSOP Committeereports were given by the Annual Meeting AdvisoryCommittee, which discussed TSOP-sponsoredsessions held in conjunction with upcoming AAPG,ICCP, New Zealand Mining Conference, andregional GSA meetings. The Awards Committeereported that a certificate and $250 check for the1999 Best Student Award was presented to BenFellows. Cole Robison presented the results of the2000 Ballot Committee, which are as follows TimMoore - President-elect, N. Sherwood - VicePresident, MaryAnn Malinconico - Councilor, and J.Crelling - Editor. There were no new nominationsfrom the Honorary Membership Committee. TheMembership Committee report included a summaryof the current TSOP membership (189) provided byP. Warwick. The Publications Committee reportedthat 1999-2000 publication orders totaled $45. Anupdated TSOP Publication List was presented to theCouncil and Council decided to present newmembers to the Society with copies of overstockeditems in the publications inventory, until theinventory is reduced to a manageable size. TheInternet Committee reported updates to the TSOPWeb site <www.tsop.org> that included notices ofthe TSOP Annual meetings, new bibliographicreferences, and instructions for the TSOP StudentGrants Program, new publications, and links torelated sites. Monthly access to the Web pageaverage about 600 visits per month. The OutreachCommittee reported that TSOP had four IndustrialSustainers, which contributed a total of $2,000 (asof September). A summary of expenses for 1999-2000 advertising and announcements waspresented to the Council. TSOP materials were

distributed at the International Geological Congressin Rio de Janeiro and the AAPG Internationalmeeting in Bali. The Research Committee reportedthat two Student Grant Awards ($1,000 each) werepresented to and Michelle Hawke (GeologicalSurvey of Canada) and Rachel Walker (IndianaGeological Survey). A discussion of 1999-2000TSOP activities followed with a report from theTSOP Newsletter Editor about the progress andexpenses of the 2000 TSOP Newsletter. BySeptember the Newsletter expenses totaled $2,578.This year the Membership directory, ballots, anddues notices were sent with the Newsletter. TheTSOP Secretary reported the financial state of theorganization. In September, TSOP had a checkingaccount balance of $11,946.34 and VanguardFunds at a value of $16,980.30. The total assets ofthe Society were $28,926.64. From October 1999to September 2000, TSOP income was $12,152and expenses were $8,987. In 2000, TSOP startedto accept credit card payments. The Vice Presidentreported on updates to the TSOP ProceduresManual. Cole Robison concluded the meeting withdiscussions of the staffing of current LiaisonCommittees.

Incoming Council MeetingThe 2000-2001 Incoming TSOP Council metSeptember 18, at the Indiana Memorial Union onthe campus of the University of Indiana,Bloomington. Incoming President P.Mukhopadhyay (Muki) called the meeting to orderwith eleven TSOP Council members, committeechairs, and members in attendance. The councilpassed a motion to create a new GeochemistryCommittee with Mike Kruge as chair. Thecommittee would prepare a coal, petroleum, andenvironmental activities report for the 2001 AnnualMeeting. Mike Avery was approved to servemember of a Special Ad Hoc Committee for TSOPactivities. The Council also approved free AnnualMeeting registration and TSOP publications(overstock only) for new student members who joinTSOP during the previous year, and free TSOPpublications (overstock only) for all new regularmembers. There was a discussion of having the2004 Annual Meeting in Australia. TSOP Councilapproved a new operating budget for 2000 -2001 and agreed to hold a midyear meeting in lateMarch 2000, possibly by video or teleconferencemethods.

21

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 No 4 December 2000TSOP Council Members and Committee Chairs

2000 - 2001COUNCIL MEMBERS

President CommitteeP.K. Mukhopadhyay Neil Sherwood

Vice-PresidentNeil Sherwood

President-ElectTim Moore

Secretary-TreasurerPeter Warwick

EditorsJohn CrellingWilliam Huggett

CouncilorsJeff Quick (1999 -2000)MaryAnn Malinconico (2000 - 2001)

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Archives CommitteeKen Kuehn

Awards CommitteeMaria Mastalerz

Ballot & Election CommitteeRoger Trader

Geochemistry CommitteeMike Kruge

Honorary Member Selection

Internet CommitteeDavid Glick

Meeting CommitteesAdvisory: Jim Hower2001 Houston, TX: Cole Robison2002 Banff, AB (Joint meeting

with CSCOP): Lavern Stasiuk2003 Washington, DC: PeterWarwick

Membership CommitteePeter Warwick

Nominating CommitteeCole Robison

Outreach CommitteeMaryAnn Malinconico

Publications CommitteeBrian Cardott

Research Committee

Suzanne Russell

AD-HOC COMMITTEES

Liaison CommitteeDavid Glick / Jim HowerSpecial Ad Hoc CommitteeMike Avery Member at Large

22


New TSOP Members

Elvira Barcelona

Unit 23, 80 Box Road

Taren Point, NSW 2229

AUSTRALIA

Tel: 612 9559 1792

Fax: 612 9526 7083

Email: [email protected]

Angel Callejon

4800 Research Forest Dr.

The Woodlands, TX 77381

USA

Tel: (281) 364 6069

Fax: (281) 364 6052


Gareth Chalmers

1/135 Union Street

The Junction

NSW 2291

AUSTRALIA

Tel: 61 2 49215404

Fax: 61249216925


R. Vance Hall

5615 E. 80th Place

Tulsa, OK 74136 USA

Tel: (918) 481-5866

Fax:(918)492-3184


Maria Hamor-Vido

Stefania St. 14

Budapest H1143

HUNGARY

Tel: 36 1 251 0999/214

Fax: 36 1 267 1423


Takashi Hasegawa

Geology Building

Bloomington, IN 47405-1403

USA

Tel: (812) 855-1382

Fax: (812) 855-7961


Andreas lordanidis

School of Geology, Dept. of MineralogyPetro-logy-Economic Geology

54006 Thessaloniki

GREECE

Tel: 30-31-998459

Fax: 30-31-998568


Heidi Justman

P.O. Box 2152

Socorro, NM 87801

USA

Tel: (505) 835-5237

Fax: (505) 835-6333


23


Christopher M. Kravits

561 Evergreen Lane

Salina, Utah 84654-1658

USA

Tel: (435) 529-3621

Fax: (435) 529-3621


Julie Ross

340 S. Broadway

Lexington, KY 40508

USA

Tel: (859) 233 2103

Fax: (859) 259-3394


Tanaporn Sakulpitakphon

3422 Fraserdale Dr

Lexington, KY 40503

USA Tel: (859) 223-6287

Fax:


Andrew R. Scot

4711 Spicewood Springs Rd. #232

Austin, TX 78759

USA

Tel: (512) 970-7041

Fax: (512) 372-9782


Don M. Triplehorn

University of Alaska

PO Box 755780

Fairbanks, Alaska

USA

Tel: (907) 474 6891

Fax:(907)474 5163


Hardarshan S. Valia

Research & Development Laboratories

3001 E. Columbus Drive

East Chicago, IN 46312

USA

Tel:(219) 399 6214

Fax:(219)399 6562


Nikki Wagner

PO Box 1

Sasolburg 9570

SOUTH AFRICA

Tel: 27 16 960-2633

Fax:27 16 960-4031


Li Zhongsheng

Private Bag 4800

Christchurch 8004

NEW ZEALAND

Tel: 64 3 3667001

Fax:


Erwin L. Zodrow

Geology

Sydney, Nova Scotia B1P 6L2

CANADA

Tel: (902) 563-1318

Fax:


24

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 no 4 December 2000

TSOP Publications

1. Fluoreszenz von Liptiniten und Vitriniten in Beziehung zu Inkohlungsgrad und $10Verkokungsverhalten - (in German with photomicrographs) M. Teichmuller, 1982











12. 8th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, Lexington, KY, 1991 $ 5





17. International Journal of Coal Geology (IJCG), 12th TSOP Meeting, The Woodlands, TX,

1995; Vol. 34, Nos. 3-4, 1997 $15





22. IJCG, 15th TSOP Meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1998; Vol. 43, Nos. 1-4, 2000 $25

25

Method of Payment


Name on Card:_Card Number:_Street Address:City:



Card Type: (Please check one)Master CardVisaAmerican ExpressDiscover

26

TSOP NumberNumber Brief Name of Publication of copies Price (USD)

Publications Order FormSend to: Brian J. Cardott telephone: 405/325-3031

Oklahoma Geological Survey fax: 405/325-7069100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 email: [email protected], OK 73019-0628 USA



Call for slides

There is a possibility that a second, expandededition of the Atlas of Coal Geology will beproduced.I am requesting photos of macerals and minerals(in coal) for possible inclusion in the secondedition. I would prefer contributions from non-Pennsylvanian, non-North American coals, butanything will be welcome.The best format for submission is 35-mm slides,preferably an original slide taken with a low-ASAfilm. High quality prints, either black & white orcolor, and high-resolution digital images are alsowelcome. Please contact me before sendingdigital images.Please include a brief description of the image,including, if known, the age, rank (either ASTMname or as the vitrinite reflectance), seam name,sample location, any identifying sample numbers,notation of the macerals or minerals of particularinterest, and any reference to a publication inwhich the coal was discussed in detail.

Jim HowerUniversity of KentuckyCenter for Applied Energy Research2540 Research Park DriveLexington, KY 40511859-257-0261 (phone)859-257-0360 (fax)[email protected]

Special Subscription Offer for theInternational Journal of Coal Geology

We are pleased to announced an agreementbetween TSOP and Elsevier to offer theInternational Journal of Coal Geology at specialprice of US $80.00 per year.

For 2001, volumes 45-48 will be published (notethat the first issue of volume 45 will appear in Fall2000). Each volume consists of four numbers,some combined into larger issues. For moreinformation, please check the journal's web siteat: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/coal

This offer is for paid-up TSOP members only. Ifnot currently a member of TSOP, we invite you tofill out a membership form which can be found on

our web site at: www.tsop.org or by contactingPeter Warwick (see below).

If you are interested in subscribing, please sendan e-mail to Peter Warwick ([email protected])including your contact information:

NameOrganizationStreet AddressCityStatePostal CodeCountryTelephoneFaxE-mail

You may also mail a printed copy of thesubscription request to:

Peter WarwickUS Geological Survey956 National Center12201 Sunrise Valley DriveReston, VA 20192

TSOP Archives

The official TSOP archival collection is availablefor you use. The collection contains all of thesociety's newsletters, publication, programs, fieldguides, short course notes, Research Committeereports, minutes of Council meetings, andmember directories.Photocopies of desired material will be providedat a cost immediately upon approval of yourrequest form. Sorry, but no copies of publicationswhich are currently for sale by TSOP can beprovided. Please make all inquires to:

Ken W. KuehnTSOP ArchivistDepartment of Geology and Geography1 Big Red WayBowling Green KY 42101(270) 745-3083(270) 745-6410 [email protected]

27



Editors' Choice Photomicrograph: A portion of an automobilebrake pad as seen under polarized light. The entire left side of the frame issynthetic graphite, while the right half of the frame consists of metallurgicalcoke. The small pink particle in the bottom-right corner is a steel chip. Widthof field is approximately 350 micrometers. Photomicrograph by WilliamHuggett

The editors welcome contributions of photomicrographs of organic geologicmaterials for future issues of this newsletter


NEWSLETTER

Vol. 18 No. 1 March 2001 ISSN-0743-3816

Coal In Thin Section

Thin section photomicrograph of Harlan Seam, Kentucky, USA showingfusinite (black), exinite (yellow), and vitrinite (red). Width of field is 850

micrometers. Photomicrograph courtesy of Ralph J. Gray

Call for PapersGeochemical Transactions, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry

collaboration with the Division of Geochemistry of the American

Chemical Society, is an electronic journal for the rapid publication of high

impact articles from all areas of geochemistry.

Making full use of the latest web-based technology, Geochemical

Transactions enables you to publish '3D' interactive figures, movies, etc, as

well as allowing unrestricted use of colour. Use of the electronic medium

from start to finish also results in very rapid times to publication. The journal'

is fully archived.

Submissions for Geochemical Transactions are now beingsought, for example, in the following areas:

! Organic geochemistryInorganic geochemistryAquatic geochemistryMarine chemistryand chemical oceanographyBiogeochemical investigationsof organic, inorganic andbiogeochemical processes

Molecular and isotopic analysesChemical and elemental cyclesGeochemical aspectsof global changeInstrumental or analyticaltechniques applying to the aboveNumeric or computationalmodels of geochemical processes

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Professor Scott Wood University of Idaho, USA

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

K Anderson Argonne National Laboratory, USA

H Holland Harvard University, USA

S Larter University of Newcastle, UK

G Logan Australian Geological Survey Organisation

G Luther III University of Delaware, USA

V Ragnarsdottir University of Bristol UK

M Schoonen State University of New York, StonyBrook, USA

T Seward ETHZentrum, Zurich Switzerland

J Tosselt University of Maryland, USA

Submissions can be sent via e-mail to the Managing

Editor at [email protected] or via the web site at

www.rsc.org/geochemThe web site also contains further details, including

instructions for authors, etc

TSOP Newsletter Vol 18 No1 March 2001



Co-editors:





Phone:(618)453-7381Fax:(618)453-7393


Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) ispublished quarterly by The Society ForOrganic Petrology and is distributed to allSociety Members as a benefit of membership.Membership in the Society is internationaland open to all individuals having an interestin the field of Organic Petrology. For moreinformation on membership, Society activitiesor to inquire about membership packs pleasecontact:



Tel: (703) 648-6469Fax: (703)648-6419



MarchContentsCover Photomicrograph: Thin section of Harlin Seam,

Kentucky showing fusinite, exinite, and vitrinite.

2. Call for papers: Geochemical Transactions

4. TSOP annual meeting announcement and callfor papers

5. TSOP 2001 Student Grant Information

6. Cady Award: Russ Dutcher latest recipient.

7. Gondwana 11: Announcement and Registration

10. Announcement: 53rd ICCP Annual Meeting

12. Editors' Choice Photomicrograph

Announcement

North American Coalbed MethaneForum

The North American Coalbed Methane Forum,Inc. will hold it's Spring Session on April 25-26,2001 at the Holiday Inn, Meadow Lands,Washington, PA. For information please contactIhor Huvryluk at 412-798-1391 or Kashi Aminianat 304-293-7682, ext. 3406.On Wednesday April 25, 2001 Holditch -Schlumberger will be offering a short course onCoalbed methane. For information please contactMike Zuber or Chuck Boyer at 412-787-5403.

ANNUAL MEETING ANNOUNCEMENTAND CALL FOR PAPERS

SEPTEMBER 23- 26, 2001 HOUSTON, TEXAS

MEETING PROGRAM

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23: Pre- meeting short course on "Biomarkers in Oil-Source Rock and Oil- Oil Characterizations and Correlations". Instructor: Dr. MarcioRocha Mello

MONDAY- TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24- 25: Oral and poster presentations.General technical sessions plus special session co-sponsored by Houston OrganicGeochemical Society (HOGS) on "Geochemistry of the Deep- Water Gulf of Mexico.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26: Field trip to Offshore Drilling Platform Museum,Galveston, Texas.

TSOP PRESENTS A $250 STUDENT PAPER A WARD.

SUBMIT ABSTRACT BY JUNE 1,2001, TO COLE ROBISON (ADDRESS BELOW).SEE WEBSITE FOR FORMAT AND DETAILS.

MEETING INFORMATION:Cole RobisonTexaco Group, Inc.E& P Technology Div.3901 Briarpark DriveHouston, TX 77042 USAPhone: (713)432-6828Fax:(713)838-4628E-mail: [email protected]

VISIT US ON THE INTERNETAT:

WWW.TSOP.ORGMeeting details

Society and membership informationStudent Research Grant(Deadline May 15, 2001)

The Society forOrganic Petrology

(TSOP)

Student Grants2001

Purpose: The Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP) grants foster researchin organic petrology which includes coal petrology, kerogen petrology,organic geochemistry and related disciplines) by providing support to grad-uate students from around the world, who demonstrate the application oforganic petrology concepts to research problems.

Grant Size: Monetary awards up to a maximum of US $1,000.00 will begranted. TSOP will also provide Merit Awards, in the form of certificatesredeemable for TSOP publications, to top-ranking applicants not receivinggrants. The program awards a maximum of two grants each year.

Use of Grant: Grants are to be applied to expenses directly related to thestudent's thesis work, such as summer fieldwork, laboratory analyses, etc. Aportion (not to exceed 25%) of the funds may be used to attend TSOP AnnualMeetings. Funds should not be used to purchase capital equipment, to paysalaries, tuition, room, or board during the school year. Funds must be spentwithin 18 months of receipt of the award.

DEADLINE: May 15, 2001

Application and further information available on the Internet athttp://www.tsop.org/grants.htm

OR

TSOP Research Committee Student Grants ProgramS.J. Russell, Chairperson

Shell International E&P, Inc.3737 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, TX 77025, USA

phone: 713-245-7603; fax: 713-245-7599;e-mail: [email protected].


Russ Dutcher Receives the Cady Award.

At the most recent annualmeeting of the Geological Societyof America the Gilbert H. Cadyaward was presented to Russell R.Dutcher by the GSA CoalGeology Division. Russell R.Dutcher received his B.A. fromthe University of Connecticut in1951 and his M.S. from theUniversity of Massachusetts in1953. He received his Ph.D. fromThe Pennsylvania StateUniversity in 1960 andconcurrently became assistantdirector of the Coal ResearchSection at Penn State and in1963 he became a facultymember in the Department ofGeology and Geophysics at PennState. In 1970, he joined thefaculty of Southern IllinoisUniversity Carbondale (SIUC) as chair of theDepartment of Geology. He established the CoalCharacterization Laboratory in that department.From 1984 to his retirement from SIUC in 1993Dutcher served as Dean of the College ofScience. Russ is in the good company of otherTSOP members who have also received theCady Award including Bill Spackman, PeterHacquebard,, Ralph Gray, John Ferm, MarliesTeichmuller, Lou Benedict, Dick Thompson, AlanDavis, and Alex Cameron

GILBERT H. CADY AWARD CITATION

The Gilbert H. Cady Award is presented this yearto Russell R. Dutcher to acknowledge hisoutstanding contributions to the field of coalgeology. In a career spanning four decades hehas made significant contributions as a professorand researcher, as a university administrator,and as an editor.

As a professor he has been a gifted andinspiring teacher who demanded the best fromhis students. Under his guidance seventeenstudents completed their M. S. degrees andthree completed their Ph. D. degrees in coal

geology and coal petrology. Asa researcher he has made manycontributions in the areas ofapplied coal petrology, coalmetamorphism, and Coalbedmethane. He has publishednearly forty papers and editedfour books including a GSASpecial Paper and an ASTMSpecial Technical Publication.

As a university administrator hehelped lead the legendary CoalResearch Section at thePennsylvania State University.At Southern Illinois University hedeveloped the very successfuland widely recognized coalresearch program in theDepartment of Geology and healso established and initially lead

the multidisplinary Coal Research Center. He hasbeen a great advocate of coal research and hasbeen instrumental in obtaining millions of dollars ofresearch funding.

As an editor he took over the International Journal ofCoal Geology after the retirement of WilliamSpackman, the founder of the journal. He wasEditor-in Chief of 29 volumes (64 issues) of thejournal including 14 special issues covering a widevariety of topics in coal geology. He added anumber of talented editors and reviewers,encouraged industrial contributions, and maintainedthe international nature of the journal.

By virtue of his many accomplishments and his life-long commitment to the field of coal geology he isa deserving recipient of the Gilbert H. Cady Award.

Signed,

Alex R. CameronJames R. StaubJohn C. Crelling


Gondwana 11

Correlations and Connections

Venue:

University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand.

The University is set in pleasant surroundings on the outskirts of Christchurch. Ithas first class, modern lecture facilities that are fully equipped with dual slideprojectors, overhead projector and power point facilities. Three large linkedlecture theatres form a central block in the campus and provide an excellent focusfor large conferences. A central foyer within the lecture block is ideal for postersand refreshments. The large campus contains coffee bars, and facilities for lunchand dinner.

Christchurch is the largest city in South Island with excellent cultural, sporting andsocial opportunities. It is renowned for its wide range of restaurants and cafesthat cater for all tastes and budgets.

Dates:Sunday 25th August to Friday 30th August 2002

Convenor:Bryan C Storey

Accommodations:

A large variety of accommodation is available within short distances of theUniversity campus ranging from luxury hotels to budget motels. Halls ofResidence have been reserved. They provide excellent cheap accommodationwithin five minutes walk of the conference venue. The rooms are fully equippedwith telephone and computers links.

Conference programme:

The advent of precise dating techniques over the past decade has enabled newand exciting Stratigraphic and event correlations to be drawn across the oncelarge Gondwana supercontinent. High precision geochronology hasrevolutionized the way we explore the connections between the biological andgeological record with precise temporal constraints. The dispersed fragments ofthe Gondwana supercontinent contain a remarkable record of how the Earthsystem has changed through time including the spectacular diversification of lifethat occurred just after the amalgamation of Gondwana ,the catastrophicextinction event not long before the collapse of the supercontinent, and the

TSOP Newsletter Vol 18 No. 1 March 2001massive volcanic episode that heralded the demise of Gondwana. Connectionsthat were not previously possible, can now be made between the evolution of theGondwana lithosphere, biosphere and atmosphere, and important events andmarkers to be dated with high precision. The time is right to collectivelyreconsider and document these correlations and connections and explore howthe Gondwana Earth System has evolved through time. This will form the centraltheme of Gondwana 11.

Sub themes will focus on:

Neoproterozoic basinsAmalgamation of GondwanaGondwana's evolving marginsGondwanan paleogeography and palaeoclimatologyEvent stratigraphy within Gondwana basinsPatterns of Gondwana colonization and diversificationGondwana deformation, breakup and dispersal.

Parallel sessions will be kept to a minimum to allow a more multi and interdisciplinary approach to understanding Gondwana geology and to interpretingpalaeoenvironments.Conference proceedings will be published as thematic sets in an internationaljournal.

Conference fieldtrips:

New Zealand contains a host of striking geological features that relate both to itsGondwana heritage and to its location on an active plate boundary.

One-day trips in the middle of the conference will provide opportunities to eitherexplore the massive intraplate Miocene volcanoes of the Banks Peninsula, ortraverse from the Canterbury Plains to the spectacular spine of the southern Alpsat Arthurs Pass crossing Gondwana fore-arc terranes.

Pre and Post conference field trips will focus on:

1. Collage of Gondwana Terranes: A summary of the 8 major terranes thatrecord the active margin of Gondwana from Cambrian to Cretaceous.

2. North Island Volcanic Province: The Taupo Volcanic Zone of North Islandwith emphasis on the caldera structures, physical volcanology and petrology.

3. Permian to Jurassic rocks, Southland: Examination of the extremely thickmainly marine arc, forearc and backarc volcanic and volcaniclastic depositsand their mutual relationships.

4. Neotectonics of South Island: Dynamics and landscape evolution of thePacific-Australian plate boundary in transition from the Hikurangisubduction zone to the Alpine Fault transpressive structure.

8

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 18 No. 1 March 20015. Geology of the Chatham Islands: A stratigraphic journey from Mesozoic

basement schists to Pliocene volcanics on the New Zealand continentalmargin

6. Geology of Stewart Island: The anatomy of a Palaeozoic-Mesozoicbatholith

7. Mesozoic-Cenozoic coal geology: Sedimentological, tectonic and economicaspects of New Zealand Cretaceous and Tertiary coal deposits

Bryan StoreyProfessor of Antarctic Studies, Gateway AntarcticaUniversity of Canterbury

GONDWANA 11

RESPONSE FORM

Name:

Address:

Telephone Number: Fax Number:

Email Address:

I would like to receive second circular yes / no

I plan to attend GONDWANA 11: Yes • No •

I am interested in field trip number :1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7(See above for number code and circle accordingly)

Please return the response form before 1 June 2001 to :Susannah HawtinAdministratorGateway AntarcticaUniversity of CanterburyPrivate Bag 4800ChristchurchNew Zealand

Telephone +64-3-364 2136Fax +64-3-364 2197Email: [email protected] www.anta.canterbury.ac.nz

ICCP

ANNOUNCEMENT

53rd International Committee for Coal and Organic Petrology (ICCP) Annual Meetingincluding

The Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP)/ICCP one-day session

August 12-19, 2001

organised by the

Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS)Copenhagen, Denmark

G E U S

The organising committee of the 53rd ICCP annual meeting, including the one-day TSOP/ICCPsession, extends an invitation to attend the meeting hosted by the Geological Survey of Denmarkand Greenland, Copenhagen, Denmark.We cordially invite you to submit an abstract and present an oral presentation and/or poster at theTSOP/ICCP session. All subjects dealing with organic petrography are welcome, but weparticularly welcome presentations focusing on 'Organic petrology applied to petroleum andCoalbed methane studies'.More comprehensive information will be supplied by mail to members of ICCP and TSOP and willbe available on www.geus.dk/ICCP2001 or contact

H.I. Petersen:P. Rosenberg:

e-mail: [email protected]: [email protected]

Phone: +45 3814 2455Phone: +45 3814 2454

10

Call for papers !one-day TSOP/ICCP SESSION, 15th August 2001

at the 53rd ICCP meeting, 12-19 August 2001, Copenhagen, Denmark

The 53rd ICCP meeting includes a one-day TSOP/ICCP session, which has been organised togetherwith Dr. Charley Barker.

All kind of topics dealing with organic petrography are welcome, although we will in particularwelcome presentations dealing with

"Organic petrology applied to petroleum and Coalbed methane studies".

We encourage you to take the opportunity to make a presentation, either as an oral presentation oras a poster. The oral presentations are scheduled to 25 min., including some minutes to questions.

X Deadline for submission of abstracts is April 1st 2001

Abstracts up to 4 pages (including figures) will be accepted. Leave 2 cm margins on both sides, use1 1/2 line spacing and a 12-point GC Times Roman (or similar) font. Title of abstract should be in 12-point bold and include names of authors (12-point) and affiliations (10-point).Example.

Hydrocarbon traces in the Tertiary basalts of the Faeroe Islands

T. Laiera, H. P. Nytoff , O. Jørgensenb and G. H. Isaksenc

a"Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, ....bNational Institute of Occupational Health,

cExxon Production Research Co.,

Hydrocarbons in the form of.

Please enclose a copy of your abstract on a diskette (Word, WordPerfect) or send an e-mail with theabstract attached to: [email protected]

It is planned to publish the papers presented at the TSOP/ICCP session as a special issue of theInternational Journal of Coal Geology. Please consider submitting a paper for this publication and,if so, we would encourage you to submit your manuscript at the meeting.

X Deadline for submission of manuscripts will be November 1st 2001

! For information about the ICCP/TSOP meeting, visit our website: www.geus.dk/ICCP2001

11

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 18 No.1 March 2001Editors' Choice Photomicrograph

Thin section photomicrograph of Harlin, Kentucky, USA showing a megaspore (yellow) surrounded byvitrinite (red) with some fusinite (black). Width of field is 850 micrometers.

Thin section photomicrograph of Harlan Seam, Kentucky, USA showing two stringers of yellow cutinite ina vitrinite matrix (red) with inertinite particles (black). Width of field is 550 micrometers


NEWSLETTERVol. 18 No. 2 JUNE 2001 ISSN-0743-3816

Photomicrograph in blue light fluorescence of a sporinitemaceral in a sapropelic coal from the Upper Silesian

Coal Basin, Czech Republic. Width of field is approximately200 micrometers. Photomicrograph by William Huggett

TSOP Midyear Meeting - Reston, Virginia

Six TSOP Council members and committee chairs were present at the TSOP 2000-2001 midyear meetingthat was held April 20, 2001, at the U.S. Geological Survey, in Reston, Virginia. Those present include (fromthe left) Peter Warwick (Secretary-Treasurer), MaryAnn Malinconico (Councilor), Jeff Quick (Councilor),Tim Moore (President-Elect), Dave Glick (Internet Committee Chair), and P. K. (Muki) Mukhopadhyay(President). MaryAnn Malinconico holds the speakerphone that was used for teleconferences with BillHuggett (Newsletter Co-Editor) and Neil Sherwood (Vice-President).

Review of TSOP's Midyear Council Meeting

The TSOP 2000-2001 midyear meeting was held April20, 2001, at the U.S. Geological Survey, in Reston,Virginia. Six council members and committee chairswere present (see photo). Teleconferences were alsoheld with Bill Huggett (TSOP Newsletter Co-Editor) andNeil Sherwood (TSOP Vice-President). Itemsdiscussed include officer's and committee reports andpast and upcoming TSOP scientific meetings. Theslate of upcoming TSOP annual meetings include:2001 Houston; 2002 Banff, 2003 Washington D.C., and2004 Sydney. Significant outcomes of the meetinginclude: a change in status for the annual meetingadvisory and publication committees; a call fornominations for TSOP Honorary Membership; approvalof new member applications; a discussion of plaqueand certificate presentations to past TSOP officers andannual meeting organizers; and a discussion of how toincrease co-sponsored sessions at other geologicalscientific meetings. TSOP Council also approved the

2001 nominees for office and proposed the followingamendment to Article 7 of the Election By Laws:

The three-year term of the Secretary-Treasurer maybe extended one year by the President with the

approval of Council for a maximum total term of sixyears.

The amendment was sent to TSOP membership forapproval. In addition, the Council voted to recognizepast TSOP presidents by presenting them plaques atthe upcoming Houston Annual meeting. After themeeting, TSOP midyear meeting attendees weretreated to a dinner hosted by TSOP member JingleRuppert.

TSOP Newsletter Vol 18 No 2 June 2001



Co-editors:



John C. Crelling /William W. HuggettDepartment of Geology


Phone: (618)453-7381Fax:(618)453-7393


Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) ispublished quarterly by The Society ForOrganic Petrology and is distributed to allSociety Members as a benefit of membership.Membership in the Society is internationaland open to all individuals having an interestin the field of Organic Petrology. For moreinformation on membership, Society activitiesor to inquire about membership packs pleasecontact:



Tel: (703) 648-6469Fax: (703)648-6419



JuneContents

Cover: Photomicrograph of sporinite maceral asseen under blue light fluorescence.

2. TSOP mid year council meeting groupphoto and review.

4. Obituary: Alexander R. Cameron

5. Houston 2001: Final Call For Papers

8. TSOP Council Members 1984-2001

10. Article: Some Industrial Applications ofOrganic Petrology

15. TSOP Councilor Attends Science-Engineering-Technology CongressionalVisits Day

17. Research Committee Proposal:Climate Change During Quaternary

18. Meeting Announcement: Gondwana 11

19. Article: Can We Predict A CoalReserves Life?

23. Organic Petrology Crossword Puzzle

24 Editors' Choice Photomicrograph


Alexander Rankin Cameron1927-2000

As we move forward in our chosenprofessions, we meet many colleagues whobecome friends, professionally and oftentimessocially. Geology and closely allied fields seem toattract a large number of folks who are in theirchosen field because they like the subject and inturn they enjoy imparting their knowledge toothers—sometimes in a formal fashion throughteaching and in publications. Genuine friendshipsdevelop. Every once in a while we meet someonewho exhibits all of the traits that we hope all of usadmire. A human being that we just know makeslife a bit better for all of us and makes by theirvery presence the world a better place. Such aperson was Alex Cameron.

Alex Rankin Cameron was born onJanuary 24, 1927, in Toronto, Canada. At anearly age Alex and his family moved to NovaScotia, specifically to Cape Breton. He receivedhis Bachelor of Science degree from St. FrancisXavier University, Cape Breton, in 1952. In the1950s he worked as a student assistant for theGeological Survey of Canada. In 1954 hereceived his Master of Science degree from ThePennsylvania State University. His Ph.D. degreewas conferred by Penn State in 1961. He hadstarted full-time employment with the GSC in1960.

With the exception of two years, his entireprofessional career was with the GeologicalSurvey of Canada. He was a Visiting Professor atSouthern Illinois University for a year and one halfand a visiting scientist at Penn State for a six-month period. When he retired, Alex was head ofthe Coal Geology sub-division of the Survey. Heretired with the rank of Emeritus Scientist in theGSC.

Dr. Cameron covered an extensiveamount of territory while pursuing field work,primarily in Canada but also a fair amount in theU.S.A. He worked in almost all of the coal-bearing areas of Canada and many of his 80-oddpublications were to report the result of fieldinvestigations. Many of us knew tales aboutadventures in the field. The one that Alex wouldretell if prodded was returning to his helicopterwith the pilot and field assistant to find a grizzlybear with an enormous interest in theirtransportation. They were downwind and a fairdistance across open ground. They waited and

finally were able to get safely to the aircraft.While coal was the focal point for his

geological efforts, his interests were wide rangingand varied. Topics ranged from geochemistry,paleogeography, and coal resources tocarbonization, sampling techniques, andpalynology.

Alex was pleased to share his knowledgeand expertise with students at many colleges anduniversities. He served on graduate committeesand worked with industrial representatives whowere anxious to seek his help and insightregarding their problems. He did this willingly andeffectively. His expertise and talents wererecognized by many people and theirorganizations. From 1984 through 1989 heserved as president of the Canadian Society ofCoal Science and Organic Petrology. He wasassociate editor of the International Journal ofCoal Geology from its inception in 1983 through1995. The Hacquebard Medal was awarded toAlex by the Canadian Society of Coal Scienceand Petrology. The International Committee forCoal Petrology presented Alex with the Thiessenmedal and the Coal Division of the GeologicalSociety of America honored Alex with the GilbertH. Cady award in 1997.

The Canadian Society of Coal Scienceand Organic Petrology established The CameronAward in honor of the outstanding contributionsmade to his profession. Further recognition ofAlex Cameron's contributions came with thespecial symposium held in his honor upon hisretirement from the Geological Survey of Canada.The proceedings of this meeting were publishedas the Cameron Volume of the InternationalJournal of Coal Geology, Vol. 24, numbers 1-4,1993. In addition, Alex was editor of theHacquebard volume of the International Journal ofCoal Geology, vol. 19,1991.

In 1955 Alex married CatherineMcDonnell of Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Alex wasa devoted family man—very proud of all thefamily but never one to bore a group with tales ofaccomplishments. Alex Cameron was a specialperson—anyone who knew him misses him.

Russ Dutcher, Geology, SIUC


TSOP-Houston 2001

Final CALL FOR PAPERSThe Organizing Committee for the 18th Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrologyinvites you to present a paper or poster at the meeting. Extended abstracts of yourpresentation are due by July 1, 2001. Abstracts should be written in English, single-spaced in12-point font, and no more than 5 pages long, including figures and tables. For properformatting, refer to the Abstracts and Programs, vol. 17, Bloomington 2000.

Abstracts can be submitted by mail (if a PC microdisk is included, the abstract must be inMicrosoft Word or WordPerfect format). Electronic submission of abstracts is preferred, andthe abstract should be sent as an attached file to an e-mail message to [email protected] Organizing Committee will make final decisions about acceptance or rejection of abstractsby July 15, 2001.

PROGRAM

Sunday, September 23

Short course: Biomarkers in Oil-Source Rock and Oil-Oil Characterizations andCorrelationsInstructor: Dr. Marcio Rocha Mello, Petroleum and Environmental Geo-Services Ltda., Rio deJaneiro, BrazilThis course is a daylong presentation focusing on recent developments in the use of saturatedand aromatic hydrocarbon biomarkers in oil exploration and production.

Class Size Limit: 25 persons

Monday. September 24 (morning)

Special Session -- Co-sponsored by the Houston Organic Geochemical Society (HOGS) - TheOrganic Geochemistry of the World's Deepwater Areas

Monday, September 24 (afternoon)


Tuesday. September 25


Sunday evening, Sept. 23 through Tuesday noon, Sept. 25


Wednesday, September 26

Field Trip - This is a daylong field trip to the Offshore Drilling Platform Museum in Galveston,Texas.Limit: 20 persons

For information about the conference, visit the TSOP website: http://www.tsop.org. Forinformation about the program, contact Cole Robison (713) 432-6828 or [email protected].

Venue:The meeting will be held at the Westchase Hilton and Towers in west Houston. The hotel isequidistant from both of the city's major airports (George Bush Intercontinental and HoustonHobby Airport). Express Shuttle Bus provides reasonable cost transportation between thehotel and the airports. The hotel is just a few blocks east of the Sam Houston Tollway andconvenient to shopping in the Galleria and only about 10 miles from the Museum District andthe Texas Medical Center. Excellent restaurants and entertainment are within walkingdistance of the hotel.

Housing Information:

Accommodations are in the Hilton Westchase & Towers. The hotel will hold a block of rooms for reservations as follows:Saturday, 09/22/01, 20 rms; Sunday, 09/23/01, 60 rms; Monday, 09/24/01, 60 rms; Tuesday, 09/25/01, 30 rms; Wednesday,09/26/01, 15 rms. Check in Time 3:00PM; Check Out Time 12:00PM. The Hotel will hold the rooms until September 1, 2001.After this date, rooms not covered by rooming list or individual reservations shall be released from TSOP's block and the hotelmay contract with other parties for the use of the rooms. The hotel will continue to accept reservations from TSOP meetingattendees after September 1, 2001, at the prevailing room rate and subject to availability. The contracted room rate is $129Single and Double (until Sept. 1). Reservations: Individual Reservations - Each individual quest must make their ownreservations by calling 1-800-HILTON (or 713-974-1000). Individual must identify him(her)-self as a member TSOP oran attendee of the TSOP meeting. All reservations must be guaranteed and accompanied by a first night room deposit orguaranteed with a major credit card.

Travel Information:

The Hilton Westchase & Towers is located on the SE corner of the intersection of Westheimer and Briarpark in west Houston(hotel address-9999 Westheimer). Two major airports serve Houston: Houston Hobby and Bush Intercontinental. Taxi servicesare available at both airports. However, a good way to arrive at the hotel is to take the Express Shuttle Bus from either airport.Tickets for the shuttle can be purchased (roundtrip available) at the Express Shuttle service counters in the BaggageClaim/Ground Transportation levels of either airport. The cost is approximately $15.00 one-way and $24.00 roundtrip. If twoor more attendees share a taxi, however, it may be cheaper than the shuttle.

International Visitors:

If you need a personal letter of invitation to obtain travel funds or a USA visa, please indicate on the bottom of your registrationform that you wish to have such a letter. You can also e-mail the meeting Chairperson at [email protected] and requestsuch a letter in advance of mailing in your registration.

All non-immigrant visa holders are advised to have health and accident insurance that covers the time they will be in the USA.J-1 and J-2 visa holders are required by law to have this insurance, which must be set at least to a minimum of $50,000 peraccident or illness and include medical evacuation and repatriation of remains. Your travel agent can assist you with obtainingthis insurance coverage.

It is recommended that you obtain sufficient US currency for your trip before departure. However, there are currency exchangefacilities at Bush Intercontinental Airport and at several banks in the Houston.

6


18th Annual TSOP Meeting,Houston, Texas

REGISTRATION FORMPlease complete Registration Form and Return with Remittance (in U.S. Funds) to:

NAME:

Dr. C. R. Robison7702 Soledad Dr.

Houston, TX 77083-4900

ADDRESS:

City:

AFFILIATION (if not given in address):

TELEPHONE: (work)

FAX NUMBER:

State: Postal Code:

(home)_

E-Mail Address:

Please state if you will need services to accommodate a disability:

COUNTRY:

Short Course: "Biomarkers in Oil-Source Rock and Oil-Oil Correlations",Pre-registration by September 1)Late Registration (until Sept. 12)

Meeting (September 23-26):Pre-registration (by September 1)TSOP Member

Non-Member

Late Registration (after Sept. 1)TSOP Member

ProfessionalStudent

ProfessionalStudent

@ $ 60.00@ $ 70.00

@ $150.00@ $ 50.00

@ $175.00

@ $175.00@ $ 75.00

Non-Member @ $200.00

Field Trip (September 26) Offshore Drilling Platform Museum, Galveston, Texas(Limit 20 persons) @ $ 65.00Late Registration (after Sept. 1) @ $ 75.00

Proceedings Volume (to be published in the International JournalOf Coal Geology @ $ 30.00/copy

TOTAL: $

(PAYMENT IN U.S. FUNDS ONLY; MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO TSOP-2001, Houston)


TSOP Council Members 1984-Present

President

Vice President

Sec./Treas.

Councilor (2nd yr)

Councilor (1st yr)

Editor

1983-1984

John Clendening

John Castano

Ann Brooke Reaugh

John Shane

Joseph Senftle

Margaret Hildick

1984-1985

William Spackman

John Crelling

1985-1986

John Castano

Neely Bostick

Ann Brooke Reaugh Ann Brooke Reaugh

John Shane

Joseph Senftle

Karl Schwab

Richard Thompson

Margaret Hildick-Pytte Carolyn Thompson-Rizer

President

Vice President

Sec./Treas.

Councilor (2nd yr)

Councilor (1st yr)

Editor

President

Vice President

Sec./Treas.

Councilor (2nd yr)

Councilor (1st yr)

Editor

1986-1987

John Crelling

Stan Teerman

Sue Rimmer

1987-1988

Neely Bostick

Richard Harvey

Sue Rimmer

Richard Thompson Wolfgang Kalkreuth

Wolfgang Kalkreuth Jeffrey Levine

Carolyn Thompson-Rizer Eileen Williams

1989-1990

Art Cohen

Sue Rimmer

Renee McLaughlin

Dennis Kaegi

Scott Stout

Jeff Levine

1990-1991

Joseph Senftle

Dick Harvey

Renee McLaughlin

Scott Stout

Kenneth Kuehn

Jeffrey Levine

1988-1989

John Burgess

James Hower

Sue Rimmer

Jeffrey Levine

Dennis Kaegi

Eileen Williams

1991-1992

Sue Rimmer

Brian Cardott

Renee McLaughlin

Kenneth Kuehn

Martin Reinhardt

Jeffrey Levine


President

Vice President

Sec./Treas.

Councilor (2nd yr)

Councilor (1st yr)

Editor

President

Vice President

Sec./Treas.

Councilor (2nd yr)

Councilor (1st yr)

Editor

1992-1993

Suzanne Russell

Renee McLaughlin

Kenneth Kuehn

Martin Reinhardt

Charles Landis

Neely Bostick

1995-1996

Brian Cardott

Kenneth Kuehn

Lorraine Eglinton

Stephen Bend

Ganjavar Khorasani

James Pontolillo

1993-1994

James Hower

P.K. Mukhopadhyay

Kenneth Kuehn

Charles Landis

Cole Robison

Neely Bostick

1996-1997

Jeffrey Levine

Charles Landis

Lorraine Eglinton

Ganjavar Khorasani

Dave Glick

James Pontolillo

1994-1995

Renee Symanski

John Crelling

Kenneth Kuehn

Cole Robison

Stephen Bend

James Pontolillo

1997-1998

Kenneth Kuehn

Sharon Crowley

Lorraine Eglinton

Dave Glick

Maria Mastalerz

William Andrews

President

Vice President

Sec./Treas.

Councilor (2nd yr)

Councilor (1st yr)

Editor

1998-1999

Charles Barker

Timothy Moore

Peter Warwick

Maria Mastalerz

1999-2000

Cole Robison

David Glick

Peter Warwick

2000-2001

P.K. Mukhopadhyay

Neil Sherwood

Peter Warwick

Carolyn Thompson-Rizer Jeffrey Quick

Carolyn Thompson-Rizer Jeffrey Quick

John CrellingWilliam Huggett


MaryAnn Malinconico



SOME INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS OF ORGANIC PETROLOGY

John C. Crelling1 and Ralph J. Gray2

1Department of Geology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 629012Ralph Gray Services, 308 Drexel Drive, Monroeville, PA 15146

Organic petrology of industrial carbons yieldsinformation about their size, shape, andassociation with other materials, as well as thequantitative measurements of reflectance,anisotropy in polarized light, fluorescence andresponse to etching and staining. Thisinformation allows a wide variety of carbons to beidentified and characterized even though they allhave the same simple chemical composition.These optical techniques provide the solutions tomany types of problems in the selection of carbonraw materials and the production of industrialcarbon materials. Examples of the effective useof the optical microscope can be found in theproduction of delayed petroleum coke, fluidpetroleum coke, coal tar pitches, anode paste,calcined carbon, vapor deposited carbons,activated carbons, carbon fibers/carbon-carboncomposites, and automobile and aircraft brakes.

DELAYED PETROLEUM COKE: Petrographictechniques can be used to characterize delayedpetroleum coke products. The delayed cokerproduces various amounts of cokes with needle,mixed layered, granular, sponge and shotmicrotextures. An abundance of one or anotherof these microtextures can render a productdesirable or undesirable for a specific use.Polarized light microscopy is ideal for gradingdelayed petroleum cokes.

FLUID PETROLEUM COKE: Fluid petroleumcokes are concentric or shot shaped structuresthat vary in the number of centers, the distinctionbetween the onion skin plies and the degree ofaggregation and included gross porosity. All ofthese features can be determined microscopically,and such optical analysis is useful in grading fluidpetroleum cokes for specific uses.

COAL TAR: Microscopy is used to determine theamount and size of carbon forms in tars. The twobasic forms are Normal and "Carry Over" solids

like coal and coked cenospheres. Miscellaneousmaterials such as minerals from louting are alsodetermined. A chemical analysis would see thebulk of these materials solely as solids.

COAL TAR PITCH: Microscopy is used todetermine the amount of continuous phase andthe amount of Normal Ql, "Carry Over" Ql andMesophase, when it occurs in pitches. Heattreating of pitches to increase Beta Resins causethe Normal Ql to aggregate and on further heatingthe aggregates are transformed to embryonicmesophase and even mesophase, all of which aremicroscopically detectable. Due to the shortageof coal tar pitch in the USA, other sources arebeing considered as electrode binder, andpetroleum derived materials are used as coal tarpitch extenders and carbon blacks are beingadded to simulate Normal Ql. Optical microscopycan be used as a detective tool in selecting pitchsources for specific uses.

GREEN ANODE PASTE: Microscopy of anodepaste can be used to determine the amount ofbinder and filler used to make the paste. Inaddition, the various forms of filler such asrecycle, petroleum coke, anthracite andmetallurgical coke can be detected and quantifiedin terms of their amount, shape and size. Thefiller distribution, degree of mixing and penetrationcan also be determined. The microscopicallydetected microtextures and microstructures seenin green anode paste are useful predictors of thesame or similar features in baked anodes.

BAKED ANODE PASTE: Microscopy of bakedanodes can be used to determine if theformulation used to produce the product is mixedproperly and if it is under-pitched or over-pitchedor even properly pitched. The impact of recycledmaterials can also be detected. The microstructure and micro texture impact the productquality and performance.

10


SODERBERG PASTE: The Soderberg Pasteused in green electrodes consists of coal tar pitchand filler carbons. The filler, which may consist ofcalcined anthracite, petroleum coke or evenmetallurgical coke, makes up about 30% ofcoarse materials (up to about 12mm diameter).Finely sized solids, together with the pitch, formthe binder phase. Optical microscopy techniquescan be used to detect both the degree ofcalcination of the filler and the thoroughness ofmixing.

CALCINED/GRAPHITIZED CARBON:Microscopy of calcined carbons can be used toidentify and quantify the microstructures andmicrotextures that calcination/graphitizationimparts to the feed carbon materials. Anthracites,petroleum cokes, metallurgical cokes andrecycled materials are used in mixes to producegreen, baked, calcined and graphitized carbonforms. Calcined anthracites and petroleum cokes,which are widely used in specialty carbons,undergo changes as the degree of calcinationadvances. They become softer and there is amarked change in their optical reflectancebetween the maximum and minimum reflectance.It has been demonstrated that the reflectancevalues can be used to calculate Youngs Modulusof Elasticity. The elasticity of the carbon forms notonly determine the physical properties but alsorelate to the electrical properties.

VAPOR CARBON DEPOSITION: Microscopy canbe used to detect and study a wide variety offorms of carbon deposition. Carbon depositsrange from sooty and thermal-fine-particulates tospherulytic aggregates formed when volatilecarbonaceous materials are processed. Thecarbon deposition in the roof of coke ovens is aproblem while carbon black is purposely producedas a product. However, even in the production ofcarbon blacks, there are extraneous carbonsproduced that detract from the product value.Microscopy is valuable in studies of carbondeposition.

ACTIVATED CARBON: Coals and organicmaterials are treated thermally and chemically toproduce porous materials with enormous surfaceareas and active properties which filter materialssuch as gas and liquids and selectively absorbmaterials from gases. Many of the features that

are characteristic of activated carbons can beidentified microscopically. Microscopy has beenused to predict the CO2 reactivity of cokes forblast furnace use and reactivity of carbons to SiOin electric arc furnaces used to produceferroalloys and silicon.

CARBON FIBERS/CARBON-CARBONCOMPOSITES: Optical microscopy has beenused to determine the size of carbon fibers, thedegree of anisotropism and the length and widthof anisotropic domains. All of these featuresrelate to the quality and ultimate use of the fibers.The defects in structures are usually welldisplayed in polarized light microscopy. Opticalmicroscopy of carbon-carbon composites canreveal the nature of the matrix carbon and thedegree of bonding with the fibers as well as thenature and distribution of vapor deposited carbon.

AUTOMOBILE AND AIRCRAFT BRAKES:Because coal, coke, graphite, char, and carbonfibers are used in a wide variety of modern brakesfor automobiles, trucks and aircraft, there areapplications for petrographic analysis in themanufacture and use of these materials. Brakesfor automotive and light aircraft use generallyconsist of a mixture of particles of metal (iron,steel, copper, brass), crystalline compounds(antimony trisulfate, potassium titanite,magnesium oxide, elemental sulfur), non-crystalline compounds (glass and plastic), fibers(aramid polymers, cellulose, carbon) andcarbonaceous materials (metallurgical coke,petroleum coke, graphite, coal, and char) set in aphenolic resin. The composition of these brakesis characterized by a petrographic point-countanalysis in both white light and blue light. Theblue light analysis is both necessary and possiblebecause many of the plastics and fibercomponents, which are difficult to observe inwhite light, fluoresce distinctively when excitedwith blue light. The various carbonaceouscomponents, particularly the cokes and graphites,can only be distinguished by petrographictechniques including viewing in polarized light withboth analyzer and retarder plates to producecharacteristic interference colors and patterns.Other applications of organic petrology are foundin the use and manufacture of Carbon-Carboncomposite brakes used on commercial andmilitary aircraft. These brakes are made up of

11

1

5.


carbon fibers in a matrix carbon composed ofgraphitized pitch, resin, and vapor depositedcarbon. Optical microscopy is used for qualitycontrol and troubleshooting in the production ofthese brakes in such applications as determiningthe nature of bonding between the matrix and thefibers, the distribution and amount of pore volumeand the nature and distribution of the vapordeposited carbon. Optical microscopy is alsoextensively used in the study of brake weardebris. Petrographic methods are used toexamine the nature of the wear surfaces as wellas the debris particles themselves.

SUMMARY:

In summary, optical microscopy is a versatile andreliable tool for the characterization of coals andcarbons. It allows a wide variety of carbons to beidentified and characterized even though they allhave the same simple chemical composition.Optical microscopy techniques provide thesolution to many types of problems in theselection of carbon raw materials and theproduction of industrial carbon materials. Anotheraspect of the optical microscopy of coals, cokes,graphites, carbons and chars is the opportunity forthe optical petrologist to appreciate the intrinsicbeauty of these natural and man made materials.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Crelling, John C, 1996, Atlas and Notes: ShortCourse on the Petrology of Cokes, Chars,Carbons, and Graphites: The Society for OrganicPetrology, 13th Ann. Mtg., Carbondale, IL.

Crelling, John C, Filip, Peter, and Wright, M. A.,1997, Petrographic characterization of carbon andother components in automobile brakes: Extendedabstracts and program,-23rd Biennial Conferenceon Carbon- American Carbon Society, v. II, p.224-225.

Bensley, D., Marsh, H, Crelling, J., and JohnsonK. , 1994, Optical microscopy used in thequantitative reflectance mode to correlatestructural and mechanical properties of carbonfibers: Extended Abstracts and Programme,Carbon "94, Spanish Carbon Group, Granada ,

Spain, p. 738-739.

Gray, R. J. and DeVanney, K. F., 1986, Cokecarbon forms: microscopic classification andindustrial applications: Int. J. Coal Geol., v.6,p.277-297.

Gray, Ralph J., 1991, Some petrographicapplications to coal, coke, and carbons: Org.Geochem., v. 17, no. 4, p.535-555

Gray Ralph J. and Krupinski, Ken C, 1997, Pitchproduction: supply, coking, optical microscopy,and applications: In: Introduction to CarbonTechnologies, eds. Marsh, Harry, Heintz, EdwardA., and Rodriguez-Reinoso, Francisco, Pub. de laUniv. de Alicante, Alicante, p. 329-423.

Hutton, Toby J., McEnaney, Brian, and Crelling,John C, Structural studies of wear debris fromcarbon-carbon composite aircraft brakes: In press.

Murdie, N., Ju, C. P., Don, J., and Fortunato, F.A., 1991, Microstructure of worn pitch/resin/ cvi C-C composites: Carbon, v. 29, no. 3, p. 335-342.

Photos

1. Mesophase in pitch.

2. Under-pitched calcined carbon anode. Under-pitched condition produces excessive pores asseen here, resulting in a weak structure.

3. Graphitized needle coke from graphite carbonelectrode.

4. Pyrolitic carbon from coke oven.

5. Carbon-carbon composite with fibers runningin different directions. Note carbon vapordeposits surrounding voids.

6. Automobile brake showing particle ofpetroleum coke in epoxy matrix.

14


TSOP Councilor attends Science- Engineering- Technology CongressionalVisits Day

By MaryAnn L. Malinconico

As part of the contingent from AmericanGeological Institute member societies, Iparticipated in the 6th annual Science-Engineering- Technology Congressional VisitsDay (CVD), May 1- 2, 2001. The purpose of theevent, as described on the AGI CVD webpage(www.agiweb.org/cvd) was to "underscore long-term importance of science, engineering andtechnology to the Nation through meetings withcongressional decisionmakers". The event wassponsored by the Science- Engineering-Technology Work Group, of which the AmericanGeological Institute (AGI) and the AmericanGeophysical Union (AGU) are members, and theCoalition for Technology Partnerships. Over 200scientists and engineers from academia andindustry attended, including sixteen geoscientists.

Participating scientists visited their electedRepresentatives and Senators in the UnitedStates Congress to convey support for increased

federal funding of non- defense and non- healthscience basic research, specifically the NationalScience Foundation (NSF), National Oceans andAtmospheres Administration (NOAA), NationalAeronautic and Space Administration (NASA),and research programs in the Departments ofEnergy (DOE), Agriculture, Interior, andCommerce. The core message to be conveyed toCongress is that increased and balanced federalinvestment in research and development is thenation"s foundation for future innovation andeconomic growth. Although this event may notappear to be of interest to non- U.S. citizenmembers of TSOP or other geoscience societies,various U. S. federally funded research programsare international in scope or collaboration, two ofmany examples being the MARGINS initiative atNSF (www.ldeo.columbia.edu/marqins) and theOcean Drilling Program (www.oceandrilling.org) inwhich several TSOP members of variousnationalities have participated.

The current concern about U. S. science fundingis that, although proposed federal investment forfiscal year 2002 in basic research is up about 6%,this increase is mostly due to an increase of about

15

13% in the budget for the National Institutes ofHealth (NIH), which funds U. S. health andmedical research programs. The increase in NIHfunding is certainly important for all of us, but inthe meantime, non- defense research funding innon- health agencies is lower than in 2001. NSFdid get an increase of ca. $56 million, but a new,and also important, $200 million science and matheducation initiative is to come out of the NSF totalbudget which leaves less money for researchgrants. Of particular concern to geoscientists, areproposed funding cuts to the U. S. GeologicalSurvey (USGS). Energy programs, like coal, arenot affected: the cuts are primarily in waterresources, toxic hydrology, mapping and hazards.Some of these affected programs are currentlycost- shared with states and other agencies, whichmay not be able to majority fund them if federalsupport is withdrawn.

Background briefings for participants took up thefirst day, Tuesday, May 1. Briefings that afternoonfor all participants included budget overviewsfrom administrative representatives of NASA ;NSF; DOE which, besides responsibility fornuclear and fossil fuel energy, administers theOak Ridge, Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos,and Argonne national laboratories; the NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology (Dept, ofCommerce); and the Office of Management andBudget which puts together the national budget indetail. Background on the protocol ofcongressional visits was provided mostly byHouse and Senate science committee staffmembers who are also scientists. From the HouseScience Committee, the chair, Sherwood Boehlertof New York, and the ranking minority member,Ralph Hall of Texas, both addressed the group.There was also a briefing that morning at AGUheadquarters specifically for geoscientists on theeffect of budget cuts on earth science programs.Presentations were made by Charles Groat,Director of the USGS, and representatives fromDOE, NASA, NOAA, and NSF.

AGI provided folders of information materials tobe left with the members of Congress visited.Besides a page illustrating the core science


message and information on the organizers of theCVD, there was a copy of a letter to colleaguesfrom Senators Christopher Bond (Missouri) andBarbara Mikulski (Maryland) encouraging supportfor a doubling of the NSF budget over five years,and a pamphlet on natural hazards research. TheBond- Mikulski letter emphasized the importanceof basic non- health research to health- relatedissues and technology. I also added a copy of aletter from Marcia McNutt, AGU president, to U.S.President Bush on the relevance of geophysicalresearch to defense, and small maps ofPennsylvania bedrock geology, coal, oil and gasresources. Besides my own personal businesscard, I included a TSOP business card that givesgeneral short information on the purpose of TSOPwith the society logo and web address (these areavailable from me to any member who wants tocarry TSOP information to a meeting or otherevent in a small convenient size)

The congressional visits took place onWednesday, May 2. Being from Pennsylvania, Ihad appointments with offices of my twoSenators, Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, bothRepublicans, and my Representative, PatToomey, also a Republican. Visits were arrangedby Margaret Baker of the AGI GovernmentAffairs Program, who accompanied me on my firstappointment of the day at Senator Santorum"sOffice. I visited Senator Specter"s office alone. Atboth Senators" offices, the meetings were withstaff members. Meetings were short, about 20minutes. The core message was presented, withreferences on how support for research fundingwas important to Pennsylvania and its economy,particularly combined partnerships andtechnological transfer involving local high techindustry, state academic institutions, and aneducated work force.

In addition, the importance of USGS programs,particularly in hazards, hydrology and cooperativemapping were pointed out. Pennsylvania doesnot have volcanoes, but has occasional lowmagnitude earthquakes, frequent floods, andsinkholes. At Representative Toomey"s office, Iwas part of a group of four scientists. The otherswere members of the Materials Research Society,including the chair of the Materials Sciencedepartment at Lehigh University, which is inToomey's district. We spoke mostly with a staffmember, but Rep. Toomey generously left a

hearing for ten minutes to meet with us. All threeCongressmen or their staffers said they wouldlook over the materials, asked some questions,but no commitments for support of the issueswere made. I later sent letters of thanks for thevisits, iterating the importance of a federalcommitment to basic science research.

Although the Congressional Visits Day program isseveral years old, just one annual visit byscientists is not enough to make a lastingimpression, as pointed out by Rep. Curt Weldon,House Committee on Science, last year (noted in"Gaea", the Asso. for Women Geoscientistsnewsletter May- June 2000). Scientists in generalneed to have a higher profile with Congress,especially considering the multitudes of lobbyistsfrom diverse organizations who are all trying toget a piece of the federal budget pie. This hasbeen a growing awareness of major U. S.- basedgeoscience organizations in the last 15- 20 yearswith the formation of public policy or governmentaffairs programs, liaisons and committees at AGI,AGU, AAPG (American Asso. of PetroleumGeologists), and GSA (Geological Society ofAmerica). Scientists as individuals are alsoencouraged to contact their electedrepresentatives and foster a continuingrelationship and dialogue through either visits tooffices, letters, involvement in local or statepolitics. Although AGI sent requests forparticipation in Congressional Visits Day toexecutive boards of member societies, some ofthe geoscientists who responded to AGU"s call forparticipants were individuals who do not hold anysociety office and came because of personalinterest in the issues.

For more information on the Congressional VisitsDay and science policy issues relevant togeoscientists, one can visit on the Internet, theA G I G o v e r n m e n t A f f a i r sprogramwebpage(www. aqiweb.org/gap/gaphome.html). and the AGU Science and Policywebsite(www.agu.org/sci soc/policy/sci pol.html). David Applegate and Margaret Baker of AGIand Peter Folger of AGU are to be greatlythanked for their efforts in organizing andshepherding geoscientists at the CVD, and theircontinuing efforts in disseminating science policyinformation and facilitating government-geoscience interaction. Background on the Houseof Representatives Science Committee can be

16


foundatwww.house.gov/science/welcome.html.An excellent resource on Congressional mattersand members of the House and Senate is theLibrary of Congress Legislative webpage(thomas.loc.gov).

[MaryAnn Malinconico is a TSOP Councilor andchair of the Outreach Committee. Beforebecoming a geologist, she was a Foreign ServiceOfficer (Diplomatic Corps) of the U.S. Dept, ofState, and has served on the GSA Committee onGeology and Public Policy.)

Address corrections / updates

Please make the following change in youmembership directory:

Ralph Gray's new area code is: (724)

TSOP Archives

The official archival collection is available for youto use. The collection contains all of the society'snewsletters, publications, programs, field guides,short course notes, Research Committee reports,minutes of council meetings, and memberdirectories.

Photocopies of desired material will be providedat a cost immediately upon approval of ourrequest form. Sorry, but no copies of publicationswhich are currently for sale by TSOP can beprovided. Please make all inquires to:

Ken W. KuehnTSOP ArchivistDepartment of Geology and Geography1 Big Red WayBowling Green KY 42101(270) 745-3083(270) 745-6410 [email protected]

NEW RESEARCH COMMITTEEPROPOSAL:

CLIMATE CHANGE DURINGQUATERNARY

As part of an initiative by our current TSOPPresident, a proposal to form a working groupwithin the Research Sub-Committee to evaluateglobal climate change in the Quaternary isproposed. The goals and objectives are still to beprecisely defined, but it is believed that thepetrology of peats and early lignites can givevaluable clues of Quaternary paleoclimatevariations. This is especially topical in light of theglobal warming controversies that currently in thenews lately.

For TSOP members who are interested pleasecontact:

Dr Tim A. MooreCRL Energy Ltd.P.O. Box 29-415Ilam, Christchurch, New ZealandTel. +64 3 364 2768Fax. +64 3 364 2774Email, [email protected]

PLEASE EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST BY 15AUGUST 2001 to be included in mailing lists forthis subcommittee.

An informal meeting of those who express aninterest will be held at the Houston TSOP AnnualMeeting in September 2001. It is hoped that somepreliminary results of this subcommittee can bepresented at the TSOP Annual Meeting in Banff in2002.

17


MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT

GONDWANA 11

The 11th Gondwana Meeting is to be held at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. Thedates of the conference will be from Sunday 25h August to Friday 30th August 2002.

With the advent of precise dating techniques over the past decade, this has enabled new and excitingStratigraphic and event correlations to be drawn across the once large Gondwana supercontinent. Highprecision geochronology has revolutionized the way we explore the connections between the biological andgeological record with precise temporal constraints. The time is right to collectively reconsider and documentthese correlations and connections and explore how the Gondwana Earth System has evolved through time.This will form the central theme of Gondwana 11.

A special forum will be held on Gondwana coal and coal basins. Are these deposits the enigma theyappear to be? Papers are now being invited on all aspects of Gondwanan coal, and how these deposits canhelp in the understanding of the supercontinent's tectonic history, palaeoclimatology, Palaeobotany andsedimentary processes. The outcome of the forum will be to advance the understanding of these trulyworldwide but dispersed coal deposits.

Parallel sessions with other themes will be kept to a minimum to allow a more multi and inter disciplinaryapproach to understanding Gondwana geology and to interpreting palaeoenvironments. Conferenceproceedings will be published as thematic sets in an international journal.

To be included in all future circulars send your expression of interest and YOUR contact details to:

Susannah HawtinAdministratorGateway AntarcticaUniversity of CanterburyPrivate Bag 4800ChristchurchNew Zealand

Telephone +64-3-364 2136Fax +64-3-364 2197Email: [email protected] www.anta.canterbury.ac.nz

For more information on the coal papers and field trip write to:

Dr T. A. MooreCRL Energy Ltd.P.O. Box 29-415Christchurch, New Zealand.FAX +64 3 364 2774EMAIL [email protected]

18

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 18 No. 2 July 2001

Can we predict a coal reserves life?

T.A. Moore1,2 and G.R. Gillard1

1CRL Energy Ltd., P.O. Box 29-415, Christchurch, New Zealand2Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New

Zealand

The worlds coal reserves are a finite resourcethat has been exploited for a number ofcenturies. In the last century coal production hassteadily increased and appears to be still rising.Therefore it is of importance to be able to predictwhen world coal production is likely to peak, andhow long sustained coal production is likely tocontinue. To this end, CRL Energy Ltd. hasmade some preliminary investigations into theexpected life of the world mineable coal reservesusing the well-established Hubbert Curveprediction technique for finite resourceevaluation.

The purpose of this short communication is todemonstrate how Hubbert Curves are derivedand then give an example of how they might beused. Hubbert Curves were first developed by M.King Hubbert. He successfully predictedmaximum oil extraction in the US 13 years inadvance and was accurate to within two years.Since that time Hubbert Curves have been usedby others to predict mineral, oil and coaldepletion (Hubbert, 1979; Dale, 1984; Campbelland Laherrere, 1998).

Derivation of Hubbert Curves

The method that has been most widely used inthe past to estimate future resource production isthat of empirical extrapolation. If a near lineartrend can be observed during the recent past,extrapolation of this trend is said to be a"projection" of the trend and is used to estimatethe future. This method is hazardous whenapplied to the production of an exhaustibleresource, for it fails to take into account the factthat a future number is already known: that is,utilisation of a finite resource will eventuallyresult in zero production when finally depleted. Aproduction curve for any exhaustible resource,

after having reached one or more principalmaxima, must eventually decline in a negative-exponential manner back to zero. This factprovides a simple but powerful means of analysis.For example:

be the production rate, where dQ is the quantityproduced in time dt. Then the cumulativeproduction to any given time t, is given by

where Q¥ is the ultimate magnitude of cumulativeproduction in a given region. During this completecycle, the curve of production rate P, plottedgraphically as a function of t, must begin initiallyat zero, increase exponentially for a period, slowdown, pass one or more maxima, and finallydecline negative-exponentially back to zero as theinitial recoverable resource approaches depletion.We have also the further constraint that

(4)

Where Qi is the quantity of the resource initiallypresent.

By the first principle of integral calculus the areabeneath the curve of P versus t to any given timeis a graphical measure of the cumulative

19


production to that time, and for the completecycle the ultimate area beneath the curve, as tincreases without limit, will be fixed by themagnitude of Q¥ If, therefore, from geological orother means, the magnitude of the quantity ofthe recoverable resource initially present in agiven area can be estimated, this estimate setsa rigid bound to the area that can be subtendedby the complete�cycle curve of production.

then, if for a given region an estimate for can bemade,

This is the inverse of the conventional problemof integral calculus. There, one is usually giventhe function y = f(x), and the area A beneath thecurve from x = 0 to x = x, is usually determinedby

The present problem is : Given A(x), find thecurve y = f(x). Or, in terms of resourceproduction, given the ultimate quantity to berecovered in a given region, find the productionrate as a function of time.

This inverse problem obviously has no uniquesolution; in fact, for the complete cycle there isan infinity of different curves which subtend thesame area. However, when the first part of thecurve has already been developed, and thetechnological constraints are added that thecurve, after passing one or more maxima mustreturn to zero by a roughly negative�exponentialdecline, the range of possible shapes for thecomplete�cycle curve is severely restricted.

In any graphical plot of such a curve, thegraphical interval for ?P as the ordinate, and for∆t as the abscissa, must be chosen arbitrarily.On such a co�ordinate system, the area of one∆P∆t � grid rectangle is a graphical measure ofthe cumulative production ?Q at a rate ?P forthe time At, since

will be the number of grid squares that can besubtended by the complete�cycle curve.

Example: Powder River Basin

Coal reserves and production data for the PowderRiver Basin have been obtained from theWyoming State Geological Survey.

Reserves quoted are (all tonnages are metrictonnes):

1. 7,508.9 Mt of recoverable reserves oncurrently leased land as of 31 December,1998.

2. 934,,000 Mt of in situ coal reserves.

3. 14,700 Mt of surface mineablerecoverable reserves.

4. 11,500 Mt of surface minablereserves compliant with USenvironmental law.

20


Accumulated coal production from the PowderRiver Basin to 31 December 1998 is 2,813.1 Mt

Therefore, initial coal reserves for the fourreserves scenarios quoted above are:

1.2.3.4.

10,322936,813

17,51314,313

To ascertain the likely production life of thePowder River Basin, a Hubbert Curve analysis ispresented in Figure 1, based on the 17.5 Bt initialsurface mineable reserves.

Results indicate that peak production of about370 million tonnes per annum will be reachedaround year 2016. By year 2040 approximately80% of the surface mineable reserves will havebeen extracted.

Relation between price andproduction for coal

As with oil, (Campbell & Laherrere, 1998) coalpricing may be able to be predicted by HubbertCurves. For example, during the anthracitedepletion cycle in northeast Appalachia, about40% of the total anthracite resource wasdepleted (Dale, 1984). At the same time, coalseams got thinner and the mines went deeper,resulting in a large drop in labour productivity.Between 1870 and 1900, technology and pricesbegan increasing, at first gradually, and thenmore rapidly, until 1930. After 1930. Productionand depletion began to fall, this trend continues.

Figure 2 shows production and price and it isinteresting to note the rise in price immediatelyfollowing the period of peak production. Theobservation of the price of a commodity risingsoon after peak production has been reached islikely to occur with any exhaustible resourceincluding subbituminous coal.

Closing remarks on factors whichcould influence Hubbert curve

symmetry

There are many factors that may effect the shapeof Hubbert Curves. No doubt, markets and worldeconomy will influence production demands andthus rates of extraction. In addition, our habit ofmining the best deposits first could effectivelyskew the Hubbert Curves to the left, resulting inpeak production sooner than expected. Forexample, in Figure 2, an additional two years ofdata - 1999 and 2000 - have been plotted andshow a marked increase in extraction rate. Thismay signify that maximum production could besooner than predicted. However this is heavilyreliant upon accurate estimates of the mineablePowder River Basin reserves. Reliably knowingthe continuity as well as coal quality of a depositplays an enormous rôle in determining theeconomic extent of a coal deposit. Finally, newtechnologies are always being developed andthese certainly will help to access more of areserve, thus extending its total production life.

References

Campbell, C.J. & Laherrere, J.H., 1998: The endof cheap oil. Scientific American,March 1998, p 60-65.

Dale, L.L, 1984: The pace of mineral depletion inthe United States. LandEconomics, Vol. 60, No. 3,August 1984.

Hubbert, M.K., 1979: The world's evolving energysystem. Paper presented before JointDOE/EGSP-ES/AAPG Symposium,Energy for the Eighties. Morgantown,West Virginia, Oct. 1-3, 1979.

21

Figure 1: Powder River Basin -17.5 Bt Initial Reserve of Surface Mineable Coal

Figure 2: Anthracite coal production, prices and royalty, northeast Appalachia (Dale, 1984)

ACROSS1. microscopic maceral assemblage3. Pennsylvanian "tree"8. Devonian black shale marker10. sulfate reducerI 1 . Teichmuller maceral12. deviation in reflectance13. measure of rank17. spore component19. Georgia swamp25. Gondwana flora26. boghead from Scottish hill29. grindability30. Pediastrum-derived maceral31. raised bog35. origin of cats37. rule of depth38. concretion former39. sapropel40. microhardness41. trace element fixation42. fluidity 2,3

DOWN2. coal ball formation4. sedimentary cycle5. hard, grey lithotype6. German coal7. metamorphic coal9. fundamental coal science12. site of Kazakh sapropel14. vitrinite proxy15. alginite16. fungal derivative18. drift wood20. metamorphic successor of kaolinite21. mother of coal22. ooze from Oz23. component of marine oil shales24. underclay25. igneous altered coal27. solid bitumen28. volcanic ash fall deposit32. CHNS analysis33. banded coal in Schopf system34. ubiquitous organic component36. roots in the Pennsylvanian



Photomicrograph in blue light fluorescence of densosporinite maceralsfrom the Jaklovee Seam, Czech Republic. Width of field is

approximately 200 micrometers. Photomicrograph by William Huggett[caption corrected per 18:3 p. 23.]

The editors welcome contributions of photomicrographs of organic geologicmaterials for future issues of this newsletter.


NEWSLETTERVol. 18 No. 3 September 2001 ISSN-0743-3816

A spectacular field photo of Kerogen Type II Deepwater Monterey Formation Source Rockthat is bleeding crude oil exposed at the Carpenteria Beach, California. The source rockhas % Ro = 0.3 and 85-95% amorphous liptinite (amorphous or bituminite 2) content.Photograph courtesy P. K. Mukhopadhyay (Muki)


A field photo of hydrocarbon (gas and heavy oil) seepage at the LaBrea Tar Pits near Los Angeles California. Photograph courtesy ofP.K. Mukhopadhyay (Muki).


The Society ForOrganic Petrology

The Society for Organic Petrology: c/oAmerican Geological Institute, 4220King Street, Alexandra, VA 22302-1520

Co-editors:

John C. Crelling & William W.Huggett

The TSOP Newsletter welcomescontributions from members and non-members alike. Items may besubmitted on computer disk, as an e-mail attachment or as printed text viafax or regular mail. The format maybe in either MS word or WordPerfect.Please sent to:

John C. Crelling/William W.Huggett

Department of GeologySouthern Illinois University

Carbondale Illinois 62901-4324Phone: (618)453-7381

Fax: (618)453-7393E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]

Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743) ispublished quarterly by The SocietyFor Organic Petrology and isdistributed to all Society Members asa benef i t of membership.Membership in the Society isinternational and open to allindividuals having an interest in thefield of Organic Petrology. For moreinformation on membership, Societyactivities or to inquire aboutmembership packs please contact:



Tel: (703) 648-6469

Cover: Oil Seeps, Monterey Formation.

2. Photo: La Brea Tar Pits near Los Angeles.

4. President's Column

7.

15.

21.

22.

23.

24.

TSOP HOUSTON 2001! 18th Annualmeeting of the Society For OrganicPetrology - Houston Texas

Technical Bulletin: Impact of SampleDesiccation On The Mean and MaximumVitrinite Reflectance For Various Ranks OfCoals.

Crossword Puzzle: People

July's crossword puzzle answers

Photomicrograph: Densosporinite

Photomicrograph: Alginite

The Society For Organic PetrologyCouncil 2000-2001

PresidentVice PresidentPresident ElectSecretary/TreasurerEditors

Councilor (99-00)Councilor (99-01)

P.K. MukhopadhyayNeil SherwoodTim MoorePeter WarwickWilliam HuggettJack CrellingJeff QuickMaryAnn Malinconico

TSOP Newsletter Vol 18 No 3 September 2001

President's ColumnBeginning of a New Era

ByPrasanta K. Mukhopadhyay (Muki)

(E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected])

This will be my last column in the Newsletter asthe President of TSOP. Prior to leaving office asPresident of TSOP, I would like to wish you all aHappy and Prosperous New Year of 2002.1 wouldalso like to thank various members of TSOP fortheir active support and contribution to the societyduring this period. It was a great year and wehave resolved many issues during this time.Twenty-three new members have joined TSOPbetween October 2000 and August 2001. Thesemembers are Sulayman Oyebanji Adewale, ElviraBarcelona, Lisa Buckley, Richard Carroll, GarethChalmers, Chris Cornford, Tara M. Curtin, R.Vance Hall, Maria Hamor-Vido, TakashiHasegawa, Guy Holdgate, Mehmet Kahraman,Thomas Kastner, Christopher M. Kravits, PavlaOvcari, Slawomira Pusz, Julie Ross, TanapornSakulpitakphon, Steven A. Tedesco, Don M.Triplehorn, Yoshihiro Ujiie, Li Zhongsheng, andErwin L. Zodrow. I would like to congratulatethem all for becoming TSOP Members. Themembership request for two other persons iscurrently (August 15) under review with the TSOPCouncil. I would like to indicate that over the pastdecade, TSOP has increasingly becoming aglobal community.

The 18th TSOP Annual Meeting will be held inHouston, Texas during September 23-26, 2001.The meeting chairperson Cole Robison and theOrganizing Committee of the Houston Meetinghave put forward an exciting charter of programsincluding a half day special session on "OrganicGeochemistry of the World's Deepwater Areas"(please see details in this issue and lastNewsletter). I would like to thank Cole Robison(chairperson of the Houston Meeting OrganizingCommittee), Carolyn-Thompson Rizer, WallyDow, Mike Darnell, and Jack Burgess, and othersfor putting an excellent service to TSOP inorganizing this meeting. I would also like to thankall the sponsors who have donated generous grantfor the annual meeting in Houston, Texas. The19th Annual Meeting of TSOP will be held between

August 31 and September 2, 2002 in Banff,Alberta, Canada. This meeting will be hosted bythe CSCOP (Canadian Society for Coal Scienceand Organic Petrology) and will be treated as ajoint meeting of CSCOP and TSOP. For detailsabout the 2002 TSOP meeting, please seewww.cscop-tsop.com. The 20th Annual Meeting ofTSOP will be held in Washington D.C. in 2003. Atthis stage, the council has planned to organize the21st Annual Meeting of TSOP in Sydney, Australiain 2004.

This year, a one-day ICCP-TSOP joint sessionwas organized in August 2001 in Copenhagen,Denmark. The session was entitled as " OrganicPetrology applied to Petroleum and CoalbedMethane Research". This session was organizedby GEUS (Geological Survey of Denmark andGreenland) and Charley Barker (Past-President ofTSOP) (for details see December 2000 issue ofthe Newsletter). There will be a joint session ofAAPG-TSOP entitled "Deepwater source rocksand the Petroleum Systems of the AtlanticMargin" along with the AAPG Annual Conventionin Houston, Texas in March 2002. Wally Dow andI will be organizing that particular session nextyear.

The TSOP 2000-2001 Midyear Meeting wassuccessfully held on April 20, 2001 on thepremises of the U. S. Geological Survey inReston, Virginia. Peter Warwick, Secretary-Treasurer of TSOP, organized the meeting. Fivecouncil members (Tim Moore, Peter Warwick,MaryAnn Malinconico, Jeff Quick, and myself)and one committee chairperson (Dave Glick)attended the meeting. The meeting also organizeda teleconference with other council members (NeilSherwood in Sydney, Australia and Bill Huggett inCarbondale, Illinois). The meeting had addresseda number of current and future issues (for detailssee June 2001 Newsletter). I would like to thankPeter Warwick for organizing an excellentmeeting and Leslie (Jingle) Ruppert of USGS for


arranging the great dinner for us after themeeting.

This year, Research Committee and OutreachCommittee have joined forces more vigorously topromote TSOP Student Grant. The panel of threejudges chosen by the Research CommitteeChairperson has selected Sharleen Ramos, amaster's candidate from the University of BritishColumbia, Vancouver, Canada. Sharleen hasbeen awarded the 2001 TSOP Student Grant of$1000.00. Her thesis topic of research is titled"Gas Shale Resources- Role of Organic Matter".Thirteen applicants were considered for this year'sresearch grant. I thank Suzanne, MaryAnn, andthe panel of judges for their excellent work. Icongratulate Sharleen for this achievement.

The Research Committee under the leadership ofSuzanne Russell has dealt with promoting threeresearch topics as discussed in an earlier TSOPNewsletter (December 2000 issue). The status ofeach of these projects is as follows:(a) "Organic Matter in Meteorites and Other

Planets.... ": I am still pursuing to get threesamples of carbonaceous chondrites (possiblyof different type and maturity) from theSmithsonian Institute

(b) "Evaluation of Global Climate Change in theQuaternary...": Tim Moore has received goodresponses for his initiative in the June issue ofTSOP Newsletter. He is going to start theproject soon.

(c) "The relationship and genesis ofreflectance...": Currently, Neil Sherwood ispursuing this project.

Along with these three research topics, ourplanned publication of the book on the "SourceRocks for Petroleum - Examples from the Northand South America" is under consideration. AAPGhas to approve this publication as we haveplanned to publish jointly. The special volume ofTSOP-Salt Lake City, 1999 has been publishedthis year in the International Journal of CoalGeology as volume 46, numbers. 2-4.1 thank JeffQuick, Jim Hower, Carolyn Thompson-Rizer andothers for their effort in finalizing this volume.

This year, as an affiliated/member society of theAmerican Association of Petroleum Geologists(AAPG) and American Geological Institute (AGI),

TSOP has put tremendous effort in promoting oursociety in various functions and publications ofAAPG and AGI. The following are some of thehighlights:• A color advertisement showing various

activities and research goals of TSOP havebeen inserted in the November 2000 issue ofAGI journal GEOTIMES (special issue:Technology in the Earth Sciences). The sameadvertisement in black and white has beeninserted in the AAPG Explorer in January2001 issue (special Millenium Issue).In February 2001, Brian Cardott, AAPGLiaison to TSOP has attended the AAPGLeadership Conference at the AAPGHeadquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He haspresented a comprehensive view of variousactivities of TSOP to all presidents orselected leaders of various scientificorganizations.In May 2001, MaryAnn Malinconico,Councilor, TSOP has participated in the 6*Annual Science-Engineering-TechnologyCongressional Visits Day in Washington D. C.organized by AGI and AGU. For details,please review MaryAnn's write up of herexperiences in the June 2001 issue of theNewsletter.In early 2001, TSOP has sponsored thepublication of the AGI booklet on theEvolution and the Fossil Record and granted$1000.00 for the partial cost of the project.

" In June 2001, I have attended the AGIMeeting with the Member SocietyRepresentative in Denver, Colorado. BrianCardott and I have attended the specialdinner at the Anschutz Gallery in Denver,Colorado on an invitation from the currentPresident of AAPG. I have discussed variousissues about TSOP with the current AGIPresident and various AAPG Executives atthe dinner reception.

David Applegate, AGI Representative to the USCongress has sent a short synopsis to all AGIMember Societies of the US National EnergyPolicy adopted by Administration of PresidentBush (Posted 5-19-01). He has presented thesepolicies at the AAPG Meeting as a SpecialLuncheon Speaker. Some of the keyrecommendations of that policy that are related tothe earth science issues in general are included in


the following paragraphs:(1) An executive order for federal agencies to takeinto account energy supply, distribution and use inany regulatory action.(2) The Federal Emergency Management Agencywill prepare for potential energy emergencies inconjunction with existing Regional InteragencySteering Committees.(3) The Environmental Protection Agency is towork with Congress to use market-basedincentives for developing multi-pollutantlegislation that would phase in reductions ofsulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury overa reasonable period of time.(4) The White House Office of Science andTechnology Policy and the President's Council ofAdvisor's on Science and Technology are toreview and report on more efficient use of thenation's energy resources.(5) The Departments of Energy and the Interiorwill promote the use of new technologies torecover more oil and gas from existing wells andattempt to build partnerships aimed at improvingoil and gas exploration technologies.(6) The administration will work with Congress toauthorize exploration and development of the1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge(ANWR); an estimated $1.2 billion of federalrevenue from new ANWR leases will be used tofund research in renewable and alternative fuels.

The Nominating Committee and the BallotCommittee have finalized and added three newmembers for 2001-2002 TSOP Council. Icongratulate Maria Mastalerz, Lavern Stasiuk,and Raymond Pheifer for their success inbecoming elected as President-Elect, Vice-President, and Councilor, respectively.

Finally, I would like to thank all the members ofthe 2000-2001 TSOP Council (Tim Moore, NeilSherwood, PeterWarwick, MaryAnn Malinconico,Bill Huggett, Jeff Quick, and Jack Crelling) fortheir great support and help in deciding variousissues. I would also like to thank all TSOPCommittee Chairpersons and the CommitteeMembers for their excellent work on variousissues. I would like to provide special thanks tothe following persons: Peter Warwick for his greathelp in every aspect of my work; MaryAnnMalinconico for raising more funds and promotionfor TSOP; Carolyn Thompson-Rizer for solving lots

of problems for the upcoming Houston Meeting;and Jim Hower for finalizing the special volume(Salt lake City).

TSOP Election Results Forthe 2001 -2002 Council.

President-Elect:Maria Mastalerz

Vice- President:Lavern Stasiuk

Councillor:Raymond N. Pheifer

Co - Editors:William W. Huggett

John C. Crelling

TSOP Student Grant Award

The TSOP Awards Committee is pleased toannounce the winner for the 2001 Student Grant.There were thirteen applicants considered for theaward. We are pleased to announce thatSharleen Ramos, a masters candidate from theUniversity of British Columbia, Vancouver, hasbeen chosen for the $1,000.00 Student Grant.She is a Canadian citizen and her thesis topicis:"Gas Shale Resources-Role of Organic Matter".Her research supervisor id Marc Bustin.


Hilton Houston Westchase & Towers

TSOP 2001!The 18th Annual Meeting of the Society For

Organic Petrology

Houston, Texas23-26 September 2001


Sunday. 23 September

Short Course: Biomarkers in Oil-Source Rock and Oil-Oil CorrelationsInstructor-Dr. Marcio Rocha Mello, Petroleum and Environmental Geo-Services Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Dr. Mello's short course will present an overview of the use of petroleum biomarkers tocorrelate oils with one another and to possible source rocks. Dr. Mello will discuss theincreasing importance of biomarkers in organic geochemistry and the currentmethodologies used in their study. He will present examples of their use, discuss theiradvantages and limitations, and give some insight into the current directions in biomarkerresearch.

Limit: 20 persons


Monday morning, 24 September

Special Session: The Organic Geochemistry of the World's Deep-WaterAreasSponsored by TSOP and HOGS (Houston Organic Geochemical Society)Chairs: Dr. A. N. Bishop and Dr. C. R. Robison

As the search for oil broadens, the deep-water regions of the world have become a majorfocus of this ever-expanding petroleum exploration. This session will probe variousaspects of the organic geochemistry and petrology of deep-water areas from different partsof the world. Subjects will range from oil seeps of the NE Atlantic Margin and North Seathrough oil shows and source rocks discovered during scientific ocean drilling, deep-watersource rocks and generation/expulsion timing in the eastern Scotian basin, regionalgeochemistry and maturity modeling for the northern deep-water Gulf of Mexico to adiscussion of the relationship between reservoir fluid properties and oil geochemistry. Thesession will start with a keynote address by Dr. Marcio Rocha Mello on deep-water oilexploration along the Atlantic margin of Brazil.

Monday afternoon. 24 September

General Technical Session and Poster Session

Tuesday. 25 September


Wednesday. 26 September

Field Trip (Limit 25 persons)

A one-day field trip to the Ocean Star Offshore Energy Center in Galveston, Texas, will bethe main feature of the field trip. The Ocean Star is and old jack up rig with addedbuildings for displays (quite elaborate scaled models, oilfield equipment and tools). Thetour of the Ocean Star will be guided. The guides are usually retired oil field engineerswho are quite knowledgeable. The tour should last about 1.5-2 hours. Following theOcean Star tour, we will visit the Galveston Seaport Museum; have lunch at a seafoodrestaurant; and then leave for the Johnson Space Center (NASA) at Clear Lake. We willreturn to Houston in the late afternoon.


The Society for Organic Petrology18th Annual Meeting, September 23-26, 2001Hilton Houston Westchase & Towers Hotel

9999 Westheimer Rd.Houston, Texas

Sunday8:00 - 9:00 am9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Noon - 6:00 pm3:00 - 5:00 pm6:00 - 9:00 pm8:00 - Midnight

Monday7:00-7:45 am7:45 am8:00 am

10:00-10:30 am

11:30 am11:45am-1:20 pm1:30 pm

General Program

23 September 2001RegistrationShort Course: Biomarkers in Oil-Source Rock and Oil-OilCorrelation. Instructor: Dr. Marcio Rocha MelloGeneral RegistrationPoster set-upReceptionOutgoing Council Meeting

24 September 2001RegistrationWelcome and Opening RemarksSpecial Session: The Organic Geochemistry of the World'sDeepwater AreasM. R. Mello Keynote Address "Offshore Brazil"S. Imbus "Faeroe Islands: geochemical correlation ofhydrocarbon seeps to those of the NE Atlantic Margin andthe North Sea"B. Katz "Hydrocarbon shows and source rocks in scientificocean drilling"E. Colling, et al. "Regional geochemistry and maturitymodeling for the Northern Deepwater Gulf of Mexico"Break and Poster SessionP. K. Mukhopadhyay "Deepwater source rocks and timing ofhydrocarbon expulsion, Eastern Scotian Basin, East CoastCanadaK. Ferworn and J. Zumberge "Relationship betweenreservoir fluid properties and oil geochemistry"Group PhotoLuncheon with Group and TSOP Business MeetingGeneral Technical Session: Coal


R. E. Carroll "Carbon sequestration potential of coal-bedmethane reservoirs in the Black Warrior Basin: relationshipof sorption capacity to coal quality"B. Cardott "Lessons learned from coal-bed methane

exploration"T. Moore, et al. "The role of macroscopic texture indetermining coal-bed methane variability in the Anderson-Wyodak coal seam, Powder River Basin, Wyoming"

3:00 - 3:30 pm Break and Poster SessionA. Cohen "Differential coalification exhibited by petrographicchanges during artificial coalification of Taxodium-dominated peats from Georgia and Louisiana"S. L. Bend "Coal models: descriptive or predictive? Anexamination and appraisal of coal petrographic models"R. Walker and M. Mastalerz "Individual maceral chemistry ofselected Indiana coals: implications for coking properties"S. Pusz "Optical texture of bituminous coals -transformations during pyrolysis and hydropyrolysis"S. L. Buliga "Morphological analysis and genesis of coalbeds in the Motru-Rovinari Basin, Romania"

7:00 pm Banquet with Group. Guest Speaker: Dr. G. Gulen,University of Houston "Why don't they get it? Politics versusreality in energy policy"

8:30 - Midnight Incoming Council Meeting

Tuesday 25 September 20018:00 am General Technical Session: Petroleum Source Rocks

R. C. Hankel and C. L. Riediger "Source rock and oilgeochemistry of the Lower Montney formation, centralAlberta, Canada"I. Matyasik, A. Steczko, M. Mastalerz, and S. C. Brassel"Petrographic and geochemical characterization of sourcerock variability in the Carpathian region of Poland:implications for oil generation"M. L. Malinconico "Organic petrographic studies of the EarlyMesozoic Newark Rift Basin (1) thermal history usingborehole and surface vitrinite reflectance and (2) organicsedimentation patterns in orbitally forced under filled lakecycles"C. Seibel and S. Bend "Organofacies and source potentialof the Middle Ordovician Winnipeg formation within southern

10


Saskatchewan"10:00 - 10:30 am Break and Poster Session

R. Locklair and B. Sageman "Origin, character, andStratigraphic hierarchy of organic-rich siltstones indeepwater facies, Upper Permian (Guadalupian) BrushyCanyon formation, west Texas"Z. Han, Q. Yang, and Z. Pang "Organic facies study of aPermian lake-swamp depositional sequence in Puxiangcounty, Shanxi Province, China"

11:30 am Lunch (on your own)1:00 pm General Technical Session

S. M. Rimmer, J. A. Thompson, T. Robl, S. Goodnight, andS. Hawkins "Controls on organic matter in Devonian-Mississippian marine black shales, east-central Kentucky:preservation vs. productivity"R. Stanton, P. Warwick, et al. "CO2 sequestration in lowrank coals"T. Sakulpitakphon and J. Hower "Predicted CO2 content ofmaceral concentrates from Kentucky and Illinois coals"H. Rahimpour-Bonab and Z. Zamani "Evaluation of sourcerock maturation using organic petrography as a tool: a casestudy from southern Caspian hydrocarbon source rocks"

3:00 pm BreakZ. Shiqi and J. Youliang "Studies on petrology andgeochemical characteristics of lacustrine condensedsections in Dongying Sag, Bohaiwan Basin, east China"H. J. McCunn and D. S. Moulton "A new mechanism for theformation and preservation of dolomitic and calcitichydrocarbon reservoirs"AwardsJ. Burgess "2001 ICCP Meeting Highlights"W. Dow to lead Discussion Session "Can organic petrologysurvive in a virtual world?"

List of PostersB. Katz and C. Robison "Aspects of hydrocarbon charge of the petroleum system of theYamal Peninsula, West Siberia Basin"

S. Alsharhan "Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian Diyab formation as a major source rock unitin southern Arabian GulfM. Krzesinka and S. Pusz "New approach to evaluation of coke quality"

S. L. Buliga "The distribution of xylite in the coal beds of Motru-Rovinari Basin,Romania"

11


T. M. Williams and A. D. Cohen "Trace element distribution in an organic-rich wetlandat the Savannah River Site, South Carolina"

S. Hawkins and S. M. Rimmer "Pyrite framboid size and size distribution: indicators ofanoxia during deposition of Devonian-Mississippian black shales"

A. Sotirov and J. Kortenski "Petrography of the coal from the Oranovo-Simitli Basin,Bulgaria"

J. Kortenski and A. Sotirov "Petrography of the Neogene lignites from the Sofia Basin,Bulgaria"

Z. Damyanov, M. Vassileva, J. Kortenski, and A. Sotirov "Petrology of the organicmatter in the Kremikovtsi siderite iron formation, West Balkan Mountain, Bulgaria"

V. C. Conde, et al. "Palynofacies and sequence stratigraphy of an Upper Aptiansection from Almada Basin, Brazil"

W. G. Dow, J. R. Allen, and C. J. Kuhnel "Determination of API gravity from very smallsamples of oils, tar mats, and solid bitumens with the Rock-Eval 6 instrument"

A. Callejon and K. K. Bissada "Role of coals and carbonaceous shales in thegeneration of oil in the Eastern Venezuela Basin"

G. J. Nowak "Facies model of the Upper Carboniferous coal seams in the LowerSilesian Coal Basin (SW Poland) from the view point of microscopic studies"

Wednesday 26 September 20018:00 am Field Trip to Galveston to visit the "Ocean Star Offshore

Energy Center" an actual retired Gulf of Mexico "jack-up rig"(oil platform) with guided tour and historical displays. It istied to the dock and easily accessible for learning. Lunchwill be in nearby restaurants. An optional afternoon trip tonearby NASA's Johnson Space Center will be offered.

12


18th Annual TSOP Meeting,Houston, Texas




NAME:

ADDRESS:

City: State: Postal Code: COUNTRY:

AFFILIATION (if not given in address):

TELEPHONE: (work) (home)

FAX NUMBER: E-Mail Address:

Please state if you will need services to accommodate a disability:

Short Course: "Biomarkers in Oil-Source Rock and Oil-Oil Correlations",Pre-registration by September 1) @ $ 60.00Late Registration (until Sept. 12) @ $ 70.00

Meeting (September 23-26):Pre-registration (by September 1)TSOP Member Professional @ $150.00

Student @ $ 50.00


Late Registration (after Sept. 1)TSOP Member Professional @ $175.00

Student @ $ 75.00


Field Trip (September 26) Offshore Drilling Platform Museum, Galveston, Texas(Limit 20 persons) @ $ 65.00Late Registration (after Sept. 1) @ $ 75.00

Proceedings Volume (to be published in the International JournalOf Coal Geology © $ 30.00/COPY $

TOTAL: $

(PAYMENT IN U.S. FUNDS ONLY; MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO TSOP - 2001.

$$

$

$$

$

$

$$

$

Houston)

13


Housing Information:

Accommodations are in the Hilton Houston Westchase & Towers at 9999 Westheimer Rd., Houston, TX 77042. Thehotel will hold a block of rooms for reservations as follows: Saturday, 09/22/01,10 rms; Sunday, 09/23/01, 20 rms;Monday, 09/24/01, 20 rms; Tuesday, 09/25/01, 10 rms. Check in Time 3:00PM; Check Out Time 12:00PM. TheHotel will hold the rooms until September 1, 2001. After this date, rooms not covered by rooming list or individualreservations shall be released from TSOP's block and the hotel may contract with other parties for the use of therooms. The hotel will continue to accept reservations from TSOP meeting attendees after September 1, 2001, atthe prevailing room rate and subject to availability. The contracted room rate is $129 Single and Double (until Sept.1). Reservations: Individual Reservations- Each individual guest must make their own reservations onlineat http://www.hilton.com) or by calling 1 -800-HILTONS (1 -800-445-8667) (or locally 713-974-1000). Individualmust identify him(her)-self as a member TSOP or an attendee of the TSOP meeting to receive the group'sspecial rate. The Group Number is "TSO." All reservations must be guaranteed and accompanied by a first nightroom deposit or guaranteed with a major credit card.

Travel Information:

The Hilton Houston Westchase & Towers is located on the SE corner of the intersection of Westheimer andBriarpark in west Houston (hotel address-9999 Westheimer). Two major airports serve Houston: Houston Hobbyand Bush Intercontinental. Taxi services are available at both airports. However, a good way to arrive at the hotelis to take the Express Shuttle Bus from either airport. Tickets for the shuttle can be purchased (roundtrip available)at the Express Shuttle service counters in the Baggage Claim/Ground Transportation levels of either airport. Thecost is approximately $15.00 one-way and $24.00 roundtrip. If two or more attendees share a taxi, however, it maybe cheaper than the shuttle.


If you need a personal letter of invitation to obtain travel funds or a USA visa, please indicate on the bottom of yourregistration form that you wish to have such a letter. You can also e-mail the meeting Chairperson [email protected] and request such a letter in advance of mailing in your registration.

All non-immigrant visa holders are advised to have health and accident insurance that covers the time they will bein the USA. J-1 and J-2 visa holders are required by law to have this insurance, which must be set at least to aminimum of $50,000 per accident or illness and include medical evacuation and repatriation of remains. Your travelagent can assist you with obtaining this insurance coverage.

It is recommended that you obtain sufficient US currency for your trip before departure. However, there are currencyexchange facilities at Bush Intercontinental Airport and at several banks in the Houston.

14

COALTECH

PETROGRAPHIC

ASSOCIATES, INC.

TECHNICAL BULLETIN

IMPACT OF SAMPLE DESICCATION ON THE MEAN MAXIMUM VITRINITE REFLECTANCE FORVARIOUS RANKS OF COAL

Prepared by: Nancy DeVanneySupervisor- Microscopy LabCOALTECH PETROGRAPHIC ASSOCIATES, INC

August 8, 2001

ABSTRACT

A special project was initiated over a periodof 3-months (March through May, 2001) todetermine the impact of no desiccation versusdesiccation of polished coal surfaces on meanmaximum reflectance. According to the mostcurrent ASTM Test Method, all coals require atleast 15 hours of desiccation prior tomeasuring reflectance unless it has beendetermined that the moisture content after thewet polishing procedure does not significantlyaffect the reflectance of the coal. Wetpolishing techniques are used to prepare coalsamples for reflected light microscopicexamination.

In this study, twenty-three different coalswere used. These were mostly USA cokingcoals, but also included some WesternCanadian and South American coals. TheASTM ranking for these coals weresubbituminous/high-volatile C bituminous,high-volatile B, high-volatile A, medium-volatile, & low-volatile bituminous coals withmean maximum reflectance values rangingfrom about 0.5 to 1.7%. One hundredmeasurements were measured and recordedon each sample before and after desiccation.

Based on the data generated in this study,using a wide range of coal ranks and typesfrom a large regional geographic area,desiccation does not significantly affect meanmaximum reflectance. The importance of thisfinding enables commercial petrographic

laboratories to provide more timely coalpetrographic services without jeopardizingquality of the results. This is particularlyimportant when rapid analytical turnaround timeis required by contract (coal supplier orconsumer) for coal shipments.

INTRODUCTION & BACKGROUND

Currently ATSM Test Method (D 2797)requires at least 15 hours of desiccation prior tomeasuring mean maximum reflectance. Thispractice was initiated due to some lower rankcoals and certain high-volatile coals apparentlypicking up moisture and decreasing the meanmaximum reflectance. J. A. Harrison from theIllinois State Geological Survey published anarticle dealing with moisture content on thereflectance values of coals. The study indicatedthat the lower rank coals decreased inreflectance value when water was added to thesamples. From Harrison's test data, it wassuggested that the coal samples be air dried atroom atmosphere for at least 15 hours and thenthe sample pellet be placed into a desiccator foranother 15 hours after it had been wet polished.In some instances, the samples weredesiccated for 30 hours. This was suggestedto establish uniformity in practices amonglaboratories. This method can create a longdelay for analysis in which turnaround time is ofimportance to either coal suppliers orconsumers, especially when dealing with coalshipments. A note in ASTM Test Method (D2797) states that unless it has been established

15


that the reflectance of the coal is notsignificantly affected by moisture content,place the briquette in a desiccator for at least15 hours before measurement of reflectance.

Most commercial laboratories in today'smarket are dealing with production more sothan research. To determine if the coals,especially coking coals, differ in their meanmaximum reflectance values before and afterdesiccation, twenty-three different coals wereanalyzed. It was important in this study toutilize different ranks of coal to be able toobtain a better understanding of the effects ofwet polishing on the mean maximumreflectance. The lowest in rank was a SouthAmerican subbituminous/high-volatile Cbituminous coal with volatile matter valuesbetween 38.0-42.0 percent and meanmaximum reflectance values between 0.53-0.55%. The highest in rank was Americanlow-volatile bituminous coal with volatile mattervalues between 17.0-18.0 percent and a meanmaximum reflectance value between 1.67-1.70%. The main goal in this study was todetermine if desiccation is necessary after wetpolishing for coal reflectance analysis,particularly for coking coals.

The general rank and geographic origins forthe coals used in this test program are listedbelow:

1 South American - subbituminous/high-

volatile C bituminous2. American - Illinois high-volatile B

bituminous3 Foreign - high-volatile B/C bituminous4 American - high-volatile B bituminous5 Foreign - high-volatile A bituminous6 Western Canada - medium-volatile

bituminous7 American - medium-volatile

bituminous8 American - low-volatile bituminous

TEST METHOD & EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN USED

Each of the twenty-three coking coals usedin this study were all given sample labnumbers prior to the preparation of thesamples. The study began with the preparationof the samples according to ASTM TestMethod (D 2013), (Preparing Coal Samples for

Analysis) and having them air dried temperatureand reduced in top size to 20-mesh samples.Then using ASTM Test Method (D 2797),(Preparing Coal Samples for MicroscopicalAnalysis by Reflected Light), the coal sampleswere prepared into briquettes (commonly knownas pellets) and polished using water in theprocedure. Water is recommended as thepellets are being polished to help carry awaycuttings and cool the sample due to frictionwhen polishing. After the pellets have beenpolished, they are normally placed into adesiccator for approximately 15 hours prior toreflectance measurements.

For this study the pellets were notdesiccated after the wet polish procedure, butwere directly mounted on slides for immediateanalysis on the microscope. Each pellet wasengraved with an assigned sample number foridentification of the sample. The samples thenwere placed onto a reflected light microscopefor analysis. Utilizing ASTM Test Method (D2798), (Microscopical Determination of theReflectance of Vitrinite in a Polished Specimenof Coal), 100-reflectance measurements weretaken on each of the samples. The samplenumber was then recorded onto a project datasheet containing the sample number, coalname, date, non-desiccated mean maximumreflectance results, and the operator performingthe microscopy. All pellets were then cleanedoff with a photo flow and water solution, rinsedwith water, and the excess water removed withcompressed air. This procedure removes any oilresidue left on the pellets and puts water backon the pellet similar to wet polishing. Thepellets were then placed into the desiccatorovernight. The same operator then re-measured the same pellets after at least 15hours of the samples being in the desiccatorutilizing the same equipment and analysisprocedure. The mean maximum reflectancevalues for the desiccated pellets were recordedin the same manner as described above. Thisprocedure was carried out for all twenty-three-coal samples that were used in the testprogram.

Table I shows the general rank, origin,

volatile matter (dry), mean maximumreflectance before and after desiccation, andthe difference between non-desiccated anddesiccated. Figure 1 shows the reflectancetrend line of measured values beforedesiccation and after desiccation. Figure 2

16


shows the scatter diagram to illustrate that nosignificant bias exists between non-desiccatedand desiccated sample pairs. The test dataresults showed no significant difference in themean maximum reflectance values. All pairedresults fell within the ASTM repeatability foreach sample. As stated in ASTM (D 2798),the repeatability for reflectance analysis is asfollows: "Duplicate results, by the samelaboratory using the same operator andequipment, should not be considered suspectunless the results differ by more than 0.02%actual reflectance".

CONCLUSION

The data generated from this studyindicates that there is no significant differenceor bias in the coal mean maximum reflectancetest results when comparing results from non-desiccated or desiccated pellets. Comparisonof paired data (desiccated, non-desiccated) ofall samples used for this study found the pairsare well within the acceptable level of testprecision (e.g. ASTM repeatability = 0.02%).This also appears to be true for a wide rangeof coals.

The data strongly indicates that there is noneed for desiccation for higher rank bituminouscoals, particularly coking coals. The ability toeliminate desiccation can enable coalsuppliers and consumers to obtain their testresults in a more timely fashion, especially forcoal shipments. Based on this study, thispractice of requiring desiccation of coalsamples will be reviewed with ASTMSubcommittee 28 for possible revision ofASTM Test Method (D 2797).

American Society for Testing and Materials(ASTM), Preparing Coal Samples forMicroscopical Analysis By Reflected Light,Designation: D 2797-85 (99), Annual Book ofASTM Standards 2000, Vol. 05.06, pp. 204-207.

American Society for Testing and Materials(ASTM), Microscopical Determination of theReflectance of Vitrinite in a Polished Specimenof Coal, Designation: D 2798-99, Annual Bookof ASTM Standards 2000, Vol. 05.06, pp. 208-212.

Zimmerman, Raymond, Evaluating and Testingthe Coking Properties Of Coal, Paul WeirCompany, 1979.

SELECTED REFERENCES

Harrison, J.A., Fuel, A Journal of Fuel Science,May 1965, vol. XLIV, Butterworth's ScientificPublications, London.

American Society for Testing and Materials(ASTM), Standard Classification of Coals byRank, Designation: D 388-99, Annual Book ofASTM Standards 2000, Vol. 05.06, pp. 33-38.

American Society for Testing and Materials(ASTM), Preparing Coal Samples for Analysis,Designation: D 2013-86 (94), Annual Book ofASTM Standards 2000, Vol. 05.06, pp. 146-160.

17

Table I

Rank of C

oal

Sub-Bitum

inous/HV

-C B

ituminous

Sub-Bitum

inous/HV

-C B

ituminous

HV

Bitum

inous B

HV

Bitum

inous B/C

HV

Bitum

inous A

HV

Bitum

inous A

HV

Bitum

inous A

HV

Bitum

inous A

HV

Bitum

inous A

HV

Bitum

inous A

HV

Bitum

inous A

HV

Bitum

inous A

MV

Bitum

inous

MV

Bitum

inous

MV

Bitum

inous

MV

Bitum

inous

MV

Bitum

inous

MV

Bitum

inous

LV

Bitum

inous

LV

Bitum

inous

LV

Bitum

inous

LV

Bitum

inous

LV

Bitum

inous

Origin of C

oal

South Am

erican

South Am

erican

Illinois-Am

erican

Foreign-European

Am

erican

Foreign-European

Am

erican

Am

erican

Am

erican

Am

erican

Am

erican

Am

erican

Western C

anadian

Western C

anadian

Canadian

Am

erican

Am

erican

Am

erican

Am

erican

Am

erican

Am

erican

Am

erican

Am

erican

Volatile

Matter

(% dry)

41.87

39.31

36.96

28.16

39.03

27.34

38.95

35.80

36.06

31.61

31.86

29.75

24.77

22.78

22.00

23.78

20.86

21.86

18.55

18.56

18.47

17.56

17.56

Ro V

alueB

eforeD

esiccation0.53

0.55

0.62

0.75

0.76

0.87

0.89

0.94

0.95

1.07

1.07

1.14

1.17

1.22

1.24

1.32

1.46

1.46

1.56

1.59

1.60

1.67

1.70

Ro V

alueA

fterD

esiccation0.53

0.54

0.62

0.76

0.76

0.87

0.89

0.95

0.96

1.08

1.09

1.13

1.16

1.22

1.24

1.33

1.45

1.46

1.56

1.58

1.60

1.67

1.69M

ean Average

Difference

0.00

0.01

0.00

-0.01

0.00

0.00

0.00

-0.01

-0.01

-0.01

-0.02

0.01

0.01

0.00

0.00

-0.01

0.01

0.00

0.00

0.01

0.00

0.00

0.01-0.01

Difference B

etween P

airs

0.020

0.010

0.000

-0.010

-0.020

-0.030

Figure 2

People

Across

1.3.6.

8.10.12.13.14.

15.

17.18.

20.

Thiessen's last studentmegascopic descriptioncoal geologist inCercone mysterycoal faciesMaritime petrologythermal modellingchar petrologistSouth AfricanpetrologistfluorescencetechniquesSoviet coke petrologyPolish-CanadianHoosiermetamorphism underpressure

22.

23.25.26.28.

29.34.36.

37.

38.

Pittsburgh leg of"Triangle run"moist rank studiesliquefaction studiesthin section techniquesPowder Riverpetrologistoil shale "Oz"swamps and steelburning down theswamporganic geochemistryof coalfictional heating

21

I. father ofPseudovitriniteswamp organicgeochemistry

4. micro macerals5. Carolina swamps7. coke petrology

pioneerchampion ofclassification

I 1 . coal mineralogy13. contact

metamorphism16. foothills of Canadian

Rockies19. dispersed organics

in a shell21. developed reflected

light techniques24. Rock-Eval27. family planner30. source rocks31. Kentuckian down

under32. cyclothems33. secretinite35. petrology from the

Mountaineer state


July's Crossword Puzzle AnswersAcross Down

1.3.8.10.11.12.13.17.19.25.26.29.30.31.35.37.38.39.40.41.42.

MicrolithotypeLycopodProtosalviniaDesulfovibrioFluoriniteBireflectanceReflectanceSporopolleninOkefenokeeGlossopterisTorbaniteHardgroveLamalginiteOmbrogenousCatagenesisHiltSideriteGyttjaVickersChelationGieseler

2.4.5.6.7.9.12.14.15.16.18.20.21.22.23.24.25.27.28.32.33.34.36.

PermineralizationCyclothemDurainKohleAnthracitePetrologyBalkashGraptoliteBotryococcusFunginiteJetPyrophylliteFusainCoorongiteTasmanitesSeatearthGreymaggieGilsoniteTonsteinUltimateAttritalKerogenStigmaria

North American Coal Bed Methane Forum, Inc

Announcement

The North American Coalbed Methane, Inc. will hold it's Fall Session on October 30-31, 2001 at the Lakeview Conference Center, Morgantown, West Virginia.For information please contact Ihor Havryluk at (412)798-1391

On Tuesday, October 30, 2001, WVU Petroleum & Natural Gas Engineering will beoffering a short course on Coalbed methane reservoir engineering. For informationplease contact Dr. Kashy Aminian at (304)293-7682 ext. 3406.

22


E d i t o r ' s N o t e ! The Editor's Choice Photomicrograph in the June issue of theTSOP newsletter was inadvertently published with the wrong caption. Below is thecorrect caption and photo. Thanks to Claus F. Diessel for bringing this to our attention.

Photomicrograph in blue light fluorescence of densosporinite maceralsfrom the Jaklovee Seam, Czech Republic. Width of field isapproximately 200 micrometers. Photomicrograph by William Huggett

23


Editor's Choice Photomicrograph

Photomicrograph of a sapropelic coal in blue light fluorescence of analginite maceral (center) and sporinite from the Fucik mine in theCzech Republic. Width of field is approximately 200 microns.Photomicrograph by William Huggett.

The editors welcome contributions of photomicrographs of organic geologicmaterials for future issues of this newsletter.


NEWSLETTERVol. 18 No. 4 December 2001 ISSN-0743-3816

Photomicrograph of leaf cuticle from a Kentucky paper coal as seen under blue lightfluorescence. Width of field approximately 300 micrometers. Photomicrograph by

William Huggett.

CRL Energy Ltd

Technology for Industry Education Fellowship

CRL Energy Limited and L&M Mining Limited seek a PhD candidate to take up a Technology for IndustryEducation Fellowship (TIF).

This is an exciting opportunity to work in a dynamic team with industry and University staff on aninnovative project. The fellow will receive a tax-free stipend of $17,641 p.a. plus $4,000 p.a. towardsUniversity fees. Project expenses such as laboratory analyses and travel will also be covered. An office willbe provided at CRL Energy.

The Project:The successful applicant will carry out a PhD project entitled Groundwater Treatment and Disposalassociated with Coalbed Methane Recovery

The purpose of this project is to produce groundwater treatment and disposal plans as part of the methaneextraction process. The expected end products for this project are:• a determination of the anticipated impacts to surface streams from discharge of groundwater recovered

during methane extraction (flow rate, volume, sediment transport, water quality, and habitat alteration)• a cost-effective design for water treatment and discharge• a model of the long-term effects of groundwater withdrawal to the surface and subsurface environments

Qualification:The fellow will have a BSc/BE Honours or MSc/ME degree in geology, engineering geology, environmentalscience, environmental engineering, or equivalent degree with an understanding of hydrogeology.Preference will be given to candidates with a Master's degree.

Send letter of application, transcripts, and C.V. no later than 15 December 2001 to:

Dr. Tim Moore or Dr. David NobesCRL Energy Limited University of Canterbury77 Clyde Road Department of Geological SciencesChristchurch Private Bag 4800, ChristchurchTel: (03) 364-2768 Tel: (03) 364 2987, ext 7733Fax: (03) 364 2774 Fax: (03) 364 2769Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]




Co-editors:



John C.Crelling /William W.Huggett


Carbondale Illinois 62901-4324Phone: (618)453-7381

Fax:(618)453-7393E-mail: [email protected]

[email protected]

Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) ispublished quarterly by The SocietyFor Organic Petrology and isdistributed to all Society Members asa benefi t of membership.Membership in the Society isinternational and open to allindividuals having an interest in thefield of Organic Petrology. For moreinformation on membership, Societyactivities or to inquire aboutmembership packs please contact:



Tel: (703) 648-6469

Cover: Photomicrograph - Fluorescing leaf cuticle.

4. Incoming Presidents' Editorial

5. Outgoing Presidents' Report

8. Webmineral.com: A Valuable Reference Tool

9. Announcement: TSOP/CSCOP Joint Meeting

10. Article: The New Study of Chemical-PhysicalProperties of Coal Seams in the Czech Part ofthe Upper Silesian Basin.

12. TSOP Research Committee Report /Answers to September's Crossword Puzzle

13. Review of TSOP Incoming and OutgoingCouncil Meeting

14. Mesophase in Coal Tar pitch withPhotomicrographs

18. TSOP's 18th Annual Meeting in Houston:Venue and Program

26. Cady Award Recipient: Jack Crelling

27. TSOP Graduate Student Research Award

28. Available TSOP Publications

30. Obituary: Ronald Stanton

32. Contributing Members' Photomicrograph


In-Coming President Editorial

I became a coal geologist because of RonStanton. If Ron had been any other kind ofgeologist, it's highly unlikely that I would have hadanything to do with coal. I say this with someconfidence.

You see, my first geology job was with Ron at theUSGS and for the first 15 minutes of the selectionprocess I thought I was being interviewed for aposition in the 'Branch of Cold Resources'! I was19 remember.

What I recall thinking at the time was 'Okay, itsnot what I had in mind as real geology, but Isuppose a job is a job and it might be fun lookingat cores of ice or glaciers or whatever they do inthe cold ...'.I can't remember what I thought whenI finally did clue in that it was coal not cold;relieved perhaps that at least I'd be looking at realrocks. Little did I know.

The point is, I probably would have worked withanyone at that stage, but I was lucky enough toend up with Ron as my first employer. It's atestament to him that my career ended up beinga coal geologist. His enthusiasm, curiosity andprofessionalism sparked my own. It was also hisapproach to coal as 'not a four-letter word' thatalso inspired me.

Without doubt Ron was my first and one of onlytwo people I consider a mentor. That is not to saythat at times I could royally piss-off Ron! I did;frequently sometimes. Usually though, it wasbecause I had taken a short cut somewhere, or Iwas not being fair. Somehow, though, wemanaged to work through most things. Just thispast May I was able to work with Ron again on hisCoalbed methane projects. He was very unwelleven then. However, in typical Ron fashion heshared all his knowledge, data and ideas openly.It was obvious he was not giving up just yet.

As most of you know Ron died at the end ofSeptember after fighting cancer for the last year.Elsewhere in this Newsletter his achievements -and many there are - and history are related, so Iwill not do that here. However, it is with greatsadness that I, and I know all of TSOP, farewellRon.

Environmental Scientist

Are you an experienced environmental scientistwho enjoys the challenge of melding research withresults for industry? Do you prefer a team-basedapproach and have the ability to both lead othersand work successfully alongside them? Wouldyou like to have the opportunity to generate newprojects? If you have an appropriate graduatedegree, a track record in publishing research anddemonstrated ability to deliver results for clients,you could be who we are looking for. Our team iscurrently working on site remediation projectsfrom a number of angles with a wide range ofclients. We are looking for candidates withbackgrounds in chemistry, geology, hydrology,engineering or contaminant site remediation.

For a job description please contact:The SecretaryPh 64-4 570-3702Fax. 64-4-570-3701CRL Energy LtdPO Box 31-244Lower HuttNew ZealandEmail: [email protected]

Preliminary Announcement

TSOP 2003 Annual Meeting20th TSOP Anniversary

Washington, DCSeptember 21 -2 4 , 2003 (Tentative dates)

Host: U.S. Geological Survey

For more informationContact: Peter WarwickU.S. Geological Survey

956 National Center12201 Sunrise Valley Drive

Reston, VA 20192(703) 648-6469 Office

(703) 648-6419 [email protected]

77m A. Moore


President's Report2000-2001

ByPrasanta K. Mukhopadhyay (Muki)

(e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected])

First of all, I would like to pay homage and sincererespect to all the innocent people who perishedduring the horrific terrorist attacks in New Yorkand Washington D.C. on September 11, 2001. Iwould also like to send my deepest sympathy andcondolence to their families.

I thank all council members of TSOP for theiractive support and cooperation to the societyduring the entire period of 2000-2001. It was agreat year and I strongly believe that we havesolved a lot of issues during this time and twenty-three new members have joined TSOP betweenthe period between October 2000 and September2001. I would like to indicate that during the pastten years, TSOP has increasingly become aglobal community. If we could continue this trend,TSOP may become a major global community ofscientists involved in research on the organicmatter in sediments in 2010.

Due to unforeseen circumstances that developedas a result of the terrorist attack in New York andWashington D.C, the 18th Annual Meeting ofTSOP in Houston, Texas has been postponed toMarch 2002 by the TSOP Council (2000-2001)supporting a request from Cole Robison and theOrganizing Committee of the Houston Meeting. Iam hoping that next year's meeting in Houstonwill be an excellent one as the meetingchairperson Cole Robison and the OrganizingCommittee have put forward an exciting charter ofprograms. I thank Cole Robison (chairperson ofthe Houston Meeting Organizing Committee) andthe Organizing Committee (Carolyn-ThompsonRizer, Wally Dow, Mike Darnell, and JackBurgess) for providing an excellent service toTSOP in organizing this meeting. It is quiteunfortunate that we had to postpone the 2001TSOP Annual Meeting. I would also like to thankall the sponsors who have donated or promised to

donate generous grants for the annual meeting inHouston, Texas. The 19th Annual Meeting ofTSOP will be held between August 31 andSeptember 2, 2002 in Banff, Alberta, Canada.This meeting will be hosted by the CSCOP(Canadian Society for Coal Science and OrganicPetrology) and will be treated as a joint meeting ofCSCOP and TSOP. For any details regarding thismeeting, please visit www.cscop-tsop.com. Iwould like to thank Martin Fowler and theOrganizing Committee for successful organizationof the Banff Meeting. It is very unfortunate thattwo TSOP Annual Meetings will take place duringthe same year because of special circumstances.The 20th TSOP Annual Meeting will be held inWashington D.C. in 2003 and the 21st TSOPAnnual Meeting will be held in Sydney, Australiain 2004. I thank both Peter Warwick and NeilSherwood for taking on this great responsibility.

This year, a one-day ICCP-TSOP joint sessionhad been organized in August 15, 2001 inCopenhagen, Denmark. The session was entitledas " Organic Petrology applied to Petroleum andCoalbed Methane Studies". This session wasorganized by GEUS (Geological Survey ofDenmark and Greenland) and Charley Barker(Past-President of TSOP) (for details see March2001 issue of the Newsletter). In March 2002,there will be a joint session of AAPG-TSOPentitled "Deepwater source rocks and thePetroleum Systems of the Atlantic Margin" alongwith the AAPG Annual Convention in Houston,Texas. Wally Dow and myself will be organizingthat session next year. John Popp and Jim Howerwill organize a joint Southeastern/NorthcentralSection GSA/TSOP session on "Applied CoalGeology" in Lexington on April 2002. The sessionwill include oral presentation on topics such asmine geology, Coalbed methane, and minehydrology.

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 18 No. 4 December 2001The TSOP 2000-2001 Midyear Meeting wassuccessfully held on April 20, 2001 at thepremises of the U. S. Geological Survey inReston, Virginia. Peter Warwick, Secretary-Treasurer of TSOP, organized the meeting. Sixcouncil members (Tim Moore, Peter Warwick,MaryAnn Malinconico, Jeff Quick, and myself)and committee chairs (Dave Glick) attended themeeting. The meeting also organized ateleconference with other council members NeilSherwood (in Sydney, Australia) and Bill Huggett(Carbondale, Illinois). The meeting had addresseda number of current and future issues (for detailssee June 2000 Newsletter). I would like to thankPeter Warwick for organizing an excellentmeeting and Leslie (Jingle) Ruppert of USGS forarranging a wonderful dinner following themeeting.

This year, the Research Committee and OutreachCommittee have joined forces more vigorously topromote TSOP Student Grant. The panel of threejudges chosen by the Research CommitteeChairperson has selected Sharleen Ramos, amaster's candidate from the University of BritishColumbia, Vancouver, Canada. Sharleen hasbeen awarded for the 2001 TSOP Student Grantof $1000.00 US. Her thesis topic of researchis:"Gas Shale Resources- Role of OrganicMatter". There were thirteen applicants wereconsidered for this year's research grant. I thankSuzanne, MaryAnn, and the panel of judges fortheir excellent work. I would like to congratulateSharleen for this achievement.

The Research Committee under the leadership ofSuzanne Russell has promoted three researchtopics as discussed in an earlier TSOP Newsletter(December 2000 issue). The current status ofthese projects are as follows:

"Organic Matter in Meteorites and OtherPlanets.... ": I am still pursuing to get twosamples of carbonaceous chondrites (possiblyof different type and maturity) from theSmithsonian Institute

"Evaluation of Global Climate Change in theQuaternary...": Tim Moore, President, TSOP,2001-2002 has received good responses forhis initiative in the June issue of TSOPNewsletter. He has already started the project.

"The relationship and genesis ofreflectance...": Currently, Neil Sherwood ispursuing this project.

Along with the research topics, our plannedpublication of the book on the "Source Rocks forPetroleum - Examples from the North and SouthAmerica" is under consideration. AAPG has toapprove this publication. We have planned topublish it jointly with the AAPG. The specialvolume of TSOP-Salt Lake City, 1999 has beenpublished this year in the International Journal ofCoal Geology as volume 46, numbers. 2-4. Iwould like to thank Jeff Quick, Jim Hower,Carolyn Thompson-Rizer and others for theiroutstanding effort in finalizing this volume. Thespecial volume of the 2000 Bloomington Meetingwill be published in the next issue of theInternational Journal of Coal Geology. I thankMaria Mastalerz for her excellent work in finalizingthe issue in such a timely fashion. I would alsolike to thank Jim Hower on various issues relatedto TSOP publications and meeting organizingcommittee.

Neil Sherwood as Vice-President and Chairpersonfor the Honorary Committee has selected GeoffTaylor from Australia as TSOP's HonoraryMember for 2000-2001. I thank Neil and hiscommittee for the excellent work. The AwardsCommittee with Jack Burgess as Chairperson hasarranged to present a "Certificate of Recognition"to all past TSOP Presidents for their excellentservice to TSOP. Those certificates will bepresented to all past Presidents at the HoustonMeeting in March 2002. I thank Jack Burgess andthe committee members for their hard work anddedication. In the TSOP website, many newfeatures have been added and some of thekeywords for the Society have been included invarious search engines within web browsers. Iwould like to thank Dave Glick, Chairperson of theInternet Committee for his excellent work.

This year, as an affiliated/member society of theAmerican Association of Petroleum Geologists(AAPG) and American Geological Institute (AGI),TSOP has put in a lot of effort in promoting thesociety in various functions and publications ofAAPG and AGI. The following are some of thehighlights:

A color advertisement showing various

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 18 No. 4 December 2001activities and research goals of TSOP havebeen inserted in the November 2000 issue ofAGI journal GEOTIMES (special issue:Technology in the Earth Sciences). The sameadvertisement in black and white has beeninserted in the AAPG Explorer in January2001 issue (special Millennium Issue).

In February 2001, Brian Cardott, AAPGLiaison to TSOP has attended AAPGLeadership Conference at the AAPGHeadquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He haspresented a comprehensive view of variousactivities of TSOP to all presidents orselected leaders of various scientificorganizations.

In May 2001, MaryAnn Malinconico,Councilor, TSOP has participated a very highlevel 6th Annual Science-Engineering-Technology Congressional Visits Dayorganized by AGI and AGU. For details,please see MaryAnn's write up of herexperiences in the June 2001 issue of theNewsletter.

Early, this year, TSOP has sponsored thepublication of AGI booklet on the Evolutionand the Fossil Record and granted $1000.00for the partial cost of the project.

In June 2001, I have attended the AGIMeeting with the Member SocietyRepresentative in Denver, Colorado. Thismeeting was organized in association with theAnnual Meeting of the AAPG. Brian Cardottand myself have attended the special dinnerat the Anschutz Gallery in Denver, Coloradoon an invitation from the current President ofAAPG. I have discussed various issues aboutTSOP with the current AGI President andvarious AAPG Executives at the dinnerreception.

David Applegate, AGI Representative to USCongress has sent a short synopsis to all MemberSocieties about the US National Energy Policyadopted by Administration of President Bush(Posted 5-19-01). He has presented these policiesat the AAPG Meeting as a Special LuncheonSpeaker. Some of the key recommendations ofthat policy that are related to the earth sciences

issues in general are included in the followingparagraphs:(1) An executive order for federal agencies to takeinto account energy supply, distribution and use inany regulatory action.(2) The Federal Emergency Management Agencywill prepare for potential energy emergencies inconjunction with existing Regional InteragencySteering Committees.(3) The Environmental Protection Agency is towork with Congress to use market-basedincentives to develop multi-pollutant legislationthat would phase in reductions of sulfur dioxide,nitrogen oxides, and mercury over a reasonableperiod of time.(4) The White House Office of Science andTechnology Policy and the President's Council ofAdvisor's on Science and Technology are toreview and report on more efficient use of thenation's energy resources.(5) The Departments of Energy and the Interiorwill promote the use of new technologies torecover more oil and gas from existing wells aswell as work to build partnerships aimed atimproving oil and gas exploration technologies. '(6) The administration will work with Congress toauthorize explorations and development of the1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge(ANWR); an estimated $1.2 billion of federalrevenue from new ANWR leases will be used tofund research in renewable and alternative fuels.

AGI will celebrate the Earth Science Week onOctober 8-14, 2001. They have requested the allmember societies to participate with them.

The Nominating Committee and the BallotCommittee have finalized and added three newmembers for 2001-2002 TSOP Council. Icongratulate Maria Mastalerz, Lavern Stasiuk, andRaymond Pheifer for their success to becomeelected as President-Elect, Vice-President, andCouncilor, respectively.

Finally, I would like to thank all members of the2000-2001 TSOP Council (Tim Moore, NeilSherwood, Peter Warwick, MaryAnn Malinconico,Jeff Quick, Jack Crelling, and Bill Huggett) fortheir great support and help in deciding variousissues. I would also like to thank all Chairpersonsof various TSOP Committees (Dave Glick, PeterWarwick, MaryAnn Malinconico, Brian Cardott,Cole Robison, Roger Trader, Suzanne Russell,

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 18 No. 4 December 2001and Michael Kruge) and other CommitteeMembers for their excellent work on variousissues. I would like to give special thanks to thefollowing individuals: Peter Warwick for his greathelp in every aspect of my work; MaryAnnMalinconico for raising more money andpromotion for TSOP this year; CarolynThompson-Rizer for resolving many problemsrelated to the upcoming Houston Meeting; JimHower for finalizing the special volume (Salt lakeCity); and Bill Huggett for looking after TSOPNewsletter. I am extremely thankful to Tim(President-Elect) and Neil Sherwood (Vice-President) who have participated so thoroughly onevery aspect of this year's work and in solvingmany important issues. I would like toacknowledge and thank Ken Kuehn, TSOPNominating Committee Chair, 1998-1999 for thenomination and giving me the opportunity to serveTSOP as President during 2000 (September) -2001 (September).

Finally, I wish Tim Moore a great success asPresident, TSOP for 2001-2002.

The Society For Organic PetrologyCouncil 2000 - 2001

PresidentVice PresidentPresident ElectSecretary/TreasurerCo Editors

Councilor (99-00)Councilor (99-01)

P.K. MukhopadhyayNeil SherwoodTim MoorePeter Warwick

William HuggettJack CrellingJeff QuickMaryAnnMalinconico

Webmineral.com:A Valuable reference tool

Even though, as a whole, readers of thisnewsletter are organic petrologists, the need forcross-referencing the organic composition of coalor source rock can necessitate the need forreference sources beyond the copy of Taylor et al.that we should always keep handy. The websitewebmineral.com fills this niche with one of themost comprehensive geological reference inexistence. Webmineral.com is a useful tool inresearch and should also prove to be a useful toolin mineralogy and petrology classes.

The site starts with simple definitions in"what is amineral", and moves on to a section oncrystallography. The latter section not onlycontains comprehensive information on crystalclasses, but also the user can open Java Appletsof mineral forms. Therefore, if you have a desireto view a rotating (and the user can control theorientation of the mineral) hexagonalscalenohedral form, the view is only a click away.In addition, each crystal form is accompanied byan active list minerals in that crystal class. Thesection webmineral.com/java/index.shtml includesa list of minerals with individual Java Applets.

Other useful areas of the website include "x-raypower diffraction", with a listing of minerals bytheir three most intense d spacings, "ChemicalComposition", "New Dana classification", "StrunzClassification", "Determinative Mineralogy","Alphabetical Listing", including sound files withpronunciation, and "Mineral Pictures".

Any area could be a starting for a web expedition.For example, if the data available for a coalincludes inorganic elements, "ChemicalComposition" can provide the basis for searchesfor possible mineral species. The site is enteredthrough the periodic table. Clicking on an elementopens the list of minerals containing that element,each of which can be opened to reveal morecomprehensive information for the mineral,including links to sources outside of the website.

As an additional feature, the page can be found inversions translated to Spanish, Portuguese,French, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, andKorean.

JOINT ANNUAL MEETING ANNOUNCEMENTAND CALL FOR PAPERS

The Society for Organic Petrology(TSOP)

Canadian Society for Coal Scienceand Organic Petrology (CSCOP)

"Emerging Concepts in Organic Petrologyand Geochemistry"

AUG. 31 - SEPT. 4, 2002 BANFF, ALBERTA, CANADAConference themes: Sources (and sinks) of natural gas, petroleum systems, solid bitumen andpyrobitumen, shallow thinking (recent sediments and environmental studies), coal and environment,novel analytical approaches. Special session highlighting contributions of Dr. Archie Douglas to organicgeochemistry. Proceedings published in Organic Geochemistry and International Journal of CoalGeology.

Pre- and post meeting field trips: UNESCO World Heritage site Burgess Shale Cambrian fossillocality; dinosaur fossils at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, Drumheller; petroleum sourcerocks, coals and hot springs in the Banff area.

Short Course: "Prediction of total organic carbon contents and hydrogen indices in marinesediments" by Dr. Richard Tyson, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK.

Registration: US$244, US$112- student, (abstracts, icebreaker, conference dinner and refreshments)Accommodation: CN$182.25- 217.25 (~US $114-135) per night at the Banff Center (www.banffcentre.ab.ca),

includes breakfast and access to all Centre sports facilities.

**** Abstract deadline: January 31,2002 ****

GENERAL INQUIRIES. ABSTRACTS TO:Tracy CollierCSCOP-TSOP2002Conference SecretariatElsevier ScienceThe Boulevard, Langford Lane, KidlingtonOxford 0X5 1GB, United KingdomPhone: +44(0) 1865 843297Fax: (+44(0) 1865 843958E-mail: [email protected]

TECHNICAL PROGRAM CONTACT:Martin FowlerGeological Survey of Canada3303- 33rd Street NWCalgary, AB T2L 2A7CanadaPhone: (403) 292-7038Fax:(403)292-7159E-mail: [email protected]

Details at WWW.CSCOP-TSOP2002.COMMeeting sponsors:

Elsevier Science, European Association of Organic Geochemists, CSCOP, TSOP


The new study of chemical�physical properties of coal seams in the Czechpart of the Upper Silesian Basin

P. Ovčaų�, M. Sivek�Technical University of Ostrava, Institute of Geological Engineering, tų. 17. listopadu

15/172, 708 33 Ostrava�Poruba, Czech Republic

In the list of studies that deal with the geology andthe development of coal seams in the Czech partof the Upper Silesian Basin as well as with thechemical�technological and also petrologicproperties of the seams, studies concerned withthose seam properties are in a minority. What ismissing most is a more detailed study that wouldfind relations of the geological structure of thebasin and its development with the chemical�technological and petrologic properties of coalmatter. Then it is the case of defining spatialchanges in crucial factors characterizing thechemical�technological and also physicalproperties of Thanks to the Grant Agency of theCzech Republic, conditions for writing a study ofthis type have been created, coal matter.

The objective of the study is to fill the existing gapin the literature on the geology of the Czech partof the basin and also to broaden and deepen, in asubstantial way, the present knowledge availablein a monograph published recently (Dopita M. etal., 1997). Last but not least, an effort of authorsof the study is to assemble, filter and processintegrately any information important for long�termprognoses of potential exploratory and miningactivities in the basin.

Some remarks about the geology of the Czechpart of the Upper Silesian Basin

At present the Upper Silesian Basin is, from theeconomical point of view, the most significantEuropean hard coal basin. This coal basin ofCarboniferous age is situated in the territories ofthe Czech Republic and Poland. Its extent withingeologically verified boundaries amounts to more7000 km2, of which the area of the coal�bearingCarboniferous in the territory of the CzechRepublic is about 1550 km2. The better part of thebasin is there in Poland. The southern margin ofthe basin in the territory of the Czech Republic isnot proved for certainty. It can be justifiablypresupposed that coal�bearing sediments extend,at great depths, southwards under the nappes ofthe Outer Carpathians. By exploratory and mining

operations lasting for more than 200 years it hasbeen proved that more than 400 coal seams,separate benches and thin seams having thethickness ranging spatially from some tens ofdecimeters to more than 15 meters are located inthe sediments of Carboniferous age of the Czechpart of the Upper Silesian Basin.

The seams of the Czech part of the UpperSilesian Basin show a very variable degree ofcoalification (from anthracite to long flame coals)and also very different chemical�technologicalproperties (from coals for energy production tocoals suitable for coking). An individual groupconsists of coals of so�called "specialdevelopment". These are coals occurring in thevicinity of bodies of so�called "red beds" (for thefirst time, these coals were described just in theCzech part of the Upper Silesian Basin), furtheraltered coals in the neighborhood of volcanites(natural cokes) and a group of coals creatingpredispositions for coal and gas outbursts. Coalseams in the Czech part of the Upper SilesianBasin are formed prevailingly by hard coalhumites. Sapropelites are very rare; liptobiolites,as a lithotype, have not been found yet. From thepoint of view of coal petrography, it is the case ofvitrinite coals. It is coal of the so�called "SaddleMember" that is an exception. Evenextraordinarily high contents of inertinite areknown in it, which affects adversely cokingproperties of the coal.

The long�term mining activity in the basin togetherwith systematic areal geological explorationperformed in exploratory fields has supplied notonly a large amount of data on chemical�technological properties of coal matter, but it hasalso caused that in principle, these data aredistributed, although with various densities, overthe whole area of the Czech part of the UpperSilesian Basin. It is just this fact that could enablethe authors to obtain, after data preparation andprocessing, new information on the dependenceof chemical�technological and physical properties

10


of coal matter on the geological structure of coalbasins.

Main objectives of the project and projecttiming

Main outputs of the project can be, according tothe present opinion of the authors, divided into thefollowing three fundamental parts:

Map outputs that should illustrate thespatial development of crucial factors ofchemical�technological properties of coalseams in the basin depending on itsgeological structure,

The atlas of micropetrographic types ofcoals of the Czech part of the UpperSilesian Basin,

Additional studies on some specificproblems of chemical�technologicalproperties of coals in the Czech part ofthe Upper Silesian Basin.

Thus, data on chemical�technological andphysical and petrologic properties of coal matterwill be processed comprehensively by means ofmodern computer methods for the first time. It canbe seen even now that one of the underlyingproblems of solving will be the processing of datathat originated in a relatively long time period andthe preparation of the data to a form usable forthe computer�aided methods of spatial analysis.

In addition to the material outputs mentionedabove, the main objectives of the authors of thestudy are as follows:

to collect, redact and evaluate, in amodern way, available data on coal�petrographic, chemical�technological andphysical properties of coal matter fromclosed and active mines and exploratoryfields,

to preserve the acquired knowledge in anintegrated numerical, text and graphicforms for the next needs,

to process data and to prepare basic inputinformation for future consideration ofreal possibilities of the raw material andfuel�energy base of the Czech Republic

11

The solving of the project should take three years.The output of the solving will be a summary finalreport representing a summary of knowledgeacquired and the atlas of micropetrographic typesof coals of the Czech part of the Upper SilesianBasin. Apart from the final report, the goal of theauthors is to inform the professional public onachieved results by means of journals andconferences.

References

Dopita, M. et al.: Geologie české čįstihomoslezské pįnve. (Geology of the Czech part ofthe Upper Silesian Basin). Prague, Ministry of theEnvironment, Prague, 1997, 278 pp.

Coal floatation and Fine Coal UtilizationJ. Laskowski

Elsevier Science Ltd., June 2001.Hardbound 350 pagesISBN0�444�50537�7

To stay profitable while complying withenvironmental regulations requires that the coalindustry not only improve fine coal recovery butalso find better ways for its utilization. This is thefirst monograph on the processing of fine coalwhich recognizes that all unit operations thathandle fine coal depend on coal surfaceproperties, and which, in one single volume,provides one comprehensive introduction to coalsurface chemistry, using it rigorously in treatingcoal floatation fundamentals and engineering, finecoal manipulation, pelletization and briquetting,and coal�water slurries.

Readers involved in mineral processing, chemicalengineering, mining and metallurgicalengineering; technical personnel working forreagent suppliers; and scientists researching thefield of coal surface chemistry, floatation and finecoal utilization will find this volume of greatinterest.

See: www.elsevier.com/locate.isbn/0�444�50537�7For further details.

This book can be purchased with a 20% off thenormal price for TSOP members, provided that itis for personal use only. Please contact SimonRichert ([email protected]) For details.


TSOP Research Committee ReportSeptember, 2001

Submitted by Suzanne J. Russell,Chairman

Student Research Grants

The Criteria for Eligibility for TSOP StudentResearch Grants were revised by Ken Kuehn inconsultation with Dave Glick, Sharon Crowley andSuzanne Russell and posted on our web site inDecember, 2000. The purpose for posting thecriteria was to make the judging processtransparent to interested parties.

This year we had a record number of applicantsfor the TSOP Student Research Grant: 13.Applicants attended schools in Canada, USA,India, UK and Brazil. Nationalities applying wereCanadian (5), USA (3), Indian (2), Korean (1),British (1) and Brazilian (1). Thanks are due toMary Anne Malinconico for her efforts inpublicising the grant. The panel of judges thisyear was composed of Wally Dow, Ray Pheiferand Jeff Quick. Many thanks are due to them forthe time and effort they devoted to this activity.The projects submitted were all worthy ofconsideration. A final choice, however, was made.The TSOP 2001 Student Grant Recipient isSharleen Ramos of the University of BritishColumbia for her project "Gas Shale Resources -Role of Organic Matter". Sharleen is studying forher Master's degree with Professor Marc Bustin.Unfortunately, Sharleen will not be joining us forthe Houston meeting. I will mail the awardcertificate to Sharleen and request that the TSOPsecretary-treasurer mail the award check, as well.

Since the Banff meeting in 2002 will be aboutthree weeks earlier than the Houston meeting, Ihave moved the Student Grant applicationdeadline to April 15, 2002. In contrast, the 2001deadline was May 15th. This is a postmarkdeadline. Several applications (form non-USAlocations) this year were postmarked by the 15th

but received as late as 10 days afterward.

TSOP Sponsored Research Proposals

TSOP still has only one officially sponsoredresearch subcommittee, Kerogen Classification.I readily admit it is my fault I do not have anupdate on this subcommittee. I will contact themby October to get an update on their progress.

Two other potential subcommittees, ClimateChange During the Quaternary and VitriniteReflectance Suppression, are being organised byTim Moore and Neil Sherwood, respectively.Descriptions of the proposed work were preparedfor the Newsletter and the Quaternary ClimateChange has appeared in the Newsletter (I havenot received the latest issue so I do not know ifthe Vitrinite Reflectance Suppression descriptionhas appeared subsequently). Tim Moore hasplanned an informal meeting during TSOP inHouston of those interested in the Quaternaryproposal. Neil reports that Jeff Quick and PeterWarwick would like to be involved in the Vitriniteproposal. Discussion to date has centered on asuitable suite of samples for the work.

Answers to September's CrosswordPuzzle

12

1.3.6.8.10.12.13.14.15.17.18.20.23.25.26.28.29.34.26.37.38.

AcrossTeichmullerSchopfHowerDiesselHacquebardLopatinBaileyFalconOttenjannAmmosovMastalerzWhiteDambergerDavisTheissenStantonHuttonSpackmanScottGivenBustin

1.2.4.5.7.9.11.13.16.19.21.24.27.30.31.33.35.

DownThompsonCasagrandeCrellingCohenMackowskyAlpernFinkelmanBostickKalkreuthCastanoStachEspitalieStopesTissotEsterleLyonsTing


Review of TSOP Incoming andOutgoing Council Meetings, 2001

Outgoing Council MeetingThe TSOP 2000-2001 Outgoing Council meetingwas held Tuesday, September 25, 2001, byconference call. The 2001 TSOP annual meetingin Houston, Texas (scheduled for September 23-26, 2001), and Outgoing Council meeting, werepostponed due to difficulties with domestic andinternational air travel following the September11th terrorist attacks in the United States. As aresult of the meeting postponement, the OutgoingCouncil meeting was rescheduled and held duringa conference call initialed by President P. K.(Muki) Mukhopadhyay at 19:05 EST - USA, onSeptember 25, 2001. The following TSOPCouncil members and committee chairsparticipated in the conference call: P. K. (Muki)Mukhopadhyay (outgoing President), Tim Moore(incoming President), Maria Mastalerz(President-elect), Neil Sherwood (Vice-President),Peter Warwick (Secretary -Treasurer), MaryAnnMalinconico (Councilor), Jeff Quick (outgoingCouncilor), Ray Pheifer (incoming Councilor), BillHuggett and Jack Crelling (Newsletter Co-editors),Judith Potter (TSOP 2002 Annual meetingcommittee representative), and David Glick(Internet Committee Chair).

The following is a review of some of the itemsdiscussed during TSOP's Outgoing CouncilMeeting:

TSOP Council approved the request fromthe 2001 Annual Meeting OrganizingCommittee to reschedule the Houstonmeeting to during occur the week ofMarch 3-6, 2002 in Houston. Theproposed time precedes by one week theannual meeting of the AmericanAssociation of Petroleum Geologists alsoscheduled to take place in Houston.Following TSOP's request, the abstractdeadline has been pushed back toJanuary 31, 2002 for the 2002 AnnualMeeting in Banff, Alberta.TSOP Council reviewed optionspresented by the 2003 Annual meetingcommittee proposal to hold the Annualmeeting in the Washington D.C. area.

Council approved the 2004 meetinglocation for Sydney, Australia.On September 21, 2001, TSOP had achecking account balance of $5,725.50(this is down from $11,946.34 on 9/15/00)and Vanguard Funds at a value of$14,434.09 (this is down from $16,980.30on 9/15/00). The total assets of theSociety on that date were $20,159.59(this is down from $28,926.64 on9/15/00).The number of TSOP members hasincreased by 23 new members during thelast year. In September 2001, TSOP hasa total of 221 members. Of these 221, 5are special 1-year student members, 6are honorary members, and 4 are specialfull members; the remaining 205 arepaying TSOP members. TSOP hasmembers from 27 countries.The Council approved a motion to put theTSOP Newsletter online. This effortwould hopefully lower the current printingand mailing costs. The InternetCommittee also agreed to scan old issuesof the Newsletters so that they may beposted on the Society's web page.

Incoming Council MeetingThe TSOP 2000-2001 Incoming Council meetingwas held Thursday, October 11, 2001, byconference call. As a result of the TSOP Annualmeeting postponement, the Incoming Councilmeeting was held during a conference callinitialed by incoming President Tim Moore at19:01 EST - USA, on October 11, 2001. Thefollowing TSOP Council members and committeechairs participated in the conference call: TimMoore (incoming President), Maria Mastalerz(President-Elect), Lavern Stasiuk (Vice-President), Peter Warwick (Secretary-Treasurer),P. K. (Muki) Mukhopadhyay (Past President)MaryAnn Malinconico (Councilor), Ray Pheifer(Councilor), and Jack Crelling (Newsletter Co-Editor).

The following is a review of some of theitems discussed during TSOP's IncomingCouncil Meeting:

After some discussion the Councilunanimously approved the 2001-2002

13


TSOP budget.Citing increased costs for the newsletterand a dramatic drop in the Society'sMutual Fund holdings, the Council votedunanimously to raise membership duesfrom $20 to $25. Student ($15) andIndustrial ($75) dues would remain thesame.Tim Moore reported two new researchinitiatives for 2002: 1) Coalbed Methanein Low-rank Coals to be headed by PeterWarwick and Maria Mastalerz; and 2)Petrographic Indexes and maceral Ratiosheaded by Joan Esterle, Tim Moore, andMaria Mastalerz. Maria Mastalerz alsoagreed to work with Jim Hower to seewhat is needed to update the AAPG-EMD/TSOP Coal Geology CD-Rom.Warwick and Mastalerz also agreed toprovide a poster on CBM Research forthe TSOP booth to be open at the AAPGAnnual Meeting in Houston.Jack Crelling suggested that newresearch efforts should be focused onnew applications of organic petrology,such as in material science applications.Examples are auto breaks, and possiblespace applications. Jack would follow upon this suggestion and report to the nextCouncil meeting.Ray Pheifer suggested TSOP should startan endowment fund for research andstudent grants. Both Ray and PeterWarwick will work on this and report tothe next Council meeting.Annual Meetings Committee: Discussionof this topic was tabled, as two of the newincoming Council members had notreceived descriptions in the proposedCommittee responsibilities and duties(see Appendix 3). The topic would beconsidered at the Mid-year meeting inHouston in March.

Mesophase in Coal Tar Pitch

By Jack Crelling

Mesophase is a ""middle phase"" formed whencoal, petroleum residue and pitch, and coal tarpitch are pyrolyzed. Upon heating the pitchbecomes fluid and with increased heating zonesof order (liquid crystals) begin to form. These areanisotropic and seen under the polarizingmicroscope with a hot stage as tiny spheres thatare only a few microns in diameter (see Figure1.). With further heating more mesophaseappears and all grow larger (see Figures 2 and 3).These spheres are actually liquid crystalscomposed of layers of carbon benzene ringsarranged in an equatorial manner.While soot and other forms of pyrolytic carboncommonly have an onion skin structure, themesophase spheres do not (see below). Courtesyof Harry Marsh.

Pole

Trace oflamellaedirection

Polec - axis

14

Section through a mesophase sphere

The equatorial structure of the mesophasespheres allows them to easily coalesce at theexpense of the liquid phase (see Figures 4, 5, 6,and 7). Eventually the spheres dominate the liquidphase to the point of phase inversion where thetypical field is solid mesophase with small patchesof isotropic pitch (see Figure 8). At the end of thepyrolysis the mesophase spheres are stressedand deformed and solidify into familiar coketextures (see Figure 9). All of thesephotomicrographs have been supplied by Ralph J.Gray and were taken in polarized light with bothan analyzer and interference plate.

1

2

3

6

5

4

8

7

9

Hilton Houston Westchase & Towers

TSOP!The 18th Annual Meeting of


Houston, Texasrescheduled to

3 - 6 March, 2002

Texas Travel

What to do between the TSOP Meeting March 3-6 and the AAPG Meeting March 10-13? See Texas! For Texas travelinformation and resources, including outdoor recreation, state parks and trails, hotels, historic sites, events.See: http://www.state.tx.us/Travel and http://www.texastourism.com and http://www.tourtexas.comGalveston, including beaches: http://www.galvestontourism.comTexas golf "links": http://www.golftexas.com and http://www.texasgolfermagazine.comFor a free 264 page Texas travel guide plus state highway map: http://www.traveltex.com or (in U. S.) I-800-888-8TEX


Sunday. 3 March 2002

Short Course: Biomarkers in Oil-Source Rock and Oil-Oil CorrelationsInstructor: Dr. Marcio Rocha Mello, Petroleum and EnvironmentalGeo-Services Ltda., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Dr. Mello's short course will present an overview of the use of petroleum biomarkers to correlate oils with one another and topossible source rocks. Dr. Mello will discuss the increasing importance of biomarkers in organic geochemistry and thecurrent methodologies used in their study. He will present examples of their use, discuss their advantages and limitations, andgive some insight into the current directions in biomarker research.

18

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 18 No 4 December 2001

Monday morning, 4 March 2002

Special Session: The Organic Geochemistry of the World's Deep-Water AreasSponsored by TSOP and HOGS (Houston Organic Geochemical Society)Chairs: Dr. A. N. Bishop and Dr. C. R. Robison

As the search for oil broadens, the deep-water regions of the world have become a major focus of thisever-expanding petroleum exploration. This session will probe various aspects of the organicgeochemistry and petrology of deep-water areas from different parts of the world. Subjects will range fromoil seeps of the NE Atlantic Margin and North Sea through oil shows and source rocks discovered duringscientific ocean drilling, deep-water source rocks and generation/expulsion timing in the eastern Scotianbasin, regional geochemistry and maturity modeling for the northern deep-water Gulf of Mexico to adiscussion of the relationship between reservoir fluid properties and oil geochemistry. The session willstart with a keynote address by Dr. Marcio Rocha Mello on deep-water oil exploration along the Atlanticmargin of Brazil.

Monday afternoon. 4 March 2002


Tuesday. 5 March 2002


Wednesday. 6 March 2002

Field Trip (Limit 25 persons)

A one-day field trip to the Ocean Star Offshore Energy Center in Galveston, Texas, will be the mainfeature of the field trip. The Ocean Star is and old jack up rig with added buildings for displays (quiteelaborate scaled models, oilfield equipment and tools). The tour of the Ocean Star will be guided. Theguides are usually retired oil field engineers who are quite knowledgeable. The tour should last about 1.5-2 hours. Following the Ocean Star tour, we will visit the Galveston Seaport Museum; have lunch at aseafood restaurant; and then leave for the Johnson Space Center (NASA) at Clear Lake. We will return toHouston in the late afternoon.

The Society for Organic Petrology18th Annual Meeting, March 3 -6 , 2002

Hilton Houston Westchase & Towers Hotel9999 Westheimer Rd.

Houston, Texas

General Program

Sunday 3 March 2002

8:00 - 9:00 am Registration for Short Course

9:00 am 4:00 pm Short Course: Biomarkers in Oil-Source Rock and Oil-Oil9:00 am - 4:00 pm Correlation. Instructor: Dr. Marcio Rocha Mello

Noon - 6:00 pm General Registration

3:00 - 5:00 pm Poster set-up

19


6:00 - 9:00 pm

8:00 - Midnight

Reception

Mid-Year Council Meeting

Monday

7:00 - 7:45 am

7:45 am

8:00 am

10:00-10:30 am

11:30 am

11:45am- 1:20 pm

4 March 2002

Registration

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Special Session: The Organic Geochemistry of the World'sDeepwater Areas

M.R. Mello Keynote Address "Offshore Brazil"

S. Imbus "Faeroe Islands: geochemical correlation ofhydrocarbon seeps to those of the NE Atlantic Margin andthe North Sea"

B. Katz "Hydrocarbon shows and source rocks in scientificocean drilling"

E. Colling, et al. "Regional geochemistry and maturitymodeling for the Northern Deepwater Gulf of Mexico"

Break and Poster Session

P. K. Mukhopadhyay "Deepwater source rocks and timingof hydrocarbon expulsion, Eastern Scotian Basin, East CoastCanada"

K. Ferworn and J. Zumberge "Relationship betweenreservoir fluid properties and oil geochemistry"

Group Photo

Luncheon with Group and TSOP Business Meeting

1:30 pm

3:00 - 3:30 pm

General Technical Session: Coal

R. E. Carroll "Carbon sequestration potential of coal-bedmethane reservoirs in the Black Warrior Basin: relationshipof sorption capacity to coal quality"

B. Cardott "Lessons learned from coal-bed methaneexploration"

T. Moore, et al. "The role of macroscopic texture indetermining coal-bed methane variability in the Anderson-Wyodak coal seam, Powder River Basin, Wyoming"


A. Cohen "Differential coalification exhibited by

20


7:00 pm

8:30 - Midnight/TD>

petrographic changes during artificial coalification ofTaxodium-dominated peats from Georgia and Louisiana"

S. L. Bend "Coal models: descriptive or predictive? Anexamination and appraisal of coal petrographic models"

R. Walker and M. Mastalerz "Individual maceral chemistryof selected Indiana coals: implications for coking properties"

S. Pusz "Optical texture of bituminous coals -transformations during pyrolysis and hydropyrolysis"

S. L. Buliga "Morphological analysis and genesis of coalbeds in the Motru-Rovinari Basin, Romania"

Banquet with GroupGuest Speaker: Dr. G. Gulen, University of Houston "Whydon't they get it? Politics versus reality in energy policy"

Mid-Year Council Meeting, continued

Tuesday

8:00 am

8:00 am

10:00-10:30 am

11:30 am

1:00 pm

5 March 2002

General Technical Session: Petroleum Source Rocks

R. C. Hankel and C. L. Riediger "Source rock and oilgeochemistry of the Lower Montney formation, centralAlberta, Canada"

I. Matyasik, A. Steczko, M. Mastalerz and S. C. Brassel"Petrographic and geochemical characterization of sourcerock variability in the Carpathian region of Poland:implications for oil generation"

M. L. Malinconico "Organic petrographic studies of the EarlyMesozoic Newark Rift Basin (1) thermal history usingborehole and surface vitrinite reflectance and (2) organicsedimentation patterns in orbitally forced under filled lakecycles"

C. Seibel and S. Bend "Organofacies and source potentialof the Middle Ordovician Winnipeg formation within southernSaskatchewan"


R. Locklair and B. Sageman "Origin, character, andStratigraphic hierarchy of organic-rich siltstones in deepwaterfacies, Upper Permian (Guadalupian) Brushy Canyonformation, west Texas"

Z. Han, Q. Yang, and Z. Pang "Organic facies study of aPermian lake-swamp depositional sequence in Puxiangcounty, Shanxi Province, China"

Lunch (on your own)


21


S. M. Rimmer, J. A. Thompson, T. Robl, S. Goodnightand S. Hawkins "Controls on organic matter in Devonian-Mississippian marine black shales, east-central Kentucky:preservation vs. productivity"

R. Stanton, P. Warwick, et al. "CO2 sequestration in lowrank coals"

T. Sakulpitakphon and J. Hower "Predicted CO2 content ofmaceral concentrates from Kentucky and Illinois coals"

H. Rahimpour-Bonab and Z. Zamani "Evaluation of sourcerock maturation using organic petrography as a tool: a casestudy from southern Caspian hydrocarbon source rocks"

3:00 pm Break

Z. Shiqi and J. Youliang "Studies on petrology andgeochemical characteristics of lacustrine condensed sectionsin Dongying Sag, Bohaiwan Basin, east China"

H. J. McCunn and D. S. Moulton "A new mechanism for theformation and preservation of dolomitic and calcitichydrocarbon reservoirs"

Awards

J. Burgess "2001 ICCP Meeting Highlights"

W. Dow to lead Discussion Session "Can organic petrologysurvive in a virtual world?"

List of PostersB. Katz and C. Robison "Aspects of hydrocarbon charge of the petroleum system of the YamalPeninsula, West Siberia Basin"A. S. Alsharhan "Oxfordian-Kimmeridgian Diyab formation as a major source rock unit in southernArabian GulfB. M. Krzesinka and S. Pusz "New approach to evaluation of coke quality"S. L. Buliga "The distribution of xylite in the coal beds of Motru-Rovinari Basin, Romania"T. M. Williams and A. D. Cohen "Trace element distribution in an organic-rich wetland at the SavannahRiver Site, South Carolina"S. Hawkins and S. M. Rimmer "Pyrite framboid size and size distribution: indicators of anoxia duringdeposition of Devonian-Mississippian black shales"A. Sotirov and J. Kortenski "Petrography of the coal from the Oranovo-Simitli Basin, Bulgaria"J. Kortenski and A. Sotirov "Petrography of the Neogene lignites from the Sofia Basin, Bulgaria"Z. Damyanov, M. Vassileva, J. Kortenski, and A. Sotirov "Petrology of the organic matter in theKremikovtsi siderite iron formation, West Balkan Mountain, Bulgaria"V. C. Conde, et al. "Palynofacies and sequence stratigraphy of an Upper Aptian section from AlmadaBasin, Brazil"W. G. Dow, J. R. Allen, and C. J. Kuhnel "Determination of API gravity from very small samples of oils,tar mats, and solid bitumens with the Rock-Eval 6 instrument"A. Callejon and K. K. Bissada "Role of coals and carbonaceous shales in the generation of oil in theEastern Venezuela Basin"G. J. Nowak "Facies model of the Upper Carboniferous coal seams in the Lower Silesian Coal Basin (SWPoland) from the view point of microscopic studies"

22


Wednesday 6 March 2002

Field Trip to Galveston to visit the "Ocean Star OffshoreEnergy Center" an actual retired Gulf of Mexico "jack-up rig"

800 am (oil platform) with guided tour and historical displays. It is tiedto the dock and easily accessible for learning. Lunch will be innearby restaurants. An optional afternoon trip to nearbyNASA's Johnson Space Center will be offered.

23


18th Annual TSOP Meeting, March 2002,Houston, Texas




NAME:ADDRESS:City: State: Postal Code: COUNTRY:AFFILIATION (if not given in address):TELEPHONE: (work) (home)FAX NUMBER: E-Mail Address:Please state if you will need services to accommodate a disability:

Short Course: "Biomarkers in Oil-Source Rock and Oil-Oil Correlations" (March 3)Pre-registration (through 15 February 2002) @ $ 60.00Late Registration (after 15 February)

Meeting (March 3-6):Pre-registration (through 15 February 2002)

TSOP Member ProfessionalStudent

Non-Member

Late Registration (after 15 February 2002)TSOP Member Professional

Student

Non-Member

@ $ 70.00

@$ 150.00@$ 50.00

@$ 175.00

@$ 175.00@$ 75.00

@ $ 200.00

Field Trip (March 6) Offshore Drilling Platform Museum, Galveston, Texas(Limit 20 persons) @ $ 65.00Late Registration (after 15 February)

Proceedings Volume (to be published in the International Joumalof Coal Geology)

(PAYMENT IN U.S. FUNDS ONLY; MAKE CHECKS

@ $ 75.00

1@ $ 30.00/copy

TOTAL:

$$

$$

$

$$

$

$$

$

$

PAYABLE TO TSOP-2001. Houston)

24


18th Annual TSOP Meeting, March 2002,Houston, Texas

Housing Information

Hotel reservations should be made by February 8, 2002

Accommodations are in the Hilton Houston Westchase & Towers at 9999 Westheimer Rd., Houston, TX77042. Check in Time 3:00 PM; Check Out Time 12:00 PM. The Hotel will hold the rooms until February 8.After this date, rooms not covered by rooming list or individual reservations shall be released from TSOP'sblock and the hotel may contract with other parties for the use of the rooms. The hotel will continue to acceptreservations from TSOP meeting attendees after February 8, 2002, at the prevailing room rate and subjectto availability. The contracted room rate is $129 Single and Double (until Feb. 8).Reservations: lndividual Reservations - Each individual guest must make their own reservations onlineat www.hilton.com or by calling 1 -800-HILTONS (1 -800-445-8667) (or locally 713-974-1000). Individualmust identify him(her)-self as a member of TSOP or an attendee of the TSOP meeting to receive thegroup's special rate. The Group Number is "TSO". All reservations must be guaranteed and accompaniedby a first night room deposit or guaranteed with a major credit card.

Travel Information:

The Hilton Houston Westchase & Towers is located on the SE corner of the intersection of Westheimerand Briarpark in west Houston (hotel address-9999 Westheimer). Two major airports serve Houston:Houston Hobby and Bush Intercontinental. Taxi services are available at both airports. However, a goodway to arrive at the hotel is to take the Express Shuttle Bus from either airport. Tickets for the shuttle canbe purchased (roundtrip available) at the Express Shuttle service counters in the Baggage Claim/GroundTransportation levels of either airport. The cost is approximately $15.00 one-way and $24.00 roundtrip. Iftwo or more attendees share a taxi, however, it may be cheaper than the shuttle.


If you need a personal letter of invitation to obtain travel funds or a USA visa, please indicate on the bottomof your registration form that you wish to have such a letter. You can also e-mail the meeting Chairperson [email protected] and request such a letter in advance of mailing in your registration.

All non-immigrant visa holders are advised to have health and accident insurance that covers the time theywill be in the USA. J-1 and J-2 visa holders are required by law to have this insurance, which must be set atleast to a minimum of $50,000 per accident or illness and include medical evacuation and repatriation ofremains. Your travel agent can assist you with obtaining this insurance coverage.

It is recommended that you obtain sufficient US currency for your trip before departure. However, there arecurrency exchange facilities at Bush Intercontinental Airport and at several banks in the Houston area.

25


Jack Crelling Receives the Gilbert H. Cady Award

Roughly 37 years ago G.S.A. metin New York City. At the time Iwas at Penn State and was on theadmissions and assistantshipcommittee for the geologicalsciences. I was fortunate to beable to attend that meeting andhad been asked to meet a studentfrom the University of Delawarewho was interested in thepossibility of attending Penn Statefor graduate work.

We did meet and discussed PennState, graduate work and thestudent's interests. I rememberindicating that we would have tohave a transcript of his recordbefore getting too far along in theadmissions process. This remark of mineprompted the student to reach into his coat pocketand produce his college transcript. This degree ofpreparation caught my attention and we hadfurther discussions.

The Gilbert H. Cady Award is presented this yearto John Crawford Crelling in recognition of hismany outstanding achievements in the field ofcoal geology. He has contributed in significantfashion to our practical knowledge of thecomposition of coal, the nature of coal macerals,the formation of metallurgical coke, and theproperties of other forms of carbon such as chars,graphites and carbon composites.

The five years that Jack spent working at theHomer Research Laboratories of the BethlehemSteel Corporation gave him insights and disciplinethat served him in good stead when working in hisown laboratory in a university setting. His abilityto plan his research programs and to stick to acarefully developed scheme has been key to hissuccess in getting his work published, in obtainingfunding to support his work, and in attractingstudents and co-investigators. To date he hasbeen the author or co-author on over a hundredpublished articles and three books as well as theco-editor of two books. He has been awardedover four and a half million dollars in funding forsixty-five projects, and he has worked with

26

colleagues in geology, chemistry,engineering, physics, and materialscience from home and from theUnited Kingdom, France, Spain,Canada, Pakistan, Japan, theCzech Republic, and theNetherlands.

Professor Crelling has beenamazingly astute in his efforts tounderstand the nature of coal byfocusing on the macerals that arethe basic constituents of coal.Within a few years of arriving atSouthern Illinois University, he setup a laboratory using the biologicaltechnique of density gradientcentrifugation in an ongoing twenty-year program of isolating and

characterizing pure maceral concentrates. Hewas the first to separate and characterize themacerals vitrinite and Pseudovitrinite and he hasadvanced such work on the liptinite and inertinitemacerals. To help characterize the maceralconcentrates he developed petrographictechniques in spectral fluorescence, rotationalpolarization and bireflectance imaging. Theresults of this research have led to an increasinglyclear understanding of the petrology, chemistry,thermal reactivity, and physical properties of awide variety of macerals. He has also extendedthe use of coal petrographic techniques into thefield of materials science by using them tocharacterize such things as automobile andaircraft brakes, carbon-carbon composites,petroleum cokes, synthetic graphites, and carbonblacks.

His success in these efforts and his ability as ateacher have led to requests to present numerousshort courses and workshops dealing with topicssuch as "Foundations and Principles of CoalPetrology," "Applied Fluorescence Microscopy,""Petrology of Cokes, Chars, Carbons, andGraphites," and "Teaching Principles for GraduateStudents." At Southern Illinois University he hasdirected twenty-two Master's theses and two Ph.D.dissertations dealing with coal geology, appliedcoal petrology, and maceral characterization. Inaddition, he has developed a widely used


petrographic atlas of coals cokes, chars, carbons,and graphites that is available through an SIUwebsite.

Jack has been called upon to teach a number ofdifferent courses during his time at SIUC. Manyof these deal to a large extent with coal, coalmaterials, and coal extraction. Surprisingly, healso has taught igneous petrology. Someexplanation may be necessary here.

Although he is a coal geologist/petrologist, hisPh.D. degree was in fact in igneous petrology.His dissertation is an excellent study of the dikesradiating out from the Spanish peaks in southernColorado. These dikes and related sills havealtered many of the coal seams in that region.Prior to his doctorate work, Jack had received theM.S. degree, also from Penn State, studying thealteration of these coals by the emplacement ofthe many dikes and sills in the area.

By virtue of his many accomplishments in thefields of coal science, Professor Crelling is anoutstanding recipient of the Gilbert H. CadyAward.

awards a maximum of two grants each year.

Use of Grant: Grants are to be applied toexpenses directly related to the student's thesiswork, such as summer fieldwork, laboratoryanalyses, etc. A portion (not to exceed 25%) ofthe funds may be used to attend TSOP AnnualMeetings. Funds should not be used to purchasecapital equipment, to pay salaries, tuition, room,or board during the school year. Funds must bespent within 18 months of receipt of the award.

Application Deadline: TSOP graduate studentresearch grant application deadline is April 15,2002. Grants will be awarded in September,2002. Watch for detailed information and anapplication form on the TSOP web sitehttp://www.tsop.org or applications may beobtained from Suzanne J. Russell, Shell UKExploration and Production, 1 Altens Farm Road,Nigg, Aberdeen AB12 3FY, UK; phone: +44(0)1224 88 2310; fax: +44 (0)1224 88 4184; e-mail: [email protected].

Signed: Russell R. DutcherThe Society For Organic Petrology

Council 2001 - 2002

TSOP Graduate Student ResearchGrants

The Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP) invitesapplications for graduate student research grants.The purpose of the grants is to foster research inorganic petrology (which includes coal petrology,kerogen petrology, organic geochemistry andrelated disciplines) by providing support tograduate students from around the world, whodemonstrate the application of organic petrologyconcepts to research problems.

Grant Size: Monetary awards up to a maximumof $1,000.00 US will be granted. TSOP will alsoprovide Merit Awards, in the form of certificatesredeemable for TSOP publications, to top-rankingapplicants not receiving grants. The program

PresidentVice PresidentPresident ElectSecretary/TreasurerCo Editors

CouncilorCouncilor

Tim MooreLavern StasiukMaria MastalerzPeter Warwick

William HuggettJack CrellingRay PheiferMaryAnn Malinconico

27

TSOP Newsletter Vol 17 no 4 December 2000

TSOP Publications

1. Fluoreszenz von Liptiniten und Vitriniten in Beziehung zu Inkohlungsgrad und $10Verkokungsverhalten - (in German with photomicrographs) M. Teichmüller, 1982











12. 8th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, Lexington, KY, 1991 $5





17. International Journal of Coal Geology (IJCG), 12th TSOP Meeting, The Woodlands, TX,1995; Vol. 34, Nos. 3-4, 1997 $15





22. IJCG, 15th TSOP Meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1998; Vol. 43, Nos. 1-4, 2000 $25

28



Brian J. CardottOklahoma Geological Survey100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131Norman, OK 73019-0628 USA






Name on Card:_Card Number:_Street Address:_City:




29


Ronald W. Stanton

On Thursday, September 27, 2001, Ronald W.Stanton of Vienna, VA, 50, a longtime member ofThe Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP) andInternational Committee for Coal Petrology(ICCP), and research geologist with the U.S.Geological Survey (USGS), died at his home fromcancer. Ron was born in Wilkes Barre,Pennsylvania and lived in Fairfax County,Virginia.

Ron started his career at the USGS as a fieldassistant in 1973. Following his completion ofundergraduate and masters degrees in Geology atWest Virginia University, he returned to the USGSBranch of Coal Resources in 1975 as a coalgeologist specializing in organic petrology. Hewas responsible for developing new techniquesand approaches to the description,characterization, and prediction of coal bedthickness and quality of world coal resources.Ron continued to analyze coal componentsthroughout his career and his observations led tosignificant modifications of coal petrographicclassifications that are currently used by theAmerican Society for Testing and Materials andby other coal geologist throughout the world.

In 1993, Ron was appointed Assistant BranchChief of the Branch of Coal Geology at the USGSand had responsibility for budgets and staffing.From 1995 to 1999, he served as the Team ChiefScientist of the Eastern Energy Resource Teamwhere he was responsible for science directions,plans, and supervision of over the professionaland administrative staff.

Ron was recognized worldwide as a coal geologistand was recently elected as an Honorary Memberof the ICCP in 2001. He held numerousleadership positions at the American Society forTesting and Materials, Committee D5 on Coal andCoke, and was a founding member of TSOP. Inaddition, he was a member of the GeologicalSociety of America, Sigma Xi, Scientific ResearchSociety, American Association of PetroleumGeologists, and the Society of Mining Engineers.

He was a Boy Scout leader, a soccer andbasketball coach for youth leagues in Fairfax

County and an organizer of the Hunter MillDefense League, which fought development inFairfax County. His interests included fly-fishingand bluegrass music. He played the violin, banjo,piano and trumpet.

Ron's wife Cindy has arranged for a musicscholarship in Ron's honor- the RWS ScholarshipFund. It will be a scholarship for students ofJames Madison High School (Fairfax County) andwill be administered by the high school. Thescholarship will be specifically earmarked for anorchestra student in the strings program and willgo either to a graduating senior or to help studentswith school music programs. Checks can bemade out to "JMHS" and somewhere on the checkshould be indicated that it is for the "RSWScholarship Fund." If you care to contribute to thescholarship (contributions are tax deductible), youcan send the checks directly to Cindy Stanton at10309 Browns Mill Road, Vienna, Virginia 22182,USA.

30


Ron Stanton


Contributing Members' Photomicrograph

Late Eocene bituminous coal from Kalimantan Indonesia. Etched (withKMnO4) coal particle showing sclerotinite and Semifusinite. The longthin Semifusinite tissue is interpreted as oxidised epidermal tissue of aprimary root. These features, along with the sclerotinite represent theonly inertinite in the coal, usually less than 2%. Scale is 1 mm acrossthe whole field of view. Photomicrograph by Tim Moore.


NEWSLETTERVol. 19 No. 1 March 2002 ISSN-0743-3816

The 18th Annual Meeting of The Society For OrganicPetrology

March 3-6, 2002 Houston, Texas

The Society forOrganic Petrology

(TSOP)

Student Grants2002

Purpose: The Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP) grants foster researchin organic petrology which includes coal petrology, kerogen petrology,organic geochemistry and related disciplines) by providing support to grad-uate students from around the world, who demonstrate the application oforganic petrology concepts to research problems.

Grant Size: Monetary awards up to a maximum of US $1,000.00 will begranted. TSOP will also provide Merit Awards, in the form of certificatesredeemable for TSOP publications, to top-ranking applicants not receivinggrants. The program awards a maximum of two grants each year.

Use of Grant: Grants are to be applied to expenses directly related to thestudent's thesis work, such as summer fieldwork, laboratory analyses, etc. Aportion (not to exceed 25%) of the funds may be used to attend TSOP AnnualMeetings. Funds should not be used to purchase capital equipment, to paysalaries, tuition, room, or board during the school year. Funds must be spentwithin 18 months of receipt of the award.

DEADLINE: April 15, 2002

Application and further information available on the Internet athttp://www.tsop.org/grants.htm

OR

TSOP Research Committee Student Grants ProgramS. J. Russell, Chairperson

Shell UK Exploration and Production1 Altens Farm Rd., Nigg, Aberdeen AB12 3FY

United KingdomFax:+44(0)1224 88 4184;


2




Co-editors:



John C. Crelling /William W.Huggett


Carbondale Illinois 62901-4324Phone: (618)453-7381Fax:(618)453-7393


Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) ispublished quarterly by The SocietyFor Organic Petrology and isdistributed to all Society Members asa benefi t of membership.Membership in the Society isinternational and open to allindividuals having an interest in thefield of Organic Petrology. For moreinformation on membership, Societyactivities or to inquire aboutmembership packs please contact:



Tel: (703) 648-6469

MarchContents |

Cover: 18th Annual Meeting of The Society ForOrganic Petrology

2. Student Grant Announcement

4. Presidents' Column

5. TSOP / CSCOP Joint Meeting Announcement

6. Becker Award Recipient / TSOP Offer

7. Book Reviews : From Volumes 1-18

9. Calender of Events

11. Available TSOP Publications

12. Contributing Member's Photomicrograph

Cover Photos

Clockwise from top left: Outgoing TSOP president PrasantaMukhopadhyay (Muki) welcomes Incoming President TimMoore, Council at lunch, Session chair Cole Robison ensures a

smooth transition between speakers, Maria Mastalerz presentsher report during the luncheon, Peter Warwick submitsTreasurer report, Tim Moore gives his first official address aspresident, Muki gives his last, Mike Darnell presents Tim withthe award for the farthest traveled member, Wally Dow impartshis wisdom to wrap up the meeting. Center: Past TSOPpresidents were presented with a plaque honoring their serviceto the Society-l to r: Cole Robison, Art Cohen, Jim Hower, SueRimmer, Brian Cardott, Muki, Jeff Levine.

3


President's Column

by Tim Moore

This past year has been one of the most difficultfor TSOP. Obviously with the events ofSeptember 11th, Council had to postpone theAnnual Meeting which was scheduled for Houstonin late September. The reason for this was thatmost of our international participants would nothave been able to get the all important travelinsurance. Without this insurance, none of theiremployers would have allowed them to travel,myself included.

However it is with much pleasure that I can reportthat the Houston meeting was a stunning success.This success was no accident. The monumentalefforts of Cole Robison and his organisingcommittee are to be given full credit. Essentiallythey planned virtually two meetings, the originalone in September and the actually one in March.

Although I was officially made President inSeptember 2001 during an outgoing phonemeeting with Council, I'd like to take thisopportunity to welcome the current Council. VicePresident: Vern Stasiuk, President-Elect: MariaMastalerz, Secretary/Treasurer: Peter Warwick,Editor: Bill Hugget & Jack Crelling, and our twocouncilors: MaryAnn Malinconico and RayPheifer. I am sure it will be a productive andinnovative council.

I would also like to congratulate Muki (aka P.K.Mukhopadhyay) for his term as TSOP President.I found working with Muki a pleasure. He is highlyefficient, well organised and has lots of energy;and with that energy comes many great ideas.The direction and vision that Muki has givenTSOP over this last year will help direct thisorganisation for years to come.

The mid-year meeting of the TSOP Council washeld at the Houston conference. Updates on ournext three meetings were made: 2002 Banff, 2003Washington DC, and 2004 Sydney, Australia. Iam particularly pleased to see TSOP holding itsfirst annual meeting not only overseas, but also inmy part of the world. Australia (or the 'WestIsland' as we New Zealanders call it) is not just a

lovely place to visit. Coal science is groundbreaking and researchers there are innovativeand highly creative. I am absolutely sure thetechnical programme will be highly thoughtprovoking and stimulating.

At the mid-year meeting we also received updateson our affiliated conferences. Specifically, the"Black Shales" (Sue Rimmer) and "Applied CoalGeology" (Jim Hower) TSOP sessions at theNorthcentral-southeast Section of the GSAMeeting in Lexington Kentucky to be held on 4April 2002.

As a closing remark, I'd like to thank all ourstudent participants at the Houston meeting. Allthe talks by the students were of high quality andscientific merit. This aspect of TSOP should neverbe underestimated. Although it was a difficultdecision to make by our Awards committee, thebest student paper went to Robert Locklair ofNorthwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.Congratulations Robert!

4


THE SOCIETY FORORGANIC

PETROLOGY(TSOP)

AAPG ASSOCIATED SOCIETYAGI MEMBER SOCIETY

19th Annual Meetingjointly with

the Canadian Society for Coal Scienceand Organic Petrology (CSCOP)

AUG. 31-SEPT. 4, 2002 BANFF, ALBERTA, CANADAPre- meeting short course on "Prediction of TOC contents and hydrogenindices in marine sediments ". Instructor: Dr. Richard Tyson

Oral and poster sessions; Meeting theme: "Emerging Concepts in OrganicPetrology and Geochemistry"; Special symposium celebrating contributionsof Dr. Archie Douglas to organic geochemistry.

Meeting and abstract information at www.cscop-tsop2002.comor contact Martin Fowler, Geological Survey of Canada, Calgary,

Ph: (403) 292-7038; E-mail [email protected]

Visit us at AAPG Annual Meeting (March 10- 13, 2002)Exhibit Booth #371 and

attend joint AAPG/TSOP Interactive Poster Session


Jack Crelling Receives The 2002Joseph Becker Award

Dr. John C. Crelling, of Southern IllinoisUniversity and a founding member of TSOP, ,became the 40* recipient of the Joseph BeckerAward at the 61st Ironmaking Conference held inNashville this past March.

The ISS Ironmaking Division established theJoseph Becker Award in 1961 to honoroutstanding achievements in coal carbonizationand coal technology, including improvements inmethods of selection and preparation of coal forcoke manufacture, developments in coaltechnology that led to greater efficiency in the useof coke in ironmaking, and improvements in thedesign, operation and productivity of coke plantsand coal chemical recovery equipment.

Jack started his professional career in 1972 at theHomer Research Labs of the Bethlehem SteelCorporation where he was in charge of the Coaland Coke Petrographic Labs. At Bethlehem heworked on a variety of quality control projectsincluding a major study on the effects ofweathering on coke quality and coking behavior.In 1977 he became a professor at SouthernIllinois University and leader of the CoalCharacterization Laboratory. The overall objectiveof his research at SIU is to improve thepetrographic characterization of coal to betterpredict its behavior. His research includes thedevelopment of quantitative fluorescence androtational polarization techniques, the chemistryand reactivity of coal macerals, and the behaviorof coal in blast furnace injection. At SIU he alsoestablished a Maceral Separation Laboratory atSIU with an ongoing program for the separationand characterization of pure coal maceralsincluding vitrinite and Pseudovitrinite. In 1998 hecreated an internet based petrographic atlas ofcoals, cokes, chars, carbons, and graphites. Hehas presented 4 papers at the IronmakingConference and is a reader for the ISSTransactions.

The Becker Award is one of the highest honorsavailable in the steel industry, and has now beenawarded to seven TSOP members:

1976 - W. Spackman, Jr.1986-R. J. Gray

1988 - R.R. Thompson1990-H. Marsh1960- L.G. Benedict1999-H. Valia2002 - J. Crelling

Special Offer to TSOP MembersWe are pleased to announce an agreementbetween TSOP and Elsevier to offer the Reviewof Paleobotany and Palynology at a special priceof US$90/year. A yearly individual subscriptionwill include 5 Volumes of 4 Issues each, somecombined into larger editions.

Each subscriber is to maintain the subscription forpersonal use only.

Please check the journal's web site at

http://www.elsevier.com/locate/revpalbo/

If you are interested in subscribing, please fill inthe appropriate information below and send it toPeter Warwick at the address below. You will beinvoiced by Elsevier for the subscription cost. Ifyou are not a TSOP member we invite you to fillout an application form, downloaded from:

www.tsop.org/tsopjoin.htm

and send it along with the journal order form:

Name:

Organization:

Street Address:

City:

State:

Postal code:

Phone:

Fax:

E-mail:

Mail to:

Peter Warwick

US Geological Survey

956 National Center

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive

Reston, VA 20192

6


Book ReviewsBelow is a complete list of Book reviews that have been featured in the TSOP

Newsletter from it's beginning in June of 1984

Petroleum Geochemistry and Basin Evaluation (Vol. 2, #1)

The Okefenokee Swamp: Its Natural History, Geology and Geochemistry (Vol. 2 #2)

Low Rank Oil Shales: Part 1 - Organic Petrology (Vol. 3 #2)

Geochemistry in Petroleum Exploration (Vol. 4 #2)

NMR of Humic Substances and Coal: Techniques, Problems, and Solutions (Vol.5 #1)

Organic Metamorphism and Geothermal History: Microscopic Study of Organic Matter and Thermal Evolution of Sedimentary Basins (Vol. 5 #3)

Organic Petrographv And Organic Geochemistry Of Texas Tertiary Coals In Relation To Depositional Environment And Hydrocarbon Generation(Vol. 7#1)

Peat And Coal: Origins. Facies And Depositional Models (Vol. 7 #1)

Coal: Classification. Coalification, Mineralogy. Trace-Element Chemistry, And Oil And Gas Potential (Vol. 7 #1)

Environmental Forensic Geochemistry - Tracing Petroleum Contaminants In Soil And Water(Vol 8 #2)

The Many Forms Of Carbon (Vol 8 #4)

Geology And Utilization Of Fort Union Lignites (Vol 9 #4)

New Perspectives On Central Appalachian Low-Sulfur Coal Supplies (Vol.9 #4)

Coal and Coal-Bearing Strata as Oil-Prone Source Rocks (Vol 10 #3)

Coal-Bearing Depositional Systems (Vol 12 #1)

Vitrinite Reflectance as a Maturity Parameter (Vol 12 #1)

Fractals and Chaos in Geology and Geophysics (Vol 12 #1)

Asphaltenes and Asphalts, 1 (Vol 12 #2)

Coalbed Methane in the Cretaceous Fruitland Formation, San Juan Basin, New Mexico and Colorado (Vol 12 #2)

Bitumens in Ore Deposits (Vol 12 #2)

European Coal Geology (Vol 12 #2)

Control of Coal Dust in Transit and in Stockpiles (Vol 12 #3)

Dazzle 'en with Style: The Art of Oral Scientific Presentation (Vol 12 #3)

The Values of Precision (Vol 12 #3)

An Introduction to Coal Technology (Vol 12 #3)

Coal: Resources, Properties, Utilization, Pollution (Vol 12 #4)

The Petroleum System - from Source to Trap (Vol 13 #1)

At What Cost? Manufacturing Employment Impact from Higher Electricity Prices (Vol 13 #1)

Messel: An Insight into the History of Life and the Earth (Vol 13 #1)

Sedimentation of Organic Particles (Vol 13 #1)

Lignites of North America (Vol 13 #1)

TSOP Newsletter Vol. 19 No.1 March 2002Trace Elements 1 Coal (Vol 13 #2)

Amber, Resinite, and Fossil Resins (Vol 13 #2)

Geological and Landscape Conservation (Vol 13 #2)

Fractals in Petroleum Geology and Earth Processes (Vol 13 #2)

The Paleobiology of Trace Fossils (Vol 13 #2)

Ultrastructure of Fossil Spores and Pollen (Vol 13 #2)

Views from my Underground Ivory Tower (Vol 13 #3)

Paleogeography, Paleoclimate, and Source Rocks (Vol 13 #3)

Trace Elements in Peat Soils and Peat Landscapes of European Russia (Vol 13 #3)

Coal Science (Vol 13 #3)

Non-biostratigraphical Methods of Dating and Correlation (Vol 13 #3)

Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd Edition (Vol 13 #4)

Global Peat Resources (Vol 13 #4)

Geology of Australian Coal Basins (Vol 13 #4)

Historical Perspective of Early Twentieth Century Carboniferous (Vol 13 #4)

Paleobotany (Vol 13 #41

Fluorescence Microscopy (Vol 14 #1)

Petroleum Source Rocks (Vol 14 #1)

Coal—Energy for the Future (Vol 14 #1)

Aspects of Archaeological Palynology: Methodology and Application (Vol 14 #1)

Sedimentary Organic Matter: Organic Facies and Palynofacies (Vol 14 #2)

Coal Preparation: Automation and Control (Vol 14 #2)

Rethinking Science as a Career (Vol 14 #2)

Hydrocarbon Migration and its Near-Surface Expression (Vol 14 #2)

Palynological Correlation of Major Pennsylvanian Chronostratigraphic (Vol 14 #3)

Boundaries in the Illinois and other Coal Basins (Vol 14 #3)

Ancient DNA: Recovery and Analysis of Genetic Material from

Paleontological, Archaeological, Museum, Medical, and Forensic Specimens (Vol 14 #3)

Peer Instruction: A User's Manual (Vol 14 #3)

Palynology: Principles and Applications (Vol 14 #3)

Organic Petrology (Vol 16 #1)

A Petrographic Atlas of Canadian Coal Macerals and Dispersed Organic Matter (Vol 16 #4)

If any member needs to "augment" their TSOP Newsletter collection, feel free to contact the Editors for backcopies. (Note: Issues out of print: Vol 1 #1, Vol 1 #2, Vol 17 #2).

8


Calender of Events

2002

May 20-21: Illinois Energy Policy for the 21st Century, Springfield Illinois.

June 3-6: Joint Conference: 9th Billings Land Reclamation Symposium and 20th

Annual Meeting of American Society of Mining and Reclamation,Billings Montana.

June 9-13: 19th Annual Conference of the American Society of Mining andReclamation, Lexington Kentucky.

June 25-26: International Conference on Technology for Coal Mining, Preparationand Utilization Results of the ECSC Coal Research Program,Luxembourg, Brussels.

August 31-Setpember 4: The Society For Organic Petrology(TSOP) / the CanadianSociety for Coal Science and Organic Petrology(CSCOP) joint Annual Meeting, Banff Canada (See noticein this issue).

September 10-11: Air Quality III. Washington D.C

Call For PapersMining and the Environment III & Annual

May 25-28, 2003Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

www.sudbury2003.coProvisional ProgramPapers describing the issues, the approaches taken in differentstudies will be presented. The topics could include, but

• Ground and surface water *remediation

• Ecosystems, Health Evaluation and *Restoration Technologies

• Sustainability, Mining and Society *• Challenges, Technical, Economic and

Social - to Mining the Frontier.• Reclamation Issues for Oil and Natural *

Gas• Aquatic Toxiety, Legislation and

Reporting

Meeting of the CLRA

parts of the world and major casewill not be limited to:

Environ mental Data ManagementSystemsNew Technology - Old Problems"Cradle to Grave" Mines ManagementPotential Climate Change Impacts forMiningAcidic DrainageWaste ManagementAggregate Pits and Quarries- Creatingthe Next Landscape

Prospective authors are invited to submit titles and preliminary abstracts by May 1 2002

9



Brian J. CardottOklahoma Geological Survey100 E.Boyd St.,Rm.N-131Norman, OK 73019-0628 USA






Name on Card:_Card Number:_Street Address:_City:




10

TSOP PUBLICATIONS


(includes shippin

1. Fluoreszenz von Liptiniten und Vitriniten in Beziehung zu Inkohlungsgrad und $10Verkokungsverhalten - (in German with photomicrographs) M. Teichmuller, 1982



4. Fluorescence Microscopy Workshop Lecture Notes, 1989 TSOP Meeting $355. Organic Geochemistry, 2nd TSOP Meeting, Houston, TX, 1985; Vol. 11, No. 5, 1987 $ 56. Organic Geochemistry, 3rd TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1986; Vol. 12, No. 4, 1988 $ 57. Organic Geochemistry, 4th TSOP Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1987; Vol. 14, No. 3, 1989 $ 58. Organic Geochemistry, 5th TSOP Meeting, Houston, TX, 1988; Vol. 17, No. 2, 1991 $109. Organic Geochemistry, 6th TSOP Meeting, Urbana, IL, 1989; Vol. 17, No. 4, 1991 $1010. Organic Geochemistry, 7th TSOP Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, 1990; Vol. 18, No. 3, 1992 $1011. Organic Geochemistry, 8th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1991; Vol. 20, No. 2, 1993 $1012. 8th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, Lexington, KY, 1991 $ 513. Organic Geochemistry, 10th TSOP Meeting, Norman, OK, 1993; Vol. 22, No. 1, 1994 $1014. Energy & Fuels, ACS symposium on kerogen/macerals; Vol. 8, No. 6, 1994 $1015. 12th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, The Woodlands, TX, 1995 $ 516. Organic Geochemistry, 11th TSOP Meeting, Jackson, WY, 1994; Vol. 24, No. 2, 1996 $3517. International Journal of Coal Geology (IJCG), 12th TSOP Meeting, The Woodlands, TX,

1995; Vol. 34, Nos. 3-4, 1997 $1518. IJCG, 13th TSOP Meeting, Carbondale, IL, 1996; Vol. 37, Nos. 1-2, 1998 $1519. IJCG, Special Issue: Appalachian Coalbed Methane; Vol. 38, Nos. 1-2, 1998 $2020. IJCG, 14th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1997; Vol. 39, Nos. 1-3, 1999 $2521. IJCG, Special Issue: Applied Topics in Coal Geology; Vol. 41, Nos. 1-2, 1999 $2522. IJCG, 15th TSOP Meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1998; Vol. 43, Nos. 1-4, 2000 $2523. IJCG 16th TSOP Meeting, Snowbird, Utah, 1999; Vol 46, Nos. 2-4, 2001 $2524. IJCG 17th TSOP Meeting, Bloomington, Indiana, 2000;Vol 47, Nos. 3-4, 2001 $25

Please complete a TSOP Publications Order Form. Make checks payable to TSOP.Send orders to:

Brian J. CardottOklahoma Geological Survey telephone: 405/325-3031100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 fax: 405/325-7069Norman, OK 73019-0628 email: [email protected]. We accept checks, MasterCard, Visa, and money orders.

11


Contributing Members' Photomicrograph

Photomicrograph of a leaf cuticle as seen using a Hitachi S570Scanning Electron Microscope. The small dust-like particles in thecenter for the field are silt grains. Width of field is approximately40 micrometers. Photomicrograph by William Huggett.


NEWSLETTERVol. 19, No. 2 June, 2002 ISSN-0743-3816

photo by Donald Lee, courtesy The Banff Centre

19th Annual Meeting, August 31 - September 4:

CSCOP - TSOP 2002 Banff, Alberta, Canada

Call for PapersTwentieth Annual MeetingSeptember 21 - 24, 2003Washington, D.C. Area

HYATT ARLINGTON

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, USA

For our 20th Annual Meeting, TSOP will return to the city which hosted its first meeting.

Meeting Themes:

! Session 1 Petroleum Systems, Source Rocks, and Coalbed Methane (Monday AM)

! Session 2 Ron Stanton Memorial Session Coal Characterization (Monday PM)

! Session 3 General Submissions (Tuesday AM)

! Session 4 Government and Energy (Tuesday PM)

Field Trip: Geology and Energy Resources of the Triassic Basins of Northern Virginia (Wednesday)

Short Courses:

! Modes of Occurrence of Trace Elements in Coal (Sunday AM)

! Health Impacts of Coal: Should We Be Concerned (Sunday PM)

! Petroleum Source Rocks and Coal in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska - A Core Workshop (Sunday)

Abstract submission deadline: April 15, 2003; See http://www.tsop.org/mtgdc.htm for more details

Spousal and Social Activities Planned

Meeting Hotel: The Hyatt Arlington Conveniently located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., within walking distance ofGeorgetown, and is adjacent to the Rosslyn Metro Stop. See: http://www.arlington.hyatt.com/

For more Information:Contact Peter Warwick, U.S. Geological Survey, 956 National Center, Reston VA 20192, USA; Phone:(703) 648-6469, Fax: (703) 648-6419, E-mail: [email protected]; also see our website at:

http://www.tsop.org/mtgdc.htm

First Announcement

Vol. 19, No. 2 THE SOCIETY FOR ORGANIC PETROLOGY NEWSLETTER June, 2002

3

The Society for

Organic Petrology

NewsletterISSN 0743-3816

published quarterly by


c/o American Geological Institute

4220 King St.

Alexandria, VA 22302-1520 USA

© 2002 The Society for Organic Petrology (TSOP)

Co-Editors:

John C. Crelling &

William W. Huggett

Editor-Elect:

David C. Glick

Writers, Photographers and Associate Editors Needed!

The TSOP Newsletter welcomes contributions frommembers and non-members alike. Submission methods:Text is preferred in WordPerfect, MS Word, RTF or plaintext format. Photos as slides or prints (will be returnedafter use) or as digital files (of sufficient resolution to printwell) on CD-ROM or as e-mail attachments (if larger than5 MB, please e-mail me first ). Zip disks are discouraged.

David C. Glick

209 Spring Lea Dr.

State College, PA 16801 USA

phone: 814 237-1094


Society Membership

The TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) is publishedquarterly by The Society for Organic Petrology and isdistributed to all Society members as a benefit ofmembership. Membership in the Society is open to allindividuals involved in the fields of organic petrology andorganic geochemistry. For more information onmembership and Society activities, please see:

http://www.tsop.org

ContentsCall for Papers: TSOP 2003, Washington DC . . . . . . 2

President’s Letter, from Tim Moore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Election Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Annual Meeting, CSCOP - TSOP 2002, Banff . . . . . . 5

Graduate Student Research Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Atlas CarbopetrograficBook Review by Wolfgang Kalkreuth . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Middle and Upper Pennsylvanian Stratigraphy,Sedimentology and Coal Geology in Eastern Kentucky Field Trip Report by Cortland Eble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

TSOP Promotes Organic Petrology atHouston AAPG Booth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Applied Coal Geology Symposium, Joint Regional GSA, Lexington, Kentucky, 3-5 April 2002Meeting Report by James Hower . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

TSOP to Co-Sponsor GSA Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

18th Annual Meeting of TSOP, Houston, TXMeeting Report by Carolyn Thompson-Rizer . . . . 11

"Black Shales - Old Problems, New Solutions"Meeting Report by Sue Rimmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

The Lab from Hell: A Short Story by Alan Davis . . 14

Anticipating the Effect of Mercury Regulations onthe U.S. Coal Industry, by Jeffrey C. Quick . . . . . . 16

Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Photo Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

e e e e e e e e e

Cover photos, clockwise from top:

Main Dining Room in Donald Cameron Hall, The BanffCentre; photo by Donald Lee, courtesy of The Banff Centre.

Peyto Lake, north of Banff along the Icefields Parkway;photo by D. Glick.

Mount Rundle, overlooking Banff; photo by D. Glick.


4

President's Column:Tim A. Moore

Three vital questions for our Society

One of the points that arose in the end-of-meetingdiscussion at the Houston TSOP conference was that ofassessing the future direction of organic petrology. WallyDow led the debate asking what can TSOP do tofacilitate the future of coal and kerogen petrography.Three questions emerged:How will organic petrology evolve, and what technology

will we be using in 20 years?How can data integrity in the petroleum and coal industry

be assured?How do we, as a society, 'get the word' out?

As scientists, one of our roles, perhaps our primaryrole, is to imagine. To imagine how better to assessthings, how better to find an underlying truth, indeed, toimagine questions whose answers will be vital in twentyyears time. Although sounding somewhat 'airy-fairy' Ithink this is fundamental in any field: As scientists, weare the creators of new ideas and technologies. And thus,members of TSOP should be at the forefront of newconcepts and ideas in anything to do with hydrocarbons.If we do not see ourselves as bastions of new knowledge,then funding agencies and industry will not either. Asscientists, we are often caught in the 'doing' rather thanthe 'thinking' thing. We must think more often, and Iinclude myself in the 'not thinking enough' group.

To answer Wally's first question, I believe we, as asociety, need to collectively think about where we aregoing and, just as importantly, how we get there.

The second of Wally's three questions, is also a veryimportant one. I have never been one for accreditationprogrammes, but perhaps there is a need for one. Thereis already a programme with ICCP, and perhaps doingsomething complimentary or jointly with ICCP is needed.The basic point being, that if there are a lot of unqualifiedpeople selling their interpretation of organic petrographicdata to industry, that information will ultimately be down-valued as the inevitable bad interpretations proliferate.What, as a society, are we going to do about protectingthe value of our intellectual property?

Finally, the third question is: how do we get the wordout? How does TSOP actively promote not only ourinnovative research to the right audience, but alsopackage our member's talents to showcase organicpetrology as a useful tool now and in the future? Theseare not simple questions nor will any answers be easy.And because of this, I challenge all TSOP members to bea part of the discussions on the direction of organicpetrology.

As part of the Outgoing Committee meeting in Banffon 1 September 2002, I will put on the agenda theforming of a subcommittee to look into, and moreimportantly, lead a society-wide contemplation/examination of our future. Nobody else will do this forus, and in the balance hangs the viability of our society.

***The Annual meeting of TSOP at Banff, Canada is

shaping up to be a fantastic event! Last report has theattendance of the meeting quite high and I knowpersonally that a few of us 'downunders' will be attendingthe meeting 'upover'. Martin Fowler and CSCOP ingeneral are to be congratulated on the high quality of theorganisation that has gone into preparing for the Banffjoint TSOP-CSCOP meeting.

e e e e e

ELECTION RESULTS

In the recent election, Robert Finkelman, PeterWarwick, Mike Avery, William Huggett, and DavidGlick were elected. The Society thanks Roger Trader forhis efforts as Chair of the Ballot Committee, and the othercandidates, Adrian Hutton, H.B. Lo, and NoriyukiSuzuki, for their willingness to serve.

TSOP’s 2002-2003 Council will be:

President Maria MastalerzPresident-Elect Robert FinkelmanVice-President Peter WarwickSecretary-Treasurer Mike AveryCouncilor (‘01-‘03) Ray PheiferCouncilor (‘02-‘04) William HuggettEditor David Glick

e


5

Annual Meeting

CSCOP - TSOP 2002 August 31 - September 4

Emerging Concepts in OrganicPetrology and Geochemistry

TSOP’s 19th annual meeting will be held jointly withThe Canadian Society for Coal Science and OrganicPetrology’s annual meeting in Banff, Alberta, Canada.Full details, descriptions of activities, and the completeoral and poster presentation program may be found on theconference web site www.cscop-tsop2002.com/ .

The meeting will be held at The Banff Centre,“Canada’s only learning centre dedicated to the arts,leadership development, and mountain culture,” andhome to a world class conference facility. The extensivecampus is located on the east side of the town of Banff,with views of the spectacular mountain scenery; see theirweb site at www.banffcentre.caTransportation information is available at www.cscop-tsop2002.com/locate.htmand maps and driving directions are available at www.banffcentre.ca/about/getting_here.asp

The Organising Committee consists of ConferenceChair Martin Fowler, GSC-Calgary, and MembersErdem Idiz, Shell International; Peter Jenden, SaudiAramco; Steve Larter, Newcastle; Mark Obermajer,GSC-Calgary; Judith Potter, JP Petrographics; CindyRiediger, University of Calgary; Lloyd Snowdon,GSC-Calgary; and Lavern Stasiuk, GSC-Calgary. TheTechnical program contact is Martin Fowler. Themeeting is sponsored by Elsevier Science and theEuropean Association of Organic Geochemists; theConference Secretariat, handling general enqiries, isNatasha Beckett of Elsevier Science, Kidlington, Oxford,UK.

Optional activities will begin with a full-day shortcourse on Saturday, August 31, and continue with fieldtrips on Sunday, September 1. Conference registrationand an ice-breaker gathering will be held Sundayevening; registration will continue on Monday morning.

Technical sessions will take place Monday morningthrough Wednesday morning. The featured Dr. ArchieG. Douglas Symposium,'Celebrating 45 Years of Organic

Geochemistry,' will be held all day Tuesday. Duringmost of the remaining time, there will be two parallelsessions of oral presentations. Poster displays will beavailable for viewing Monday morning throughWednesday morning.

Optional post-conference field trips will resume forWednesday afternoon and Thursday.

TSOP Outgoing Council Sunday 20:15

TSOP Business Lunch Monday 12:20

TSOP Incoming Council Monday 19:00

TECHNICAL SESSIONS(oral and poster presentations) will include:

Dr. Archie G. Douglas SymposiumCelebrating 45 years of organic geochemistry

Shallow thinkingRecent sediment, peats, weathering, paleo-

archeology, Ocean-Drilling Program, environmentalapplications of organic geochemistry and organicpetrology, C-–S cycles

Solid bitumen and pyrobitumenAlteration by biodegradation and thermochemical

sulphate reduction, organic-inorganic interactions,physical and chemical properties and evolution

Sources (and sinks) of natural gasCoalbed methane, CO2 sequestration, non-marine and

marine kerogen, coal & bitumen origins for gas

Novel analytical approachesConfocal laser scanning microscopy, CSIA, thermo-

gravimetric - gas chromatographic analysis, modelling,organo-stratigraphy, hydrocarbon fluid inclusions

Petroleum systemsCharacterization of migration pathways, organic

geochemical and organic petrological analysis of thesource, carrier and reservoir system

Coal and environmentTrace elements, coal petrography, coals as source

rocks, green-house gases.(continued on page 6)


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SHORT COURSE

A prediction of total organic carbon contents andhydrogen indices in marine sediments

Course tutor: Dr Richard Tyson, NRG

This one day short course will focus on the numericalprediction of the two most fundamental petroleum sourcerock parameters: TOC and Hydrogen Index (HI).Although many basin modelling packages can predicthow TOC and HI may change with time and maturation,they provide little guidance as to the original immatureTOC and HI, which may be unknown in new explorationareas. This course is designed to give a betterappreciation of how TOC and HI may vary laterally inresponse to depositional conditions.

FIELD TRIPS

Upper Cretaceous Geology near Drumheller and theTyrrell Museum of Paleontology

L. Hills and P. McNeil (University of Calgary)(September 1, 2002)

Day hike to the Burgess Shale, A UNESCO WorldHeritage Site

C.M. Henderson (Dept. of Geology and Geophysics,University of Calgary) (September 1; repeated September 5, 2002)

Sightseeing tour of the Banff to Lake Louise Area(September 1; repeated September 5, 2002)

Rocky Mountain geology, hydrocarbon source rocksand coal

C.L. Riediger (Dept. of Geology and Geophysics,Univ. of Calgary), Steve Grasby (GSC- Calgary) andWolfgang Kalkreuth (UFRGS, Porto Alegre)(September 4-5, 2002)

Mark your calendars now!2003 TSOP meeting

September 21-24, 2003Washington, DC

2002 TSOP Graduate Student Research Grants

by Suzanne Russell

A total of eight applications, from the USA andRomania, were received for the 2002 TSOP GraduateStudent Research Grants. The applications weresubmitted by two Master’s candidates and six PhDcandidates. This year TSOP grant application reviewersare Joe Curiale, Unocal; Brenda Pierce, U.S. GeologicalSurvey; and Colin Ward, University of New SouthWales. Applications are presently being reviewed. TheStudent Research Grant will be awarded at the TSOPAnnual Meeting in Banff.

This year’s applicants’ research topics andinstitutions follow:

“The effects of mire type and depositional environmenton coalbed methane reservoir properties in the OlmosFormation, South Texas,” University of Kentucky.

“Isotopic composition of acidic biomarkers-possible application in correlation of heavily biodegraded oil withits source,” University of Oklahoma.

“Use of atomic force microscopy in the evaluation ofenhancement of coal permeability,” University of SouthCarolina.

“Sorption of MTBE (methyl-tertiary butyl ether) on clayrich deposits,” Northern Illinois University.

“Correlations between structural properties of vitreouscarbon and its physical-chemical, petrological andmechanical characteristics,” Politehnica University ofBucharest.

“Characterization of lipid biomarkers in VictoriaHarbour, Hong Kong, SAR,” University of Oklahoma.

“Solid bitumen within Upper Mississippian Chestersandstones in Seward County, Kansas,” University ofOklahoma.

“Formation mechanisms of hydrocarbons in volcanicgases,” University of New Mexico.

The results of the TSOP Student Research Grantcompetition will be announced at the annual meeting andalso in the next TSOP Newsletter. e


7

ATLAS CARBOPETROGRAFICby

Cornelia Panaitescu and Georgeta PredeanuEditura Academiei, Romane, 1999, 264pp

Book Reviewby W. Kalkreuth

Instituto de Geociências, UFRGSPorto Alegre, Brazil

The atlas is subdivided into a short text part(introduction, methodology and specifications) and themain body of the book (109 black and white and colourplates), which consists of four sections on various typesof Romanian coals, coal derived products such as coke,and dispersed organic matter derived from sedimentaryrocks. Text part and plate description are both inRomanian and English.

In the text part the reader is introduced to thelocations of the major Romanian coal deposits and theclassification schemes used for determination of coalrank, and the description of organic components in coaland coal derived products.

Section 1 shows examples of the most commonRomanian coal macerals, representing a rank range fromlignite to anthracite, with many excellent plates in colour.This section deals also with the identification of maceralsin dispersed organic matter.

Section 2 shows the transformation of coal maceralsin the carbonization process, presenting numerousmicrographs on coke texture, coke porosity and coketextures before and after reactivity tests. Sections 3 and4 deal with other coal and petroleum derived residualsubstances such as needle petroleum coke, mesophase,combustion residues and briquettes.

This atlas is an important source of information foranyone interested in the nature of Romanian coals andcoal-derived products. The atlas is also an excellent toolfor people working in the field of coal and organicpetrology to assist in the identification of coal macerals,dispersed organic matter and products from technologicalprocesses such as carbonization and combustion.

The atlas (US $ 30.00) can be ordered from:

Editura Academei RomaneCalea 13 Septembrie, nr. 13, Sector 5, Cod 76117Bucuresti, Romania

Phone/Fax: 401 410 3983e-mail: [email protected] e

Not a member of TSOP? Download an application form at

http://www.tsop.org/tsopjoin.htm


8

Cortland Eble, Jim Hower, Leslie Ruppert on Kentucky

post-GSA field trip.

Middle and Upper PennsylvanianStratigraphy, Sedimentology and Coal Geology in Eastern Kentucky

Field Trip Report by Cortland Eble

Post-meeting field trip Saturday, April 6th, 2002, spon-sored by the Coal Geology Division of GSA, led by:Cortland Eble, Kentucky Geological Survey, University ofKentucky, Lexington, KY, [email protected]

Steve Greb, Kentucky Geological Survey, University ofKentucky, Lexington, KY, [email protected]

Ronald Martino, Marshall University, Huntingdon, WV,[email protected]

This one day trip examined new roadcut exposures oflate Middle Pennsylvanian Breathitt Group strata andLate Pennsylvanian Conemaugh Formation strata nearAshland, in northeastern Kentucky. This area is ofinterest because it is situated along the northern marginof the Central Appalachian Basin and, as such, the role ofaccommodation space on patterns of sedimentation, coaloccurrence, coal quality and coal thickness were readilyapparent. The Middle/Late Pennsylvanian strat-igraphicinterval also spans a major climatic shift from “wetter”conditions in the late Middle Pennsylvanian to “drier”conditions in the Late Pennsylvanian. The effect of thischange on paleoflora and lithology was demonstrated atseveral stops. This climate change was paralleled by asouth to north shift in basin depocenters, and the effect ofthis change on peat accumulation and sedimentation wasalso observed and discussed.

The trip attracted 37 participants, many of whomwere TSOP members. A guidebook compendium for allof the field trips associated with the meeting is availablefrom the Publication Sales Office of the KentuckyGeological Survey, University of Kentucky, Lexington,KY (ph. 859-257-5500).

TSOP Promotes Organic Petrologyat Houston AAPG Booth

by MaryAnn Malinconico

At the 2002 annual meeting of the AmericanAssociation of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), TSOP, forthe second time, hosted an exhibit booth (photo at right).The meeting was held March 10-13, 2002, in Houston,the week after our own Houston meeting. We previouslyhad a booth at the 1997 AAPG annual meeting in Dallas(TSOP Newsletter, Sept. 1997, v. 14, no. 3, p. 5). Thepurpose of the booth was to gain exposure for the Societyand for the discipline of organic petrology. The booth waslocated near the AAPG headquarters booth, some largecorporate exhibitors such as IndigoPool (loved theirafternoon ice cream and cookie snacks!), between basinmodeling consultants and the delightfully friendly EastTexas Geological Society, and on the way to theInteractive Poster Session area. Central to the booth’sbackwall display was a poster (bottom right) illustratingthe petroleum system as a subset of the organic carboncycle and the many industrial and academic applicationsof organic petrology. Surrounding the poster were photosgrouped by application (coal and coal bed methanegeology; kerogen, source rock and bitumen petrology;organic maturation; basin analysis; and carbons/graphites), highlighting those used in petroleum and coalbed methane exploration and production. The photosincluded photomicrographs, photos from TSOP field tripsand the cover of the February 2002 AAPG Bulletin, aphotomicrograph of fluorescing liptinite- rich coal byTSOP member Henrik Petersen. Other photo contributorswere Jack Crelling, Jim Hower, MaryAnn Malinconico,Dan Pearson, Vern Stasiuk and John Castaño. The photodisplay was topped by a large banner that described thepurpose of the society and organic petrology; other panelslisted society benefits and membership job-typedistribution.

The TSOP booth had free morning bagels and creamcheese as a traffic enhancer. On a side table werepamphlets on the joint 2002 TSOP/ CSCOP meeting inBanff, Alberta, Canada, and other coal and organicpetrology- related meetings, TSOP membershipapplications, free TSOP- imprinted screen sweeps andmints, and small TSOP business cards with the websiteaddress. There were also information sheets on TSOPresearch sub-committees (Coalbed gas in low-rankcoals; Maceral ratios assessment, and Kerogen


9

Organic petrologyapplications

Coal geology and

CBM exploration

Maturation andbasin thermalhistory

Prediction ofindustrialperformance

Environmentalapplications

Paleoenvironmentalreconstruction

seal

Fossil fuelextraction &utilization Weathering of coal and

organic-bearingrocks

Coal

Photo

synth

esis

Resp

iratio

n

Burial oforganic debris

Petroleum &natural gas

CO2

exchange

Soilrespiration

migration

T Co

Organic carbon cycle andthe petroleum system

Petroleum systemelements and processes(Magoon and Dow, 1994)

Carbon fluxes(Press and Siever, 1986) maturation

reservoirrock

© M. L. Malinconico, 2002

Organic facies andkerogen petrology

sourcerock

ODP

sedimentsrecent

and

Reservoir

bitumen

and

petrology

Erosion

estimates

trap

Poster from TSOP booth display

Marlys Dow staffs the TSOP booth. Free bagels and cream cheese, mints, computer screen sweeps, and TSOP literature are on the table. Photo by MaryAnn Malinconico.

classification). Two chairs in thebooth allowed relaxed conversation.The booth furnishings (chairs, tables,display wall) were rented, but thephotos and display materials belongto TSOP.

Visitors to the booth includedmany who until then were unfamil-iar with organic petrology, someformer members interested inrejoining, and students. Twostudents from Germany and thePhilippines said that they werefamiliar with TSOP from ourwebsite and the topical referencelists (http://www.tsop.org/refs/refs.htm)which they used in their research.Our website was also among thosehighlighted at the exhibit hall’sVirtual Café.

The booth was organized by theOutreach Committee, MaryAnnMalinconico, chair, and was successful through thegenerous help of numerous TSOP members. Memberscontributing photographs have already been mentioned.Members contributing time staffing the booth includeWally and Marlys Dow, Carolyn Thompson-Rizer, P. K.Mukhopadhyay (Muki), Han Zhi-Wen, and MaryAnn

Malinconico. Cole Robison, Brian Cardott, and theOklahoma Survey staff helped with shipping heavypublication and display materials. AAPG gavepermission to use figures/photos by Wally Dow, MarkPasley, and Henrik Petersen from their articles in AAPGpublications. e


10

Applied Coal GeologyA symposium at the

Southeastern Section (51st) and North-CentralSection (36th) Geological Society of AmericaMeeting, Lexington, Kentucky, 3-5 April 2002

Meeting Report by James Hower

The Applied Coal Geology symposium was co-sponsored by TSOP and by the Coal Geology Division ofthe Geological Society of America and convened by JimHower, University of Kentucky Center for AppliedEnergy Research (CAER), and John Popp, Alliance Coal,Lexington, KY.

The first portion of the session was devoted to coalresource issues. Nick Fedorko and Scott McColloch,both of the West Virginia Geological Survey, discussedGIS and resource and coal quality evaluations in theirpresentations. Leslie Ruppert and Joe Hatch, of theReston and Denver offices of the USGS, respectively,presented the results of the coal resource assessments ofthe northern and central Appalachians and of the IllinoisBasin. These investigations were carried out inconjunction with the state geologic surveys. Theassessments make better use of coal quality informationthan have quantity-based resource assessments conductedin the past. Mark Tyra, University of Kentucky CAER,presented a different type of energy resource assessment.The CAER is evaluating the quality of ponded ash at awestern Kentucky power plant. The reclaimed andprocessed ash has many potential product streams, one ofthem being a supply of unburned carbon which can berecycled back into the power plant.

Maria Mastalerz, Indiana Geological Survey,presented examples of correlation problems among thin,discontinuous coals and the impact of miscorrelations onmining potential of the coals. Faults can have a directimpact on the mineability of a coal. Marc Coolen, WestVirginia-Indiana Holding Company, presented examplesfrom Mingo County, West Virginia, of the difficultiesfaults and the associated steeply-dipping beds can haveon mining. Steve Greb, Kentucky Geological Survey,discussed structural controls on the shape of coal bodies,with examples from the uppermost Breathitt Group coalsin northeastern Kentucky. John Popp substituted forsome late cancellations by showing the audience some

frightening examples of what can go wrong in mineplanning and how the geologic problems can beovercome.

The afternoon session started with Steve Schatzel,National Institute of Safety and Health, presentinginformation on occupational hazards associated with rareearth elements in coals and the geological conditionsassociated with REE concentrations. Abandoned minesin the northern Appalachians are often associated withacid mine drainage. Dina Lopez, Ohio University,discussed the impacts of seasonal flow, and the dischargefrom abandoned mines, on the water quality in a drainagesystem in southeastern Ohio. Several investigators haveused coal-combustion by-products to help mitigate acidmine drainage. Maura Metheny, Ohio State University,and Ava King, Natural Resources - Power Plant Program(Maryland) discussed projects from their respectivestates.

Finishing the session, undergraduate students GoeSakulpitakphon and Alan Trimble discussed portions oftheir studies at the CAER. Sakulpitakphon predicted theCO2 emission from the chemical analyses of coals in theCAER database and on coals for which density gradientmaceral separation had been performed. For the latteriso-rank sets, she saw clear trends with maceralconcentration. Trimble expanded on previous studies ofthe relationship between petrography and coalgrindability, refining the predictions for high volatile Abituminous coals.

Selected papers from this symposium will be pub-lished in International Journal of Coal Geology. e

TSOP to Co-Sponsor GSA Session

At the GSA Annual Meeting, October 27-30, 2002,in Denver, Session T4 on Coal Resource and UtilizationIssues will be co-sponsored by TSOP and GSA CoalGeology Division. It will include multidisciplinaryexaminations of coal resource issues, includingavailability of future resources, coal quality, coalutilization, coal-bed methane, and the mitigation ofpotential environmental impacts of coal utilization. It isbeing organized by Peter D. Warwick, U.S. GeologicalSurvey, Reston, Va., and Margaret S. Ellis, U.S.Geological Survey, Denver. e


11

Hilton Houston Westchase and Towers, Houston, Texas. Photo by D. Glick

18th Annual Meeting of The Society for Organic Petrology,

Houston, Texas

Meeting Report by Carolyn Thompson-Rizeron behalf of the Organizing committee: C. Robison

(Chair), A. Bishop, J. Burgess, M. Darnell, W. Dow

The meeting originally scheduled for September 23-26, 2001 was postponed until March 3-6, 2002 due to theterrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C.,and Pennsylvania. The meeting was held at the HiltonHouston Westchase and Towers and conference center.Fifty-six participants attended from Canada, Mexico,Venezuela, Brazil, Poland, Bulgaria, New Zea-land, andthe USA. The short course was cancelled at the lastminute due to the instructor’s scheduling conflict.

Twenty-three oral and ten poster presentations weremade during the two-day meeting. A special session“The Organic Geochemistry of the World’s Deep-waterAreas” started the meeting and was cosponsored byTSOP and the Houston Organic Geochemical Society.Peter Nederlof spoke about fluid properties and businessrisk in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Scott Imbusdiscussed the Faeroe Islands geochemical correlation ofhydrocarbon seeps to those of the northeast Atlantic

margin and North Sea. Barry Katz talked abouthydrocarbon shows and source rocks in scientific oceandrilling. Ed Colling presented regional geochemistry andmaturity modeling for the northern deepwater Gulf ofMexico. Muki discussed the deepwater source rocks andtiming of hydrocarbon expulsion in the Eastern ScotianBasin, Canada. John Zumberge presented the relationshipbetween reservoir fluid properties and oil geochemistry.

The general technical session on coal included threepapers on coal-bed methane. The general technicalsession on petroleum source rocks contained papers onrocks in Canada, Poland, USA, and China. Wally Dowled a stimulating discussion session around the question“can organic petrology survive in a virtual world?” Theconsensus appears to be “yes.”

The Best Student Paper Award ($250) was won byRobert Locklair of the Department of GeologicalSciences at Northwestern University. The title of his oralpresentation was “Origin, Character, and StratigraphicHierarchy of Organic-rich Siltstones in Deep-waterFacies, Upper Permian (Guadalupian) Brushy CanyonFormation, west Texas.” The award for the longestdistance traveled to the meeting was given to Tim Moorefrom New Zealand.

Following the group banquet onMonday night we were entertained with alittle skit on oil by Jane and Gus(unknown last names), students from theUniversity of Houston, followed by Mr.Ralph L. Lewis, Jr. speaking on “TheGlobal Struggle, Energy, Minerals, andWater.” He is a nationally known publicspeaker and has given over 1,000 lecturesin the past 25 years. Mr. Lewis is aretired Vice President of Gulf OilCompany and Senior Consultant forChevron. He is an engineer and hasserved in numerous domestic and foreignlocations in oil and gas and chemicals. Healso was involved in Gulf’s coal, shaleoil, geothermal, solar, nuclear, anduranium operations. He gave us severalinsights to ponder.

(continued on page 12)


12

Telalginite in the Cleveland Shale (Upper Devonian),Montgomery Co., Kentucky. Oil immersion, reflected-light, blue-light illumination. Field-of-view = 240 micronsacross. See also page 20 (back cover) forphotomicrograph of Foerstia (Protosalvinia) in the HuronShale (Upper Devonian), east-central Kentucky. Photoby Sue Rimmer.

Seven people went on the field trip on Wednesday toGalveston to visit the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling RigMuseum, which is an actual Gulf of Mexico rig tied upto a pier (photos above and below, by MaryAnnMalinconico). Five of them also visited the JohnsonSpace Center.

e

"Black Shales—Old Problems, New Solutions"

Meeting Report by Sue Rimmer

At the Joint NC-SE GSA Sectional Meeting held inLexington, KY, April 3-5, 2002, Sue Rimmer and MariaMastalerz convened a session on various aspects of blackshale research. This full day of talks was sponsored byTSOP and, in addition to providing a venue for someexcellent presentations, allowed us to spread the wordabout our society and put in a pitch for the upcomingmeeting in Banff.

We began with several talks that focused on variousaspects of black shales in the Appalachian Basin, but thesession also included work on shales from across thecontinent including the Illinois Basin and the westernUSA, and even ODP samples. Throughout the day weheard a wide range of talks, with topics including the roleof tectonic and eustatic sea-level changes in theAppalachian Basin, orbital forcing of anoxic events in theWestern Interior Seaway, organic geochemistry(biomarkers and stable isotopes), pyrite and traceelements as indicators of anoxia, and structural,engineering and petroleum source rock applications.

We had a total of 18 talks, as listed below, and wereceived very positive feedback about the quality of thetalks in the session . . . all in all, a very worthwhileendeavor. We appreciate the endorsement offered by


13

TSOP as we put this symposium together and would liketo thank the authors for their terrific presentations.

APPROXIMATING ABSOLUTE DEPTHS FOR DEVONIAN-MISSISSIPPIAN BLACK SHALES IN THE NORTHERNAPPALACHIAN BASIN, EASTERN UNITED STATES:IMPLICATIONS FOR EUSTATIC VS. TECTONICCONTROL OF SEA LEVEL: ETTENSOHN, Frank R.,Geological Sciences, University of Kentucky

ANATOMY OF AN EROSIVE FLOODING SURFACE:REGIONAL ASPECTS OF THE MIDDLE DEVONIANLEICESTER PYRITE MEMBER IN THE NORTHERNAPPALACHIAN BASIN: BAIRD, Gordon C., Geosciences,SUNY Fredonia, and BRETT, Carlton E., Geology,University of Cincinnati

INFLUENCE OF MATURITY AND ORGANIC MATTERTYPES ON HYDROGEN EXCHANGEABILITY ANDCARBON AND HYDROGEN ISOTOPIC SIGNATURES:EXAMPLE FROM THE NEW ALBANY SHALE: LIS,Grzegorz, Geological Sciences, WERNER-ZWANZIGER,Ulrike, Chemistry, SCHIMMELMANN, Arndt, GeologicalSciences, and MASTALERZ, Maria, Indiana GeologicalSurvey, Indiana University

BIOMARKER EVIDENCE FOR PHOTIC ZONE EUXINIADURING DEVONIAN BLACK SHALE DEPOSITION ONNORTH AMERICA: BROWN, Todd C., and KENIG,Fabien, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University ofIllinois at Chicago

SMALL-SCALE VARIATIONS IN BLACK SHALESEQUENCES OF INDIANA: SHAFFER, Nelson R.,Indiana Geological Survey, Indiana University

PYRITE FRAMBOID SIZE AND SIZE DISTRIBUTION INMARINE BLACK SHALES: A CASE STUDY FROM THEDEVONIAN-MISSISSIPPIAN OF CENTRALKENTUCKY: HAWKINS, Sarah and RIMMER, Susan M.,Geological Sciences, University of Kentucky

REVISITING DEGREE OF PYRITIZATION AS APALEOREDOX PROXY: LYONS, Timothy W., GeologicalSciences, University of Missouri

QUALITATIVE EVIDENCE FOR BLACK SHALE TYPES:JUSTIFICATION FROM GEOCHEMISTRY ANDDIAGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS: SCHULTZ, Richard B.,Geography and Environmental Planning, Elmhurst College

VARIABLE REDOX SIGNALS RECORDED BY RARE-EARTH ELEMENTS IN CARBONIFEROUSPHOSPHATIC BLACK SHALE FROM KANSAS,OKLAHOMA, AND ARKANSAS AND THE INFLUENCEOF AUTHIGENIC PHOSPHATE ON PROVENANCEANALYSIS: KIDDER, David L., Geological Sciences, OhioUniversity, KRISHNASWAMY, Rama, GeologicalSciences, The George Washington University, and MAPES,Royal H., Geological Sciences, Ohio University

A NEW APPROACH TO THE SULFUR ISOTOPEGEOCHEMISTRY OF SHALES: FORMOLO, Michael J.,LYONS, Timothy W., and GELLATLY, Anne M.,Geological Sciences, University of Missouri

ORGANIC-RICH SILTSTONES IN THE PERMIAN BRUSHYCANYON FORMATION, WEST TEXAS: DOES GRAINSIZE MATTER?: LOCKLAIR, R. and SAGEMAN, B.,Geological Sciences, Northwestern University

A DYNAMIC STRATIFICATION MODEL FOR BLACKSHALE DEPOSITION IN A JURASSIC AND ACRETACEOUS EPEIRIC SEA: SIMONS, Ditk-Jan H andKENIG, Fabien, Earth and Environmental Sciences,University of Illinois at Chicago

ORBITAL TIME SCALES, OCEAN ANOXIC EVENTS, ANDCONTROLS ON THE ACCUMULATION OF ORGANICCARBON IN THE CRETACEOUS WESTERN INTERIORSEAWAY: MEYERS, Stephen R., SAGEMAN, Bradley B.,Northwestern University, and HOLLANDER, David J.,Marine Science, University of South Florida

ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE EARLY APTIANOAE1A FROM SHATSKY RISE (ODP LEG 198):BRASSELL, Simon C., Geological Sciences, IndianaUniversity

MOLECULAR FOSSILS IN MESOPROTEROZOIC SHALES:BIOMARKER CHARACT E RIZAT ION ANDIMPLICATIONS FOR EUKARYOTIC EVOLUTION:SCHUNEMAN, Patrick J., KAH, Linda C., UHLE, MariaE., Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, LYONS,Timothy W. Geological Sciences, University of Missouri,and BARTLEY, Julie K., Geology, State University of WestGeorgia

PREFERENTIAL JOINTING OF UPPER DEVONIANBLACK SHALE, APPALACHIAN PLATEAU:EVIDENCE FOR AN ANCIENT PRESSURECOMPARTMENT AND SEAL SYSTEM: LASH, Gary G.,Geosciences, SUNY - College at Fredonia

A S S E S S M E N T O F T H E P E T R O L O G I C ,SE DIME NT OLOGIC, AND E NGINE E RINGCHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEVONIAN MILLBOROAND NEEDMORE SHALES, HIGHLAND COUNTY,VIRGINIA: COMBS, Lora L., Environmental andEngineering Geosciences, Radford University and SETHI,Parvinder S., Geology, Radford University

BASINWIDE COOPERATIVE STUDIES OF THE GASPOTENTIAL OF THE NEW ALBANY SHALE(DEVONIAN-MISSISSIPPIAN) IN THE ILLINOISBASIN: HASENMUELLER, Nancy R., Indiana Geological

Survey, Indiana University e


14

The Lab from Hell

A Short Storyby

Alan Davis

The middle-aged man found himself standing in alarge laboratory. There was a massive wooden tableoccupying the center of the room and a work benchalong one wall under a series of windows. Outsideit was very foggy. He was intrigued to see a loneblack Ortholux I microscope sitting in the center ofthe bench and walked over to inspect it. He onlyhad time to determine that it was equipped forreflected light when the door to the lab opened and atall figure strode purposefully up to the woodentable, placed a manilla folder on it and beckoned tothe man to come over, pointing to a spot on thefloor where he wanted him to stand.

An intense anxiety overcame the man who triedunsuccessfully to remember the events leading up tohis arrival in this place. The man standing in front ofhim was instantly recognizable. The hairline, theappendages; this was The Devil, Satan, Lucifer,Beelzebub, The Prince of Darkness, Old Nickhimself.

Nick had opened the folder and scanned some ofthe pages inside. He turned to the man. ‘I gatherthere’s no need for me to introduce myself,’ he said. ‘Don’t be too alarmed. This is a bit like Purgatory,not my own domain proper. You have been given achance to redeem yourself and get an upgrade.’ Hepointed upwards. ‘On the whole your record is veryclean indeed, although there is one little matter thatmust be addressed. So, you will have to undergo alittle purification to become fit for that higher state,and that’s where I come in.’

‘Is it really up there?’ asked the man, pointinghimself.

‘I was speaking mephistophically,’ Nick replied. He looked again at the folder, closed it, pushed it

away and said ‘I see you were a coal petrologist.’The use of the past tense caused the desperate

feeling to return to the man, who nodded.. ‘You seem to have spent a lot of time doing

mackeral analyses,’ continued Nick. ‘That’s pronounced “masseral,”’ said the man,

surprised at his own temerity.

Nick continued, apparently unfazed by the man’scorrection. ‘And I see you report these (withpointed exaggeration of the next word) maceralanalyses to the nearest tenth of one percent.’

‘Yes, that’s common practice,’ responded theman. ‘And, in fact, it follows the ASTM standard.’

‘But come on,’ said Nick. ‘That’s hardly thetruth, is it? You can’t look me in the eye and tell methat those analyses are accurate to that level, canyou?’

In the past... correction ...In his lifetime, the manhad followed this practice, arguing to others that thiswas the way it was always done. But there seemedto be no point in arguing the point now. The man hewas dealing with clearly understood the situation aswell as anyone.

‘Lies.’ continued Nick. ‘ That’s what mostpeople end up here for. And I am going to try tohelp you fully repent for those lies. How many ofthose maceral analyses have you reported to 0.1%? Thousands? Well then, my plan for your atonementshouldn’t seem so excessive.’

He walked over to a large desiccator on thebench which the man had not noticed before andopened it. It was full of what the man instantlyrecognized as polished coal grain mounts.

‘Your atonement,’ said Nick, ‘should be possibleby analyzing these mounts and reporting the resultsonly when you have achieved the accuracy whichyou have claimed in the past.’

‘No hurry.’ he added, with a faint smile that theman did not care for.

The man walked over to the desiccator. Obviously, there were hundreds of mounts, but onthe surface this did not appear to be a job ofimpossible proportions. He tried to make a quickestimate of the time it might take, but was toodistraught. He removed some of the mounts, all inroughly cubic molds with a good polish and thesample designation labeled on the side, although thebases were cut somewhat irregularly. He took outmore of the mounts and examined the numbers. Allof them carried a sample number under which wasthe number 1.

Nick anticipated his question.‘Next door we have another ex-petrologist who

will be doing the second pellet of each sample,” hesaid.


15

The man began to realize the full extent of thepredicament he was in.

‘Where does, did he work?’ he asked, searchingfor some clue as to the other petrologist’s biases.

‘Nice try,’ replied Nick, ‘but I really can’t tellyou where he, or she, worked.’

He assumed an overdone air of righteous pride. ‘We have always been an Equal Rights

workplace,’ he said. ‘Before anyone else came upwith the idea.’ Then, ‘You and your male, or female,opposite number in this little exercise will work atthese until you get the results with an across-the-board reproducibility of 0.1%.’

‘This file cabinet,’ Nick said, indicating anotherunit which the man had not previously observed,‘contains your maceral analysis sheets.’

He pulled out the four drawers one after theother; they were crammed with sheets.

‘If you need any more, just scream,’ he added,with one of those half smiles that the man had begunto dread.

The man took one of the sheets and wassurprised to see that the spaces for the categorynames, which were aligned across the width of thepage so as to allow for a large number of columns,had been left blank.

‘Do you want maceral groups or do I have tocount the individual macerals and break the vitrinitegroup down into telocollinite and so on?’ asked theman.

‘Oh, I want a full maceral analysis,’ replied Nick,and added with a little smirk ‘The devil is in thedetails. You’ll have to decide which maceralsyourself.’ A pause and then ‘And so will youropposite number. Independently of course. Andshouldn’t it be telovitrinite? Telocollinite is sopassé.’ He shook his head, apparently upset athimself and concluded ‘I really shouldn’t help thePurgatorees as much as I do.’

The man groaned.Nick scratched his beard and continued.‘I have provided you with a nice selection of

coals. Some from Southern Africa, Australia,Indonesia. Some cannels and quite a few lignites.’

The man closed his eyes, then opened themquickly to glance over to the microscope. It did nothave any fluorescence capability.

Nick apparently thought of something else.

‘There are a couple which still haven’t beencollected, but by the time you get through this lot(nodding towards the desiccator) they should havefinished coalifying,’ he said.

The mist outside the windows was swirling infrightening patterns and cast a green light into thelab.

Nick still looked thoughtful. ‘When we have a few more petrologists here we

could begin some round robins. That would be fun’he said, as if to himself.

‘That’s all,’ he concluded, and immediately beganwalking towards the door.

The man panicked. ‘Wait,’ he cried. Nick froze in mid step.‘Yeess,’ he intoned, in a comic baritone. There

was always a “Wait” at this juncture. ‘Carousel. Did you see Carousel?’ cried the

man, his eyes bright with desperation and theconviction that he had found an avenue of escapefrom this awful situation.

‘I’m not really into musicals,’ allowed Nick,‘though sometimes I have them played for the rock‘n rollers and rappers. But I know the story of BillyBigelow, yes.’

‘Billy had led a bad life,’ said the man, excitedly.‘And he was in danger of going to hell but wasallowed back to earth to straighten up some of themess he had created. Can’t I do that?’

Nick scratched his stubble again. ‘Why not?’ he said. ‘You can go back and get

the ISO, ICCP, ASTM and the rest to agree on asingle set of maceral terms that everyone will bewilling to use for all coals. Do that and it’s a one-way ticket to Paradise for you.’

The man picked out one of the grain mounts andpositioned it on a small ball of clay on top of theglass slide which had been sitting on the desiccator.

‘I may as well get started on these,’ he said witha slight tremor in his voice.

It was only then that he noticed there was noleveling press. e


16

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6

2.0

2.4

2.8

3.2

3.6

4.0

ND

TX

LA

WY

WA

MT

MD

NM

COAZ

IN

IL

UT

MO

PA

OH

KY

WV

KS

TN

VA

AL

OK

US average

3

5

7

9

11

13

15

17

19

21

ND

TX

WY

WA

MT

MD

NM

COAZ

IN

IL

UT

MO

PA

OH

KY

WV

KS

TN

VA

AL

OK

US average

Mercury ContentSulfur Content

LA

Anticipating the Effect of MercuryRegulations on the U.S. Coal Industry

reprinted with permission from the Utah Geological Association Newsletter, March, 2002

Jeffrey C. Quick, Utah Geological Survey

On December 15, 2000, the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) decided to regulate mercury emissions fromcoal-fired power plants. This decision began a formalprocess that will result in rules that limit mercury emissionsby December 2004. How will these rules affect the coal industry? Since therules have not yet been written, any answer to this questionis speculative. Nonetheless, consideration of the Clean AirAct, available technology, industry response to regulationof sulfur and nitrogen emissions, and the mercury contentof U.S. coal, suggests these rules will have a major impact. Unlike sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx),the Clean Air Act classifies mercury as a hazardous airpollutant. Section 112 (d) of the act requires the "maximumdegree of reductions in emissions" for hazardous pollutantslike mercury. The Clean Air Act also requires setting themercury emission limit to a level at least as low as currentemissions from the best performing power plants (averageof the best five power plants, or the best 12 percent ofpower plants). Regardless of how these power plants areidentified, the rules limiting mercury emissions will clearlybe more rigorous than existing rules that limit SO2 and NOxemissions. Experience with SO2 and NOx regulations suggests thatmercury regulation will significantly affect the U.S. coalindustry. For example, despite proven technology toremove sulfur from flue gas, switching to low-sulfur coalremains the most popular SO2 compliance strategy (EIA,2000a). Technologies to remove mercury from flue gas areconsiderably less certain (EIA, 2001). For example, powerplants with scrubbers and filters generally have lowermercury emissions (Kilgroe and others, 2000), but the datashow so much variation that results are not assured forindividual power plants that choose to install such devices.This variation appears to be partly related to coal-specificfactors such as chlorine and calcium content, as well asplant-specific factors such as flue gas temperature inemission control devices (EERC, 2001). What is certain isthat the amount of mercury in coal varies by the same orderof magnitude as the amount of sulfur in coal (Fig. 1), andthat mercury in coal is directly related to mercury emissionsfor similar power plant configurations (Fig. 2).Consequently, switching to lower mercury coal willprobably be an important part of most power plantcompliance strategies. If so, then demand for low- mercurycoal will increase - this will obviously benefit low-mercurycoal producers.

Figure 1. Average sulfur and mercury content of coaldelivered to power plants in 1999 by U.S. state of origin.Although mercury and sulfur show similar magnitudes ofvariation, note the different measurement scales (lbs S permillion net Btu compared to lbs Hg per trillion net Btu); anaverage U.S. coal contains about 130,000 times moresulfur than mercury. Sulfur values are calculated fromEIA (2000b) and weighted according to the total netheating value of coal shipments. Mercury values arecalculated from selected Part II, ICR data (EPA, 2000),and are un-weighted numeric averages. The calculationmethod is described by Quick and Brill (in press).


17

A less obvious effect of mercury regulation relates to thelikely linkage of mercury emission limits to the grossheating value of the coal. An EPA preference for thisregulatory approach is evident since the gross heating valueis currently used to set emission limits for both SO2 andNOx. The gross heating value of coal is the familiar Btu/lbvalue that is reported in U.S. trade journals and laboratoryassays (MJ/kg elsewhere). Importantly, the gross heatingvalue is not the same as the coal's heating value when it isburned in a power plant's boiler, which is the "net" heatingvalue. The net heating value is less than

Figure 2. Mercury emissions from 70 U.S. power plantsincrease as the amount of mercury in the coal that isburned increases. Power plants with scrubbers havegenerally lower emissions than power plants withoutscrubbers, but the dashed best-fit regression line forpower plants with scrubbers (r2 = 0.50) suggests that themercury content of coal remains an important factor thatcontrols emissions from scrubbed power plants. Deviations are thought to be partly due to factors suchas the coal chlorine content which is thought to oxidizemercury in the flue gas to a water soluble form that canbe removed by scrubbers (Chu and others, 2000).Measurement error also contributes to the scatter sincethere are many instances where mercury emissionsexceed the amount of mercury in the coal. Data arefrom the Part III, ICR data set (EPA, 2000) and excluderecords for fluidized bed and gasification boilers.

gross heating value in proportion to the amount of watervapor in coal combustion gases, which, in turn, varies withcoal rank (Quick and Glick, 2000). This means that theeffective emission limits will likewise vary with coal rank,further complicating the effect of mercury regulation on thecoal industry. The outcome of setting mercury emissionlimits according to the gross heating value can beanticipated by examining current NOx regulations. Phase two of the EPA's Nitrogen Oxide (NOx)Reduction Program under the Acid Rain Program limitsannual NOx emissions from power plants according to theboiler type and the gross heating value of the coal that isburned. Because the difference between net and grossheating value varies with coal rank, the effective NOxemission limit for a power plant likewise varies with coalrank (Fig. 3). Consequently, existing rules that limit NOxemissions favor producers of low-rank coal. This biastowards producers of low-rank coal will persist if mercuryemission limits are likewise set according to the grossheating value of the coal. Given substantial, mandatedmercury reductions, uncertain post- combustion controltechnologies, and large variation of mercury in coal,demand for low-mercury coal will probably increase. Howcan coal producers satisfy this demand? Understandinghow mercury is locally distributed within a coal bed mayallow producers to selectively mine lower mercury coal orimprove washing methods to better remove mercury.Alternately, producers might consult with power plants toidentify mutually beneficial and low-cost solutions such asblending, or adding compounds that enhance mercurycapture. Without communication, power plants may findindependent solutions without regard for coal producerinterests. Although the coal industry has little influence on howrules limiting mercury emissions will be written (EPA,2001), these rules may have a big influence on where coalis mined. Perhaps more important than how the rules arewritten, is recognition that demand for low-mercury coalwill probably increase. Coal producers that are able tomeet this demand will benefit the environment, and at thesame time provide stable employment and affordableelectricity for their communities.

REFERENCES

ASTM, 1990, Method D 388-90 standard classification ofcoals by rank. Volume 05.05 American Society for Testingand Materials, West Conshohocken PA, pp 193-197

Chu, P., Goodman, N., Behrens, G., and Roberson, R., 2000,Total and speciated mercury emissions from coal-firedpower plants. unpublished report, Electric Power ResearchInst., 3412 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto CA 94043, 15p.

0.1

1.0

60.0

0.1 1.0 10.0 60.0

without scrubbers

with scrubbers

Mercury in Coal Burned at Power Plants(pounds Hg/10 12 gross Btu

f(x) = 1.05x r2 = 0.82

f(x) = 0.46x r 2 = 0.50

10.0

Merc

ury

Em

issi

ons

from

Pow

er

Pla

nts

(

po

un

ds

HG

/10

12 g

ross

Btu

)


18

Figure 3. Calculation showing that higher NOx emissions are allowed for U.S. power plants that burn low-rank coal thanthose that burn higher rank (bituminous) coal. This competitive advantage of lower rank coal will persist if mercuryemission limits are similarly defined according to the gross heating value of the coal. Calculation of NOx emissions on anet energy basis is after Quick and Glick (2000) using the current EPA limit for tangentially fired power plants of 0.40pounds NOx per million gross Btu.

EERC, 2001, Summary of the Air Quality II Conference,Center for Air Toxics Newsletter, insert to v.7.(www.eerc.und.nodak.edu/catm/graphics/v7.1part2.pdf)

EIA, 2000a, Annual Energy Outlook 2001, With Projectionsto 2020. U.S. Energy Information Administration,DOE/EIA-0383(2001), 258p.

---2000b, EIA-423: Monthly report of cost and quality of fuelsfor electric plants. US Energy Information Administration,www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/page/ferc423.html.

---2001, Reducing emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogenoxides and mercury from electric power plants. US EnergyInformation Administration, SR/OIAF/2001-04

EPA, 2000, Unified air toxics website: Electric utility steamgenerating units hazardous air pollutant emission study.U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/combust/utiltox/utoxpg.html.

---2001, Members of Mercury Working Group of Permits,NSR, and Air Toxics Subcommittee of the Clean Air Act

Advisory Committee. This 26-member advisory group ischarged with developing rules to regulate mercuryemissions from power plants. John Shanahan from theNational Mining Association is the lone representative forthe coal industry. The membership list is posted on theEPA (2000) website.

Kilgroe, J.D., Srivastava, R.K., Sedman, C.B., andThorneloe, S.A., 2000, Control of mercury emissions fromcoal-fired electric utility boilers. unpublished technicalmemorandum, National Risk Management ResearchLaboratory, Air Pollution and Control Division, U.S. EPA,www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/combust/utiltox/hg_contl.pdf, 10p.

Quick, J.C., and Glick, D.C., 2000, Carbon dioxide from coalcombustion: variation with rank of US coal. Fuel, v.79, p.803-812.

Quick, J.C., and Brill, T.C., in press, Mercury in U.S. coal:observations using the COALQUAL and ICR data sets.Environmental Geology. e


19

Calendar of Events

2002

August 25 - 30, 2002: Gondwana 11: Correlationsand Connections, University of Canterbury,Christchurch, New Zealand.

August 31- Sept. 4, 2002: 19th Annual TSOPMeeting, CSCOP - TSOP 2002: EmergingConcepts in Organic Petrology & Geochemistry,Banff, Alberta, Canada. See page 5.

September 22 - 29, 2002: 54th Annual Meeting ofICCP, Maputo, Mozambique, and Pretoria, SouthAfrica. See http://www.uem.mz/faculdades/ciencias/geologia/eventos/index.htm.

September 23 - 27, 2002: Nineteenth AnnualInternational Pittsburgh Coal Conference,Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. One-page abstractsubmissions due March 1. Seehttp://www.engrng.pitt.edu/~pccwww/

October 19 - 24, 2002: 8th Latin-American Congresson Organic Geochemistry, Cartagena, Colombia.See http://www.alagocongress2002.com.co

October 27 - 30, 2002: Annual Meeting of theGeological Society of America, Denver, Colorado,USA. See http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/

Including session T4, Coal Resource and UtilizationIssues, sponsored by GSA Coal Geology Divisionand TSOP. Organized by Peter D. Warwick, U.S.Geological Survey, Reston, Va., and Margaret S.Ellis, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver.

December 9 -11, 2002: ‘Black Shales’ meeting: Organic-carbon burial, climate change and oceanchemistry (Mesozoic-Paleogene), London.Geological Society of London, Marine StudiesGroup. Abstracts due by 1 November. Seehttp://www.earthsci.ucl.ac.uk/conferences/GSLC

2003

February 4 -5, 2003: Reservoir GeochemistryConference by the Geological Society of London,Petroleum Group, to promote the latest advances inorganic and inorganic geochemistry and theirapplications in the evaluation and study ofreservoirs. Deadline for submission of formalabstracts is 1 June 2002. Contact Dr. John Cubitt:[email protected]

May 12 -16, 2003: Fourth Geofluids Conference onfluid evolution, migration and interaction insedimentary basins and orogenic belts, organized bythe Netherlands Institute of Applied GeoscienceTNO-National Geological Survey. In Utrecht, TheNetherlands, at the campus of Utrecht UniversitySee http://www.nitg.tno.nl

May 26 - 30, 2003: The Fifth InternationalSymposium on Applied Isotope Geochemistry(AIG-5), P&O Resort, Heron Island, Great BarrierReef, Queensland 4680, Australia. Seehttp://www.chem.mq.edu.au/aig-5

August 10 - 16, 2003: 55th Annual Meeting ofICCP, The International Committee for Coal andOrganic Petrology, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Seehttp://www.nitg.tno.nl/eng/55iccp.shtml

August 10 - 16, 2003: XVth International Congresson Carboniferous and Permian Stratigraphy (XVICC-P), Utrecht, The Netherlands. Seehttp://www.nitg.tno.nl/eng/iccp.shtml Theme: 'Permo-Carboniferous around the SouthernNorth Sea Basin'.

Sept. 21 - 24, 2003: 20th Annual TSOP Meeting,TSOP 2003, Washington, D.C. Area (Arlington,Virginia, USA). See page 2 andhttp://www.tsop.org/mtgdc.htm

October 20 - 22, 2003: International Ash UtilizationSymposium, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Seehttp://www.flyash.org


20

Photo Gallery

Foerstia (Protosalvinia) in the Huron Shale (Upper Devonian), east-central Kentucky. Oil immersion, reflected-light, blue-lightillumination. Field-of-view = 240 microns across. Photo by Sue Rimmer; see “Black Shales - Old Problems, New Solutions”on page 12.


NEWSLETTERVol. 19, No. 3 September, 2002 ISSN-0743-3816

Banff CSCOP-TSOP Meeting

Call for PapersTwentieth Annual MeetingSeptember 21 - 24, 2003Washington, D.C. Area

HYATT ARLINGTON

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, USA

For our 20th Annual Meeting, TSOP will return to the city which hosted its first meeting.

Meeting Themes:

! Session 1 Petroleum Systems, Source Rocks, and Coalbed Methane (Monday AM)

! Session 2 Ron Stanton Memorial Session Coal Characterization (Monday PM)

! Session 3 General Submissions (Tuesday AM)

! Session 4 Government and Energy (Tuesday PM)

Field Trip: Geology and Energy Resources of the Triassic Basins of Northern Virginia (Wednesday)

Short Courses:

! Modes of Occurrence of Trace Elements in Coal (Sunday AM)

! Health Impacts of Coal: Should We Be Concerned (Sunday PM)

! Petroleum Source Rocks and Coal in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska - A Core Workshop (Sunday)

Abstract submission deadline: April 15, 2003; See http://www.tsop.org/mtgdc.htm for more details

Spousal and Social Activities Planned

Meeting Hotel: The Hyatt Arlington Conveniently located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., within walking distance ofGeorgetown, and is adjacent to the Rosslyn Metro Stop. See: http://www.arlington.hyatt.com/

For more Information:Contact Peter Warwick, U.S. Geological Survey, 956 National Center, Reston VA 20192, USA; Phone:(703) 648-6469, Fax: (703) 648-6419, E-mail: [email protected]; also see our website at:

http://www.tsop.org/mtgdc.htm

First Announcement

Vol. 19, No. 3 THE SOCIETY FOR ORGANIC PETROLOGY NEWSLETTER September, 2002

3


Newsletter

ISSN 0743-3816

published quarterly



The TSOP Newsletter welcomes contributions from membersand non-members alike. Submission methods: Text ispreferred in WordPerfect, MS Word, RTF or plain text format.Photos as slides or prints (will be returned after use) or asdigital files (300 dpi preferred) without strong compression onCD-ROM or as e-mail attachments (if larger than 5 MB,please e-mail me first ). Zip disks are discouraged.

Contact the Editor: David C. Glick

209 Spring Lea Dr.

State College, PA 16801 USA

phone: 814-237-1094


Address ChangesPlease report any changes in address or contactinformation to:

Peter Warwick, TSOP Membership Chair

U.S. Geological Survey

956 National Center

Reston, VA 20192 USA


Society MembershipThe TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) is publishedquarterly by The Society for Organic Petrology and isdistributed to all Society members as a benefit ofmembership. Membership in the Society is open to allindividuals involved in the fields of organic petrology andorganic geochemistry. For more information onmembership and Society activities, please see:

http://www.tsop.org

For purposes of registration of the TSOP Newsletter, apermanent address is: The Society for Organic Petrology,c/o American Geological Institute, 4220 King St.,Alexandria, VA 22302-1520 USA

ContentsCall for Papers: TSOP 2003, Washington DC . . . . . . 2

President’s Letter, from Maria Mastalerz . . . . . . . . . . 4

Outgoing Editors’ Letter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Romanian Atlas Carbopetrografic Ordering Update . . 5

Bethany Burnett Receives Research Grant . . . . . . . . 5

Formation Mechanisms of Hydrocarbons in VolcanicGases: Research Proposal by Bethany Burnett . . . . . 5

TSOP Technical Session at ICCP Copenhagen 2001Meeting Report by Henrik Petersen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Some Observations on ICCP Copenhagen 2001Meeting Report by Jack Burgess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

TSOP 2003 Dues Notice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2003 Pittsburgh Coal ConferenceCall for Papers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

In Memoriam: Dr. William A. Kneller . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

19th Annual Meeting, TSOP-CSCOP 2002 inBanff, Alberta, Canada: Meeting Report . . . . . . . . 10

Hamed Sanei Wins Student Paper Award . . . . . . 11

Research Committee Report:Graduate Student Research Grant . . . . . . . . . . . 12Report on Subcommittees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Starting a Research Subcommittee . . . . . . . . . . . 12Coalbed Gas in Low-Rank Coals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12TSOP-ICCP Dispersed Organic MatterWorking Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

TSOP Publications List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Order Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Coalfields Crossword Puzzle -WIN A PRIZE- . . . . . . . 18

Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

TSOP 2004, Sydney, Australia: First Announcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Photo Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20e e e e e e e e e

Cover: photos of Banff meeting, clockwise from top left:

Martin Fowler, Conference Chair, oversees technical session;

Donald Cameron Hall, dining room at center of ground floor;

Auditorium in Max Bell Building during Archie DouglasSymposium.

Cover photographs by David Glick.


4

President's Column:Maria Mastalerz

After our very successful meeting in Banff, Canada, Iam very excited to be leading The Society for OrganicPetrology. This year’s meeting has shown how seamlesslyorganic petrology blends with organic geochemistry, howthese disciplines complement one another with an advantagefor both, and how we can appreciate and enjoy thiscombination. We were very honored by the participation ofDr. Duncan G. Murchison, who received TSOP’s lifetimeHonorary Membership this year; Dr. Archie G. Douglas,who received the 2002 Treibs Award; and Dr. FariborzGoodarzi, who received CSCOP’s Peter HacquebardAward. I, personally, was delighted to see my colleaguesand friends at the meeting, some of whom I had not seen formany years. The organizers did a superior job of attractingworld class scientists and put together an outstandingscientific program.

For me, the Banff meeting reinforced the idea that weare stronger when united. The organizations TSOP,CSCOP, ICCP, as well as others, all need to work closelytogether. Our experience at the meeting highlights the pointthat when we join forces, excellent things happen. Jointevents, sessions, conferences, and projects always bringbetter results, attract new people, contribute to bettercommunication, and give all of us better exposure.

The role of organic petrology is evolving and there is noguarantee what the future will bring for the field. TheSociety needs to change proactively in order to maintain itsstrength and appeal. What should we do in order ensure it?I would like to follow up on the challenge from past TSOPPresident Tim Moore to discuss the future directions oforganic petrology. I would like to encourage TSOP

members and others who are actively working in the field toexpress their views as to where organic petrology might bein 20 years. What equipment will we be using after all ourold Leitz and Zeiss microscopes become obsolete? Whocould use the skills of organic petrologists? Please e-mailme or other Council members with your comments. Yourviews are very important, and will help the Society to growand become better prepared to serve its members into thefuture.

At the Incoming Council meeting in Banff we discussedsome changes that will or could be introduced to serve ourmembers more effectively. I would like to mention three ofthem: 1. The Council has voted to post the TSOP Newsletter

on the web site, making it available to everyone. Wewant people to hear about the Society, to learn what weare doing, and to use us as a resource, whether they areTSOP members or not. We believe that the change frompublishing only a paper version of the newsletter will bewelcomed and that many of you will access it on theInternet.

2. The Council expressed deep concern over thedeclining availability of coal geology programs at NorthAmerican universities and elsewhere. We believe thatour Society is well positioned to fill this gap. Ourmembers have excellent qualifications and the Councilhas decided to work toward developing a TSOPeducation program to serve this purpose.

3. I personally believe that it would be an advantagefor the president to serve a term longer than one year.One year is too short a time to make an impact, and theextension of the term would allow a president to betterserve the Society. I always feel sad seeing presidentsleave at just the point when they have gained inexperience and have so much more to offer. Changingthe length of president’s term from one to two yearswould require changes in TSOP’s by-laws; for thischange we need to hear from TSOP members. At thispoint I would like you to think about this issue; soon allmembers will be asked to respond to this question.

Finally, I would like to say that I am looking forwardvery much to working with you this year. I appreciate yourdedication to the Society, and on my part I would like toleave you with a promise that I will try to serve the Societyand all of you as well as I can. e


5

Outgoing Co-Editors Bid Farewellfrom Bill Huggett and Jack Crelling

As we step down from the editorship of this newsletter,we would like to thank all who contributed their work, ideasand opinions to help ensure that the TSOP newsletter staysa viable and valuable information source. To manymembers this newsletter is the only “material” contact theyhave with the society and to that end it is essential that itcontain as much pertinent information as possible.

Please welcome long-time TSOP member Dave Glickas new editor; please continue to provide any ideas orinformation that would be useful to our many members.Thank you!

e e e e e

ROMANIAN ATLAS CARBOPETROGRAFIC:Ordering Procedure Update

from Peter Crosdale

This volume was reviewed in the last Newsletter. Icontacted Editura Academei Romane to confirm costs(including postage) and availability of credit card facilitiesetc. They informed me that they do NOT handle the bookfor foreign orders. You must order it through

Orion Press Impex 2000 SRLPO Box 77-19Bucuresti 3Romania (ph../fax +40-1-335-0296)

It now costs $50. U.S. including postage. They have nocredit card facility and will not ship on a purchase order, i.e. the order must be pre-paid. I also know that this worksas I bought (by bank draft) a copy which is now sitting onmy desk.

e e e e e

Bethany Burnett Awarded 2002 TSOP Graduate Student Research Grant

by Suzanne Russell

A total of eight applications, from the USA andRomania, were received for the 2002 TSOP GraduateStudent Research Grants. The applications were submittedby two Master’s candidates and six PhD candidates. Thisyear TSOP grant application reviewers were Joe Curiale,Unocal; Brenda Pierce, U.S. Geological Survey; and ColinWard, University of New South Wales. Our 2002 awardeeis Bethany Burnett of the University of New Mexico (thesisadvisor Dr. Tobias Fischer), with the research topic"Formation Mechanisms of Hydrocarbons in VolcanicGases". Bethany is working towards a Master’s degree.Mrs. Burnett was unable to attend the Banff meeting, hence,her award will be mailed to her. Mrs. Burnett’s summary ofher topic follows.

Formation Mechanisms of Hydrocarbons in Volcanic Gases

by Bethany Burnett

Many highly populated areas are located in the vicinityof active volcanoes. Therefore, it is important tounderstand the dynamics of the various components ofvolcanic gases in order to better monitor and predictvolcanic activity. While studies have characterized the lighthydrocarbon fraction of volcanic and geothermal gaseousemissions in some locales, the low concentrations of thesecompounds have been inhibitive to numerous analyses. Thetwo major questions to be addressed by this research are asfollows: 1) Is the proportion of organic compounds presentin the gas sample dependent on the H/C (hydrogen/carbon)ratio of the gas? and 2) Is there a correlation between thehydrocarbons present and the setting?

Theoretically, the more highly saturated hydrocarbonsshould be thermodynamically stable in volcanic gases withhigh H/C ratios, because they are more reduced. It isexpected that aromatic hydrocarbons and alkenes will bepresent in greater proportions in gas samples with low H/Cratios than in samples with high H/C ratios. Correlationsbetween the distribution of hydrocarbons and the geologicand tectonic setting will also be examined. Magmatemperatures, redox conditions, and underlying crustalmaterial differ between convergent margins, divergentmargins, and hotspots. The stability of hydrocarbons willtherefore vary between these settings, which is expected tolead to different distributions of hydrocarbons.

We will identify and quantify the hydrocarbon contentof gaseous emissions from a variety of geothermal andvolcanic areas using a gas chromatograph. Methane istypically the predominant hydrocarbon found in theseemissions, but we are also interested in the following typesof hydrocarbons: n-alkanes (C2-C10), alkenes, benzene,toluene, and xylenes. Additionally, carbon stable isotopeanalyses of the light alkanes will be performed. Althoughresults from previous studies of hydrocarbons havegenerally been suggestive of a biogenic origin, thepossibility of abiotic synthesis has not been ruled out.Carbon stable isotope values can be used to distinguishbetween thermogenic and biogenic gases, with biogenicgases having lower *13C values than thermogenic gases.The combined results from these analyses will then becorrelated with geologic setting in order to determine trends.This research will further the understanding of the stabilityof organic molecules at high temperatures and couldpotentially provide input regarding the formation of theinitial organic compounds on the early Earth. e


6

The magnificent Cretaceous chalk cliffs at Møns Klint on the island of Møn, Denmark.----photo courtesy of Henrik Petersen

Two of the speakers at the TSOP session, W. Kalkreuth and C.J.Kommeren, at the balcony of Restaurant Nimb during the conference

dinner. –photo courtesy of Henrik Petersen

TSOP Technical Session at ICCPCopenhagen, Denmark, 2001

Meeting Report by Henrik Petersen

The 53rd annual meeting of the International Committeefor Coal and Organic Petrology (ICCP) was held inCopenhagen, Denmark, from August 12–19 2001. Themeeting was organised by the Geological Survey ofDenmark and Greenland (GEUS), and the meeting venuewas the newly established Geocentre Copenhagen, whichincludes GEUS, the Geological and Geographical institutesof the University of Copenhagen, the Geological Museum,and the Danish Lithosphere Centre. In addition to the usualICCP programme the meeting included a one-day TSOPsession in the middle of the meeting and a MarliesTeichmüller Symposium at the end of the meeting. This wasthe first official TSOP meeting outside North America, andthe idea to include a TSOP session in the ICCP meeting inCopenhagen was developed together with Charlie Barker atthe TSOP meeting in Halifax in 1998. As chairman of theorganising committee of the 53rd ICCP meeting, I was incontact with Charlie Barker during the year 2000 in orderto realise the idea, and we decided to announce a one-dayTSOP session with the theme“Organic petrology applied topetroleum and coalbed methanestudies.”

The ICCP meeting was indeedan international meeting withabout 70 participants from 20different countries: Australia,Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic,Denmark, Germany, Greece,Hungary, Malaysia, Mozambique,Poland, Portugal, Romania,Russia, South Africa, Spain,Thailand, The Netherlands, Unit-ed Kingdom and USA. It wasparticularly pleasant to see thatnine Australian colleagues madethe long way to Denmark toparticipate in the meeting. I gotthe impression that many of thedelegates found the inclusion of amore “regular” scientific sessionin the ICCP meeting attractive. Charlie Barker and I, whoorganised the TSOP session, were

very pleased to notice the interest in giving an oralpresentation or presenting a poster at the session, whichmade it possible for us to set-up a one-day programmeconsisting of 15 oral presentations and 20 posters. After anintroduction by Charlie Barker, Vern Stasiuk et al. gave the


7

opening presentation on a basin-wide thermal maturityevaluation of Devonian–Mississippian source rock strata inthe Western Canada Sedimentary Basin. This was followedby a talk by A. Carr on thermal history modelling usingvitrinite reflectance. M. Mastalerz & A Schimmelmanncontinued with a presentation on isotopically exchangeablehydrogen in coals. Petrographic insights into liquidhydrocarbon generation and expulsion from oil-generatingcoals of Sarawak, Malaysia, were discussed by A. WanHasiah & Q. Bachir. C.J. Kommeren gave a talk on the”good and the bad news” deduced from organic petrologyfor petroleum exploration offshore the Falkland Islands,whereas J.A. Bojesen-Koefoed et al. presented the role oforganic geochemistry and petrology in exploration activitiesin West Greenland. B. Ratanasthien et al. compared liptinitein the source rocks of the Fang oilfield in northern Thailandand the Pattani gasfield in the Gulf of Thailand. M. Gliksonet al. discussed isotope geochemistry, py-MS and electronmicroscopy of coals associated with hydrogen sulphideseam gas in the Bowen Basin, Australia, and later shepresented results from a coalbed methane project in theHubei Basin, China. L.W. Gurba & C.R. Weber talkedabout a new look at coal optical properties and theirapplication in coalbed methane evaluation. W. Kalkreuth etal. gave a presentation on the assessment of the coalbedmethane potential in the Santa Terezinha Coalfield in theParana Basin in Brazil, whereas C. Barker on behalf ofE.R. Landis and co-workers presented the results from acoalbed gas study in the Mecsek Basin, Hungary. The threefinal oral presentations in the TSOP session dealt with otherthan petroleum related aspects of organic petrology. K.J.Kruszewska discussed fluorescing macerals in SouthAfrican coals, A. Iordanidis & A. Georgakopoulospresented results from a petrographic study on the Pliocenelignites from the Amynteo Basin in northwestern Greece,and finally G. Predeanu et al. gave a talk on carbonisationbehaviour of inertinite by thermoplasticity and cokemicrostructure assessment.

The oral presentations were followed by poster viewingwhile the delegates could enjoy draught beer fromCarlsberg. The posters covered a variety of areas of appliedorganic petrology and geochemistry, including faciesstudies, coal combustion, and presentation of differentanalytical techniques. I consider the TSOP session a greatsuccess and would once again like to thank all speakers,poster contributors, chairmen, and delegates for theirparticipation. A special issue of the International Journal ofCoal Geology with about nine papers presented at theTSOP session is in publication.

Most delegates participated in the conference dinner theday after the TSOP session. The dinner was held onThursday on a very warm summer evening in RestaurantNimb with its large balcony with a view over the “Tivoli”-gardens in the centre of Copenhagen. The organisingcommittee was pleased to notice that a majority of theconference delegates participated in the excursion onSaturday to the beautiful Chalk cliffs on the island of Mønin the Baltic Sea. The exposed Cretaceous chalk depositsconstitute an analogue to the Danish offshore chalkfields inthe Danish Central Graben. The excursion also visited apassage grave from about 3200 B.C. and the Fanefjordchurch with the famous wall paintings from the MiddleAges.

Some Observations on the 53rd AnnualMeeting of the ICCP in Copenhagen,

Denmark, 2001by Jack Burgess

This meeting covered the same Commission work as inprevious years, but I will touch on isolated topics of interestto me and to the membership of TSOP.

One of these topics is accreditation of coal petrographersthrough ICCP, and its relevance to the coal industry. Theactual accreditation program has been in effect for severalyears, however, the results presented at the Copenhagenmeeting are worth documenting.

The accreditation report was prepared by Aivars Deepers:55 members had signed up for the exercise and it wascompleted by 50.2 members used automated analysis, and both passed andwere accepted.19 members were reaccredited.17 are fully accredited.14 members were provisionally accredited; the termprovisionally accredited is no longer used.Thus for the year 2001 the ICCP has accredited 50members, or just under one-third of the membership.Certificates of accreditation were mailed in August, 2001,to those members who qualified. For those interested, thefee structure for accreditation may be found on the ICCPweb site, www.iccop.org

Accreditation brings up questions of liability of the ICCPto possible lawsuits from disgruntled failed applicants.This legal aspect of liability is to be researched and reportedon in 2002. Continued on p. 8


8

The use of automated analysis for both maceral andreflectance analysis was either discussed or alluded to infour sessions, so it is a current topic.

Graphite and semi-graphite sheets were prepared by Dr.Barbara Kwiecinska for the Handbook, and were presentedand approved by the members, a big job and very well done.

Peter Crosdale, Newsletter Editor, has reproduced theout-of-print 1963 ICCP Handbook on CD-ROM, and hasincluded keyword references. It is available now for$15.00, and I can’t wait for mine to arrive. Order throughRudi Schwab or Peter Crosdale.

The ICCP has purchased two glass standards, both in thecare of Walter Pickel. One can be loaned out for a depositfee, while the other is to remain in Sydney, to be used forcalibrating submitted standards, also for a fee. Interestedparties may contact Walter Pickel by e-mail:[email protected]

The Conference Dinner was held at the world-famousTivoli Gardens, on the second floor balcony of the mainPavilion overlooking the gardens. Acrobats performedwhile we honored guests fraternized and drank to oneanother’s good health – truly a fitting end to a wonderfulconference. After dinner we strolled the grounds well intothe night.

e e e e e e e e e

2003 TSOP Dues Notice

Members whose dues expire at the end of 2002 willfind a dues form enclosed with this Newsletter. Pleasecheck and correct the printed address and contactinformation and promptly return the form and paymentto Secretary-Treasurer Mike Avery (see address onform). Dues should be paid by December 31.

At other times, please forward any changes inaddress or other contact information to theMembership Chair, Peter Warwick (see page 3).

Blank dues forms (and application forms for newmembers) may be found as PDF files on TSOP’s website at www.tsop.org e

Call for papers:

20th Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference

The 20th International Pittsburgh Coal Conference(http://www.engrng.pitt.edu/~pccwww/) will be held 15-19September 2003 at the Westin - Convention Center inPittsburgh, PA. Abstracts for the meeting are now beingsolicited and are due 1 January 2003. The complete callfor papers can be found at:http://www.engrng.pitt.edu/~pccwww/03firstcall.PDF

Several program topics areas may be of interest toTSOP members, in particular topic area 8 (Sequestration)and 11 (Coal Geosciences and Resources). The lattersession is being organized by Jim Hower. Potential topicsfor papers include:

8. Sequestration8.1 CO2 separation and capture8.2 Sequestration of CO2 in geologic formations8.3 Enhancing natural sinks8.4 Advanced CO2 conversion concepts8.5 Modeling and assessments8.6 Non greenhouse gas capture and storage8.7 Multi pollutant capture and storage

11. Coal Geosciences and Resources11.1 Coal resource evaluation11.2 Coal geology11.3 Coalbed methane11.4 Petrology and geochemistry of coals11.5 Evaluation of trace elements considered to be

health hazards11.6 Geotechnical characterization of coal-bearing

strata.

Please note that the Pittsburgh meeting is the week priorto the TSOP meeting in Arlington, VA. Internationalparticipants may be interested in arranging travel so thatthey can participate in both meetings. Any questions aboutthe meeting can be forwarded to the conference office [email protected]. Any questions about session 11 can besent to Jim Hower at [email protected]. We hope to see

you in Pittsburgh and Arlington next September. e


9

Photos courtesy of Dr. Mark Camp

In Memoriam Dr. William A. Kneller 1929-2002

With the headline “Geologist BuiltUniversity of Toledo Department,” the Toledo(Ohio) Blade newspaper of Sept. 16, 2002,reported the passing of Dr. William A. Knelleron September 13. He had retired in 1989 forhealth reasons, and died at age 73 of kidneyfailure arising from diabetes.

According to that report, with informationsupplied by Dr. Mark Camp, an associate professor ofgeology at UT and former Kneller graduate student, Dr.Kneller was hired there in 1961 to chair a small geologyand geography department. He separated those disciplines,serving a long term as chair of the geology department andstarting its master’s degree program in 1966. Among hisaccomplishments were setting up extensive laboratorieswith modern analytical equipment, creation of an endowedInstitute for Silicates and Ceramic Research, and aSubsurface Data Center core storage facility. He and hisstudents performed extensive work in coal characterization;his research included organic-inorganic interactions incombustion and synthetic fuel production.

He attended TSOP’s first annual meeting in Virginia in1984, bringing five of his graduate students to the inauguralmeeting of a promising young society. That visit was thestart of a productive relationship; he was a TSOP membersince then, attending many more annual meetings with hisgraduate students. Several of his graduate students havebecome TSOP members and officers.

Kneller held bachelor’s and master’s degrees fromMiami University of Ohio and a Ph.D. from the Universityof Michigan, and was a 30-year veteran ofthe Marine Corps Reserve, retiring with therank of Colonel. In addition to professionalgeological societies he belonged to SigmaGamma Epsilon and Phi Sigma honorsocieties, and served on the University’sFaculty Senate. He is survived by Olga, hiswife of 51 years; four children, threegrandchildren, and a sister. Memorialcontributions may be made to the AmericanDiabetes Association, the National KidneyFoundation, or the Multiple SclerosisSociety.

Former graduate student Jeff Quick adds:Although many TSOP members are

familiar with Bill's work inorganic petrology, this was onlypart of his research interests. Billwas also an expert in silicatescience. He published extensivelyon highway aggregates, concretepetrology, the chemistry andbehavior of chert, the beneficialuses of iron and steel slags, thegeology of glacial sand and graveldeposits, historic building stones,and ancient mortars and cements.He also published on the use ofthermal analysis to evaluate

carbon blacks, chert, power plant fly ash, clays, carbonates,and coal. He held a U.S. Patent for beneficiation of cementkiln dusts and was involved with the selective mining andcombustion of an Ohio coal to produce a germanium-enriched ash. Many of his graduate students will recallpleasant hours spent studying in the cool quiet of the X-raylab while tending his instruments to assay raw materialsused to make the ceramic tiles on the U.S. space shuttle.

During a visit to Bill Kneller's home a few years ago, Isaw a bookshelf with his students’ theses prominentlydisplayed. These forty-seven books were clearly importantto him and attest to the importance of teaching in his life.As a former student, I count his ability to instill anenthusiasm and passion for science among his mostenduring accomplishments.

Renee Klinger, also a former graduate student,remembers: I looked up to Dr. Kneller and admired himvery much. I owe a lot to him; it was not just aboutlearning organic petrology, organic geochemistry, or thecoal industry, but about efforts gained from hard work anddedication. Dr. Kneller gave everything to his students, justask his wife or his daughter. He was gruff on the outside to

many, but a big teddy bear tothose of us who knew him well.Dr. Kneller truly cared about hisstudents, probably too much. Iknow that for years after Igraduated, when I would goback to see him in his office, Iwould see a picture of myselfand a few of his other pastgraduate students. I think thatpretty well says it all as to howmuch we mutually cared for andrespected him, and how hecertainly felt about his students.

e


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Tim Moore presents Farthest-Traveled Award toKaryn Pratt, W. Australia. D. Glick photo

Members of TSOP Council 2002-2003 at Banff Meeting: left to right, frontrow: Pres.-Elect Bob Finkelman, Pres. Maria Mastalerz, Vice-Pres. PeterWarwick; back row: Sec.-Treas. Mike Avery, Editor David Glick,Councilor Ray Pheifer. Not shown: Councilor Bill Huggett. J.B.O’Donnell photo

19th Annual Meeting

CSCOP - TSOP 2002 in BanffMeeting Report by David Glick

TSOP’s 19th Annual Meeting, its third held jointly withthe Canadian Society for Coal Science and Organic Petrol-ogy, was held in Banff, Alberta, Canada August 31 - Sept.4, 2002. The Banff Centre, a meeting, arts and inspira-tional facility with a large campus close to downtownBanff, provided an exceptionally scenic site with technicaland dining facilities very well suited to the meeting.

Sponsored by Elsevier Science and the EuropeanAssociation of Organic Geochemists, the conference themewas “Emerging Concepts in Organic Petrology andGeochemistry.” The meeting was organized by a committeeof members in Canada and the U.K.; Martin Fowler (photo,front cover) of GSC-Calgary, Canada, was the ConferenceChair. Among the committee members, Lavern Stasiuk ofGSC-Calgary performed many duties as the TSOP liaisonfor the meeting, and Judith Potter of JP PetroGraphicsprovided the statistics presented in this article. There were141 delegates in total, including 11 students and about 30guests and accompanying persons.

Activity began on Saturday, August 30, with 19 peopleattending a short course on “A prediction of total organiccarbon contents and hydrogen indices in marine sediments”presented by Richard Tyson.

Field trips were held Saturday and Sunday, and resumedon Wednesday and Thursday, with some trips being heldtwice for convenience in scheduling around other trips andarrival/ departure dates. In total, 20 people attended theRocky Mountain Geology, Hydrocarbon Source Rocks andCoal trip; 29 attended the two trips to the Burgess Shalesite (see photo on p.20, back cover); five attended the tripto see Upper Cretaceous Geology near Drumheller and the

Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology; and 28 delegatesand guests attended the sight-seeing tours of the Banff toLake Louise area of Banff National Park.

Registration and a large welcoming ice-breaker partywere held Sunday evening in the Max Bell Building, thelocation for all of the technical activities. TSOP’s outgoingCouncil held its meeting later Sunday evening.

Parallel technical sessions on Sources of Natural Gasand Petroleum Systems were held on Monday morning.Poster displays were available for viewing throughout theconference. A luncheon was provided on Monday, andTSOP’s business meeting took place immediatelyafterward. President Tim Moore conveyed that office toincoming President Maria Mastalerz, and TSOP Councilmembers (photo below) and committee chairs wereintroduced and gave brief reports. TSOP’s upcomingmeetings in Washington, DC, 2003 and Sydney, Australia,2004, were announced and invitations were extended.Karyn Pratt, manager of the Petroleum Geochemistrydivision of Geotech, Western Australia, received TSOP’sFarthest Traveled award (photo below left).

Duncan Murchison became TSOP’s seventh HonoraryMember. The presentation was made by Tim Moore,outgoing TSOP President. CSCOP also conductedbusiness, with Fariborz Goodarzi receiving CSCOP’sHacquebard Award (photos, page 11). On Monday after-noon, the parallel sessions continued. The meeting ofTSOP’s incoming Council was held Monday evening.

On Tuesday, the Dr. Archie G. Douglas Symposium,“Celebrating 45 Years of Organic Geochemistry,” was held


11

Hamed Sanei receives Best Student PaperAward from Colin Ward. D. Glick photo

Fariborz Goodarzi receives CSCOP’s Hacquebard Awardfrom Judith Potter. D. Glick photo

Lavern Stasiuk presents TSOP Honorary Member plaque toDuncan Murchison. D. Glick photo

Socializing follows the banquet. D. Glick photo

to celebrate the outstanding achievements of one of thepioneers of organic geochemistry. The Symposium waschaired by Martin Fowler, Brian Horsfield and SteveLarter; each of them also made a technical presentation and,along with other colleagues and past students of Dr.Douglas, touched on the many topics of his research at theUniversity of Glasgow and the University of Newcastle.Following an introduction by K.E. Peters, the Treibs Awardwas presented to Dr. Douglas by J.R. Maxwell, himself the1989 recipient of the award. The Treibs Award ispresented by the Geochemical Society's OrganicGeochemistry Division for major achievements, over a per-iod of years, in organic geochemistry. Dr. Douglas spokein acceptance of the award, and also made a technical pres-entation reviewing medical aspects of carcinogeniccompounds from organic sedimentary materials.

The evening banquet in the main room of Donald CameronHall featured a bagpiper leading the procession into thedining room. A group photograph (still being processed asof this writing) was taken. Following dinner, participantssaw a good-humored slide show on Archie Douglas and inparticular his students and their non-technical activities

through the years. Music and socializing continued afterthe program (photo below left).

Wednesday morning featured a session on Coal andEnvironment, with parallel sessions first on ShallowThinking and then on Novel Analytical Techniques. Thetechnical sessions ended mid-day Wednesday; in total over2.5 days there were 66 oral presentations and 43 posters.Proceedings are to be published in special issues of OrganicGeochemistry and International Journal of Coal Geology.

Field trips resumed Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.Many participants were also seen to enjoy the town, themountain scenery, and geology on their own beforedeparting.

Hamed Sanei Wins Student Paper Award

TSOP’s Best Student Paper award was presented toHamed Sanei (photo below) of the University of Victoria,British Columbia, Canada, for his poster, “Sources ofHeavy Elements in the Recent Sediments of Pigeon Lake,Alberta: Assessment of the Impact from Coal-Fired PowerPlants Versus Other Anthro-pogenic and Natural Sources,”

co-authored withDr. F. Goodarzi.TSOP’s committeefor the award waschaired by ColinWard and inclu-ded MaryAnnMalinconico, RayPheifer, and PeterWarwick. e


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TSOP Research Committee NewsSuzanne J. Russell

Research Committee Chairman

Student Research Grant Awarded

Bethany Burnett of the University of New Mexico wasawarded the 2002 TSOP Graduate Student ResearchGrant; see page 5 for the story and research summary.Graduate students and professors should watch thisNewsletter and the TSOP web site for the 2003 StudentResearch Grant forms and application deadline.

Research Committee Report on Subcommittees

There are presently four official subcommittees of theResearch Committee. These are: 1) TSOP-ICCPDispersed Organic Matter Classification Working Group(Vern Stasiuk, chairman), 2) Quaternary ClimateResearch Initiative (Tim Moore, chairman), 3) MaceralRatios (Mick Frank, chairman), and 4) Coalbed Gas inLow-rank Coals (Peter Warwick and Maria Mastalerz,co-chairmen), the newest sub-committee which wasapproved by the TSOP Council at the Banff meeting. Adescription of this new subcommittee is given below:

Starting a Research Subcommittee

Starting a Research subcommittee is a straightforwardprocess. A proposal is submitted to the ResearchCommittee chairman using the form provided on page13. With the endorsement of the Research Committeechairman, the proposal is submitted to Council forapproval at their mid-year or annual meetings. Monetarygrants ($1000 US per year) are available through Councilto pursue subcommittee activities. A subcommitteechairman will be nominated by the Research Committeechairman (volunteers are encouraged) and approved byCouncil. A subcommittee is discontinued when there hasbeen no activity for two years.

Coalbed Gas in Low-rank Coals

The initial goal of this project is to form a workinggroup of experts who will compile a list of recommendedprocedures for testing gas content of low-rank coals.

With the advent of major coalbed methane productionfrom low-rank coals, such as in the Powder River basinof the United States, there is increased world-wideinterest in evaluating low-rank coal basins for their gaspotential. The gas content in low-rank coal basins hasgenerally not been evaluated because of their presumedlack of significant thermogenic gas. The purpose of thisworking group is to identify the unique procedures andmethods that need to be utilized when testing andevaluating coalbed methane resources in low-rank coalbasins. This need results from the fact that not alltechniques used to evaluate gas content of high-rankcoals are applicable for low-rank coals. In the nextphase, this working group will test reproducibility ofselected analytical procedures, such as adsorptionisotherms, and will conduct round-robin analyses of coalor gas samples. Future plans are to participate in multi-lab/multi-agency round robin testing of desorption andadsorption techniques used to characterize gas contentsin low-ranked coals.

Anticipated products will include a list of recommendedprocedures and techniques for handling and evaluatingcoalbed methane from low-rank coal basins.


13

TSOP Research Committee Proposal FormFor Subcommittees and/or TSOP Sponsored Projects

Title of subcommittee:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Title of project:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Why is this project of benefit to TSOP? (use additional paper where needed)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Goal(s):____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Approach or method(s):____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Anticipated products:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Suggested subcommittee chairman:________________________________________________________________________

Suggested subcommittee members:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Estimated time for completion of project:________________________________________________________________________

Estimated cost of project:________________________________________________________________________


14

Status Report on TSOP-ICCP Dispersed OrganicMatter Classification Working Group

Lavern Stasiuk, Jack Burgess, Carolyn Thompson-Rizer,Adrian Hutton and Brian Cardott

During 2001-2002 the TSOP Dispersed OrganicMatter Classification research group has madepresentations to the ICCP DOM working group at theannual meeting in Copenhagen. Prior to this the draftclassification was circulated via email to the TSOP DOMworking group members for their comments. Table 1 isthe current draft of the DOM Classification incorporatingchanges and suggestions made by ICCP and TSOPmembers during 2001-2002.

Currently images are being compiled and new imagesare being collected using the Geological Survey ofCanada’s Zeiss Axioplan II- Axiovision system. Theseimages will show representative macerals in the DOMclassification within strew mount samples and in polishedblock samples, in transmitted white, fluorescence, andreflected white light modes. Ideally the committee wouldlike to use the same geological sample (e.g. Green Rivershale) to illustrate any given maceral in each of thevarious modes. For each image/sample and each maceral,age, formation, location, total organic carbon and RockEval Indices (e.g. HI, OI) will be quoted. Dr. JackBurgess and Humble Instruments have provided a goodset of samples for this purpose. Plate 1 on page 15illustrates one example of the perceived product. Dr.Burgess is making a presentation to the ICCPCommission II at the annual meeting in Maputo,Mozambique, and Pretoria, South Africa, September 22-29, 2002.

TABLE 1. TSOP and ICCP Classification of Dispersed OrganicMatter in sedimentary rocks and isolated organic matter1 frompetroleum source rocks, oil shales, clastics, and carbonate rocks2

for reflected and transmitted light microscopy, with fluorescenceillumination capability.

GROUP MACERAL3

Vitrinite Telinite Collotelinite

Vitrodetrinite

Collodetrinite

Gelinite

Corpogelinite

Liptinite Alginite

Bituminite (Amorphinite)4

Liptodetrinite

Sporinite

Cutinite

Suberinite

Resinite

Chlorophyllinite

Inertinite Fusinite

Semifusinite

Funginite

Secretinite

Macrinite

Micrinite

Inertodetrinite

Zooclasts Scolecodont

Graptolite

Chitinozoa

Foram lining

SecondaryProducts

(Migra)bitumen

Oil

Pyrobitumen

Footnotes 1. Outcrop, core, side-wall core, well cuttings samples at moderatethermal maturity (within the oil window 0.5 to 1.3% Ro); 2. Sample processedwith HCl and HF acids. 3. Using transmitted light and kerogen concentrates, itmay not be possible to subdivide the vitrinite group into macerals, thereforevitrinite must be used. This may also apply to macerals within the inertinitegroup. 4. Bituminite is a defined ICCP maceral term, variety amorphinite ismore commonly applied to this type of DOM and can be further expanded uponusing the following recommendations: (I) fluorescing (fluoramorphinite) andnon-fluorescing (hebamorphinite) amorphinite (Senftle et al., 1987) or (ii) TypesA, B, C, D (Thompson and Dembicki, 1986). May 22/2002


15

Plate 1. An example of a set of images showing representatives of macerals in the TSOP-ICCP Dispersed Organic Matter Classification , in progress.


16

TSOP PUBLICATIONS

TSOPNumber Name of Publication Price(USD)

(includesshipping)

1. Fluoreszenz von Liptiniten und Vitriniten in Beziehung zu Inkohlungsgrad und $10 Verkokungsverhalten - (in German with photomicrographs) M. Teichmüller, 19822. Fluorescence - microscopical changes of liptinites and vitrinites during coalification $ 5 and their relationship to bitumen generation and coking behavior, TSOP Special

Publication No. I (English translation by Neely Bostick, without photomicrographs) M. Teichmüller, 19843. Influence of Kerogen Isolation Methods on Petrographic and Bulk Chemical Composition $20

of a Woodford Shale Sample, TSOP Research Committee Report, October 19894. Fluorescence Microscopy Workshop Lecture Notes, 1989 TSOP Meeting Sold Out5. Organic Geochemistry, 2nd TSOP Meeting, Houston, TX, 1985; Vol. 11, No. 5, 1987 $ 56. Organic Geochemistry, 3rd TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1986; Vol. 12, No. 4, 1988

$ 57. Organic Geochemistry, 4th TSOP Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1987; Vol. 14, No. 3, 1989 $ 5 8. Organic Geochemistry, 5th TSOP Meeting, Houston, TX, 1988; Vol. 17, No. 2, 1991 $10 9. Organic Geochemistry, 6th TSOP Meeting, Urbana, IL, 1989; Vol. 17, No. 4, 1991 $10 10. Organic Geochemistry, 7th TSOP Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, 1990; Vol. 18, No. 3, 1992 $10 11. Organic Geochemistry, 8th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1991; Vol. 20, No. 2, 1993

$1012. 8th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, Lexington, KY, 1991 $ 513. Organic Geochemistry, 10th TSOP Meeting, Norman, OK, 1993; Vol. 22, No. 1, 1994

$1014. Energy & Fuels, ACS symposium on kerogen/macerals; Vol. 8, No. 6, 1994 $1015. 12th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, The Woodlands, TX, 1995 $ 516. Organic Geochemistry, 11th TSOP Meeting, Jackson, WY, 1994; Vol. 24, No. 2, 1996 $3517. International Journal of Coal Geology (IJCG), 12th TSOP Meeting, The Woodlands, TX, 1995; Vol. 34, Nos. 3-4, 1997 $1518. IJCG, 13th TSOP Meeting, Carbondale, IL, 1996;Vol. 37, Nos. 1-2, 1998 Sold Out19. IJCG, Special Issue: Appalachian Coalbed Methane; Vol. 38, Nos. 1-2, 1998 $2020. IJCG, 14th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1997;Vol. 39, Nos. 1-3, 1999 $2521. IJCG, Special Issue: Applied Topics in Coal Geology; Vol. 41, Nos. 1-2, 1999 $2522. IJCG, 15th TSOP Meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1998; Vol. 43, Nos. 1-4, 2000 $2523. IJCG, 16th TSOP Meeting, Snowbird, Utah, 1999; Vol. 46, Nos. 2-4, 2001 $2524. IJCG, 17th TSOP Meeting, Bloomington, Indiana, 2000; Vol. 47, Nos. 3-4, 2001 $25

Please complete a TSOP Publications Order Form. Make checks payable to TSOP. Send orders to:

Brian J. Cardott Oklahoma Geological Survey telephone: 405/ 325-3031100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 fax: 405/ 325-7069Norman, OK 73019-0628 email: [email protected]. We accept checks, MasterCard, Visa, and money orders.


17

Publications Order Form Send to: Brian J. Cardott telephone: 405 325-3031

Oklahoma Geological Survey fax: 405 325-7069100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 email: [email protected], OK 73019-0628 USA


Total Order US $ Method of Payment1) Cash, check or money order in U.S. Dollars. Receipts are sent for all cash payments. Checks and moneyorders should be made payable to TSOP and must be drawn from a bank in the U.S.A. TSOP assumes noresponsibility for cash lost in mail.2) International money orders (postal orders) can be drawn in U.S. funds for a very small fee and are availablefrom post offices in many countries. Make the money orders payable to TSOP and send to Brian Cardott at theabove address. 3) Credit Card: Please complete the following form, being certain to enter the name exactly as it appears onthe card. Please enter your billing address. Mail completed form to Brian Cardott at the above address. Payment is in U.S. Dollars. Please print clearly!!!

Name on Card:_________________________________________________

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Email:________________________________________________________


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Be the first to submit a correctlycompleted puzzle to the Editor (page 3) by January 10, 2003, andwin a TSOP coffee mug!!

COALFIELDS OF THE WORLDa crossword puzzle by an anonymous contributor

ACROSS2. Widely exported coals from Colombia4. Carboniferous lignite7. World class producer of subbituminous coal in western Great Plains (USA)9. Great Plains (USA) lignite11. Turkish Tertiary lignite12. Tierra del Fuego13. Coalbed methane producer in Alabama16. New South Wales major basin17. Republic of South Africa

18. In the Rockies of British Columbia19. Carboniferous of Poland20. Southern Wyoming22. Major basin in Central Appalachians23. “Barkinite” locality24. Major producer in Venezuela25. English coalfield26. Utah Cretaceous27. South Island of New Zealand28. Home of the Pittsburgh coal bed

DOWN1. Major field in the Ukraine3. Coalfield of Zola’s Germinal5. Permian of Queensland6. Tertiary of Washington8. Pennsylvanian of Germany10. Spanish low rank14. Saskatchewan lignite15. Westphalian of France18. Triassic basin in Queensland21. Home of some of the earliest reptiles 25. Brazilian Gondwana


19

TSOPTWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING

Organic Matter Down Under

Sydney, Australia27 September – 1 October, 2004

The 21st Annual Meeting of TSOP will be held at the University of New SouthWales, centrally located with respect to Sydney Airport, beaches and the citycentre.

Some Conference Themes:

C Non-marine source rocks

C New techniques in organic petrology and geochemistry

C Coal in sustainable development

Provisional Program:

C Monday, September 27 – Short course(s), registration, icebreaker

C Tuesday, September 28 – Technical sessions, TSOP business lunch

C Wednesday, September 29 – Technical sessions, conference dinner

C Thursday, September 30 – Technical sessions, field trip departure

C Friday, October 1 – Field trip: coal geology of the Hunter Valley

Additional details will be provided as the planning process develops. A formal callfor papers will be made during 2003, covering the conference themes together withother advances in coal geology, organic petrology and geochemistry. Sydney, hostto the 2000 Olympics, has many attractions for those who can stay a little longer,and a partners’ program is being planned to complement the technical activities.

Mark the dates on your calendar now!

Organising Committee:Neil Sherwood Colin Ward Lila GurbaClaus Diessel Adrian Hutton Joan EsterleHerbert Volk Harold Read Tim Moore

For more information contact:

C Neil Sherwood, CSIRO Petroleum: [email protected]

Calendar of Events2002

December 9 -11, 2002: ‘Black Shales’ meeting: Organic-carbon burial, climate change and oceanchemistry (Mesozoic-Paleogene), London. Geo-logical Society of London, Marine Studies Group. http://www.earthsci.ucl.ac.uk/conferences/GSLC

2003

February 4 -5, 2003: Reservoir GeochemistryConference by the Geological Society of London,Petroleum Group, to promote the latest advances inorganic and inorganic geochemistry and theirapplications in the evaluation and study ofreservoirs. Deadline forsubmission of formal abstractsis 1 June 2002. Contact Dr.John Cubitt:[email protected]

May 12 -16, 2003: FourthGeofluids Conference on fluidevolution, migration andinteraction in sedimentarybasins and orogenic belts,organized by the NetherlandsInstitute of Applied GeoscienceTNO-National GeologicalSurvey. In Utrecht, TheNetherlands, at the campus ofUtrecht University. See http://www.nitg.tno.nl

May 26 - 30, 2003: The FifthInternational Symposium onApplied IsotopeGeochemistry(AIG-5), P&OResort, Heron Island, GreatBarrier Reef, Queensland4680, Australia. Seehttp://www.chem.mq.edu.au/aig-5

August 10 - 16, 2003: 55thAnnual Meeting of ICCP,The International Committeefor Coal and OrganicPetrology, Utrecht, TheNetherlands. See http://www.nitg.tno.nl/eng/55iccp.shtml

August 10 - 16, 2003: XVth International Con-gresson Carboniferous and Permian Stratigraphy (XVICC-P), Utrecht, The Netherlands. See http://www.nitg.tno.nl/eng/iccp.shtml Theme: 'Permo-Carboniferous around the SouthernNorth Sea Basin'.

Sept. 21 - 24, 2003: 20th Annual TSOP Meeting,TSOP 2003, Washington, D.C. Area (Arlington,Virginia, USA). See page 2 andhttp://www.tsop.org/mtgdc.htm

October 20 - 22, 2003: International Ash UtilizationSymposium, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. Seehttp://www.flyash.org


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Photo Gallery

Banff Meeting Field Trip to Burgess Shale outcrop, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, at the Walcott Quarry on Fossil Ridge,Thursday, 5 September 2002. Photo by Ray Pheifer.


NEWSLETTERVol. 19, No. 4 December, 2002 ISSN-0743-3816

Illite, ankerite and calcite filling cleat in Bowen Basin coal; see p. 3. Core diameter 7 cm. Photograph by Basim Faraj.

2003 Meeting: Washington, DC - page 7New Abstract Deadline: May 15

$250 Student Paper Award

2

TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING

Organic Matter Down Under

Sydney, Australia27 September – 1 October, 2004

The 21st Annual Meeting of TSOP will be held at the University of New South Wales,centrally located with respect to Sydney Airport, beaches and the city centre.

Some Conference Themes:

C Non-marine source rocks

C New techniques in organic petrology and geochemistry

C Coal in sustainable development

Provisional Program:

C Monday, September 27 – Short course(s), registration, icebreaker

C Tuesday, September 28 – Technical sessions, TSOP business lunch

C Wednesday, September 29 – Technical sessions, conference dinner

C Thursday, September 30 – Technical sessions, field trip departure

C Friday, October 1 – Field trip: coal geology of the Hunter Valley

Additional details will be provided as the planning process develops. A formal call forpapers will be made during 2003, covering the conference themes together with otheradvances in coal geology, organic petrology and geochemistry. Sydney, host to the 2000Olympics, has many attractions for those who can stay a little longer, and a partners' programis being planned to complement the technical activities.

Mark the dates on your calendar now!

Organising Committee:Neil Sherwood Colin Ward Lila GurbaClaus Diessel Adrian Hutton Joan EsterleHerbert Volk Harold Read Tim Moore

For more information contact:

C Neil Sherwood, CSIRO Petroleum: [email protected]

C Colin Ward, University of New South Wales: [email protected]

Vol. 19, No. 4 THE SOCIETY FOR ORGANIC PETROLOGY NEWSLETTER December, 2002

3


Newsletter

ISSN 0743-3816

published quarterly



The TSOP Newsletter welcomes contributions from membersand non-members alike. Submission methods: Text ispreferred in WordPerfect, MS Word, RTF or plain text format.Photos as slides or prints (will be returned after use) or asdigital files (300 dpi preferred) without strong compression onCD-ROM or as e-mail attachments (if larger than 5 MB,please e-mail me first ). Zip disks are discouraged.

Contact the Editor: David C. Glick209 Spring Lea Dr.State College, PA 16801 USAphone: 814-237-1094e-mail: [email protected]

Address ChangesPlease report any changes in address or contactinformation to:

Peter Warwick, TSOP Membership ChairU.S. Geological Survey956 National CenterReston, VA 20192 USAe-mail: [email protected]

Society MembershipThe TSOP Newsletter (ISSN-0743-3816) is publishedquarterly by The Society for Organic Petrology and isdistributed to all Society members as a benefit ofmembership. Membership in the Society is open to allindividuals involved in the fields of organic petrology andorganic geochemistry. For more information onmembership and Society activities, please see:

http://www.tsop.org

For purposes of registration of the TSOP Newsletter, apermanent address is: The Society for Organic Petrology,c/o American Geological Institute, 4220 King St.,Alexandria, VA 22302-1520 USA

ContentsFirst Announcement: TSOP 2004, Sydney, Australia 2

Initiative to Promote TSOP and Coal Science . . . . . 4

TSOP Five-Year Dues Discount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

News from Mid-Year Council Meeting, March 2003 . 5

Moore Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Photometry Systems for Organic Petrologists Available from A.S. & Co., GmbH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2003 TSOP Meeting:Meeting Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7New Abstract Deadline May 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Student Paper Competition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Travel and International Visitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Short Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Field Trips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

TSOP Publications List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Order Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Puzzle Solution from issue 19:3 Coalfields . . . . . . . 13

Oilfields Crossword Puzzle -WIN A PRIZE- . . . . . . 14

Calendar of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Photo Gallery: Weathering in blue light . . . . . . . . . 16

e e e e e e e e e

Cover: Photograph by Basim Faraj

Face cleat fill illite (brown) and ankerite (thicker, light color fill)and butt cleat calcite fill in core sample from Late Permian BLower seam (329.2m depth), Rangal Coal Measures atMoura, Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia. K/Ar age of the1M illite-fill is 229+-3 Ma B.P. The illite is part of a basin-widealuminosilicate mineralization event that affected the LatePermian coal seams during the Triassic's Bowen-HunterOrogeny. Core diameter is 7.0 cm.

For more details see:Faraj, B.S.M., Fielding, C.R. and Mackinnon, I.D.R. (1996)Cleat mineralization of Upper Permian Baralaba/Rangal CoalMeasures, Bowen Basin, Australia. In Gayer, R. and Harris,I. (eds) Coalbed Methane and Coal Geology. The GeologicalSociety, Special Publication No. 109, London, p.151-164.


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Initiative to Promote TSOP and Coal Science

by Bob Finkelman

Applications due by June 1, 2003

The TSOP Council has unanimously approved aproposal to promote coal science at universities around theworld that do not have the resources to acquire essentialcurrent coal science publications, such as the InternationalJournal of Coal Geology. To help address this situationTSOP will create a fund to underwrite the cost of a two-year subscription to the journal for deserving TSOPmembers.

Each recipient will be obligated to share the journalwith his/her students and colleagues and to encourage thestudents, faculty, and colleagues from the country and theregion to contribute appropriate articles to the journal.Recipients who are successful in generating articles for thejournal will continue to receive complimentary annualsubscriptions.

Elsevier has agreed to make the journal available ata deeply discounted rate provided that TSOP acceptsresponsibility for distribution.

This activity would generate considerable goodwillfor TSOP and should create interest in TSOP membershipin scientists from developing countries, as TSOPmembership would be a requirement for the applicant.Other benefits would include dissemination of current coalscience information to a generation of enthusiastic youngscientists and an increase in contributions to the journalfrom a significant, but largely untapped, source.

A new committee (Committee for Promotion ofCoal Science) has been established to operate the program.The committee will be responsible for solicitingapplications, for selecting the most deserving candidates,for distribution the Journal issues, maintaining accuraterecords, and for soliciting contributions from TSOPmembership or from industry. Contributions to cover thecost of the first two subscriptions have already beenpledged.

Any TSOP member in good standing interestedin submitting an application for the Journal is invitedto send in a one-page letter describing how they woulduse the opportunity to promote TSOP and coal science

in their school and in their country, including how theywill encourage submission of papers to theInternational Journal of Coal Geology during the 2-year free subscription period The proposal should beaccompanied with a letter confirming that asubscription to the journal would cause financialhardship. The letters should be sent to Robert B.Finkelman, U.S. Geological Survey, Mail Stop 956,Reston, VA 20192, USA, by June 1, 2003.

Contributions to support this effort should be sentto Mike Avery, Geological Survey of Canada, P.O. Box1006, Dartmouth, NS B2Y 4A2, Canada.

Should this project prove to be successful, wewould consider expanding the program to include theReview of Paleobotany and Palynology.

e e e e e

Five-Year Dues DiscountPayment due by May 15

The TSOP council has unanimously endorsed aproposal to offer a cost saving opportunity to ourmembership. The council has agreed to allow TSOPmembers to pay their dues in advance by offering 5 yearsof membership credit for every $100 paid. The advantageto TSOP members would be the 20% discount on thecurrent $25 annual fee plus saving time and postage onmailing annual dues. Moreover, membership dues wouldthen be locked in at the current rate for the duration of thecredit.

If you have already sent in your dues for 2003 butwant to take advantage of this offer, just send theadditional dues by May 15, with a note indicating that youwish to participate in this program, to Mike Avery,Geological Survey of Canada, P.O. Box 1006, Dartmouth,

NS B2Y 4A2, Canada. e

Not a member of TSOP?Download an application form at

http://www.tsop.org/tsopjoin.htm


5

NEWS from the March 2003Mid-Year Council Meeting

reported by David GlickTreasury:In the interest of fiscal conservatism, some funds weremoved from the stock fund to the bond fund.

AGI member society dues are now based on worldwidestipulated membership (rather than North America as in thepast), so our total bill has increased from $224 to $410.

Internet:Registration of our web site domain name, tsop.org, hasbeen paid for three years, to December 2005.

Promotional Activities:The promotional brochure for TSOP will be reviewed byCouncil and members (by June 1) and will be updated byAugust, 2003.

A 2003 meeting brochure has been distributed at meetingsof other societies and will be placed on the web site.

TSOP’s Committee for Promotion of Coal Science wasdiscussed and its activities expanded (see article, page 4).

OperationsTSOP’s existing Procedures Manual has been fullycomputerized; it will undergo evaluation and revision byCouncil and committee chairs.

Joe Curiale was added as the newest member of theHonorary Member Committee.

TSOP has nominated Professor Isaac Kaplan for AGI’s IanCampbell Medal.

Discussion on changing the TSOP President’s term to twoyears continued. The membership will again be asked forcomments.

TSOP is contributing to production of AGI’s ‘GeoscienceCareers’ brochure, directed towards undergraduatestudents considering majors in the geological sciences.

President-Elect Bob Finkelman will attend the AGILeadership Forum May 19-20 in Washington, DC. He willalso be a reviewer of AGI’s brochure “Coal and theEnvironment,” currently being written by a team whichincludes several TSOP members. e

International Journal of Coal GeologyNew Manuscript Procedure

As of April 1, 2003, manuscripts for the journalshould be submitted directly to:

Jim HowerEditor, International Journal of Coal GeologyUniversity of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research2540 Research Park DriveLexington, KY 40511USA

Questions can be directed to Jim at the aboveaddress, or at 859-257-0261 (phone), 859-257-0360 (fax),or [email protected]. The Elsevier guide for authors can be found athttp://authors.elsevier.com/GuideForAuthors.html?PubID=503337

e e e e e

Moore Moves

Past TSOP President Tim Moore has moved jobs tothe NZ Government owned coal company Solid EnergyNew Zealand (SENZ). His new position will be asResearch Manager looking for new technologies foralternative uses of coal and coal gas. Initial projects willbe coalbed methane, biomass, hydrogen from coal, acidmine drainage research and CO2 sequestrationinvestigations.

SENZ is a small exporter on the world market, butbecause of the niche markets it does hold, the coal returnsexcellent prices. Currently the coal is exported to Japan,India, Chile, several European ports and the US. The coalis used ask coke, char, carbon fibre and carbon filters.SENZ has an annual turnover of over $NZ230 million andlast years' profits were over $NZ38 million. SENZ has aresearch budget of over $NZ1 million. Tim's new job willbe to oversee short, medium and long term strategies toidentify technologies gaps, develop programmes to fillthose gaps and then take those results and apply them.

Tim also retains his Senior Fellow position at theDepartment of Geological Sciences, University ofCanterbury, Christchurch. As SENZ's liaison with theUniversity, he will continue lecturing on petroleum andcoal and supervising graduate students. e


6

Photometry Systems for Organic Petrologists Available from

A.S. & Co. GmbHby Maria Mastalerz

I was recently contacted by a representative of A.S. & Co.GmbH company in Munich, Germany, who informed methat since 1999 they have been manufacturing photometrysystems for vitrinite reflectance and fluorescencequantification. This could be great news for many organicpetrologists whose equipment is getting old and needs tobe replaced. Here is what they said: “Starting in 1999with special microscope solutions for material and lifescience we were asked to configure hard- and software forvitrinite reflection according to DIN / ISO but also formaturation measurements and fluorescence quantification.Based on our knowledge about the Zeiss UMSP and MPMseries and a close cooperation with partners frommicroscopy, spectroscopy and service departments we areoffering different setups and packages for:

C servicing existing instruments as long as requiredspare parts are available;

C upgrading existing units with new PC andspectroscopy technology;

C vitrinite reflection measurement configurationsaccording to DIN/ISO 7405/5 advice;

C fast UV-VIS microscope spectrometer based oncooled CCD technology, combined with highresolution holographic gratings;

C modern software packages for Microsoft Windowswhich enable data processing and valuation(distribution histograms, red / green ratio,fluorescence alteration, etc.);

C possibilities to exchange data easily with homemadeor optional available evaluation software via ASCII;

C digital still video documentationfor reporting purposes;

C 2 dimensional image acquisitionfor quantitative grain, form andstructure analysis.”

“We see our strength inindividual customised solutions whichupgrade existing equipment or offercompletely new workstations. Due toprogress in sensor technology itis possible to combine the 546nmsignal detection for vitrinite and spectral fluorescence analysis in one instrument, somaturation studies as well as component quantification canbe displayed now in one procedure. Furthermore different

fluorescence excitations between 380nm and 490nm allownew differentiation possibilities separating spore specieswhen monochromator illumination is attachedadditionally.”

Those interested in getting more information about theirproducts could visit their web site:http://www.as-und-co.de, or contact:

Hartmut Althoff Tel.: +49 89 24 20 998 -0A.S. & Co. GmbH Fax.: +49 89 24 20 998 -19Pfisterstr. 7D 80331 München GERMANY

Axiovert with A.S. & Co. System. Photo by Dr.M.Misz, Silesian

University; provided by J.H. Nuske, A.G. & Co.

Left: Fluorescence spectra at 365 nm (left peak) and 485 nm

(right peak) excitation; Right: Vitrinite reflectance histogram. By

Dr.Ch. Hartkopf-Froeder, Geologisches Landesamt NRW;

provided by J. H. Nuske, A.S. & Co.


7

2003 TSOP MeetingWashington, DC, USA

September 21 - 24, 2003By the Meeting Committee

The Abstract Deadline has been EXTENDED to May 15. Do notmiss this opportunity to get your abstract into this program.

Please plan to attend and to present a paper or poster.The meeting web site has frequent updates, such as a newtwo-page color brochure, as well as complete meetingdetails, abstract submission, and registration instructions:http://www.tsop.org/mtgdc.htm

MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

SHORT COURSES

* Health Impacts of Coal: Should We Be Concerned?

* Modes of Occurrence of Trace Elements in Coal

* Petroleum Source Rocks and Coal in the National Petroleum

Reserve in Alaska (NPRA) - A Core Workshop

TECHNICAL SESSIONS

* Petroleum Systems, Source Rocks, and Coalbed Gas Session

* Ron Stanton Coal Characterization Session

* Energy and Government Session

* General Submission Session

* Poster Session

FIELD TRIPS

* Geology and Energy Resources of the Triassic Basins of

Northern Virginia

* Smithsonian Natural History Museum Guided Tour

Best Student Paper Award

Authors And Presenters:Abstract Submission Information

New Deadline: May 15, 2003

We encourage you to take the opportunity to make apresentation, either as an oral presentation or as a poster.The oral presentations are scheduled for 25 minutes,including some minutes for questions.

Please enclose a copy of your abstract on a diskette(Word, WordPerfect) or send an email with the abstractattached to:

Linda Bragg Phone: +1 (703) 648-6451U. S. Geological Survey Fax: +1 (703) 648-641912201 Sunrise Valley Drive E-mail: [email protected] Stop 956Reston VA 20192 USA

Outstanding Student Paper

A competition for Outstanding Student Paper will beheld; the prize is $250. The paper may be presented eitherin an oral technical session or as a poster, and will bejudged on both technical content and presentation /delivery. Requirements (from the Procedures Manual) are:a. The student should be a TSOP member in good standing.b. The subject presented must have been initiated by the student

and completed while the presenter was a student.c. To be considered a student, a person should be actively

enrolled at a college or university at the time of thepresentation or have been enrolled within twelve monthsprior to the presentation. The student should be pursuing acollege or university degree as his/her primary professionalactivity and not working in a professional capacity whilepursuing a graduate degree at the same time.

d. If a paper has multiple authors, the student must be the seniorauthor and the presenter.

e. The award will not be given unless a minimum of threestudent papers are presented. If none of the student papersmeets a minimum standard, as determined by the AwardsCommittee, no award may be given.

Meeting Schedule

Sunday, September 21, 2003 0715 - 0830 Conference Registration - Meeting time

for BUS to USGS for Short Course B 0830 - 1200 Short Courses A and B 1200 - 1300 Lunch - OPEN 1300 - 1630 Short Courses C and B (cont.) 1800 - 2000 Ice Breaker Reception - Hyatt Arlington

(James Madison High School Orchestra) 1800 - 2000 Dinner - OPEN 2000 - 2400 Council meeting - Hyatt Arlington

Monday, September 22, 2003 0730 Conference Registration 0800 - 1130 Technical Session A: Petroleum Systems

Source Rocks, and Coalbed Gas 1200 - 1330 Lunch - TSOP Business Lunch 1330 - 1730 Technical Session B:

TSOP General Session 1730 - 1900 Happy Hour Poster Session

(James Madison High School Orchestra) 1900 - 2030 Conference Dinner - TSOP Banquet 2030 - 2400 Council meeting - Hyatt Arlington


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Tuesday, September 23, 2003 0730 Conference Registration 0800 - 1130 Technical Session C:

Ron Stanton Coal Characterization Session 1200 - 1330 Lunch - Light Lunch, Poster Session 1330 - 1730 Technical Session D:

Energy and Government Session 1900 - 2030 Dinner - OPEN Wednesday, September 24, 2003

0800 - 1730 Field Trip A: Geology and Energy Resources of the Triassic Basins of Northern Virginia

0900 - 1200 Field Trip B: Smithsonian NaturalHistory Museum Guided Tour

We are planning social activities for spouses and wewill be updating the web site with that information plusentertainment and site-seeing opportunities in theWashington, D.C. area.

Housing Information

Accommodations are in the Hyatt Arlington at 1325Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia, 22209. The hotelwill hold a block of rooms for reservations startingSeptember 20 until September 25. Check in time will be3:00 PM and check out time will be 12:00 PM. Thecontracted room rate is $150 for a single and $175 for adouble.

Reservations: Individual Reservations -- Each individualguest must make their own reservations online at http://arlington.hyatt.com/groupbooking/usgsor by calling +1 (800) 233-1234. Individual must identifyhim (her)-self as a member TSOP or an attendee of theTSOP meeting to receive the group's special rate. Allreservations must be guaranteed and accompanied by afirst night room deposit or guaranteed with a major creditcard.

Travel Information for the Washington, D.C. Area

Three airports serve the Washington, D.C. area.Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is theairport that is closest to the Hyatt Arlington. Internationaltravelers should use Washington Dulles InternationalAirport (IAD), which is closest to the USGS office inReston, VA or Baltimore-Washington InternationalAirport (BWI).

We will gather more travel and transportationinformation and post to the web page as we get it. Checkthe related links for each airport for ground transportationinformation to help you get from the airport to the HyattArlington (conference hotel). We will try to get as muchground transportation related information, phone numbersand costs up on the web pages as we can but we can notpredict everyone’s needs. If you need help, please feel freeto contact us.

International Visitors

If you need a personal letter of invitation to obtaintravel funds or a USA visa, please indicate on the bottomof your registration form that you wish to have such aletter. You can also e-mail the meeting Chairperson [email protected] and request such a letter in advanceof mailing in your registration. All non-immigrant visaholders are advised to have health and accident insurancethat covers the time they will be in the USA. J-1 and J-2visa holders are required by law to have this insurance,which must be set at least to a minimum of $50,000 peraccident or illness and include medical evacuation andrepatriation of remains. Your travel agent can assist youwith obtaining this insurance coverage. It is recommendedthat you obtain sufficient US currency for your trip beforedeparture. However, there are currency exchange facilitiesat all three Washington, D.C. area airports.

SHORT COURSES

Petroleum Source Rocks and Coal in theNational Petroleum Reserve in Alaska

A Core Workshop

The USGS archives cores from about 60 explorationwells drilled in and near NPRA during the past 50 years.This workshop will feature cores selected from that archiveto illustrate key attributes of the main petroleum and coalsystems of the region. Petroleum systems with principalsource rocks in the Triassic (Shublik), Jurassic (Kingak),and Cretaceous (HRZ), and coal systems in theMississippian (Endicott) and Cretaceous (Nanushuk) willbe emphasized. The workshop will focus on sequencestratigraphy and sedimentology of source rocks and coal,as well as closely related reservoir and seal facies. Coresillustrating the emerging Alpine play, which includes arecent 400+ million barrel discovery just outside NPRA,will be featured. Limit: 30 participants.


9

Instructor: David W. Houseknecht works on Alaska NorthSlope basin analysis and petroleum resource assessmentand has organized and led three previous NPRA coreworkshops.

Dave Houseknecht Phone (703) 648-6466U.S. Geological Survey E-mail: [email protected] National CenterReston, VA 20192

Health Impacts of Coal: Should We Be Concerned?

This short course will sort out the facts and fallaciesthat have been interwoven in this sensitive issue. We willexplore questions such as: Are there confirmed cases ofhealth problems? Under what conditions would coalpresent a threat to human health? What properties of coalare most dangerous? What can the coal sciencecommunity do about it?

8:30 Welcome, Introductions, Course Summary --(Finkelman, Bunnell) 45 minutes

8:45 Health Impacts of Coal: Facts and Fallacies --(Finkelman) 1 hour

9:45 Break10:00 Health Impacts of Residential Coal Use in China

-- (Finkelman) 1 hour11:00 Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN) --

(Bunnell) 45 minutes11:45 Summary and Questions -- (Finkelman, Bunnell)

15 minutes

Synopsis of Lectures:

Health Impacts of Coal: Facts and Fallacies -- This lecturewill provide an overview of the issue. We will discusssituations in which health problems have been confirmedand where the health impacts of coal have been distorted.We will briefly review the current situation with regard tomercury in coal.

Health Impacts of Residential Coal Use in China -- Wewill discuss arsenism and fluorosis in China.

Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN) -- A summary of therelationship between BEN and the leaching of organiccompounds from lignites.

Instructors:

Robert B. Finkelman, (703) 648-6412; [email protected]

Bob Finkelman has worked for the USGS for 30 yearsinterrupted by 7 years as a staff scientist with ExxonCorporation. For the past 25 years he has been involvedwith various coal quality issues. During the last 10 yearshe has focused attention on the health impacts of geologicmaterials including coal. He has conducted research onBalkan endemic nephropathy in Yugoslavia and Romania.He has worked extensively in China on arsenism andfluorosis caused by residential coal combustion.

Joseph E. Bunnell, (703) 648-6497; [email protected]

Joe Bunnell has worked as a public health researchbiologist for the Energy Resources Team at USGS sinceearning his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins UniversityMedical Institutions in 1999. He has conducted researchon BEN in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria, a possiblesimilar situation in the USA, and is investigatingrespiratory health effects of coal combustion in the NavajoNation.

Modes of Occurrence of Trace Elements in Coal

This short course will focus on modes of occurrenceof trace elements in coal and the importance of traceelements in the overall context of coal quality. Emphasiswill be placed on those elements of technological,economic, and environmental significance. We will reviewthe current state of knowledge and describe state-of-the-artmethods for quantifying element modes of occurrence incoal.

1:00 Introduction and Housekeeping (Kolker) 15 minutes

1:15 Coal Formation and Diagenesis(Ruppert) 30 minutes

1:45 Coal Mineralogy and Mineral Chemistry(Kolker) 30 minutes

2:15 Overview of Bulk Analytical Methods and USGS Selective Leaching Procedure(Palmer) 45 minutes

3:00 Break 15 minutes3:15 Overview of Microanalysis and

Spectroscopic Methods(Kolker) 30 minutes

3:45 Coal-use Issues and Case Studies(Kolker) 45 minutes


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Instructors:

Allan Kolker, (703) 648-6418; [email protected]

Allan Kolker conducts research in the areas of coalgeochemistry, trace elements, environmental geochemistry,application of microbeam analytical instruments, andgeochemical health issues. Recent work includes ionmicroprobe analysis of metals in U.S. coals, studies ofarsenic in ground water in southeastern Michigan, andwork on the geochemistry of metal-enriched coals in theDonbass region of Ukraine. Allan served on the Geologyfaculty at the University of Nebraska prior to joining theU.S. Geological Survey in 1996. He holds a Ph.D. ingeochemistry from the State University of New York atStony Brook, which was followed by postdoctoral work ontrace metals in coal at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Leslie Ruppert, (703) 648-6431; [email protected]

Leslie (Jingle) Ruppert has been involved in coal-relatedstudies at the U.S. Geological Survey for more than 20years. Jingle has published extensively in the areas of coalquality and coal resource assessment. Most recently, sheserved as Project Chief for the Appalachian portion of theNational Coal Resource Assessment. She has served inleadership roles in the Geological Society of America CoalGeology Division, the Executive Committee of thePittsburgh Coal Conference, and the Editorial Board of theInternational Journal of Coal Geology. She holds an M.S.in Geology from The George Washington University.

Curtis Palmer, (703) 648-6185; [email protected]

Curtis Palmer is a Research Chemist at the U.S. GeologicalSurvey, where he has more than 20 years of experience.He has authored over 100 publications in coalgeochemistry and analytical geochemistry. Curtis hasspecial expertise in the area of Instrumental NeutronActivation Analysis (INAA) and its application to coalsamples. He helped develop the selective chemicalleaching procedures for coal used at the U.S. GeologicalSurvey. Curtis holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry fromWashington State University.

FIELD TRIPS

Geology and Energy Resources of the Triassic Basins of Northern Virginia

The TSOP field trip (Wednesday, September 24, allday) will visit the Triassic coal mining district nearRichmond, Virginia. Triassic-age coal was discovered andfirst mined for domestic needs in this area by Huguenotsettlers during Colonial times (1703), and the resourcebecame an important source of energy in the region duringthe 1800s. The mines were commonly gassy and the stratawere faulted, so that mining conditions were difficult aswell as primitive.

The field trip will visit exposures that illustrate thestratigraphy of the Richmond Triassic Basin, as well as theavailable remnants of old mine workings. There may be atraverse of moderate length and difficulty. A discussion ofthe geology and energy resources of the Triassic Basins ofNorthern Virginia will be presented.

Cost, including van, lunch, and publications - $50.00.Limit – 25 people.

For information, contact :

Bob Milici Phone: +1 (703) 648-6541U. S. Geological Survey Fax: +1 (703) 648-641912201 Sunrise Valley Drive E-mail: [email protected] Stop 956Reston VA 20192 USA ORPeter Warwick Phone: +1 (703) 648-6469U. S. Geological Survey Fax: +1 (703) 648-641912201 Sunrise Valley Drive E-mail:[email protected] Stop 956Reston VA 20192 USA

Tour of the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum

On Wednesday September 24 we will arrange ahalf-day guided tour of the Smithsonian's Natural HistoryMuseum located on the Mall in Washington, D.C. This isyour chance to see parts of the museum and collections notaccessible to the general public. Metro transportationtickets will be provided to the registrants. 09:00 - 12:00 hr,Limit 25.

For information, contact Peter Warwick (see above) e


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TSOP PUBLICATIONS


(includes shipping)

1. Fluoreszenz von Liptiniten und Vitriniten in Beziehung zu Inkohlungsgrad und $10 Verkokungsverhalten - (in German with photomicrographs) M. Teichmüller, 19822. Fluorescence - microscopical changes of liptinites and vitrinites during coalification $ 5 and their relationship to bitumen generation and coking behavior, TSOP Special

Publication No. I (English translation by Neely Bostick, without photomicrographs) M. Teichmüller, 19843. Influence of Kerogen Isolation Methods on Petrographic and Bulk Chemical Composition $20

of a Woodford Shale Sample, TSOP Research Committee Report, October 19894. Fluorescence Microscopy Workshop Lecture Notes, 1989 TSOP Meeting Sold Out5. Organic Geochemistry, 2nd TSOP Meeting, Houston, TX, 1985; Vol. 11, No. 5, 1987 $ 56. Organic Geochemistry, 3rd TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1986; Vol. 12, No. 4, 1988 $ 5 7. Organic Geochemistry, 4th TSOP Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 1987; Vol. 14, No. 3, 1989 $ 5 8. Organic Geochemistry, 5th TSOP Meeting, Houston, TX, 1988; Vol. 17, No. 2, 1991 $10 9. Organic Geochemistry, 6th TSOP Meeting, Urbana, IL, 1989; Vol. 17, No. 4, 1991 $10 10. Organic Geochemistry, 7th TSOP Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, 1990; Vol. 18, No. 3, 1992 $10 11. Organic Geochemistry, 8th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1991; Vol. 20, No. 2, 1993 $10 12. 8th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, Lexington, KY, 1991 $ 513. Organic Geochemistry, 10th TSOP Meeting, Norman, OK, 1993; Vol. 22, No. 1, 1994 $10 14. Energy & Fuels, ACS symposium on kerogen/macerals; Vol. 8, No. 6, 1994 $1015. 12th TSOP Meeting Field Trip Guidebook, The Woodlands, TX, 1995 $ 516. Organic Geochemistry, 11th TSOP Meeting, Jackson, WY, 1994; Vol. 24, No. 2, 1996 $3517. International Journal of Coal Geology (IJCG), 12th TSOP Meeting, The Woodlands, TX, 1995; Vol. 34, Nos. 3-4, 1997 $1518. IJCG, 13th TSOP Meeting, Carbondale, IL, 1996;Vol. 37, Nos. 1-2, 1998 Sold Out19. IJCG, Special Issue: Appalachian Coalbed Methane; Vol. 38, Nos. 1-2, 1998 $2020. IJCG, 14th TSOP Meeting, Lexington, KY, 1997;Vol. 39, Nos. 1-3, 1999 $2521. IJCG, Special Issue: Applied Topics in Coal Geology; Vol. 41, Nos. 1-2, 1999 $2522. IJCG, 15th TSOP Meeting, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1998; Vol. 43, Nos. 1-4, 2000 $2523. IJCG, 16th TSOP Meeting, Snowbird, Utah, 1999; Vol. 46, Nos. 2-4, 2001 $2524. IJCG, 17th TSOP Meeting, Bloomington, Indiana, 2000; Vol. 47, Nos. 3-4, 2001 $25

Please complete a TSOP Publications Order Form. Make checks payable to TSOP. Send orders to:

Brian J. Cardott Oklahoma Geological Survey telephone: 405/ 325-3031100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 fax: 405/ 325-7069Norman, OK 73019-0628 email: [email protected]. We accept checks, MasterCard, Visa, and money orders.


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Publications Order Form Send to: Brian J. Cardott telephone: 405 325-3031

Oklahoma Geological Survey fax: 405 325-7069100 E. Boyd St., Rm. N-131 email: [email protected], OK 73019-0628 USA


Total Order US $ Method of Payment1) Cash, check or money order in U.S. Dollars. Receipts are sent for all cash payments. Checks and money ordersshould be made payable to TSOP and must be drawn from a bank in the U.S.A. TSOP assumes no responsibilityfor cash lost in mail.2) International money orders (postal orders) can be drawn in U.S. funds for a very small fee and are availablefrom post offices in many countries. Make the money orders payable to TSOP and send to Brian Cardott at theabove address. 3) Credit Card: Please complete the following form, being certain to enter the name exactly as it appears on thecard. Please enter your billing address. Mail completed form to Brian Cardott at the above address. Payment isin U.S. Dollars. Please print clearly!!!

Name on Card:_________________________________________________

Card Number:__________________________________________________ Card Expiration:

Street Address:_________________________________________________ Month ___________ Year _________

City:_________________________________________________________

State/Province:_________________________________________________ Card Type: (Please check one)

Postal Code:___________________________________________________ ~ Master Card ~ Visa

Country:______________________________________________________ Signature _______________________


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Solution to last issue’s puzzleCOALFIELDS OF THE WORLDby an anonymous contributor

ACROSS2. Widely exported coals from Colombia4. Carboniferous lignite7. World class producer of subbituminous coal in western Great Plains (USA)9. Great Plains (USA) lignite11. Turkish Tertiary lignite12. Tierra del Fuego13. Coalbed methane producer in Alabama16. New South Wales major basin17. Republic of South Africa

18. In the Rockies of British Columbia19. Carboniferous of Poland20. Southern Wyoming22. Major basin in Central Appalachians23. “Barkinite” locality24. Major producer in Venezuela25. English coalfield26. Utah Cretaceous27. South Island of New Zealand28. Home of the Pittsburgh coal bed

DOWN1. Major field in the Ukraine3. Coalfield of Zola’s Germinal5. Permian of Queensland6. Tertiary of Washington8. Pennsylvanian of Germany10. Spanish low rank14. Saskatchewan lignite15. Westphalian of France18. Triassic basin in Queensland21. Home of some of the earliest reptiles25. Brazilian Gondwana


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OILFIELDS OF THE WORLDa crossword puzzle by an anonymous contributor

ACROSS5. BP-Amoco ancestor7. Family of oil, explosives & prizes8. California field10. Central Appalachian gas field14. Well-logging service company15. Exxon-Mobil predecessor17. Brazilian company20. Multi-national European field24. Iraqi oil field city26. New York / Pennsylvania oil field27. Louisiana island known for Tabasco sauce

28. Alaska north slope30. Brazilian basin32. Home of AAPG33. Megagiant, object of 1991 war36. Australian strait37. South African coal to oil39. Strategic strait

DOWN1. Utah CBM field2. VP Cheney’s former company3. West African oil producing country4. East Texas gusher6. Site of Col. Drake’s well9. Venezuela lake11. Alberta tar sands

12. US Gulf Coast Jurassic formation13. Mexican gulf15. Rockefeller’s company16. Cartel of oil-producing countries18. Mexican national company19. Mexican oil field21. Standard Oil “biographer”22. New Mexico CBM field23. Oklahoma basin25. George W. Bush’s former company26. Libyan oil field city29. Gulf of Mexico salt formation31. Nova Scotian island34. Dome of Harding administration scandal35. Caspian city38. Southeast Asian sultanate

Be the first to submit a correctlycompleted oilfield puzzle to the Editor(page 3) by June 30, 2003, and win aTSOP coffee mug!


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Calendar of Events

May 5-9, 2003: 2003 International Coalbed MethaneSymposium, Tuscaloosa, Alabamahttp://bama.ua.edu/~coalbed/

May 11-14, 2003: AAPG Annual Convention, Energy:Our Monumental Task. Salt Lake City, Utah. Including History of Petroleum Geology Forum: Lessons fromDiscoveries. http://www.aapg.org/meetings/slc03/

May 12 -16, 2003: Fourth Geofluids Conference on fluidevolution, migration and interaction in sedimentarybasins and orogenic belts, organized by the NetherlandsInstitute of Applied Geoscience TNO-NationalGeological Survey. In Utrecht, The Netherlands, at thecampus of Utrecht University. See http://www.nitg.tno.nl

May 21-22, 2003: South Louisiana PetroleumExploration Symposium, Marriott Hotel, New Orleans,LA, USA , by the New Orleans Geological Society. http://www.nogs.org

May 26 - 30, 2003: The Fifth International Symposiumon Applied Isotope Geochemistry(AIG-5), P&O Resort,Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland 4680,Australia. See http://www.chem.mq.edu.au/aig-5

June 10, 2003: 4th Annual Coalbed Methane Symposium,Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and RockyMountain PTTC, Denver, CO.http ://www.rmag.org/cbm_2003.pdf

June 11-14, 2003: Geology and Stratigraphy of Coals ofthe Frontier through Almond Formations in the RockSprings-Kemmerer, Wyoming Area, Rock SpringsWyoming, Denver, CO, USA , by the Rocky MountainAssociation of Geologists and PTTC.http://www.rmag.org A 4 day field geology course in southwestern

Wyoming sponsored by the Rocky MountainAssociation of Geologists and lead by John Horne,AAPG distinguished lecturer.

August 10 - 16, 2003: 55th Annual Meeting of ICCP,The International Committee for Coal and OrganicPetrology, Utrecht, The Netherlands. See http:// www.nitg.tno.nl/eng/55iccp.shtml

August 10 - 16, 2003: XV International Congress onCarboniferous and Permian Stratigraphy (XV ICC-P),Utrecht, The Netherlands. Seehttp://www.nitg.tno.nl/eng/iccp.shtmlTheme: 'Permo-Carboniferous around the SouthernNorth Sea Basin'.

September 7-11, 2003 226th ACS National Meeting New York, New York, including symposia:Geochemistry DivisionCO2 sequestration: advanced technologies for predictingand monitoring isolation performancehttp://membership.acs.org/g/geoc/upcoming.html

Division of Fuel ChemistryEnvironmental Issues in Fossil Fuel Utilization (TraceMetals, PM, PAHs) http://oasys.acs.org/acs/226nm/fuel/program.html

Sept. 15 - 19, 2003: 20th International Pittsburgh CoalConference, Westin - Convention Center in Pittsburgh,PA. http://www.engrng.pitt.edu/~pccwww/

Sept. 21 - 24, 2003: 20th Annual TSOP Meeting, TSOP 2003, Washington, D.C. Area (Arlington, Virginia,USA). See page 7 andhttp://www.tsop.org/mtgdc.htm

October 20 - 22, 2003: International Ash UtilizationSymposium, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. See http://www.flyash.org

Nov. 2-5, 2003: Geological Society of America AnnualMeeting and Exposition, Seattle, Washington. Including Topical Session 119, Revisiting theBiogeochemistry of Black Shales and Oxygen-DeficientMarine Environments. http://www.geosociety.org/meetings/2003/

2004Sept. 27 - Oct. 1, 2004: 21st Annual TSOP Meeting,TSOP Organic Matter Down Under, Sydney, Australia. See page 2 and http://www.tsop.org/mtgsyd.htm


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Photo Gallery

Comparison of white-light (A) and blue-light (B) illumination as a means ofdetecting subtle forms of weathering observed in this bituminous coal(Clarion Seam) from Pennsylvania. Observe the lower fluorescenceemissions along fracture surfaces and particle edges in blue light, whereaslittle evidence of weathering is apparent from the white-light image. Field ofview equals 290 microns across. Photo by Gary Mitchell.

Documents

THE SOCIETY FOR ORGANIC PETROLOGY NEWSLETTERtsop.org/newsletters/1999_2002.pdfDr. Richard V. Tyson - Lecturer in Organic Petrology and Palynology at the University of Newcastle, UK