Rare earth minerals in a “no tonstein” section of the Dean (Fire Clay) coal, Knox County, Kentucky

James C. Hower; Debora Berti; Michael F. Hochella; Sarah M. Mardon

doi:10.1016/j.coal.2018.05.001

Rare earth minerals in a “no tonstein” section of the Dean (Fire Clay) coal, Knox County, Kentucky

James C. Hower, Debora Berti, Michael F. Hochella, Sarah M. Mardon

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Dean (Fire Clay) coal in Knox County, Kentucky, does not contain the megascopically-visible ash-fall tonstein present in most other sections of the coal bed. Like the Fire Clay tonstein, a low-ash portion of the coal is enriched in rare earth elements (>2400 ppm, on ash basis). In addition to kaolinite produced in the diagenesis of volcanic glass, transmission electron microscopy studies indicate the coal contains primary kaolinite, La–Ce–Nd–Th monazite, barium niobate, native gold, and Fe–Ni–Cr spinels. The mineral assemblages, particularly the kaolinite-monazite association and its similarity to the tonsteins in coal to the east, demonstrate the coal was subject to the REE-enriched volcanic ash fall, apparently just at a more dilute level than at locations where the tonstein is present.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	73-86
Number of pages	14
Journal	International Journal of Coal Geology
Volume	193
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coal.2018.05.001
State	Published - Jun 1 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier B.V.

Funding

This work used shared facilities at the Virginia Tech National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NanoEarth), a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), supported by NSF ( ECCS 1542100 ). This work was supported by National Science Foundation CBET-1510861 the University of Kentucky . Panpan Xie, Jingjing Liu, and Biao Fu participated in discussions about the nature of the sample. We thank guest editor Allan Kolker and journal editor Shifeng Dai; the two anonymous reviewers of the original version; and first-revision reviewer Ryan McAleer and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by National Science Foundation CBET-1510861 the University of Kentucky. Panpan Xie, Jingjing Liu, and Biao Fu participated in discussions about the nature of the sample. We thank guest editor Allan Kolker and journal editor Shifeng Dai; the two anonymous reviewers of the original version; and first-revision reviewer Ryan McAleer and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments on the manuscript.

Funders	Funder number
National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure
National Science Foundation CBET-1510861 the University of Kentucky
Virginia Tech National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program	CBET-1510861, 1510861, ECCS 1542100
National Science Foundation Arctic Social Science Program
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
University of Kentucky
National Stroke Foundation

Keywords

Clay
Gold
Lanthanides
Monazite
Volcanism

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Fuel Technology
Geology
Economic Geology
Stratigraphy

Access to Document

10.1016/j.coal.2018.05.001

Cite this

@article{7974d9ee595842f9bb37a84f837f5814,

title = "Rare earth minerals in a “no tonstein” section of the Dean (Fire Clay) coal, Knox County, Kentucky",

abstract = "The Dean (Fire Clay) coal in Knox County, Kentucky, does not contain the megascopically-visible ash-fall tonstein present in most other sections of the coal bed. Like the Fire Clay tonstein, a low-ash portion of the coal is enriched in rare earth elements (>2400 ppm, on ash basis). In addition to kaolinite produced in the diagenesis of volcanic glass, transmission electron microscopy studies indicate the coal contains primary kaolinite, La–Ce–Nd–Th monazite, barium niobate, native gold, and Fe–Ni–Cr spinels. The mineral assemblages, particularly the kaolinite-monazite association and its similarity to the tonsteins in coal to the east, demonstrate the coal was subject to the REE-enriched volcanic ash fall, apparently just at a more dilute level than at locations where the tonstein is present.",

keywords = "Clay, Gold, Lanthanides, Monazite, Volcanism",

author = "Hower, {James C.} and Debora Berti and Hochella, {Michael F.} and Mardon, {Sarah M.}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2018 Elsevier B.V.",

year = "2018",

month = jun,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.coal.2018.05.001",

language = "English",

volume = "193",

pages = "73--86",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Rare earth minerals in a “no tonstein” section of the Dean (Fire Clay) coal, Knox County, Kentucky

AU - Hower, James C.

AU - Berti, Debora

AU - Hochella, Michael F.

AU - Mardon, Sarah M.

PY - 2018/6/1

Y1 - 2018/6/1

N2 - The Dean (Fire Clay) coal in Knox County, Kentucky, does not contain the megascopically-visible ash-fall tonstein present in most other sections of the coal bed. Like the Fire Clay tonstein, a low-ash portion of the coal is enriched in rare earth elements (>2400 ppm, on ash basis). In addition to kaolinite produced in the diagenesis of volcanic glass, transmission electron microscopy studies indicate the coal contains primary kaolinite, La–Ce–Nd–Th monazite, barium niobate, native gold, and Fe–Ni–Cr spinels. The mineral assemblages, particularly the kaolinite-monazite association and its similarity to the tonsteins in coal to the east, demonstrate the coal was subject to the REE-enriched volcanic ash fall, apparently just at a more dilute level than at locations where the tonstein is present.

AB - The Dean (Fire Clay) coal in Knox County, Kentucky, does not contain the megascopically-visible ash-fall tonstein present in most other sections of the coal bed. Like the Fire Clay tonstein, a low-ash portion of the coal is enriched in rare earth elements (>2400 ppm, on ash basis). In addition to kaolinite produced in the diagenesis of volcanic glass, transmission electron microscopy studies indicate the coal contains primary kaolinite, La–Ce–Nd–Th monazite, barium niobate, native gold, and Fe–Ni–Cr spinels. The mineral assemblages, particularly the kaolinite-monazite association and its similarity to the tonsteins in coal to the east, demonstrate the coal was subject to the REE-enriched volcanic ash fall, apparently just at a more dilute level than at locations where the tonstein is present.

KW - Clay

KW - Gold

KW - Lanthanides

KW - Monazite

KW - Volcanism

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85046725219&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85046725219&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.coal.2018.05.001

DO - 10.1016/j.coal.2018.05.001

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85046725219

SN - 0166-5162

VL - 193

SP - 73

EP - 86

JO - International Journal of Coal Geology

JF - International Journal of Coal Geology

ER -

Rare earth minerals in a “no tonstein” section of the Dean (Fire Clay) coal, Knox County, Kentucky

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this