The Upper Hance coal bed in Southeastern Kentucky: Palynologic, geochemical, and petrographic evidence for environmental succession

The Upper Hance coal bed in Bell County, eastern Kentucky exhibits considerable variation in depositional setting on a mine scale. Palynology and geochemistry of the coal are examined in order to supplement previous petrographic examinations. The various depositional settings of the Upper Hance mire progress from the pioneer, possibly partially allochthonous, settings at the mire margins and base; to the well-developed, planar to domed main body of the mire; and finally to the terminal events of flooding, clastic influx, and temporary reestablishment of mires now seen as the thin rider coals. Palynologic diversity generally decreases upwards from the basal lithotype through the main body of the coal bed. The cannel and rider lithologies represent distinct depositional events.