Chapter 10
Sulfur and Pyrite in Precursors for Coal and Associated Rocks A Reconnaissance Study of Three Modern Sites 1
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A. M. Bailey , J . F. Sherrill , J. H. Blackson , and E. C. Kosters 1
Geology Department, University of Southwestern Louisiana, Box 44530, Lafayette, LA 70504 Ebasco Services, Inc., Greensboro, NC 27407 Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI 48667 Department of Geology, University of Utrecht, P.O. Box 80, 021, 3508, TA, Utrecht, Netherlands 2
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Downloaded by MIT on February 25, 2013 | http://pubs.acs.org Publication Date: June 29, 1990 | doi: 10.1021/bk-1990-0429.ch010
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Investigations have been undertaken on sulfur in recent sediments from known settings in south Louisiana to determine controlling factors for sulfur in coals and associated shales. These sediments range in organic contentfrompeats to clays and have been subjected to different degrees of marine incursion. Resultsfromchemicalstudies show a general increase of total sulfur with both marine incursion and organic matter. Partitioning of this sulfur varies with organic content. In clays most of the sulfur is pyritic, while in organic-rich samples organic sulfur is generally dominant, or present in concentrations approximately equal to pyritic sulfur. Results from petrographic studies show that pyrite occurs as individual crystals in all samples examined and as framboidal aggregates. In addition, rounded clouds of fine particles with diameters of
