Microconstituents and Depositional Environment of Lower Gondwana Coals of Tatapani-Ramkola Coalfield, Surguja District, Chattisgarh

The microconstituents of Lower Gondwana coals,of Tatapani-Ramkola basin have been studied in detail. It has been observed that besides maceral composition, the mineral matter is also significant in deciphering the depositional environment of coals. The morphological characteristics of these entities along with their quantitative representation have been utilized for the interpretation of petrofacies. On the basis of petrofacies, it is suggested that the vegetal matter mainly deposited dominantly under oxic dry mire conditions, often affected by high tloods formed the bulk of Lower Gondwana coals of Tatapani-Ramkola basin. However, some coals seem to have formed under wet mire system with intermittent moderate to high floods. It is also indicated that the development of coal seams was initiated as limnic peat facies, which later changed into limnotelmatic reed moor, telmatic reed moor and forest moor.