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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atra reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. ly errata >d to nt ne pelure, i^on A 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 42 ANALYSIS OF A PICTOU COAL SEAM — GILPIN. Geology of King's County." Trans. 1877-8. In my paper "On the Superficial Geology of Halifax and Colchester Counties," read last session, I recorded other investigations. In the present paper is a record of the last steps which I consider necessav\^ for the solution of the problem. By going beyoiid Nova Scctia, I have done more than I expected to accomplish. Art. v. — An Analysis of a Pictou Coal Seam. By Enwix Gilpin, Jr., A.M., F.G.S., M.R.S.C. Inspector of Mines. (Read April 9, 1883.) Through the courtesy of Mr, H. A. Budden, Vice-President of the Intercolonial Coal Mining Company, I am permitti'd to lay before you the following anal3'sis of a seam of coal, recently opened by them a( Westville, Pictou County. Through the kindness of Mr. Robert Simpsov, General Manager of the C(Mii- pany, who furnished me with a complete column of the seam, I was enabled to make a very careful and exact measurement of the various layers comprising the seam. The following is the section of the seam in inches and tenths of an inch, beginning at the top : — INCHES. INCH IS. Coal, coarse and shaley 5 4 " good, with two thin layers of shale, each l-20th of an inch thick. ... 4*4 " good, but coarse G • 7 Shale -2 " 1-7 Coal, good 6 ' 3 " shaley, with nodules of iron pyrites. '5 " good, with four bands of shale, up to one-half inch thick 1.4 Shale (1 AN. Coal, with it good. It coars a coars i( good (( i( it (( Shah J, with Coal, good. (( with it coars( it good, it with Shale ; Coal, gocJ. (C shale} it coarse ti shale\ a good. it coarst a good a good. few Shale Coal, good pyl This sucJ which I won I In no pc and size of Pictou Count section in wll hes and tenths ANALYSIS OF A PICTOU COAL SEAM — GILPIN. 43 Coal, with bands of shale " good " coarse and shaley " coarse " good " " with several fine layers of shale INCHES INCUES. •9 4-7 •8 •8 2.8 1-2 5-6 Shale, with films of calcspar 2 Coal, good 4*8 " with layers of shale 9 " coarse with nodules of iron pyrites 2'S " good, with films of calcspar 4*0 " with layers of shale 1 • 8 Shale -1 Coal, gocJ G-0 " shaley, with films of calcspar 3'0 " coarse, with spirorbis, etc 1 ■ " shaley '2 " good 9 8 " coarse, a few layeis of shale 2 " orood 20 " good, with films of calcspar, and a few nodules of iron pyrites 7*1 Shale Coal, good 13-2 " " with layers of shale 2 " " with a few nodules of iron pyrites 13 Total Coal 97-3 Shale 19-0 This succession of layers presents some points of interest on which I would say a few words. In no point do coal seams differ more than in the number and size of the included layers of sjiale. The Vale seam, in Pictou County, presents, at numerous points through the mine, a section in which no bands of shale can be dotecied. Other stjams 'v. M t i. i' ^ "1 li ^•* iii I 44 ANALYSIS OF A PICTOU COAL SEAM — GILPIN. contain them in varying proportions, sometimes to such an extent that the coal is rendered vahieless for economic purposes- Almost the only value these bands of shale possess, is their record of the progress of growth of the associated coal. Applying the record of the numerous small bands of shale and shaloy coal found in the seam under consideration, we learn that the growth of this deposit was not an uninteirupted one. Scarcely had the vegetation for a few inches of coal been accumulated, when a change took place, and it was covered by a layer of mud. It is useless, perhaps, now to speculate how tliis covering was formed, perchance the shelter of some bar was l.troken, and for a season the tides could deposit their buidon, or some name- less river of bygone days became obstructed and flooded the swamps, in which grew the weird vegetation of the carboni- ferous era. Then, again, the vegetation accumulated to bo once more interrupted. The presence of layer.s of coarse and shaloy coal .shows that the transition from a flourishing vegetation to a mud-laden flat was, in some cases, a gradual one, due, perhaps, to periodic inundations. Similarly the return to the conditions favourable to the growth of the coal plants was sometimes a slow one, as the struggle between land and water was year after year more and more in favour of the vegetation. Thus grew our coal deposits, subject to the fluctuations of the district, and when the miners pick thus reveals page after page of this wondrous history, it is not unreasonable to hope that some time they will be deciphered oven more readily and with greater certainty than the changes now progressing aionnd us. So far as I am aware, it is noticeable that in all seams the.se layers are composed of very fine material, that never have the conditions of growth been so abruptly altered as to allow gravel or conglomerate to intervene. Such inter- calations might, however, be observed in seams formed on the edges of .productive districts where changed physical conditions held sway. So strongly marked were the general conditions of V'ide spread levels of vegetation during the pro- ductive period, that we find, even when oscillations permitted ANALYSIS OF A PiCTOU COAL SEAM — GILPIN. 43 streams to cat through coal l)ed3, they carried only the finest sediments. An illustration of this recently came under my notice in the Cumberland district, where a brook of the cavboni' ferous period had eroded the coal down to and partly through the underclay, the " want" being filled with a fine laminated gray shale. Tiiis is also interesting, for from the abru])t passage from coal to shale it is apparent that even at that early date in the history of thefutui-e coal bed it must have acquired a certain amount of coherence, enough to form the banks of even a slug- gish stream. There is another interesting point in connection with coal seams which I have not yet seen referred to in any books on this subject. That is the influence of the water and land sur- rounding the coal producing district upon the puiit}'' and homo- geneity of the resulting coal bed. It is frequently found by the miner that, as he follows the seam, it changes its character. At first he was proud of the absence of " bands and balls" and of the facility with which he could supply pure coal. Gradually he finds that the bands of shale gi'ow larger with ominous persist- ence. At last he awakens to the fact that his coal is getting "boney ;" finallv it proves unmarketable, and ho turns his levels in another direction. Sometimes trial-pits and bore-holes in advance prove that the coal has become a mere mass of carbonaceous shale, or that the seam has ceased. These changes may frequently be explained by the proximity of the vegetation to an arm of the sea or to a river, so that the deposition of mud from floods, etc., at first slight, becomes greater, both in the form of bands, and of a general ^addition of clayey and silicious matter. Finally a point is reached where the conditions of coal deposition ceased. In some cases the proximity of land covered by sand, which was carried by prevailing winds upon the accumulating vegetation, may explain the presence of an excessive amount of ash in seams not holding bands of shale. It may also have been possible that both these causes united to the deterioration of seam"^, of coal. This would show that some of the beds were formed in what iiiight be termed broad shallow basins, in the centre of which is Sti* . i :.- it ■S-'+i 3 1?t " -sW-.v* - ^■\'M #1 I 11:!:, I!-' liti: 4G ANALYSIS OF A PICTOU COAL SEAM — GILPIN. found the purest coal, and that it gradually deteriorates each way. The presence of "barren" intervals is of importance, for much money has been spent in examining and proving these marginal districts, when a step further might have resulted in the discovery of workable beds. The coal from this seam presents a finely-laminated appear. ance, with a faiily bright lustre, and breaks readily along the deposition planes, which are of a dull black colour, and hold a good deal of mineral charcoal. It is strong and forms little dust or slack. The coal is divided by two cleavage planes, obliquely inclined toward each other, causing it to break into vhomboidal pieces. It is comj. -.ratively free from iron pyrites, which is present in small nodules in several divisior? of he seam. The following proximate analyses were ma le by me on the fresh mined coal carefully sampled as it came from the face. The seam was divided into two portions, — the top comprising 344 inches, the lower 899 inches. Top Coal. Lovfr Cial Moisture 1'24 Oo Volatile combustible matter. — Fast coking.. .3100 2331 Slow " ...27-5G 20-52 Fixed Carbon Fast " ... 4623 6029 " Slow " ...49-67 03-08 Ash 21-53 15-45 Sulphur (from pyrites) -63 .939 Specific gravity 1-50 1390 Theoretical evaporative power — Fast coking.. 635 8*28 Slow " .. 6-83 8-6fi The' ash from both divisions is the average of two determi- nations, and is silicious, and of a light gray colour. The specific gravity is from the average determined for each larger layer of coal. The coal in each division did not coke by slow heating, that from the lower division was fairly coherent by fast heating. It may be remarked that an opinion as to the economical coking values of coals formed on their action in the crucible cannot be relied upon for a guide as to their yield in practical coking. It will be noted that the percentage of ash in the top coal -PIN. TKANSITION RESISTANCE — MACGREGOR. 47 ieriomtcs each of importance, proving these ve resulted in inated appear, idily along the »ur, and hold a irms little