Paper No.

23-0
ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF SULFUR IN COALS
CHOU, Chen-Lin, Illinois State Geological Survey, 615 E Peabody Dr, Champaign, I
L 61820-6964, cchou@isgs.uiuc.edu.
Sulfur in coal is derived primarily from two sources: the original plant materia
ls and ambient fluids in the coal-forming environment. Abundance of sulfur in co
als is controlled by depositional environments and the diagenetic history of the
coal seams and overlying strata. The seawater interaction with the peat results
in elevated levels of sulfur in coals. Low-sulfur coal seams, such as the Terti
ary coals in the Powder River Basin, were deposited in an alluvial environment a
nd the peat was not influenced by seawater. The sulfur in these low-sulfur coals
is derived mostly from its parent plant materials. In contrast, high-sulfur coa
l seams are generally associated with marine strata. For example, the Herrin Coa
l in the Illinois Basin is predominantly high-sulfur, and the seam is mostly ove
rlain by the marine Anna Shale and Brereton Limestone. The rare, yet characteris
tically superhigh-organic-sulfur (SHOS) coal of Guidin, Guizhou, China, was depo
sited during the Late Permian on a carbonate platform where there was plenty of
seawater sulfate but a lack of iron.
In the formation of high-sulfur coal, seawater sulfate diffuses into peat and is
reduced by microorganisms to hydrogen sulfide, elemental sulfur and polysulfide
s. During early diagenesis in a reducing environment, ferric iron is reduced to
ferrous iron, which reacts with hydrogen sulfide to form iron monosulfide. Iron
monosulfide is later transformed by reaction with elemental sulfur into pyrite.
Organic sulfur is formed by reaction of reduced sulfur species with the premacer
al humic substances formed by bacterial decomposition of the peat. Organic sulfu
r species in coals are mainly thiols, sulfides, disulfides, and thiophene and it
s derivatives. The thiophenic fraction of organic sulfur increases with the carb
on content of coals. Organic sulfur compounds formed in peat are mostly thiols a
nd sulfides, which gradually convert to thiophenes with increasing coal maturati
on. Thus, the organic sulfur species in coal evolve during the history of coal f
ormation.
GSA Annual Meeting, November 5-8, 2001
General Information for this Meeting
Session No. 23
Coal Systems Analysis: A New Approach to the Understanding of Coal Formation, Co
al Quality and Environmental Considerations, and Coal as a Source Rock for Hydro
carbons
Hynes Convention Center: 309
8:00 AM-12:00 PM, Monday, November 5, 2001