The geologic settings of Chinese coal deposits

ABSTRACTChina has abundant coal resources, which are extensively developed in marine-influenced, continental, and transitional environments. The coal-bearing strata in China have complicated geneses and distributions. There were eight major coal-forming periods in China, namely the Terreneuvian, Mississippian, Pennsylvanian–Cisuralian–Guadalupian, Lopingian, Late Triassic, Early–Middle Jurassic, and Early Cretaceous Epochs, as well as the Palaeogene–Neogene Periods. The distributions of the coal-bearing strata formed during these different coal-forming periods displayed obvious regional and regularity characteristics. In accordance with their plate-tectonic settings and coal-bearing characteristics, the coal-bearing basins in China can be divided into six types. The coal-bearing basins that were formed during the Palaeozoic Era were mainly large epicontinental sea basins. During the early Palaeozoic Era, the shallow sea was the most important coal-forming sedimentary environment. In addition, coastal delt...