Micropetrography (Macerals)

Maceral Concept
Coal is not homogeneous under the optical microscope and it can be seen to consist of a number of constituents. These are termed macerals (Stopes, 1935) and are distinguished on the basis of morphology, optical properties and some other properties such as polishing hardness Maceral recognition is dependent primarily upon the morphology and secondarily on the optical properties. Distinction of macerals under the microscope is made by considering the morphology, internal texture and polishing relief (polishing relief is assessed against adjacent components) and the optical properties, especially the reflectance. An analogy is commonly made for macerals with the relationship of minerals to rocks of inorganic origin. The analogy is not complete because whereas minerals have a distinct composition (or range), coal macerals range widely in their composition and physical properties even in coals of one level of rank and the properties of macerals vary systematically with rank It should also be noted that minerals are crystalline whereas macerals exhibit form anisotropy over most of the rank range and develop crystalline structures only at high rank or where heating to coke has occurred Studies on maceral concentrates show that each maceral has a range of composition at any given rank and that all of the macerals show systematic changes in properties with rank Many of the shapes and structures observed within macerals can be related to specific plant organs and plant genera and species

Maceral Concept
Thus, macerals are the coalified remains of various plant tissues or plant-derived substances existing at the time of peat formation However: variable and often severe alteration during the peatification and coalification processes It is not always possible to recognize the plant material from which many macerals were originally derived (ICCP, 1971). Clear distinction between the maceral groups can be made in most cases. However, transitions between maceral groups do occur The formation of macerals from plant remains during the early stages of peat accumulation depends on the type of plant community, climatic and ecological controls, and conditions of the depositional environment (Stach et al., 1982) These maceral groups are subdivided into a variety of macerals, submacerals, and maceral varieties on the basis of their reflectance, degree of destruction/preservation of original material, presence of cellular structure, gelification, and morphological features The relative proportions of the maceral groups determine coal type The vitrinite reflectance of a coal can be taken as a measure of its rank.

Introduction
These components which are called macerals are the basic and relatively homogenous organo-petrographic entities of coal, which by their chemical composition and physical characteristics determine properties and utilization of coal The classification is based either on similar origin (leptinite group) and/or on the difference in preservation (e.g. vitrinite and inertinite groups) Chemical and physical properties of the macerals such as elemental composition, moisture content, hardness, density and petrographic characteristics differ widely and are subjected to change in the course of diagenesis and coalification process Besides the parental material and the decomposition before & during the peat stage the degree of coalification is decisive factor for the microscopic appearance of macerals

Standard Analysis
Samples should be polished with some, but not excessive relief, and examined in oil of 1.518 refractive index, using a low glare optical system with objectives in the range of nominal magnification of 25 to 50x According to Stopes-Heerlen nomenclature system of macerals are based on the optical properties of organic constituents viewed under incident light Morphology and reflectance under incident light are the main properties in distinguishing macerals and maceral groups Incident light analysis was adopted in this system because only this method provide quantitative maceral analysis. The idea was adopted by ICCP in 1971 with some modification Each maceral group encompasses a set of macerals

Coal Maceral Huminite

All maceral names have the suffix 'inite' and an hierarchy has been established of maceral groups, macerals and sub-macerals. Three maceral groups are recognized: VITRINITE & HUMMINITE, LIPTINITE (FORMERLY EXINITE), INERTINITE Each maceral group includes macerals that have affinities in origin or similarities in properties. Similarities in origin include both botanical affinities and the mode of preservation The macerals have a smaller range of properties compared with the parent maceral group. For coals that are isometamorphic with those having a Vitrinite carbon content of 84%, Hydrogen about 5.5%, VM about 35% Liptinite Hydrogen about 7%, VM about 75% Inertinite Hydrogen less than about 4.0% and VM about 20 to 25%

Maceral associations at microscopic scale are also called as microlithotype Maceral-mineral associations at microlithotype scale are called as carbominerates

Introduction
Vitrinite group rich in oxygen, Leptinite rich in hydrogen Inertinite rich in carbon Liptinite contains almost twice much volatile matter as that of vitrinite inertinite contains half as much volatile matter as that of vitrinite With increasing rank, aromaticity increases in all of the maceral groups and this results in a convergence of many properties at higher rank At low rank, in reflected white light, liptinite appears dark, vitrinite appears as a mesostasis of medium grey appearance and the inertinite has a higher reflectance than the other maceral groups

MACERAL GROUPS, SUB-GROUPS, MACERALS AND SUB-MACERALS

Maceral Concept

NOTE: ICCP does not have a table in this form where vitrinite and huminite classifications are been combined. By using the maceral categories, the discrimination within the huminite group is retained without implying that vitrinite and huminite are different maceral groups. This form of terminology is more acceptable to oil exploration companies compared with the largely arbitrary division into vitrinite and huminite.

Type of Maceral-Vitrinite
Vitrinite macerals are derived from the cell wall material (woody tissue) of plants, which are chemically composed of the polymers, cellulose and lignin and tannins The vitrinite group is the most abundant group of macerals but not all, coals The maceral of this group are characterised by their grey to white colour & reflectance between that of liptinite & inertinite groups in the same coal seam, autofluorescence properties Most liptinite macerals of low to medium rank show much stronger autofluorescence than vitrinite However the reflectance is highly variable which is directly dependant on the rank of coal Maceral collinite is homogeneous in appearance When collinite occurs as particulate form (<10 micron in size) it is characterize as vitrodetrinite Telinite shows good preservation of cell structures where cell lumens are either filled with collinite, resinite or clay minerals Telinite is divided into two submaceral: telinite-1 and telinite-2 Telinite-1 shows well defined cell structures (cell lumen may be round or oval) Telinite-2 cell structure is highly compressed and cell lumen can be reduced to slit like feature Telocollinite is characterised by its homogeneous appearance. It is most dominating constituents of the bituminous coals and occur as layers & bands or various thickness and length It forms the groundmass for most of the macerals of inertinite and almost all the macerals of liptinite group

Type of Maceral-Vitrinite
When macerals of liptinite group occur in appreciable concentration in the telocollinite groundmass then the reflectance of the telocollinite becomes lower & colour become darker than the liptinite free telocollinite in the same coal Such telocollinite bands with darker appearance are called desmocollinite The gelocollinte is characterised as the structure less coalified mass of genuine humic gel which generally acquires the shape of the cavity in which it occur as filling material It is rare in bituminous coal and has the similar colour and reflectance as telocollinite of same coal Corpocollinite occur as oval or rounded homogeneous bodies either in isolation or as cell filling with colour and reflectance close to the telocollinite in the same coal Vitrinite 1994-classification: The maceral group is defined by level of reflectance, maceral subgroup by degree of destruction of the original plant matter and the maceral by morphology and or degree of gelification Telovitrinite: Where plant tissue becomes humified but retains a more or less intact cell structure, it is normally preserved as telovitrinite. Both woody and leaf tissues can be preserved as telovitrinite. Cell preservation ranges from the primary cell wall only to preservation of secondary cell walls The most outstanding feature of telovitrinite is that it always has a slightly higher reflectance than the matrix vitrinite in the same coal. It also tends to occur in large particles that are usually free of other macerals and pyrite. Telovitrinite particles commonly show brecciated corners, serrated edges, wedge-shaped fractures, and slitted structures. telovitrinite does not usually fluoresce with ultra-violet excitation.

Type of Maceral-Vitrinite
Macerals within the telovitrinite subgroup: The main variations within telovitrinite relate to the degree of gelification. Gelification can occur as a result of processes within the peat stage and is a normal response to physicochemical coalification. Telovitrinite is divided into: Textinite - Well preserved and intact cell walls and cell lumens that are largely open, burial 300 to 600 m maximum cover. Texto-ulminite - Intermediate in texture between textinite and ulminite, cell lumens are partly open but infillings of cells with gelified material and collapsed cell walls are much more common than for textinite. Useful term but no longer in use, persists down to about 1500 m of cover. Ulminite : - Telovitrinite having a structure that is substantially massive but the layers may show small voids that are typically related to original cell structures. Collotelinite - Layers and lenses that typically lack cellular structure when viewed in oil immersion but are derived from stems, roots bark and leaves that retain cell structures. Sedimentary cover has been greater than about 1500 m. Telinite of the ICCP 1971 classification is reproduced here with the same optical properties but the sub-maceral telocollinite of the older system has been renamed here as collotelinite

Coal Maceral-Vitrinite
Detrovitrinite: Degraded vitrinite precursors become mixed with other maceral pre-cursors to form a mesostasis of detrovitrinite with inclusions of the other macerals. Macerals within the detrovitrinite subgroup Attrinite - fragmental cell wall and cell contents with poor preservation and discrete boundaries between most of the constituent grains. Attrinite is the characteristic mode of occurrence for detrovitrinite in soft brown coals and its presence indicates burial depths of less than about 500 m. Densinite- intermediate in texture between attrinite and vitrodetrinite and collodetrinite, densinite has a granular texture but most of the grains are cemented to the adjacent grains and few voids are present. Densinite forms when the grains within attrinite become cemented by colloidal humic material but the sutures are still visible in most cases. Vitrodetrinite consists of small particles of vitrinite but the boundaries between particles become obscured with increasing rank. Collodetrinite - detrovitrinite having a structure that is substantially massive. It forms when the grains in densinite become so fused (gelified) that the boundaries can no longer be distinguished. This maceral is called collodetrinite which was designated ad desmocollinite in the earlier system The maceral collodetrinite usually contains inclusions of liptinite macerals. So this makes collodetrinite than the collotelinite in the same coal. The fluorescence of collodetrinite is always higher than that of the collotelinite in the same coal The colloidal (humic) infilling of vitrinite is collectively includes in the subgroup gelovitrinite The gelinite and corpogelinite were presented as submacerals gelocollinite and corpocollinite respectively in the earlier classification.

Coal Maceral-Vitrinite
Material referred to gelovitrinite is presumed to have passed through a structureless colloidal stage during the biochemical coalification It is seldom possible to demonstrate this for any given entity without special treatments such as etching the surface of the sample with a powerful oxidized agent In most coals, gelovitrinite is a minor component of the total vitrinite Macerals within the gelovitrinite subgroup Corpohuminite structureless bodies filling cell lumens. In some usages this term includes phlobaphinite. Corpogelinite structureless bodies derived from humic cell filling, may occur isolated from the source tissues or in situ. Gelinite- a maceral of secondary origin and can occur as cell filling or more rarely as discrete veins. Dark vitrinite is characterised by its significantly low reflectance and strong fluorescence as compared a to the normal vitrinite in the same coal May be due to the coating of bituminous substances over the vitrinite surface which are produced by the associated lipid constituents Pseudovitrinite is regarded as transitional phase between vitrinite and semifusinite. This is also called as semivitrinite. Shows reflectance value 0.2-0.3% higher than that of the associated normal vitrinite It may be structure less or may posses faint cell structures This type of vitrinite is very common in Tertiary and Lower Gondwana coals of India

Coal Maceral-Vitrinite
The uniform gray material is Vitrinite showing a well developed cell structure. This material is derived from coalified woody tissue. Carboniferous age (~320 MY) The uniform gray material is Vitrinite showing a well developed cell structure. The vertical slitted structures are a common feature in this type of vitrinite.

Uniform gray material showing a well developed cell structure in the right half of the frame is Telovitrinite. The gray material in the upper left is Detrovitrinite which acts as a matrix for dark stringers of Sporinite and bright particles of Inertinite.

The particle at the right is Telovitrinite showing no cell structure. The particle on the left is a good example of Detrovitrinite. The detrovitrinite acts a matrix holding dark particles of Liptinite macerals and bright particles of Inertinite macerals.

Coal Maceral-Vitrinite
The entire particle at the right is Telovitrinite , well preserved cell structure. All of the other particles are of Detrovitrinite. The detrovitrinite acts a matrix holding dark particles of liptinite macerals and bright particles of inertinite. The two gray round particles are Vitrodetrinite. The are the result of vitrinite particles being disbursed in sedimentary rocks.

The sample has been excited with ultra-violet light and the Resinite filling the cells The cells in this case are filled with much darker Resinite. fluoresces with a yellow . The Vitrinite does not appear to fluoresce

Structureless ovoid is excited withResinite. Thelight and the resinite common with The sample has been a typical of ultra-violet dark orange color is fluoresces althoughcolor. The vitrinite surrounding theto light gray innot appear to fluoresce. a yellow resinite also can range from black resinite does reflected white light.

Coal Maceral Liptinite (Exinite)

Liptinite macerals (also referred to as exinite in older text) are comprised of the waxy, lipid-rich and resinous part of plant During coking these macerals devolatilized to produce gases and oily tars, hence this maceral group has the greatest potential to produce oil & gas Distinct morphology with dark grey to black colour in low rank coals (Lignite to medium volatile bituminous coal) Primary liptinite maceral is characterized by distinct morphology and derived from hydrogen rich constituents part of plants like spores, pollens, cuticles, resins, algae and others Secondary liptinite maceral (such as bituminite, fluronite and exsudatinite) are the product of coalification and therefore characterized as expelled hydrocarbons and occurs in cleats, fissures and cavities of vitrinite and inertinite group of macerals Sporinite constitutes exines (skin) of spores and pollens, or derived from the outer walls of spores and pollens It is comprised of the chemical substance called sporopollenin a highly polymerised cross-linked material consisting of carotenoids and their esters. This has a dominantly naphthenic structure. It appears as lenses shaped bodies in sections perpendicular to the bedding Due to severe compression the original cavity is reduced to thin line, size range from 10-2000 microns The larger ones are called as megaspores and smaller ones are microspores According to thickness of cell wall it can be divided into Tenuispore (thin cell wall) and Crassispore (thick cell wall)

Coal Maceral Liptinite (Exinite)

Cutinite: It is derived from cuticules and cuticular layers that occur at the surface of leaves, twigs and other aerial parts of plants as protection from desiccation Cutinite represents the outer coating of leaves, needles, shoots and some roots and thin stems Chemically it is cutin which is composed of fatty acids and waxes It is characterised by a long thread like structure with one end serrated Cutinite ranges in thickness from about 0.003 mm to about 0.02 mm Its colour ranges from black to dark grey but lighter than sporinite in the same coal In the coal with <18% volatile matter sporinite and cutinite acquires the colour and reflectance of the groundmass (vitrinite) and therefore can hardly be distinguished Resinite: Derives from resins but also from balsams, latexes, fats and waxes, Botanically resinites are secretions of cell walls, filling cell lumens and canals Many conifer stems, when wounded, sweat out resin drops and lumps, which may form resinites It occurs commonly as cell fillings and as circular or oval or rod shaped secluded bodies of variable sizes Its colour is always darker than the vitrinite in the same coal, ranging from dark grey to black depending upon the rank of coal Upon severe oxidation it gets transformed into resino-sclerotinite, which is a type of inertinite group of macerals

Coal Maceral Liptinite (Exinite)

Alginite: It is the characteristic maceral of boghead coals (sapropelic coals) that represent former organic mud, derived from the algae It appears darker than the other macerals of this group and its occurrence is found to be rare in bituminous coal The cell structure is nearly indistinct in incident light but can be seen under fluorescence light (blue irradiation) However it is dominant constituents of sapropelic coal specially to boghead coals Pila (algae) in transverse section exhibits fan like structure Reinschia (algae) in transverse section exhibits hollow sphere Suberinite is composed of corkified cell walls of bark, tissue, roots, stems and fruits It occurs as compressed laminar mass with cell walls ranging in thickness from 50-500 microns Colour varies from dark grey to black depending upon the rank of coal Very common in Tertiary coal of north-eastern Himalayas Liptodetrinite Liptodetrinite represents mechanically or biochemically degraded liptinite that has no recognisable form. It includes the detritus of macerals such as sporinite, cutinite, resinite, alginite and suberinite Particulate aggregate shows black & appear very similar to clay minerals in white incident light Can be identified only under fluorescence light (blue excitation) They show greenish yellow, orange and very light brown colours

Coal Maceral Liptinite (Exinite)

Secondary liptinite macerals are the product of chemical decomposition of structures liptinite macerals which are generated during the course of coalification specially beyond the rank of subbituminous coal As such they do not posses any morphology which can be correlated to some specific parts of plants They occurs mostly as fillings of the cell cavities, cleats, and fissures due to their generation as fluid material Bituminite: It is abundant in many oil shales where it is known to be highly oil-prone It is decomposition product of algae, animal planktons and bacteria. The origin in marine rocks is thought to be from cyanobacteria with possible contributions from brown and red-green algae It is produced by the bacterial decomposition of fats, proteins and algae, and occurs as amorphous to lamellar mass showing black colour in incident white light It gives yellow, orange and brown fluorescence depending upon the maturation of an individual case Fluorinite: It is a decomposition product of essential oil of higher plants It occurs as dark black cell or vein fillings and it shows bright blue, green and golden yellow colour in fluorescent light However, in white light it looks black & cant be easily distinguished from voids or clay inclusions Exsudatinite is characterised as expelled hydrocarbon, chemical composition is probably asphalteneous Occur usually as vein or pore filling, it shows black colour in incident white light but appears orange to yellow in fluorescence light (blue excitation) Secondary liptinite macerals are very common in the L. Gondwana and the Tertiary coals of India

CHEMICAL AFFINITIES OF THE LIPTINITE MACERALS

Coal Maceral Liptinite (Exinite)

This structureless ovoid is a typical occurrence of Resinite. The black color is common. The sample has been excited with ultra-violet light and the Resinite fluoresces with a yellow color. The vitrinite surrounding the resinite does not appear to fluoresce.

Resinite particles to fluoresce in green, yellow and orange colors. The Resinite occurs in the coal as vein fillings and is therefore of secondary origin

The dark folded structure is Megaspore. It has a reflectance darker than vitrinite and displays bilateral. The much smaller dark bodies are Microspores

Coal Maceral Liptinite (Exinite)

The sample has been excited with ultra-violet light and the Sporinite fluoresces with a yellow color. The dark structure is Megaspore. The orange spot on the megaspore is due to internal reflections. The much smaller dark bodies seen around the megaspore are Microspores and show a similar but less developed symmetry.

The sample has been excited with ultra-violet light and the Sporinite fluoresces with a yellow color.

The sample has been excited with ultra-violet light and the Microspores The small dark structures are typical megaspores. They are set in vitrinite fluoresce with a bright yellow color. matrix with brighter particles of inertinite.

Coal Maceral Liptinite (Exinite)

The dark structure in the center is Cutinite. It is distinguished by it linear aspect and having one surface flat and the other crenulated. In this case the sample has been excited with ultra-violet light and the Cutinite fluoresces a dull yellow.

The dark stringers running across the field are typical occurrences of Cutinite. Their linear aspect is a distinguishing feature.

In this case the sample has been excited with ultra-violet light. Note how the Cutinite fluoresces and how much easier it is to distinguish.

Coal Maceral Inertinite

The macerals of this group are considered as inert and so the name is inertinite The macerals do not react to temperature during the entire course of coalification and during the carbonization processes However, micrinite and up to some extent semifusinite react with temperature to a limited extent Inertinite maceral group is comprised of plant material (bark, stems, leaves, roots etc.) which has undergone oxidation during the early peat stages of burial diagenesis It is characterised by their high reflectance, generally no fluorescence, high carbon and low hydrogen contents & strong aromatisation Fusinite: Fusinite chiefly represents charred material resulting from forest fires. Fusinite is seen in most coals and has a charcoal-like structure. Fusinite is always have highest reflecting maceral present and is distinguished by cell-texture. It is commonly broken into small shards and fragments It exhibit well preserved cell structure of wood or sclerenchyma, shows yellowish white to white colour and very high relief in incident white light Characteristically reflectance is very high irrespective of the rank of coal The submeaceral pyrofusinite is characterised by yellowish white colour and very high relief Degradofusinite is white in colour with reflectance lower than the pyrofusinite

Coal Maceral Inertinite

Semifusinite: Semifusinite represents either partially charred material from forest fires or humic material that has become partially oxidized by biochemical activity. It bears optical properties such as colour, relief and reflectance lying between vitrinite and fusinite in the same coal Semifusinite has the cell texture and general features of fusinite except that it is of lower reflectance. In fact, semi-fusinite has the largest range of reflectance of any of the various coal macerals going from the upper end of the pseudovitrinite range to fusinite. Semi-fusinite is also the most abundant of the inertinite macerals. It is characterised by woody or parenchymatus cell structure comparatively fewer than the fusinite Generally it is considered as a stage between vitrinite and fusinite Micrinite: Very extensive oxidation and desiccation of plant materials may lead to the formation of micrinite (~ 1), it may also be generated from early gelified plant material. It is characterised by white to pale grey round shaped fine particulate constituents This is considered to be reactive to a limited extent It occurs as very fine granular particles of high reflectance. It is commonly associated with the liptinite macerals and sometimes gives the appearance of actually replacing the liptinite.

Coal Maceral Inertinite

Macrinite: Macrinite represents humic material that has first become gelified and then fusinized in the peat stage. is non-granular groundmass and amorphous in nature. It occurs as oval to round shaped isolated bodies (20-300 ) with light grey to yellowish white colour Its colour and reflectance is very close to fusinite of same coal It is a very minor component of most coals and usually occurs as structure-less ovoid bodies with the same reflectance as fusinite. Funginite/Sclerotinite: It occurs as ovoid bodies with cell-structure, with reflectance covering the entire inertinite range The faunal remains are called as fungo-sclerotinite Whereas the oxidised resins having close similarity in morphology and colour to it are called as resino-sclerotinite Inertodetrinite: Inertodetrinite represents small fragments derived by the physical degradation of other types of inertinite specially of fusinite, semifusinite, sclerotinite and macrinite smaller than 30 The colour and reflectance of these fragmented inertinite macerals are close to the other macerals of this group in the same coal

Coal Maceral Inertinite

Bright material with open cell structure is fusinite and the lower reflectance material with open cell structure is semifusinite Upper three-fourths of the field are semifusinite. The semifusinite macerals have the largest range of reflectance of any maceral.

The bright reflectance and open cell structure characterize fusinite. It is the structure of pyrolyzed woody tissue.

The bright reflectance and open cell structure characterize fusinite. Note the delicate plant derived cell structures that are well preserved.

Coal Maceral Inertinite

The round bodies with open cell structure are Sclerotinite. They are derived from certain parts of various types of fungus. They are not found in coals of Carboniferous age.

The two bright round bodies are Macrinite. They are characterized by the high reflectance of fusinite and a lack of cell structure. Similar materials with a reflectance equal to semifusinite are called semimacrinite.

The bright fine-grained material is Micrinite. Identified by its brightness and small grain size. The shape of the micrinite occurrence are similar to occurrences of cutinite suggesting a replacement process.

Bright fine-grained material is Micrinite. The shape of the micrinite is similar to occurrences of sporinite suggesting a replacement process.

Coal Maceral Huminite

Huminite (Vitrinite in bituminous coals): It is the most common maceral in most humic coals Huminite is the coalified remains of cell walls, woody tissue of stems, branches, leaves and roots and the precipitated gels from these materials Having been derived from humified cell tissue (lignin, cellulose, tanin etc.) the huminite macerals transform into vitrinite at the beginning of the physico-chemical stage of coalifical accompanied by the polymerization of biodegraded humic substance According to Australian standard huminite is a synonym of vitrinite in lower rank coal and therefore is not specially defined in the standard. The standard considers that some macerals (textinite, texto-ulminite, attrinite, densinite, porigelinite) commonly or only occur in low rank coals

Coal Maceral Huminite

Textinite: It is formed from cell walls and distinguished by its visibility within a cell structures Ulminite: It is structure-less in incident light but may show the cell walls in thin sections of after etching in incident light Corpohuminite: These are filling of cell lumens and may be primary secretion of the living plants or gel formed shortly after the death of certain cells, especially in barks In low rank coal i.e. peat and bituminous coals corpohuminite is also described as corpocollinite Gelocollinites are either totally gelified plant tissues or gelified humic detritus or rather pure humic gels derived from colloidal solutions that enter former voids Humodetrinites are detrital products of humin macerals It is described as vitrodetrinite in bituminous coals and is further divided depending on its degree of gelificaltion into attrinite and densinite Densinite derived from gelified groundmass and thus an indicator of gelification in coal They are generally mixture of humic detritus with the finely distributed humic gel

Coal petrographers, using the ICCP System 1994 classification of coal organic components (ICCP, 1998, 2001; Skorov and others, 2005), usually identify the following macerals

Vitrinite (0.5% reflectance)

o

Huminite (0.5% reflectance)

o

Telovitrinite

Telohuminite

Telinite Collotelinite
o

Textinite

Ulminite

Detrovitrinite

Detrohuminite

Collodetrinite Vitrodetrinite
o

Attrinite/Densinite

Gelohuminite

Gelovitrinite

Corpohuminite Gelinite

Corpogelinite Gelinite

Liptinite
o o o o o o

Inertinite
o

Cutinite Sporinite Resinite Suberinite Chlorophyllinite

Fusinite

o
o o o

Semifusinite
Inertodetrinite Funginite Macrinite Secretinite Micrinite

Liptodetrinite
o o

Inertodetrinite

Inertodetrinite

Fusinite

Fusinite

Fusinite

Fusinite

Sporinite

Semifusinite

Micrinite

Micrinite

Vitrinite

Cutinite

Vitrinite

Vitrinite

When viewed closely, most pieces of coal are composed of alternating bands of bright and dull material. 1. Pith, 2. Protoxylem, 3. Xylem I, 4. Phloem I, 5. Sclerenchyma (bast fibre), 6. Cortex, 7. Epidermis