PETROGRAPHY, GEOCHEMISTRY AND PALYNOLOGY OF THE STOCKTON COAL BED (MIDDLE PENNSYLVANIAN), MARTIN COUNTY, KENTUCKY

The Middle Pennsylvanian (Westphalian D) Stockton (also known as the B roas) coal bed of the Breathitt Formation is an important energy resou rce in Kentucky. Petrographic, geochemical and palynologic studies wer e undertaken from mine, core and highway exposures in Martin and north ern Pike counties, Kentucky, in order to determine the influence of th e Stockton depositional ecosystem on those parameters. Vitrinite-rich Stockton lithotypes are dominated by Lycospora. Dull lithotypes, inclu ding both high- and low-ash yield durains, generally have abundant Den sosporites, suggesting that the parent plant inhabited a fairly wide r ange of environments. Lithologies having tree ferns as an important co mponent also have high fusinite + semifusinite and a low telinite/gelo collinite ratio. The aerial root bundles of the tree ferns were suscep tible to oxidation and, for tissue not oxidized to inertinite, to pres ervation as gelocollinite. In the initial stages of formation, the Sto ckton mire was discontinuous and had a rather restricted floral assemb lage. The presence of durains higher in the Stockton section, particul arly the low-ash yield durains having petrographic indicators of degra dation, suggests that portions of the mire developed as a domed peat. The termination of the mire as a high-sulfur, arboreous lycopod-domima ted mire is consistent with the return to more planar mire development .