Editing Bituminous coal (section)

==Occurrence and production==
Coal deposits are widely distributed worldwide, and range in age from the [[Devonian]] (about 360 to 420 million years ago)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Suárez-Ruiz |first1=I. |last2=Diez |first2=M.A. |last3=Rubiera |first3=F. |year=2019 |chapter=Coal |title=New Trends in Coal Conversion |pages=1–30 |publisher=Woodhead Publishing |doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-102201-6.00001-7|isbn=9780081022016 }}</ref> to [[Neogene]] deposits just a few million years old.<ref>{{cite journal |jstor=7510|title=Coal|last1=White|first1=David|journal=The Scientific Monthly|year=1925|volume=21|issue=2|pages=177–181}}</ref> However, 90% of all coal beds were deposited in the [[Carboniferous]] and [[Permian]] [[Period (geology)|periods]], which represent just 2% of the Earth's geologic history.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McGhee |first1=George R. |title=Carboniferous Giants and Mass Extinction: The Late Paleozoic Ice Age World |date=2018 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780231180979 |pages=98}}</ref> Vast deposits of coal formed in [[wetland]]s—called [[coal forest]]s—that covered much of the Earth's tropical land areas during the late [[Carboniferous]] ([[Pennsylvanian (geology)|Pennsylvanian]]) and [[Permian]] times.<ref name=ClealThomas2005>{{cite journal | last1 = Cleal | first1 = C. J. | last2 = Thomas | first2 = B. A. | year = 2005 | title = Palaeozoic tropical rainforests and their effect on global climates: is the past the key to the present? | journal = Geobiology | volume = 3 | issue = 1 | pages = 13–31 | doi = 10.1111/j.1472-4669.2005.00043.x | bibcode = 2005Gbio....3...13C | s2cid = 129219852 }}</ref><ref name="SahneyBentonFerry2010RainforestCollapse">{{cite journal |author=Sahney, S. |author2=Benton, M.J. |author3=Falcon-Lang, H.J. | year=2010 | title= Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica | journal=Geology | volume = 38 | pages = 1079–1082 | doi=10.1130/G31182.1 | issue=12 | bibcode=2010Geo....38.1079S}}</ref> Bituminous coal is predominantly [[Carboniferous]] in age.<ref name=Jackson/>{{sfn|Boggs|2006|page=232}}

Most bituminous coal in the United States is between 100 and 300 million years old.<ref name="Types of Coal">{{cite web|url=http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=coal_home-basics|title=Types of Coal|publisher=eia.doe.gov (U.S. Energy Information Administration)|access-date=2011-01-04}}</ref> Vast deposits of bituminous coal of Pennsylvanian age is found in the [[Appalachia]]n and [[Interior Plains|Interior]] Provinces of North America. [[Mining]] is done via both surface and underground mines. Historically, the many seams scattered over rugged terrain in the Appalachians have been conducive to mining by small companies, while the great extent and gentle dip of beds further west favors very large-scale operations. The Appalachian coal is notably low in sulfur and is often of metallurgical grade, while the Interior Province coal is much higher in sulfur.<ref name="Nielson1987">{{cite journal |last1=John Nelson |first1=W. |title=Coal deposits of the United States |journal=International Journal of Coal Geology |date=October 1987 |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=357–361 |doi=10.1016/0166-5162(87)90072-3|bibcode=1987IJCG....8..355J }}</ref>

The belt of Carboniferous coal fields extends into central Europe,{{sfn|McGhee|2018|p=90}} and much of this is bituminous coal. Bituminous coal fields are found in Poland<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nowak |first1=Grzegorz J. |title=Facies studies of bituminous coals in Poland |journal=International Journal of Coal Geology |date=April 2004 |volume=58 |issue=1–2 |pages=61–66 |doi=10.1016/j.coal.2003.08.006|bibcode=2004IJCG...58...61N }}</ref> and the Czech Republic,<ref name=czech>{{cite journal |last1=Sivek |first1=Martin |last2=Jirásek |first2=Jakub |last3=Kavina |first3=Pavel |last4=Vojnarová |first4=Markéta |last5=Kurková |first5=Tereza |last6=Bašová |first6=Andrea |title=Divorce after hundreds of years of marriage: Prospects for coal mining in the Czech Republic with regard to the European Union |journal=Energy Policy |date=July 2020 |volume=142 |pages=111524 |doi=10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111524|s2cid=219047176 }}</ref> and the Polish deposits are one of the most important of that nation's natural resources.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Winston |first1=V.H. |title=The Polish bituminous coal-mining industry |journal=American Slavic and East European Review |date=February 1956 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=38–70 |doi=10.2307/3004277|jstor=3004277}}</ref> The Czech deposits have been exploited since prehistoric times.<ref name=czech/> The European deposits include the [[Coal Measures]] of Britain, which account for most of Britain's coal production and which are mostly bituminous coal.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pallardy |first1=Richard |title=Coal Measures |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/Coal-Measures |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=13 November 2021 |date=2008}}</ref> The Westfield coal basin is the largest in Britain.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Younger |first1=P.L. |year=2005 |title=Westfield pit lake, Fife (Scotland): the evolution and current hydrogeological dynamics of Europe's largest bituminous coal pit lake |journal=Proc. 9th International Mine Water Association Congress (Oviedo, Spain |pages=281–287 |url=https://www.imwa.info/docs/imwa_2005/IMWA2005_041_Younger.pdf |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref> Other significant bituminous coal deposits are found through much of Europe, including France, Germany, and northern Italy.<ref name="Keijers2012">{{cite journal |last1=Keijers |first1=Stijn |title=European Coal resources: a geographical database and map of EU coal basins including potential sources of coal bed methane based on a harmonised typology |journal=European Commission Report |date=2012 |volume=ENER/C2/2011/202 – SI2.613270 |page=54 |url=https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/20121217_eu_co_res_report.pdf |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref>

[[File:Fushun Coal Mine2.JPG|thumb|Fushun coal mine, [[Liaoning]], China]]
Coal deposition was interrupted by the [[Permian-Triassic extinction event]], but resumed later in the [[Middle Triassic]].<ref name="Retallack1996">{{cite journal| last1=Retallack |first1=G. J.|last2= Veevers|first2=J. J.|last3= Morante|first3= R.|title=Global coal gap between Permian–Triassic extinctions and middle Triassic recovery of peat forming plants|journal=GSA Bulletin|volume=108|issue=2|pages=195–207|year=1996|doi = 10.1130/0016-7606(1996)108<0195:GCGBPT>2.3.CO;2|bibcode=1996GSAB..108..195R}}</ref> Extensive bituminous coal deposits of Permian age are found in Siberia, east Asia, and Australia.<ref name=Kopp>{{cite web |last1=Kopp |first1=Otto C. |title=Origin of coal |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/coal-fossil-fuel/Origin-of-coal#ref50671 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref> These include the [[Minusinsky]] coal basin in Siberia,<ref name="BrownfieldEtal2001">{{cite journal |last1=Brownfield |first1=M. E. |last2=Steinshouer |first2=D.W. |last3=Povarennykh |first3=M.Y. |last4=Eriomin |first4=I. |last5=Shpirt |first5=M. |last6=Meitov |first6=Y. |last7=Sharova |first7=I. |last8=Goriunova |first8=N. |last9=Zyrianov |first9=M.V. |title=Coal Quality and Resources of the Former Soviet Union ¯ An ArcView Project |journal=U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report |series=Open-File Report |date=2001 |volume=01-104 |doi=10.3133/ofr01104 |url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-104/fsucoal/html/readme.htm |access-date=13 November 2021}}</ref> the [[Queensland]], [[Bowen Basin|Bowen]], and [[Sydney Basin]]s in Australia,<ref>{{cite web |title=Australian in situ coal resources |url=https://d28rz98at9flks.cloudfront.net/74097/74097.pdf |publisher=Geosciences Australia |access-date=13 November 2021 |date=2012}}</ref> and the extensive bituminous coal reserves of China.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guocai |first1=Xia |last2=Bingchi |first2=Wang |last3=Yinghua |first3=Han |title=Coal Resources and Development of the Coal Industry in China |journal=Energy Exploration & Exploitation |date=August 1990 |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=263–269 |doi=10.1177/014459879000800401|s2cid=133140773 }}</ref>

A second peak in coal deposition began in the [[Cretaceous]], though most of this is lower rank coal rather than bituminous.<ref name=Kopp/> In the United States, Cretaceous bituminous coals occur in Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico.<ref name=Wyo>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/research/energy/coal/Geology-Pg2.aspx|title=Wyoming Coal|author=Wyoming State Geological Survey|access-date=2014-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203201916/http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/research/energy/coal/Geology-Pg2.aspx|archive-date=2014-02-03|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Colo>{{Cite web|url=http://geosurvey.state.co.us/pubs/Documents/rtv8n21.pdf|title=Colorado Coal: Energy security for the future|others=Colorado Geological Survey, Rock Talk, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 1–12|year=2005|access-date=2014-01-24|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201201522/http://geosurvey.state.co.us/pubs/Documents/rtv8n21.pdf|archive-date=2014-02-01}}</ref> In Canada, the [[Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin|Western Canada Sedimentary Basin]] of [[Alberta]] and [[British Columbia]] hosts major deposits of bituminous coal that formed in swamps along the western margin of the [[Western Interior Seaway]]. They range in age from latest [[Jurassic]] or earliest [[Cretaceous]] in the [[Mist Mountain Formation]], to [[Late Cretaceous]] in the [[Gates Formation]].<ref name=Mossop33>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/a_ch33/ch_33.html|title=The Geological Atlas of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Chapter 33: Coal Resources of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin|others=Compiled by Mossop, G.D. and Shetsen, I.|author=Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists|year=1994|access-date=2013-08-01|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930001329/http://www.ags.gov.ab.ca/publications/wcsb_atlas/a_ch33/ch_33.html|archive-date=2013-09-30}}</ref> The Intermontane and Insular Coalfields of British Columbia also contain deposits of Cretaceous bituminous coal.<ref name=BC>{{Cite web|url=http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geoscience/Coal/CoalBC/Pages/default.aspx#coalfields%20of%20british%20columbia|title=Coal in British Columbia|author=Ryan, Barry|year=2002|access-date=2014-01-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202125459/http://www.empr.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geoscience/Coal/CoalBC/Pages/default.aspx#coalfields%20of%20british%20columbia|archive-date=2014-02-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{as of|2009}}, the countries with the greatest estimated ultimately recoverable resources of bituminous coal were the US, 161.6 [[Gigatonne|Gt]]; India, 99.7 Gt; China, 78.4 Gt; Australia, 51.3 Gt; South Africa, 38.7 Gt; the UK, 26.8 Gt; Germany, 25.2 Gt; Colombia, 7.8 Gt; Indonesia, 5.6 Gt; and France, 4.4 Gt<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mohr |first1=S.H. |last2=Evans |first2=G.M. |title=Forecasting coal production until 2100 |journal=Fuel |date=November 2009 |volume=88 |issue=11 |pages=2059–2067 |doi=10.1016/j.fuel.2009.01.032|hdl=10453/15252 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

{{as of|2018}}, total world production of bituminous coal (coking coal plus other bituminous coal) was 6.220 Gt. The leading producer is China, with India and the United States a distant second and third.<ref>{{cite web |title=Statistics report: Coal information - overview |url=https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/a5f208e9-f66b-4d31-b5af-87d581b70c18/Coal_Information_Overview_2020_edition.pdf |publisher=International Energy Agency |access-date=13 November 2021 |pages=7–8 |date=2020}}</ref>

U.S. production of bituminous coal was 238 million short tons in 2020<ref>{{cite web |title=Annual coal report |url=https://www.eia.gov/coal/annual/ |website=Coal |publisher=U.S. Energy Information Administration |access-date=13 November 2021 |date=4 October 2021}}</ref> and represented 44% of all U.S. coal production. Bituminous coal is mined in 18 states, but the five states of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana produce 74% of U.S. coal.<ref name="EIA Coal Explained"/>