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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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University of Kentucky

1990

Coal Rank

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Constraints On The Emplacement And Uplift History Of The Pine Mountain Thrust Sheet, Eastern Kentucky: Evidence From Coal Rank Trends, Kieran D. O'Hara, James C. Hower, Susan M. Rimmer Jan 1990

Constraints On The Emplacement And Uplift History Of The Pine Mountain Thrust Sheet, Eastern Kentucky: Evidence From Coal Rank Trends, Kieran D. O'Hara, James C. Hower, Susan M. Rimmer

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

In this paper coal rank trends on both sides of the Pine Mountain thrust in eastern Kentucky are used to place constraints on thrust evolution. Vitrinite reflectance () measurements on a single Pennsylvanian coal horizon (Fire Clay coal) in eastern Kentucky increase from 0.5% in the north to about 1.0% toward the SE in front of the Pine Mountain thrust. The same horizon in the hangingwall of the thrust displays lower Rmax values (0.8-0.85%). The reflectance isograds are subparallel to the thrust within approximately 10 km of the trace of the fault. We attribute thermal maturation to (1) pre-orogenic …