Sequence stratigraphic analysis of thick coal seams in paralic environments – A case study from the Early Permian Shanxi Formation in the Anhe coalfield, Henan Province, North China

To study the possible role of base-level oscillations in the formation of thick coal seams in coastal plain (paralic) environments, the Early Permian Shanxi Formation No.21 thick coal seam was investigated in 3 cores spanning a distance of 29 km in the Anhe (Anyang-Hebi) coalfield, Henan Province using sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy, and coal petrology. The accommodation condition and origin of the peatland can be interpreted from maceral and mineral composition in the No.21 coal seam. Coals that accumulated in a low accommodation peat of ombrotrophic origin are characterized by relatively high inertinite content and relatively low mineral matter abundance. Coals accumulated in a balanced accommodation peat of rheotrophic origin are characterized by high vitrinite content and low abundances of inertinite and mineral matter. Coals with relatively high vitrinite content and relatively low inertinite content are interpreted to have accumulated in a high accommodation peat of rheotrophic origin. The No.21 coal seam was developed as part of a transgressive systems tract (TST) and displays maximum thickness in the central Anhe coalfield due to the local rapid subsidence of the formative delta plain. Six types of key stratigraphic surfaces are recognized in the coal seam, including terrestrialization (TeS), paludification (PaS), give-up transgressive (GUTS), accommodation-reversal (ARS), exposure (ES), and flooding (FS) surfaces. The No.21 coal seam consists of at least three drying-up and wetting-up cycles defined by these surfaces, with each cycle spanning from 20 ka to 30 ka. The variation of peatland type from rheotrophic through ombrotrophic and back to rheotrophic peat in the landward area implies the role of high-frequency climatic fluctuations, and the water level changes in the central and seaward areas may reflect sea-level fluctuations due to the hydrological connection to the sea and the change in rainfall to evaporation rates. These cycles arrived at a period close to that of climatic precession for Milankovitch cycles during the early Permian. The oscillating high and low summer insolation would have caused the alternating wet and dry climate periods that were then recorded as the wet-dry cycles in the coal seams. The results of this study can provide insights for research addressing hydrological conditions in ancient peatlands, and paleoclimate and sea-level fluctuations recorded in thick paralic coal seams.