Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
6.1. The Global Catastrophe
Glenn B. Stracher
Tammy P. Taylor
Coal-seam fire emitting toxic and green-
house gases, Jharia coalfield, India.
From Stracher and Taylor (2004) with modifications, reprinted with permission of Elsevier. Photo by Anupma
Prakash, 1994.
Introduction
F
ire is a force of nature that often demands human attention and resources; however, few people realize that fire is
consuming coal seams and culm banks in major coal-producing countries including China, the United States, India,
and Indonesia (Table 6.1.1). Numerous seams have been burning for decades and some in China for several
centuries. Geological evidence for Pliocene coal fires includes fission-track dates obtained for zircons extracted
from sandstone clinker found southwest of Forsyth, Montana, and west of Colstrip, Montana (Coates and Heffern,
2000). Evidence for Pleistocene coal fires, some with temperatures exceeding 1000°C, includes unconformable
relationships among baked and unbaked sedimentary rocks southwest of Urumqi in the Xinjiang autonomous
region of northwest China (Figure 6.1.1) (Zhang and Kroonenberg, 1996; Kroonenberg and Zhang, 1997;
International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), 2003). Although this evidence
suggests that coal fires are a natural event, coal mining by humans has facilitated the proliferation of these fires and
the environment is suffering.
Environmentally catastrophic effects from coal fires include the emission of noxious gases and particulate matter
into the atmosphere and condensation products responsible for stream and soil pollution. Coal fires have killed
Table 6.1.1
The major hard coal-producing countries and statistics about coal consumption.
Coal consumed
Major coal-producing
country
*
Generating electricity
(% production)
Steel production
(Mt)
Coal production (Mt)
China
1294
78
152.3
USA
945
52
90.1
India
312.5
77
27.3
Australia
257
77
ND
South Africa
224.5
88
ND
Russia
168
ND
59.0
Poland
104
96
ND
Indonesia
92.5
ND
ND
Ukraine
82
ND
33.1
Kazakhstan
73
ND
ND
Note
: Coal production and electrical data for 2001 (electricity for China and India, 2000). Courtesy of the World Coal Institute (2002). Steel
production data for 2001. Courtesy of the World Coal Institute (2003).
*
Total world hard coal production in 2001 (including countries not listed) was 3834Mt. In 2001, Germany was the top producer of brown coal/
lignite, with just under 20% of world production (903Mt) (World Coal Institute, 2002).
Mt, million tons; ND, no data.
