Tectonically Altered Coal Rank, Boulder Creek Formation, Northeastern British Columbia

Fieldwork during the 1988 season involved investigation of the thermal affects of tectonic movement on vitrinite reflectance near the Quintette Coal Limited mining operation in northeastern British Columbia. Two samples, collected in 1987, from the same seam on either side of a fault, suggested a significant rank increase associated with the stmctwe. These sites were revisited and sampled together with additional sites, to gain a better understanding of the process. Rank variations within the seam at one site proved greater than between the original pair of samples. Significant reflectance anisotropy was found, which is due to distillation of coal, and confirmed heating greater than coalification. The samples were also the test-set for a new reflectance data collection and analysis procedure which increases precision and provides a measure of the error associated with each reflectance reading. This article describes the procedures used and results obtained.