Notes on the Origin of the Resinite-Rich “Pine Needle” Lithotype of the Cretaceous Cambria Coals, Weston County, Wyoming

The Cretaceous Cambria coal, located in the western part of the Black Hills in Weston County, Wyoming, was mined in the late-1800's and early-1900's primarily to serve the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad on its route from Lincoln, Nebraska to Billings, Montana. The coal bed contains a distinctive resinite-rich lithotype, commonly known as the “pine needle coal.” The coal is characterized by a collodetrinite/inertodetrinite/liptodetrinite lithotype, and the liptodetrinite including the resinite, represents a degraded residue of what was originally a deposit with a greater representation of wood-derived material.