Palynostratigraphy and Environment of Deposition of Brown Coal From Beneath the Trail Ridge Ore Body, Florida

A 28.5 cm core of brown coal (dense, diagenetically mature peat) identified as H2 35 was recovered from a rotary jet drill hole on the Trail Ridge Ore Body in north central Florida. The brown coal was described megascopically, with such features as charcoal and leaf compressions being noted. The core was also sampled at 28 levels and analyzed for its fossil pollen content. Palynological evaluation indicates that the brown coal was produced by species of plants which still live in swamps of the southeastern United States. Furthermore, the plant communities which produced the sediment changed as time passed, varying from open shrub swamp with abundant herbaceous plants, to rather dense vegetation composed largely of woody plants. Abundant charcoal layers and the coincidental appearance of herbaceous species suggest close comparison of some portions of the H2 35 core with modern "prairies", or marshes of the Okefenokee Swamp.