Coal

Slate

Coal and Slate

Coal

Slate

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Definition

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers called coal beds

Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism

History

Origin

USA

England

Discoverer

John Peter Salley

Abraham Gottlob Werner

Etymology

From the Old English term col, which has meant mineral of fossilized carbon since the 13th century

From Old French esclate, from esclat (French éclat)

Class

Sedimentary Rocks

Metamorphic Rocks

Sub-Class

Durable Rock, Soft Rock

Durable Rock, Medium Hardness Rock

Family

Group

Other Categories

Coarse Grained Rock, Fine Grained Rock, Medium Grained Rock, Opaque Rock

Fine Grained Rock, Opaque Rock

Texture

Amorphous, Glassy

Foliated

Color

Black, Brown, Dark Brown, Grey, Light to Dark Grey

Black, Brown, Buff, Green, Light to Dark Grey, Purple, Red, Shades of Blue

Maintenance

Less

Durability

Durable

Water Resistant

✔ ✘

Scratch Resistant

✔ ✘

Stain Resistant

✔ ✘

Wind Resistant

✔ ✘

Acid Resistant

✔ ✘

Appearance

Veined or Pebbled

Dull

Uses

Architecture

Interior Uses

Bathrooms, Decorative Aggregates, Entryways, Floor Tiles, Flooring, Homes, Hotels, Interior Decoration, Kitchens, Stair Treads

Exterior Uses

As Building Stone, As Facing Stone, Garden Decoration, Paving Stone

Other Architectural Uses

Curbing

Industry

Construction Industry

Cement Manufacture, for Road Aggregate, Making natural cement, Steel Production

As Dimension Stone

Medical Industry

Antiquity Uses

Artifacts

Artifacts, Monuments, Sculpture, Small Figurines

Other Uses

Commercial Uses

Alumina Refineries, Electricity Generation, Liquid Fuel, Manufacture of Soap, Solvents, Dyes, Plastics and Fibres, Paper Industry

Blackboards, Commemorative Tablets, Laboratory bench tops, Standard material for the bed of Billiard table, Standard material for the beds of Pool and Snooker table, Tombstones, Used in aquariums, Writing Slates

Types

Peat, Lignite, Sub-Bituminous Coal, Bituminous Coal, Anthracite, Graphite

Phyllite, Schist, and Slate

Features

Helps in production of Heat and Electricity, Used as fossil fuel

Easily splits into thin plates, Surfaces are often shiny, Very fine grained rock

Archaeological Significance

Monuments

Famous Monuments

Sculpture

Famous Sculptures

Pictographs

Petroglyphs

Figurines

Fossils

Present

Absent

Formation

Coal forms from the accumulation of plant debris in a swamp environment which is buried by sediments such as mud or sand and then compacted to form coal.

Slate is a low grade metamorphic rock that is generally formed by metamorphosis of mudstone or shale, under relatively low pressure and temperature conditions.

Composition

Mineral Content

Analcime, Apatite, Barite, Calcite, Chalcopyrite, Chlorite, Chromite, Clausthalite, Clay Minerals, Crandallite Group, Dolomite, Feldspar, Galena, Gypsum, Marcasite, Muscovite or Illite, Pyrite, Quartz, Siderite, Sphalerite, Zircon

Apatite, Biotite, Chlorite, Feldspar, Graphite, Hematite, Kaolinite, Magnetite, Pyrite, Tourmaline, Zircon

Compound Content

Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Sulphur

Aluminium Oxide, CaO, Iron(III) Oxide, Potassium Oxide, MgO, Sodium Oxide, Silicon Dioxide, Titanium Dioxide

Transformation

Metamorphism

✔ ✘

Types of Metamorphism

Burial Metamorphism, Cataclastic Metamorphism, Regional Metamorphism

Weathering

✔ ✘

Types of Weathering

Biological Weathering, Chemical Weathering, Mechanical Weathering

Erosion

✔ ✘

Types of Erosion

Coastal Erosion, Glacier Erosion, Water Erosion, Wind Erosion

Properties

Physical Properties

Hardness

1-1.53-4

1 7

👆🏻

Grain Size

Medium to Fine Coarse Grained

Very fine-grained

Fracture

Conchoidal

Splintery

Streak

Black

Light to dark brown

Porosity

Less Porous

Luster

Dull to Vitreous to Submetallic

Dull

Compressive Strength

-30.00 N/mm²

0.15 450

👆🏻

Cleavage

Slaty

Toughness

1.2

Specific Gravity

1.1-1.42.65-2.8

0 8.4

👆🏻

Transparency

Opaque

Density

1100-1400 g/cm³2.6-2.8 g/cm³

0 1400

👆🏻

Thermal Properties

Specific Heat Capacity

1.32 kJ/Kg K0.76 kJ/Kg K

0.14 3.2

👆🏻

Resistance

Heat Resistant

Heat Resistant, Impact Resistant, Pressure Resistant, Wear Resistant

Reserves

Deposits in Eastern Continents

Asia

Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Turkey, Vietnam

China, India, Turkey

Africa

Botswana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania

Europe

Belgium, Bulgaria, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, The Czech Republic, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom

Others

Arctic

Deposits in Western Continents

North America

Canada, Mexico, USA

USA

South America

Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela

Brazil

Deposits in Oceania Continent

Australia

New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria

All about Coal and Slate Properties

Know all about Coal and Slate properties here. All properties of rocks are important as they define the type of rock and its application. Coal belongs to Sedimentary Rocks while Slate belongs to Metamorphic Rocks.Texture of Coal is Amorphous, Glassy whereas that of Slate is Foliated. Coal appears Veined or Pebbled and Slate appears Dull. The luster of Coal is dull to vitreous to submetallic while that of Slate is dull. Coal is available in black, brown, dark brown, grey, light to dark grey colors whereas Slate is available in black, brown, buff, green, light to dark grey, purple, red, shades of blue colors. The commercial uses of Coal are alumina refineries, electricity generation, liquid fuel, manufacture of soap, solvents, dyes, plastics and fibres, paper industry and that of Slate are blackboards, commemorative tablets, laboratory bench tops, standard material for the bed of billiard table, standard material for the beds of pool and snooker table, tombstones, used in aquariums, writing slates.