Wykorzystanie badań mineralogiczno-petrograficznych karbońskich skał płonnych dla celów korelacyjnych w GZW

Abstract

THE USE OF MINERALOGICAL-PETROGRAPHIC STUDIES ON CARBONIFEROUS BARREN ROCKS FOR CORRELATIONS IN THE UPPER SILESIAN COAL BASIN Summary Mineralogical-petrographic studies carried for many years in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin made it possible to differentiate some characteristic horizons or zones which facilitate subdivision of the complex of Carboniferous rocks and correlation of some coal seams. In area of about 900 km2 in central part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, there were traced horizons of tuffogenic rocks and crystalline (fire-proof) shale. The horizons, found in boreholes and mining works, belong to upper part of the Mudstone Series and they occur in proximity of the coal seams 328 and 326. Six zones comprising rock complex from the Poręby Beds to the lower member of the Cracow Sandstone series, have been identified on the basis of results of mineralogical-petrographic studies on sandy rocks in the south-western and western regions and the Major Basin in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. The zones differ from one another in content of detrital components (such as quartz, feldspars, rock detritus and micas), composition of heavy fraction, and type of cement. X-ray studies on claystones made it possible to differentiate three zones differing in mineral composition of clay minerals in the Zebrzydowice area. The zones - mica-kaolinite, kaolinite-mica, and chlorite-mica - comprise rock complex from the Upper Silesian Sandstone Series to upper part of the Mudstone Series.