Geochemistry characteristics of coals and the paleosea level variation in Xiaoniu coalfield, Guizhou Province

Based on test data of sulfur content, content of major and trace elements of a large number of Late Permian coals from Xiaoniu coalfield in Shuicheng County, Guizhou Province, the characteristics of element enrichment and their relationship with terrestrial debris were discussed. The emphasis is on the inversion of the total sulfur and trace elements to the sea level variation. The results show that the content of Si, Ca, Mg, Ti and K in coal is higher than the average of Chinese coal, and the content of Al, Fe and Na is lower than the average. Compared with the crustal value, B and Mo are relatively enriched; the enrichment of trace elements in coal is controlled to a certain extent by terrestrial debris, and major elements have certain inheritance to terrestrial debris. The vertical variation of total sulfur, trace elements B, Co, Cr, Cu, Ga, Ge, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sr, V and Zn in coal can be used to invert the sea-level variation. Low sulfur content and low trace element content in coal corresponded to transgressions, high total sulfur content, high trace element content corresponded to regressions.