#NovaScotia has been mining coal commercially for 300 years, since the French established a mine at #PortMorien in 1720 to supply coal for #FortressLouisbourg. But how did our world-class coal deposits form?
#nspoli #cbpoli #capebreton
@GeoffMacLellan @TimHoustonNS @HomeMattersCB
#NovaScotia’s coal deposits starting forming 300 million years ago when #NS had a tropical climate – tectonic plate movement had us in the middle of supercontinent #Pangea, down around the equator.
#nspoli #cbpoli #capebreton
Swamps contained dense vegetation that died, drifted to the bottom of the swamps and gradually formed peat—a soggy, sponge-like material. As the peat accumulated, the weight of the top layers compacted the lower layers by squeezing out water.
#nspoli #cbpoli #novascotia #coal
The peat was buried over time by sediments and ocean water. Deeper burial increased pressure+heat on the vegetation, causing chemical+physical changes, and pushing out oxygen. Over thousands of years, this turned the peat into the coal that still provides over half of NS' power.
Because of how it is compacted, it takes approximately 3-7 feet of plant material to form one foot of coal.
A coal seam one metre thick can represent 2,500 to 5,000 years of plant accumulation in ancient swamps.
#nspoli #cbpoli #capebreton #novascotia
The thickest #coal seam in Nova Scotia is the Foord seam in the #Pictou Coalfield, which is 13.4 metres thick in places - representing 33,500 to 67,000 years of plant accumulation!
#nspoli #cbpoli #capebreton #novascotia @TimHoustonNS
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