International Journal of Coal Geology, 20 ( 1992 ) 23-47 23

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam

Paludal environments of the Mary Lee coal zone,

Pottsville Formation, Alabama: stacked clastic
swamps and peat mires

T i m o t h y M. D e m k o a a n d R o b e r t A. Gastaldo b
aDepartment of Geosciences, Universityof Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
bDepartment of Geology, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA
(Received May 11, 1991; revised version accepted August 20, 1991 )

ABSTRACT

Demko, T.M. and Gastaldo, R.A., 1992. Paludal environments of the Mary Lee coal zone, Pottsville
Formation. Alabama: stacked clastic swamps and peat mires. Int. J. Coal Geol., 20: 23-47.

The Blue Creek and Mary Lee coals in the lower part of the Mary Lee coal zone, Upper Pottsville
Formation, northwestern Alabama, record deposition in peat-accumulating environments or mires.
Intervening strata contain a series of stacked clastic swamps (forested wetlands which grew on a clas-
tic sediment substrate, rather than a peat soil). These clastic swamp horizons are identified on the
basis of: ( 1 ) autochthonous, erect, lycophyte and Calamites trunks; (2) mud-cast, prostrate, hypoau-
tochthonous lycophyte and Calamites trunks; (3) compression-impression assemblages of autoch-
thonous to hypoautochthonous pteridosperm and lycophyte foliage, branches, and reproductive
structures; (4) autochthonous axes and appendages of Stigmaria, and Pinnularia; and (5) siderite
nodules associated with "rooting" structures and other plant material. Sedimentological and biostra-
tinomic features of the Mary Lee coal to Blue Creek coal interval are used as the basis for the inter-
pretation that sediment loading and compaction of buried peat controlled the alternation between
peat mires and clastic swamps, and the stacking of the clastic swamps.

INTRODUCTION

Various mechanisms have been proposed to account for cyclic fluctuations

in terrestrial and marine sedimentation within coastal depositional systems
of Carboniferous Euramerica. Authors have invoked switching and abandon-
ment of delta lobes (e.g., Ferm and Horne, 1979), tectonically controlled
basement subsidence (Tankard, 1986; Fielding, 1987), eustatic sea-level
fluctuations (Heckel, 1986 ), or a combination of tectonic and eustatic base-
level change (Kline and Willard, 1989). These generalized studies did not
address mechanisms to account for alternation between intervals of terres-
trial clastic sedimentary rocks and coal (see Hazeldine, 1989 ).
The identification and delineation of clastic swamp and alluvial paleosols
24 T.M. DEMKO AND R.A. GASTALDO

have proven to be powerful tools in sedimentological and paleoecological

studies of Cretaceous rocks of western Canada (Leckie et al., 1989) and Ter-
tiary rocks of the western U.S. (Bown and Kraus, 1981, 1987; Retallack, 1983,
1986; Kraus and Bown, 1986; Kraus, 1987). Carboniferous clastic swamp
environments (forested wetland environments in which peat did not accu-
mulate) also have been identified (Roeschmann, 1971; Gastaldo, 1986a;
Besley and Fielding, 1989 ). However, their character and the criteria used to
identify individual swamp horizons (paleosols and forest floor litters) in a
superficially monotonous sequence of mudstones have not been well docu-
mented. This paper will describe and detail the interval between the Blue Creek
and Mary Lee coals in the Mary Lee coal zone, Upper Pottsville Formation,
northwestern Alabama, in which we have recognized deposits formed in both
peat-forming environments, or mires, and clastic swamp environments. Dis-
cussion will focus on the identification of clastic swamp facies in Carbonifer-
ous coastal sequences, their implications for interpreting paleogeography, and
the taphonomy of autochthonous fossil plants. A mechanism to explain the
alternation between peat mire and clastic swamp environments and the stack-
ing of clastic swamp paleosols will be presented.

OVERVIEW OF THE WARRIOR BASIN

The study area is located in the Warrior Basin, a triangular foreland basin
located at the southern end of the Appalachian orogen (Thomas, 1989) (Fig.
1 ). It is bounded on the north by the Nashville Dome, on the southeast by the
Appalachian structural front, and on the southwest by the deeply buried
Ouachita tectonic trend. The Pottsville Formation is more than 3000 m thick
in the center of the basin (Hewitt, 1984), but thins to the north due to both
depositional thinning and post-Pennsylvanian erosion.
Many factors, although operating on different temporal and spatial scales,
ultimately contributed to the deposition and preservation of shallow marine,
nearshore, inshore, and terrestrial facies during the Early Pennsylvanian.
Subsidence, associated with foreland basin flexure basinward of the Appala-
chian thrust belt, created space or allowed accommodation for the Pottsville
Formation as a whole. Its present thickness, all of which is reported to be
Westphalian A in age (Gillespie and Rheams, 1985), implies a tremendous
depositional rate compared to contemporaneous basins (e.g., mid-continent
and central and northern Appalachian basins ). This is especially true in light
of recent controversy over the duration of the Pennsylvanian Period (Klein,
1990). The preponderance of shallow marine and terrestrial deposits pro-
vides evidence of continued subsidence to keep pace with sediment loading.
The position of the shoreline within the adjacent mid-continent basin has
been interpreted to have been controlled by eustatic sea level change due to
Gondwana continental glaciation, which may in turn have been modulated
STACKEDCLASTICSWAMPSAND PEAT MIRES 25

MARIONCO. 1 ~N
B t_ C

WARRIORBASIN
WALKERCO.
FA

KM

Fig. 1. Locationmap. A. Indexmap of the United States. B. Map of eastern United States show-
ing Appalachian coal-bearingstrata (stippled), location of Warrior Basin, Nashville Dome,
Ouachita orogenictrend, Appalachianorogenictrend. C. Map of Walker, Marion, and Fayette
Counties, Alabama,and the study area (dashed line).

by Milankovitch orbital cycles (Veevers and Powell, 1987). These eustatic

sea-level changes also had some effect upon the position of the shoreline within
the Warrior Basin. Shoreline fluctuations resulted in the development of the
marginal marine sequences between coal zones. At least ten basin-wide ma-
rine macroinvertebrates horizons have been recognized in the Pottsville
(Metzger, 1965; Gillespie and Rheams, 1985). These horizons most likely
correspond to marine transgressions and sea-level highstands.
Regional subsidence, or the differential movement on fault-bounded tec-
tonic blocks, probably controlled the positions of regional depocenters and
the locations of major clastic pathways (major rivers, estuaries, coastal
streams, and tidal creeks). Thomas (1968) and Weisenfluh (1979) have
demonstrated synsedimentary movement on normal faults (typically down-
thrown block to the south) in the Warrior Basin during the Carboniferous.
This movement, like that of the overall basinal subsidence, was probably en-
hanced by additional sediment loading.
Sediment supply to any particular coastal depositional environment was a
26 T.M. DEMKO AND R.A. GASTALDO

strong factor in determining facies distribution. In turn, sediment supply to

coastal zones during the Early Pennsylvanian in the Warrior Basin was con-
trolled by many factors including:
( 1 ) the relief of the source area highlands and their proximity to the coast;
(2) the climate of the coastal zone and the climate gradient between the
source area and the site of deposition;
( 3 ) the number and position of clastic-sediment pathways along the coast;
(4) the longshore or littoral m o v e m e n t of sediment.
Our research indicates that local subsidence, related to differential compac-
tion (over a relatively short time span in comparison to the above mecha-
nisms), was the overriding control on facies changes (peat mires versus clas-
tic swamps) within the lower Mary Lee coal zone.

STRATIGRAPHY AND FACIES INTERPRETATION OF THE MARY LEE COAL ZONE

The Mary Lee coal zone is one of nine coal zones in the Pottsville Forma-
tion (Lyons et al., 1985 ). It is the most productive coal zone in the basin and
is, therefore, the best exposed Pottsville interval. It contains the Jagger, Blue
Creek, Mary Lee, and Newcastle coal seams (Fig. 2 ) all of which are of mine-
able thickness in the study area. Outcrops occur over 1000 km 2 as surface
mine highwalls, roadcuts, and natural exposures. These exposures extend lat-
erally over several kilometers sometimes in two or three oblique or near per-
pendicular directions. This allows a three-dimensional view of the sedimen-
tary facies architecture.
Immediately below the Jagger coal is a fine- to medium-grained sublithar-
enite, informally called the "Jagger bedrock" sandstone. This sandstone is
characterized by large-scale trough cross-stratification with primary cross-bed
dip directions to the southeast and southwest. These sandstone bodies are
interpreted as having been deposited as tide-influenced, shore-parallel bars
(Demko, 1990). Large dune and sand-wave-like megaforms can be seen as
"rolls" in the pit floors of surface mines in which the Jagger coal seam is ex-
ploited. The Jagger coal seam is immediately above the "Jagger bedrock".
Stigmarian axes and appendages that may have originated in the Jagger peat
penetrate the underlying sandstone. Although the Jagger coal horizon is fairly
persistent throughout the study area, the thickness of the coal is variable and
can range from 2.3 m to only a few centimeters over distances less than a
kilometer. These lenticular coal bodies are thickest in the swales of the under-
lying "Jagger bedrock" and thinnest over ridges. A persistent, carbonaceous
shale parting (0.1-0.2 m ) splits the seam into a thick lower bench (0.5-1.3
m) and a thinner upper bench (0.2-0.3 m) in most areas. Where the Jagger
thins, it seems to be at the expense of the lower bench and the parting (Bar-
nett, 1986). The Jagger coal is low in sulfur (0.9-1.0%) and moderate in ash
content ( 10-15%, excluding the parting; Barnett, 1986). The depositional
STACKED CLASTIC SWAMPS AND PEAT MIRES 27

A
EWCASTLE COAL

IARY LEE COAL

ILUE CREEK COAL

IAGGER COAL

"JAGGER BEDROCK"

SANDSTONE

1 M

REAM COAL

Fig. 2. Stratigraphy of the Pottsville Formation in the Warrior Basin. A. Generalized stratigra-
phy of the Pottsville Formation. B. Detailed stratigraphy of the Mary Lee coal zone.

e n v i r o n m e n t of the Jagger coal is interpreted as having been an autochtho-

nous peat body deposited in a coastal mire.
The Jagger to Blue Creek coal interval is characterized by laminated sand-
stone and mudstone. Thickness of the interval ranges from 3 to 9 m. The
depositional environments of this interval are interpreted as having been tidal
flats and associated tidal creeks or channels ( D e m k o and Gastaldo, in prep-
28 T.M. DEMKO AND R.A. GASTALDO

aration), and neap-spring tidal cyclicity has been recognized in this interval
(Demko and Gastaldo, 1989 ).
The Blue Creek coal lies above a root-worked horizon in the tide-influenced
interlaminated sandstone and mudstone below. The Blue Creek is a continu-
ous coal throughout the basin. It is thin, but consistent, over the entire study
area, varying little (from 0.3 to 0.5 m) in thickness. This coal is very low in
sulfur (0.6-0.7%) and moderate in ash content (13-14%; Barnett, 1986).
Hildick ( 1982 ) described the Blue Creek petrographically as a banded coal
consisting primarily of vitrain with minor amounts of clarain, durain and fu-
sain. The very small amount of fusain in the seam is primarily degradofusin-
ite and is most probably the product of decay of plant material rather than
burning (C. Eble, personal communication, 1991 ). Erect trunks (predomi-
nantly lycophytes ) are cast in mudstone immediately above the coal. The Blue
Creek coal is the most persistent unit in the coal zone, and can be correlated
basin-wide (J.C. Pashin, personal communication, 1990).
The interval between the Blue Creek coal and the Mary Lee coal (4-6 m)
is typically mudstone with very fine-grained sandstone laminations. Locally,
the interval is characterized by a coarsening upward sequence of mudstone,
mudstone with very fine-grained sandstone laminations and interbeds, and
very fine-grained sandstone. In some exposures, the sandstone laminations
are rhythmically bundled and resemble the neap-spring tidal bundles identi-
fied above the Jagger coal within study area (Demko and Gastaldo, in prep-
aration), but are not nearly as pronounced, complete, or widespread. Thin
( > 2 m), broad (a few hundred metres) channel-form sandstone bodies oc-
cur locally within paleotopographic lows inherited from the underlying "Jag-
ger bedrock" sandstone. These sandstones typically do not have erosional
bases, but do have a lag of compressed and partially infilled lycophyte logs.
The tops of the sandstone bodies also commonly preserve an accumulation of
lycophyte logs, and are vertically burrowed (cf. Skolithos? or Monocrater-
ion?). These features are similar to those described in a unit of a sandstone
split in the Mary Lee coal interpreted as a log jam (Gastaldo, 1988a). Pri-
mary sedimentary structures include horizontal, parallel lamination, and
micro-scale cross stratification. The channels pinch out, or grade laterally into
interlaminated mudstone and very fine-grained sandstone. There is no evi-
dence of lateral migration (point bars) or levee deposits. These channels are
interpreted as having been shallow creeks draining coastal lowlands. They ap-
pear to have been fixed within paleotopographic lows, and did not migrate or
avulse into the surrounding swamps. They also appear to have some connec-
tion to an estuary or bay, which transmitted the effect of tidal current and
water-depth fluctuations inland.
The Blue Creek and Mary Lee interval is characterized by multiple fossil
plant horizons (Fig. 3). There are three to five of these horizons preserved,
the number generally depending on the thickness of the interval. The first is
S T A C K E D CLASTIC SWAMPS A N D PEAT MI RES 29

MIXED LYCOPHYTE-PTERIDOSPERM UTTER

MARY LEE COAL

CLASTIC FOREST HORIZON 4
........... ..,,,, ........... IIIITIIII

CLASTIC FOREST HORIZON 3

<
_z
CLASTIC FOREST HORIZON 2
< 1 o•D
n th

CLASTIC FOREST HORIZON 1 O

o
LYCOPHYTE-DOMINATED LITTER
<:1

ERECT
TREE

~ 2M LYCOPHYTE-PTERIDOSPERI~
r UTTER
i STIGMARIA
BLUE CREEK C O A L ~

Fig. 3. Line drawing of multiple fossil plant horizons in the Blue Creek - Mary Lee interval at
the Drummond Co. Inc. Cedrum Mine. Height of puzzled geologist is approximately 1.72 m.
Scale is in meters.

generally 1-2 m above the Blue Creek coal. The overlying horizons are 0.3-
1.0 m apart. These horizons mark the position of established vegetation in
clastic swamps, the details of which are discussed below. The depositional
environment of the Blue Creek to Mary Lee coal interval is interpreted as
having been coastal, low lying, clastic swamps cut by shallow, broad creeks,
possibly along the upper reaches of an estuary.
The Mary Lee coal rests immediately over the last fossil plant horizon in
the Blue Creek to Mary Lee interval. The Mary Lee coal occurs over the entire
study area and continues south into the deeper part of the basin (Thomas and
Womack, 1983 ). However, the seam varies widely in quality and thickness.
In the extreme western portion of the study area, the Mary Lee coal horizon
consists of two benches ( 1.0-1.5 m thick) of interbedded coalified lycophyte
logs and mudstone separated by a mudstone parting (0.5 m thick). Eastward,
these benches merge into one coal seam with many thin sandstone and mud-
stone partings. One sandstone parting represents a channel belt that splits the
Mary Lee into a thick upper bench (0.5-0.7 m ) and a thin lower bench (0.2-
0.3 m; Gastaldo, 1988a). Although the channel pinches out eastward, the seam
splits once again. This upper bench is locally known as the Newcastle seam.
In the split area, the Mary Lee attains its greatest thickness ( 1.7-2.2 m ) and
best quality ( 12-13% ash, 0.6-0.8% sulfur; Barnett, 1986 ). The depositional
30 T.M. DEMKO AND R.A. GASTALDO

environments of the Mary Lee/Newcastle coal horizon are interpreted as

having been autochthonous peat mires and contemporaneous fluvial channel
and overbank environments with some possible tidal influence (Liu, 1990).
There is a ravinement surface above the Mary Lee/Newcastle coal, marking
a marine transgression (Liu, 1990).
The vertical succession of facies within the Mary Lee coal zone records de-
position in the following sequence of settings:
( 1 ) tide-influenced shelf/lower shoreface ("Jagger bedrock" sandstone );
(2) discontinuous coastal peat mires, clastic swamps, and tidal mud fiats
(Jagger coal and overlying clastic sediment facies );
( 3 ) peat mire and aggrading clastic swamps (Blue Creek coal and overly-
ing clastic sediment facies );
(4) peat mires and tide-influenced fluvial/deltaic deposits (Mary Lee/
Newcastle coals and overlying clastic sediment facies );
(5) brackish lagoon to marine shelf (ravinement surface and overlying
facies ).
This sequence reflects terrigenous sedimentation along a low-lying coastal
plain during a single transgression-regression-transgression cycle. The re-
mainder of the paper will focus on the facies deposited during the more con-
tinental phase: the Blue Creek and Mary Lee mires and the intervening clastic
swamps.

CRITERIA TO IDENTIFY CLASTIC SWAMP HORIZONS

The fossil plant horizons between the Blue Creek and Mary Lee coals are
interpreted to represent preserved forest-floor litters and paleosols of a series
of stacked, aggrading, clastic swamps. Criteria used to identify these horizons
include the presence of:
( 1 ) in situ, erect tree trunks (predominantly lycophytes and Calamites);
(2) mud-cast, prostrate, autochthonous to hypoautochthonous, lycophyte
and Calamites trunks;
(3) compression-impression assemblages of autochthonous to hypoauto-
chthonous pteridosperm and lycophyte foliage, branches, and reproductive
structures;
(4) in situ axes and appendages of Stigmaria, and Pinnularia;
(5) siderite nodules associated with "rooting" structures and other plant
material.
The erect, autochthonous trunks preserve the arborescent elements of the
clastic swamp in situ. Most commonly, these are lycophytes and Calamites,
but several pteridosperm and possible pteridophyte trunks have been re-
covered. These plants are the dominant constituents of the swamp forest
(sensu Moore, 1987). All trunks are surrounded and cast by gray mudstone
(Fig. 4A ). Burial of the largest of these trunks, up to 5 m in height, is evidence
STACKED CLASTIC SWAMPS AND PEAT MIRES 31

Fig. 4. Preserved autochthonous vegetation. A. Erect lycophyte trunk, rooted in a clastic swamp,
terminating in the Mary Lee coal (MLC). Photograph taken at the Gateway Malls Inc. Hope-
Galloway mine (T 13 S, R 10 W, Sec. 11, USGS Carbon Hill, AL. 7.5' Quadrangle). Person for
scale. B. Erect Calamites trunk above the Blue Creek coal at the Coal Systems Inc. Lost Creek
Mine (T 13 S, R 9 W, Sec. 28, USGS Nauvoo, AL. 7.5' Quadrangle). Note the adventitious
roots originating from nodes (at arrows). Scale is 10 cm.

of a high rate of deposition within these swamps (Gastaldo, 1986a, 1988b).

Arnold ( 1940 ) found lycophytes and Calamites preserved in situ in a similar
clastic-sediment dominated environment in Lower Pennsylvanian rocks of
Colorado. Modern trees have been shown to have been buried erect by up to
3 m of alluvium during catastrophic floods (Featherly, 1941 ). Although bur-
ial and partial burial of the Carboniferous trees probably resulted in their
death, some members of the swamp community appear to have been able to
withstand the stress of partial burial. Calamites adapted to the stress of burial
by developing adventitious rooting structures from the nodes of buried stems,
continuing their growth (Fig. 4B) even to the point of regenerating lateral
branches (Gastaldo, in preparation). In order for these plants to have been
32 T.M. DEMKO AND R.A. GASTALDO

preserved erect and in situ, they must have been buried by catastrophic sedi-
mentation events with high rates of deposition (eg. inundites of Seilacher,
1982 ). Other occurrences of similar assemblages of autochthonous fossil plants
have been attributed to burial and preservation by catastrophic flooding
(Gastaldo, 1986a; Liu, 1990), crevasse splays (Bryzyski et al., 1976; Kraus,
1988; Gastaldo, 1986a, 1987), debris or mud flows (Fritz, 1980), erg migra-
tion in eolian environments (Chan, 1989), and valley infilling (Hall and
Lintz, 1983 ). Modern examples of trees buried, or in the process of being
buried, in place include standing trees in deltaic sediments of the Niger Delta
(Allen, 1970), and in alluvial sediments along the Potomac River in Virginia
(Sigafoos, 1964). The trees in the clastic swamp deposits of the Mary Lee
coal zones are interpreted as having been buried by catastrophic deposition
of mud by high magnitude, low frequency, flood events. Local subsidence,
possibly related to tectonic downdrop or growth faulting, may have placed
the peat forest at a position low enough relative to local base level to allow the
incursion of catastrophic flood deposits. The effects of syndepositional fault-
ing on coal thickness and lateral facies distribution have also been noted within
the overlying Pratt coal zone (Weisenfluh and Ferm, 1984).
The pteridosperm- and lycophyte-dominated adpression assemblages con-
sist of foliage, branches, reproductive structures, and prostrate logs. These
dominant assemblages are concentrated and disordered on bedding surfaces,
and represent buried forest-floor litter horizons. Gastaldo (1987) deter-
mined the community structure and relative diversity of Carboniferous clas-
tic swamp vegetation using this type of taphocoenosis in conjunction with an
ecotonal gradient recognized within transects of preserved in situ lycophyte
trunks. These litter horizons contain the abscised detritus from the aerial can-
opy ( Lepidodendron, Lepidophloios, Calamites, Neutropteris/Paripteris,
Sphenopteris, sensu latu and Alethopteris), and in situ herbaceous cover
(Sphenopteris pottsvillea, and Lyginopteris) (Gastaldo, 1990) (Fig. 5A).
Prostrate, mud-cast trunks are the remains of hollowed lycophytes and Cal-
amites that were resident on the forest floor prior to final burial (Fig. 5B).
Examination of the infill structures of these logs can provide an estimate of

Fig. 5. Preserved autochthonous forest litters. A. Pteridosperm aerial debris from a litter hori-
zon in the Blue Creek - Mary Lee interval. Photograph taken at the Gateway Malls Hope-Gal-
loway mine (T 13 S, R 10 W, Sec. 11, USGS Carbon Hill, AL. 7.5' Quadrangle). Scale in cen-
timeters. B. Prostrate ptertidosperm trunk from a litter horizon in the Blue Creek - Mary Lee
interval. Trunk is outlined with chalk as the dark gray compression is preserved in dark gray
shale. Photograph taken at the IMAC Energy Inc. mine (T 13 S, R 10 W, Sec. 9, USGS Carbon
Hill, AL. 7.5' Quadrangle). Scale is 10 cm. C. Transverse and longitudinal views of a circular,
siderite-cast trunk from a clastic swamp paleosol in the Blue Creek - Mary Lee interval. Sample
was collected from an abandoned surface mine near the Imac Energy Inc. Blue Creek # 2 mine
(T 13 S, R 10 W, Sec 3, Carbon Hill, AL. USGS 7.5 ' Quadrangle). Scale in centimeters.
>

>

>
Z

N
34 T.M. DEMKO AND R.A. GASTALDO

their residence time on the forest floor. Gastaldo et al. (1989), in a compari-
son of infill structures in prostrate Carboniferous and Holocene prostrate tree
trunks in alluvial swamps, have determined that they may remain on the for-
est floor for hundreds of years before complete infilling and burial. Cata-
strophic burial of partially infilled logs resulted in casts, oval in cross section
(previously interpreted as a compactio.nal feature). Completely infilled logs,
characterized by multiple in fill layers, remained circular (Fig. 5 C ). Both oval
and circular logs are most abundant. Prostrate logs filled with calcareous and
sideritic mudstone are also common. The presence of compressed a n d / o r in-
filled prostrate logs, and erect tree bases, have been determined as being good
indicators of clastic swamp conditions, even in the absence of compression
assemblages of aerial canopy litter (Gastaldo, 1986b ).
Stigmaria axes and appendages are the subsurface "rooting" structures of
lycophytes (Gastaldo, 1984). The presence of these root traces alone indicate
that the mudstone packages within the Blue Creek to Mary Lee coal interval
are paleosols (Retallack, 1988; Besley and Fielding, 1989). These structures
are the most c o m m o n plant fossils found in the clastic swamp horizons, prob-
ably because of their excellent preservation potential - - they essentially bur-
ied themselves in a reducing environment. In all cases, the axes of the Stig-
maria have helically-arranged appendages which penetrate and slightly disrupt
the surrounding mudstone, indicating that they have grown in situ. In some
cases, Stigmaria can be traced to an erect lycophyte, but usually are present
as compressions/impressions without preservation of the parent trunk. Stig-
maria that can be traced to an erect, parent trunk are often cast by the same
mudstone that fills the trunk.
Pinnularia is a taxon of isolated rooting structures commonly found as
adpressions on the bedding surfaces in association with pteridospermous can-
opy parts. This genus has been interpreted as representing the rooting struc-
tures of Calamites (Scott, 1978 ), although it appears that some forms repre-
sent adventitious rooting structures of pteridosperms. There are many
different types of branched and unbranched rooting structures that co-occur
with the adpression foliage assemblages preserved in forest floor litters. These
rooting structures are preserved prostrate along with prostrate pteridosperm
stems, and are rarely found cross-cutting strata. Where these roots have been
found cross-cutting strata, they are emplaced obliquely, similar to other three-
dimensional plant parts around which sediment has accumulated. In no in-
stance observed, to date, in the Warrior Basin have these rooting-type struc-
tures been found preserved vertically with a paleosol. Due to the fact that
these Pinnularia are encountered as preserved elements of aerial litters, it
seems plausible that they represent aerial adventitious roots rather than sub-
terranean rooting structures. Their presence in direct association with canopy
parts is indicative of preserved forest floor litters.
Siderite nodules are commonly found associated with Stigmaria axes and
appendages or with bedded plant material in plant-litter horizons. Nodules
STACKED CLASTIC SWAMPS AND PEAT MIRES 35

associated with these "rooting" structures have been referred to by various

authors as "rhizoconcretions". However, they seem to have formed as irreg-
ular lumps near the organic material rather than as halos around, or replacing,
plant structures. They do not have concentric internal lamination and gener-
ally appear to lack a nucleus. They should, therefore, be classified as nodules
(Brewer, 1976). The presence of siderite nodules in the paleosols is indica-
tive of neutral to alkaline (pH 7-8), reducing (Eh 0.0 to - 0.4) conditions
in a waterlogged or aquic soil moisture regime (Soil Survey Staff, 1975; Stoops
and Eswaran, 1985; Gardner et al., 1988; Retallack, 1988) with a high Fe2+/
Ca 2+ in the pore waters (Pearson, 1979). The pore waters of water-logged,
organic-rich, oxygen-poor soils are reducing. Ferrous iron, necessary for sid-
erite precipitation, can be liberated from colloidal ferric iron oxyhydroxides
(Postma, 1982), organic complexes, and adsorption sites on clay micelles
(Carroll, 1958 ). Bicarbonate can be generated by the bacterial fermentation
of buried plant debris (Curtis, 1977; Postma, 1982). The precipitation of
siderite rather than pyrite under these conditions indicates a low sulfur activ-
ity (Curtis and Spears, 1968 ). This is indicative of a freshwater environment,
free from the influence of sulfate-rich marine waters. Besley and Fielding
( 1989 ) report an increase in sphaerosiderite in the gleyed paleosol profiles
they document from the Westphalian A-C of Britain. There, siderite is con-
centrated along vertical root passages and is believed to be the result of net
upward movement of iron during partial drainage. We encounter few exam-
ples of vertically distributed siderite nodules. Rather, most siderite is distrib-
uted parallel to bedding and associated with plant detritus.
The association of the nodules with fossil plant material suggests the fol-
lowing: ( 1 ) anaerobic decay (fermentation) of buried plant material not only
created a carbonate-rich micro-environment in the pore waters around the
detritus in which the siderite could precipitate, but also (2) supplied ferrous
iron, through reduction of ferric oxyhydroxides; and (3) the plant material
acted as macropores and conduits in the mud through which pore waters could
migrate during early compaction and dewatering, supplying additional ions
for siderite precipitation. In the case of siderite-cast logs, the restriction of
siderite and sideritic mudstone to within the hollowed cavity is also indica-
tive that the localization of siderite precipitation was controlled by the mor-
phology and distribution of fossil plant macrodetritus. Modern analogs to these
nodules have been noted in swamp clays of the Atchafalaya Basin in the Mis-
sissippi delta (Ho and Coleman, 1969); in river bogs in Denmark (Postma,
1981 ) and Belgium (Landuydt, 1990); in swamp sediments of the Skjernh
delta in Denmark (Postma, 1982); in a lowland moor in Denmark (Jakob-
sen, 1988 ); and in marsh and sandflat sediments of England (Pye et al., 1990 ).
These modern nodules were forming at depths of less than 10 m, and, where
analyzed, were associated with pore waters supersaturated with respect to sid-
erite. Taphonomy of plant fossils within the Blue Creek to Mary Lee interval
36 T.M. DEMKO AND R.A. GASTALDO

HISTOSOL ENTISOL (AOUENT)

- coal seams - clastic swamp paleosols

m 0.0 I I I f

---~----
0.1 ° ~ - - ~
/ f
~
--~ i N3 A

~ "-Z L~,.I-LH-R~
5YR3/2 Cgc
0.2-

O
0.3 -

' N4 C
0.4

A
0.5.
N4

Ccg N3 A
o.s- ~'---_--

5YR3/2 Cgc
C 0.r- -------~

o., I
?!
o.a--------'~__
__

| i
N4 C

Fig. 6. Generalized lithologic logs of paleosols within the Blue Creek - Mary Lee interval. N 1,
N2, 5YR3/2, etc., refer to typical colors in the paleosol subunits. O, A, Cgc refer to horizons
within the paleosols.

can provide clues as to the depth of siderite nodule formation. Plant fossils
found outside the nodules are preserved as flattened, coalified compression-
impressions; while those in nodules are preserved with three-dimensional fea-
tures (eg., leaf curl) intact. The siderite must have precipitated early before
overburden pressures were great enough to flatten the plant parts.
The paleosols, interpreted as mineral soils of freshwater swamps, are weakly
developed and exhibit little zonation (Fig. 6). They would be classified as
Entisols (Aquents) according to the Soil Survey Staff (1975) or hydro-
morphic paleosols (gleys; Duchaufour, 1982 ). The litter horizon corresponds
to a thin O, or an A horizon, and is underlain by a Cgc horizon containing the
STACKED CLASTIC SWAMPS AND PEAT MIRES 37

"rooting" structures and siderite nodules. Stigmaria and buried fossil plant
litter within the paleosols localized siderite precipitation by acting as con-
duits (macropores) for pore water migration, and by supplying ferrous iron
and carbonate through bacterial fermentation and reduction of ferric oxyhy-
droxides. These paleosols were probably similar to modern gleyed (gray,
poorly drained) hydric soils (U.S. Soil Conservation Service, 1985) or hy-
dromorphic soils (Duchaufour, 1982 ). Litter horizons and the bases of erect,
in situ trunks mark the position of the forest floor prior to burial.

ALTERNATION BETWEEN PEAT-ACCUMULATING AND CLASTIC SWAMPS: A

MECHANISM

The Blue Creek coal to Mary Lee coal interval is interpreted as recording
deposition first in a peat mire environment (Blue Creek coal ), then in a series
ofclastic swamps (fossiliferous mudstone with paleosols ), and then once again
in a peat mire (Mary Lee coal). Sedimentological and biostratinomic fea-
tures of the Blue Creek coal to Mary Lee coal interval have been used as the
basis to suggest that sediment loading and compaction of buried peat con-
trolled the alternation between peat mires and clastic swamps and the stack-
ing of the clastic swamps.
Although it has been proposed that some Carboniferous peat bodies were
"domed" (Smith, 1962; McCabe, 1984, 1987; Cecil et al., 1985; Esterle and
Ferm, 1986; Moore, 1987 ), the relative thinness of the Blue Creek coal (av-
eraging 35 cm) nearly basin-wide is evidence of a planar or immature
"domed" geomorphology. An isopach map of the Blue Creek coal in the study
area indicates few drastic thickness changes (Fig. 7). Those areas that are
locally thicker are confined to paleotopographic lows in the underlying "Jagger
bedrock" sandstone, and are probably infills of local relief rather than dom-
ing. Palynology and coal paleobotany of the Mary Lee coal in the study area
also suggest a planar or slightly domed morphology for the peat mire (Eble,
1990; Winston, 1990).
The present thickness of the Blue Creek coal can be decompacted to reflect
an original peat thickness. Studies of plant parts in coal ball to coal transition
in Carboniferous bituminous coals have shown that lycophyte trunks, com-
posed principally of periderm (bark) tissues, have a compaction ratio that
averages 13.5 : 1 (range 11.1 : 1-16: 1; Winston, 1988 ). Stigmaria appendages
are composed of aerenchymatous tissues and compact more than periderm
tissues. The average compaction ratio of these rootlets has been calculated to
be 29:1 (range 21: 1-40: 1; Winston, 1988). An attempt at accurate decom-
paction of the coal necessitates knowledge of the quantitative distribution of
these, and other, plant parts within the coal. Winston ( 1990 ) has determined
that the Blue Creek coal in the study area is composed of 49% lycophyte trunks,
36% rootlets, 9% pteridosperms, 5% ferns, and 1% degraded material. If we
38 T.M, DEMKO AND R.A. GASTALDO

~ 0./ 0.3CARBON HILL NAUVO0 MANCHESTER

0.3

0,4-~ ,

o.7 ',

/
0.3
f
/
, 0,4~

0.5. ~*

/
J
0,4 - ~ " HOWARD TOWNLEY JASPER

Fig. 7. Isopach map of the Blue Creek coal. Names refer to USGS 7.5-minute quadrangles.
Contour interval in meters.

conservatively estimate the overall compaction ratio of the Blue Creek "peat"
to be I0: 1, allowing for less compressible components such as other plant
material (e.g. pteridosperms) and mineral matter, the original thickness of
the peat would have ranged between 3 and 6 m over the study area.
The erect, in situ, lycophyte trunks preserved immediately above the Blue
Creek coal represent the last arborescent members of the peat swamp com-
munity (Gastaldo, 1990). The trunks are preserved to heights of up to 4 m,
surrounded and cast with gray mudstone. The first 0.1-0.5 m of mudstone
above the coal preserves of concentrated accumulation of aerial canopy detri-
tus, predominantly lyeophyte and pteridosperm material. These accumula-
tions of autochthonous plant parts mark the penultimate forest floor litter,
the phase of senescence, and ultimate death of the peat swamp vegetation due
to partial burial by terrigenous elastic sediment. This mud not only buried
and preserved the existing forest-floor litter (aerial canopy parts and pros-
trate logs), but also put the standing vegetation under fatal elastic stress (Fig.
STACKED CLASTIC SWAMPS AND PEAT MIRES 39

8B and C). The plant debris preserved immediately above the peat swamp
forest floor is interpreted as being the product of abscission of aerial parts and
decay oflycophyte trunks after death (Fig. 8C).
The burial by mud was not the terminal phase of forest vegetation in the
area. A few members of the peat swamp community appear to have been able
to withstand the influx of sediment. As described above, Calamites adapted
to the stresses of partial burial. Their ability to literally resurrect themselves
from their own graves is a testament to their adaptability to changing growth
substrates from Histosols (Organic Hydromorphic Paleosols or peat), to hy-
dric Entisols (Aquents or True Hydromorphic Paleosols, after Besley and
Fielding, 1989 ). After the stabilization of the new sediment surface, the sur-
viving Calamites were joined by other taxa adapted to life in mineral soils. It
is important to note that these horizons represent well-developed, forested,
clastic swamp communities (sensu Gastaldo, 1986a) with accompanying for-
est-floor litters. They do not represent scattered, isolated trees and may rep-
resent colonization, succession, and climax of a single forest (Fig. 8D ). They
probably do not represent several forests on a single soil; root-working of the
paleosols is moderate, and primary sedimentary structures, such as thin lam-
inations and micro-scale cross-lamination, remain discernable. Bioturbation
is incomplete.
Even though arborescent vegetation flourished in these clastic swamps, peat
did not accumulate. Continued compaction of the buried peat body (the Blue
Creek peat) created an unstable platform. As the buried peat compacted, ad-
ditional accommodation space developed, and a local depositional low was
created. As a result, the swamps were susceptible to additional clastic influx.
Subsequent catastrophic floods deposited more sediment into these depocen-
ters, entombing the swamp vegetation established in the mineral soil (Fig.
8E ). Courel ( 1987 ) has also suggested a similar mechanism for facies control
in the Stephanian and Permian intermontane coal basins of France. This pro-
cess of punctuated loading, continued compaction and subsidence, followed
by the re-establishment of swamp vegetation, resulted in the preservation of
a vertical sequence of stacked, aggrading clastic swamp deposits (Fig. 8F).
Determination of the time represented by each clastic swamp horizon is
problematic. The longevity of Carboniferous vegetation and the time re-
quired to establish swamp communities is not known. However, it has been
documented that these plants were "cheaply" constructed and probably did
not take particularly long to reach maturity (DiMichele et al., 1986). The
amount of time between vegetational maturity and reproduction is not known
and may have been mediated by changes in climate (e.g., rainfall) or sub-
strate conditions. As mentioned above, the preserved vegetation is believed
to represent burial of a single climax forest. Also, the presence of erect vege-
tation buried up to 4 m in height (without any fossilized prostrate macrode-
tritus within the burial sediment) is evidence of quick, probably catastrophic,
40 T.M. DEMKO AND R.A. GASTALDO

,ri : . * L .

Fig. 8. Model to explain stacked clastic swamp paleosols and alternation between peat-accu-
mulating swamp environments in the Blue Creek - Mary Lee interval. See text for explanation.
STACKED CLASTIC SWAMPS AND PEAT MIRES 41

and certainly geologically instantaneous, deposition of the burying mud.

Lithofacies within the Blue Creek to Mary Lee interval may vary locally from
homogeneous mudstone to rhythmically bedded, interlaminated, very fine-
grained sandstone and mudstone. Where present, the rhythmically bedded
facies is similar to that documented in the underlying Jagger coal to Blue Creek
coal interval, which has been interpreted as tidally-influenced mudflat depos-
its (Demko and Gastaldo, 1989). The formation of the paleosols and accu-
mulation of peat and forest-floor litter horizons in the Blue Creek coal to Mary
Lee interval represent more time than the deposition of the clastic material.
Weakly developed hydric soils (Entisols), such as those present in the Blue
Creek to Mary Lee interval, can develop in a relatively short period of time,
perhaps in only 100-1000 years (Birkeland, 1984). M o d e m paddy soils can
develop soil horizons and other features associated with gleying only a few
years after submergence (Ponnamperuna, 1972), and modern siderite nod-
ules have been shown to have formed over a period of 6 months (Pye et al.,
1990). However, once soil water and geochemical equilibria are reached, pe-
dogenesis can slow considerably and soils can attain a steady state condition
in which pedogenic change is less rapid (Birkeland, 1984).
The number of clastic swamp horizons present is a function of:
( 1 ) the recurrence interval of catastrophic floods of magnitude large enough
to bury and preserve the erect trunks and forest-floor litter horizon in a clastic
swamp (Retallack, 1984);
(2) the accommodation space created by short-term compaction of the
buried peat bodies.
These factors were superimposed on a background of longer-term, local tec-
tonic subsidence, subsidence of the foreland basin, and eustatic base-level
change.
The sequence of stacked clastic swamps is capped by the Mary Lee coal.
The Mary Lee coal marks the resumption of peat accumulation. At this point,
the compaction of the buried Blue Creek peat body must have slowed consid-
erably or temporarily stopped. A stable platform was created, providing con-
ditions amenable for peat accumulation (Fig. 8F). This switch was probably
a transformation of the last clastic swamp above the Blue Creek into a peat
mire. It is common to see erect lycophytes and Calamites, representing vege-
tation in the last clastic swamp horizon, terminate in the bottom of the Mary
Lee coal (Fig. 4A). This transformation of a clastic swamp to a peat-accu-
mulating swamp presents a case in which a coal seam and the underlying strata
are genetically related, a situation that may be exceptional (see Hazeldine,
1989).

SUMMARY

The Mary Lee coal zone of the Pottsville Formation in the Warrior Basin
of Alabama exhibits a pronounced cyclicity between peat mire and clastic
42 T.M. DEMKO AND R.A. GASTALDO

swamp facies, and vertical stacking of clastic swamp horizons. This interval
is essentially a vertical pedofacies sequence (sensu Kraus, 1987; Kraus and
Bown, 1988 ) consisting of Histosols (the Blue Creek and Mary Lee coals and
their "underclays") and Entisols (stacked clastic swamp paleosols) (Fig. 6 ).
The criteria used to identify Carboniferous clastic swamp deposits have been
defined as the presence of:
( 1 ) autochthonous, erect, trunks predominantly lycophyte and Calamites;
(2) mud-cast, prostrate, hypoautochthonous, lycophyte and Calamites
trunks;
(3) a concentrated, disordered adpression assemblage of autochthonous to
hypoautochthonous pteridosperm and lycophyte foliage, branches, and re-
productive structures;
(4) autochthonous axes and appendages of Stigmaria and Pinnularia;
(5) siderite nodules associated with "rooting" structures and other plant
material.
The record of cyclic deposition reflects autocyclic processes within the
coastal depositional system. Catastrophic burial of peat mires by mud from
high-magnitude, low-frequency flood events terminated peat accumulation.
It is possible that the mires might have been lowered relative to local base
level by relative subsidence, sea-level rise, or tectonic downdrop, placing them,
wholly or in part, at an elevation into which flooding could occur. A clastic
swamp environment was formed when the new sediment surface was colo-
nized by vegetation suited to growth within mineral soils. Some surviving
members of the peat mire community may also have played a role in the new
community. Compaction of the buried peat body created a depositional low,
allowing continued accumulation of catastrophic flood deposits that buried
the clastic swamp vegetation. This process of punctuated loading, compac-
tion and subsidence, and recolonization by clastic swamp vegetation contin-
ued until the buried peat body reached relative compactional stability. At this
point, the clastic swamp forest floor began to accumulate organic matter. A
high groundwater table (indicated by gleyed pedogenic features within the
clastic swamp paleosols) and a stable sediment surface created conditions
amenable to the resumption of peat accumulation. These processes were op-
erating against a background of tectonically controlled subsidence, eustatic
sea-level change, and fluctuating sediment supply. The autocyclic mechanism
for the preservation and stacking of clastic swamp paleosols (early compac-
tion of buried peat bodies and the creation of local sediment accommodation
space ) was the controlling factor in the distribution of facies in the vegetated
coastal area over a relatively short time scale (hundreds to thousands of years).
Allocyclic mechanisms (tectonism, eustacy) would have controlled the facies
and thickness of depositional or genetic sequences basin-wide over much
longer periods of time ( 10,000 to 100,000 years).
STACKED CLASTIC SWAMPS AND PEAT MIRES 43

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T h e s e n i o r a u t h o r w o u l d like to a c k n o w l e d g e a n d t h a n k Dr. E.G. Williams,

o n w h o s e field trips the idea o f s e d i m e n t o l o g i c a l c o n t r o l o f peat c o m p a c t i o n
was first e l u c i d a t e d . T h e a u t h o r s wish to a c k n o w l e d g e the financial s u p p o r t
o f the G u l f C o a s t A s s o c i a t i o n o f G e o l o g i c a l Societies, the S o u t h e a s t e r n Sec-
t i o n o f the G e o l o g i c a l Society o f A m e r i c a , a n d the A l a b a m a A c a d e m y o f Sci-
ence to T . M . D e m k o . We t h a n k Y. Liu, A. R i n d s b e r g , J. Pashin, R. W i n s t o n ,
a n d C. Eble for v a l u a b l e field assistance a n d c o m m e n t s , We also t h a n k A.C.
Scott, R. D u t c h e r a n d an a n o n y m o u s r e v i e w e r for helpful c o m m e n t s a n d lu-
cid criticism. We also a c k n o w l e d g e a n d t h a n k the following c o m p a n i e s a n d
o r g a n i z a t i o n s for access to m i n e s a n d d o n a t i o n o f drill core: Coal systems
Inc.; D r u m m o n d Co., Inc.; I M A C E n e r g y Inc.; G a t e w a y Malls Inc.; B u r l e s o n
a n d Mullins Coal Co.; L o s t C r e e k Coal C o m p a n y a n d A l a b a m a G e o l o g i c a l
Survey. T h e s t u d y was s u p p o r t e d by a N a t i o n a l Science F o u n d a t i o n G r a n t
( N S F E A R 8 6 1 8 8 1 5 ) to R.A. G a s t a l d o .

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