coal measures

coal measures
1. coal-bearing strata.
2. (caps.) in Europe, a portion of the Carboniferous System, characterized by widespread coal deposits.
[1655-65]

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Major division of Upper Carboniferous (323–290 million years ago) rocks and time in Great Britain.

The Coal Measures account for much of England's coal production. The deposits consist largely of bituminous coal, though anthracite coals occur in southern Wales. Though local variation in the coal seams occurs, great uniformity is evident on a regional scale, and some coal beds can be identified throughout Great Britain and even on the European continent.

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      major division of Upper Carboniferous rocks and time in Great Britain (United Kingdom) (the Upper Carboniferous Period began about 318,000,000 years ago and lasted about 19,000,000 years). The coal Measures, noted for the great amounts of coal they contain, account for the major portion of England's production of coal. They are the uppermost division of the Upper Carboniferous and consist of a repetitive sequence of marine and nonmarine strata. The marine rocks consist of black carbonaceous shales and some fossiliferous limestones characterized by distinctive cephalopods and beds in which the brachiopod genus Lingula is the dominant form. The largest portion of the Coal Measures, however, consists of nonmarine shales and mudstones in which plant and freshwater invertebrate fossils are found.

      The productive coal deposits occur in the marine strata and consist largely of soft, bituminous coal; anthracite coals, however, occur in South Wales. Though local variation in the coal seams occurs, great uniformity is evident on a regional scale, and some coal beds can be identified throughout Great Britain and even on the European continent. The upper limits of the Coal Measures have been obscured by deformation of the strata during the Hercynian mountain-building episode and subsequent erosion.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Coal measures — Coal Coal (k[=o]l), n. [AS. col; akin to D. kool, OHG. chol, cholo, G. kohle, Icel. kol, pl., Sw. kol, Dan. kul; cf. Skr. jval to burn. Cf. {Kiln}, {Collier}.] 1. A thoroughly charred, and extinguished or still ignited, fragment from wood or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • coal measures — n. 1. coal beds or strata 2. sedimentary Carboniferous rocks that include coal bearing strata …   English World dictionary

  • Coal-Measures — (spr. kōl méschers), aus Schiefertonen, Sandsteinen und Kohlenflözen bestehende oberkarbonische Schichten auf den britischen Inseln, s. Steinkohlenformation …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Coal Measures — British coalfields in the nineteenth century. The Coal Measures is a lithostratigraphical term for the coal bearing part of the Upper Carboniferous System. It represents the remains of fluvio deltaic sediment, and consists mainly of clastic rocks …   Wikipedia

  • coal measures — coal′ meas ures n. pl. 1) gel coal bearing strata 2) gel (caps.) a portion of the Carboniferous System characterized by widespread coal deposits …   From formal English to slang

  • Coal Measures Group — The Coal Measures Group is a lithostratigraphical term coined to refer to the coal bearing succession of rock strata which occur in Great Britain within the Westphalian Stage of the Carboniferous Period. The Coal Measures Group is preceded… …   Wikipedia

  • Coal Measures — /ˈkoʊl mɛʒəz/ (say kohl mezhuhz) plural noun Geology 1. a portion of the carboniferous system in Europe or North America, characterised by coal deposits. 2. a portion of the Permian system in the Southern Hemisphere and India characterised by… …  

  • coal-measures — n. pl. Bed of coal, strata of coal, carbomferous group …   New dictionary of synonyms

  • coal measures — noun plural : beds of coal with the associated rocks varying in thickness from a few feet to several thousand feet and consisting of shales, sandstones, limestones, and conglomerates with interstratified beds of coal and occasionally of iron ore …   Useful english dictionary

  • coal measures — noun plural Date: 1829 beds of coal with the associated rocks …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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