Re: coal again!
Bill Payne (bpayne15@juno.com)
Mon, 29 Mar 1999 23:23:46 -0600
On Mon, 29 Mar 1999 22:24:48 -0600 kbmill@ksu.edu (Keith B Miller)
writes:
>Bill wrote:
>
>>I appreciate your input. Briefly, I have now seen rootlets, axial
>root
>>systems, tree trunks and tree stumps, all associated with coal seams,
>so
>>lack of preservation is _not_ the reason the root systems are not
>>preserved. Gastaldo's paper clearly states that stigmarian axial
>root
>>systems did in fact penetrate the substrate, and he includes a
>picture in
>>his 1984 paper of several examples.
>
>You argued that you have _not_ seen "intensely and deeply rooted
>underclays
>with little or no interbedded structure." Furthermore you state that
>such
>observations would invalidate your model.
>
>I replied that such would not be expected because rooting is not
>readily
>preserved, and the evidence for paleosols rest with the macro- and
>microstructural features. Saturated soils are characteristically
>not
>deeply or intensely rooted soils. (I never stated that no roots are
>present!) In addition, I state that water saturated soils are poorly
>developed and often retain some of their depositional fabric.
>Therefore,
>what you demand for falsification of your interpretation is invalid,
>since
>it is not the expectation of the in situ model of coal formation. By
>disallowing all evidence other than what you choose, you effectively
>insulate your position from falsification. Paleosols below coal are
>a
>reality, by the standards used to describe and recognize any other
>paleosols. You have already admitted that you are not knowledgable
>about
>paleosols, and that you do not have time to read the literature.
>Until you
>do, I do not see how you can dismiss the in situ origin of
>carboniferous
>coals.
>
>
>Keith
>
>
>
>Keith B. Miller
>Department of Geology
>Kansas State University
>Manhattan, KS 66506
>kbmill@ksu.ksu.edu
>http://www-personal.ksu.edu/~kbmill/
>
>
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