INSPIRATION AND INSIGHTS INTO MACERAL FORMATION: THOUGHTS ON THE ROLE OF NON-FLORAL INPUT INTO COAL FORMATION

The role of fungus in the formation of coal macerals, both as a primary contributor in the form of a fungus fossil, the maceral funginite, and in their role in degrading wood, thus producing degraded maceral forms, has been established. Not all pre-maceral forms continue along the path to purely degraded forms; for example, some can be burned and be preserved as a form of fusinite or semifusinite. Fungus, in the course of breaking down the lignin and cellulose in wood, make the wood more digestible for grazers, such as arthropods. In turn, the remnants of the digested wood and anything else eaten but not completely digested are excreted and can be preserved intact; eaten by other fauna with a repeat of the cycle; or colonized by bacteria and/or coprophilous fungi with or without subsequent preservation. Ultimately, the coprolites can be preserved as a form of macrinite.