FUNGAL FORMS IN MIOCENE EEL RIVER COALS: CORRELATING BETWEEN REFLECTED LIGHT PETROGRAPHY AND PALYNOLOGY

The Eel river coals are a series of variably thermally altered coals from the Miocene Sand Bank Beds in the northern coastal range of California. Thermal alteration is the result of seam fires, which have produced clinkers above the coals; R_max within the seam from 0.31 – 0.64. Much of this coal is composed of permineralized taxodiaceous wood and woody tissues, although leaves and other organic detritus are also present. Fungal forms seen in petrographic pellets include hyphae, sclerotia, and spores. These occur 1) as isolated bodies within masses of detrovitrinite; 2) as hyphae and spores associated with resins; 3) as hyphae and other structures associated with telovitrinite; and 3) in association with possible coprolites. These fungal remains are composed of chitinous polymers whose behavior during coalification is poorly understood. Fungal remains are known to be increasingly difficult to extract using palynologic techniques as rank increases. The Eel river coals provide a unique opportunity to explore this problem in more detail as all of the coals, regardless of rank, contain similar fungal forms. By adjusting processing techniques, similar forms are able to be extracted from both low and higher rank samples. Fungal forms present in palynologic preparations are primarily saprophytic forms and include: Axisporonites sp., Brachyporisporites sp., Ctenosporites sp., Dyadosporites sp., Exisisporites sp., Haplographites cateniger, Hypoxylon sp., Inapertisporites sp., Lacrimasporonites sp., Monoporisporites sp., Pluricellaesporites sheffyi, and Quilonia sp., among others.