Question

Anthracite, bituminous, lignite and peat are different types of __________.
A. Iron ore
B. Copper
C. Coal
D. Mica

Answer 1

Hint: Anthracite, bituminous, lignite and peat are also called black gold and are found in the sedimentary layers of soil.

Complete Answer: Anthracite, bituminous, lignite and peat are different types of coal. Coal is a solid fossil fuel which contains volatile matter, carbon, moisture and ash or in some cases phosphorus and sulphur. The coal reserves are six times greater than the petroleum and oil reserves. The process of coal formation from organic compounds includes two phases - biochemical phase and geochemical phase. Coalification is the combination of these two phases, where peat is obtained by altering plant material, then peat is altered to lignite; after the formation of lignite, it is then altered to sub-bituminous coal, which is further altered to bituminous coal and is finally transformed into anthracite.

Peat is the first stage of transformation which contains less than 40 - 55 percent of carbon and sufficient volatile matter and a lot of moisture. Then comes lignite, also known as brown coal, with similar content which undergoes spontaneous combustion. After lignite comes bituminous coal, which contains 40 - 80 percent carbon and is used in the production of coke and gas and finally comes the best quality of coal, i.e., anthracite. It contains 80 - 95 percent carbon and is only found in Jammu and Kashmir in small quantities.

Thus the correct answer is option (C).

Note: The carboniferous age refers to the coal-bearing strata. Most of the world’s coal was formed during this age. The carboniferous age approximately happened 359 million years ago and ended 299 millions of years ago, so the duration was approximately 60 million years.