Question

Describe the distribution of coal in India.

Answer 1

Hint: Coal is a fossil fuel consisting of carbonized vegetable matter deposited in the Carboniferous period. Coal deposits refer to the accumulation of coal sediments at a certain place.

Complete Answer:

Now let us focus on the distribution of coal in the country of India:
Coal deposits in India are present in rock series. They have been present since two major geological ages.
1. One of them is Gondwana. Gondwana was the southern supercontinent, formed after the breakup of Pangaea before the Triassic period, including most of the landmasses which make up today's continents of the southern hemisphere. This was about around 200 million years ago.
1.a. Metallurgical coal formed from the Gondwana period is majorly found in the Damodar valley, which is in West Bengal and Jharkhand. Some important coalfields are- Jharia, Bokaro and Raniganj.
1.b. Apart from the Damodar valley, the Mahanadi, Godavari, Wardha and Son valleys contain coal deposits as well.

2. The other are the coal tertiary deposits. Tertiary period is from 63 million to 2 million years ago, and it is of or pertaining to the first part of the Cenozoic era when modern flora and mammals appeared.
2.a. Tertiary coals, which are in a lesser amount than Gondwana, occur mostly in the Indian north-eastern states. The states of Nagaland, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh have tertiary coal deposits.

Note: In India, coal has been mined since 1774. India is now the second fastest country that mines coal in the world. In 2018, India produced 789 mn. short tonnes (716 mn. metric tonnes).