Microfacies and Paleomire Reconstruction of Coal in the Warukin Formation, Barito Basin, Kandangan Area, South Kalimantan

Abstract The Barito Basin is one of the basins in South Kalimantan and serves as a coal-producing region. One of the coal-bearing formations present in the Barito Basin is the Miocene Warukin Formation. The purpose of this research is to understand the characteristics of coal macerals, including the dominance of macerals and their microfacies, as well as the type and development of the mire where coal is deposited. This information is crucial for the coal geological study in the Kandangan region, South Kalimantan. The methods employed include organic petrography analysis, proximate and ultimate analysis on seams L8, L5, L5B, M16, and MS02 collected using the ply-by-ply method.The results of the subbituminous coal petrography examination in this formation show the dominance of vitrinite ranging between 41.34-74.04% vol, liptinite between 11.61-38.24% vol, inertinite between 2.21-32.32% vol, and mineral matter ranging from 0.17-1.98% vol, predominantly composed of pyrite. The ash content data ranges from 1.36-15.45 (% wt, adb). The sulfur content data ranges from 0.1-0.45 (% wt, daf). Based on the distribution of maceral abundance, coal microfacies can be categorized into five groups: (1) gelovitrinite-rich group, (2) telovitrinite-rich group, (3) liptinite-telovitrinite-rich group, (4) inertinite-rich group, and (5) telovitrinite-inertinite-rich group. The lower section is predominantly characterized by the telovitrinite-inertinite-rich group. In the middle section, the inertinite-rich group takes precedence, alternating with the liptinite-telovitrinite-rich group. The upper segment is primarily marked by the gelovitrinite-rich and telovitrinite-rich groups. The developed paleomire includes repetitions of topogenous mire and ombrogenous mire. The paleomire type is a wet forest swamp under limnic and telmatic conditions. The dominant original vegetation consists of woody plants, although shrubby plants are also found in significant amounts. Moderate to high gelification levels indicate that the peat was constantly inundated with water.