Nodules in fossiliferous coal- biogenic?

[Mahnmut]

Hello dear forum members,

among the collection of my late uncle there was a box of coal fossils, most of which are flat crumbly pieces of plant material. I left most of these in their protective wrappings for now.

among the fragments on the bottom of the box I found some nodules, I think these caught my uncles eye and where collected on the same trip as the plant fossils. (from Germany, hard coal, not lignite, thats all I know).

The nodules are heavy like ore minerals (pyrite comes to mind)

There is one with an interesting texture. Maybe a coprolite??

@GeschWhat?

Will post more plant fossils another day, probably after we move in july.

Is paraloid adequate for crumbly coal?

 

[Oxytropidoceras]

Possibly they are concretions called "coal balls."

 

Coal ball - Wikipedia

Retallack, G., 2021. Modern analogs reveal the

origin of Carboniferous coal balls. Palaeogeography,

Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 564, p.110185.

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Oxytropidoceras
added paper

[Mahnmut]

Thanks Paul,

that looks like a good fit!

I would not have guessed that these things are of that much palaeobotanical interest. Although the high density of my specimens points to iron content and thus rather low chances for the preservation of fine detail, I will try and get one cut.

Best Regards,

J

[GeschWhat]

Sorry so late. I don't get on the forum much these days. Because the one side looks layered, I would agree it is not a coprolite.