Anthracite
“Coal perfected by pressure”
Anthracite is the highest grade of coal, transformed by heat and pressure into a hard, lustrous, carbon-rich rock that burns cleanly with very little smoke. With a carbon content exceeding 90%, it represents the final stage of coal metamorphism before the transition to graphite.
carbon (90-98%), minor hydrogen, volatile matter, mineral impurities
Northeastern Pennsylvania (USA), South Wales (UK), Donetsk Basin (Ukraine), Vietnam, Shanxi (China)
2.75-3
Pennsylvania's anthracite region fueled the American Industrial Revolution and sparked the first major labor strikes in U.S. history, reshaping worker rights nationwide.
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What happens to coal if metamorphism continues beyond the anthracite stage?
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