- journal_title：Journal of the Geological Society
- Contributor：R.M. Jerrett ; R.C. Davies ; D.M. Hodgson ; S.S. Flint ; R.C. Chiverrell
- Publisher：Geological Society of London
- Date：2011-
- Format：text/html
- Language：en
- Identifier：10.1144/0016-76492010-178
- journal_abbrev：Journal of the Geological Society
- issn：0016-7649
- volume：168
- issue：3
- firstpage：629
- section：Special
A widespread misconception is that coals correspond to single palaeo-peat bodies, which represent continuous and time-invariant records of peat accumulation. Evidence for the occurrence of intra-seam hiatal surfaces within datasets from bituminous coals, lignites and modern peats suggests that existing depositional models for peat and coal require modification. Recognition that coals may represent a succession of stacked mires separated by hiatal surfaces has implications for palaeoenvironmental and sequence stratigraphic studies that assume a continuous record of peat accumulation, as well as for the prediction of whole-seam composition and thickness trends.