WELCOME

The main purpose of this atlas is to show what coals, cokes, chars, carbons, graphites, and other natural and man-made carbonaceous materials look like under the optical microscope with the intent of characterizing these materials for both scientific and industrial applications.

Most of the photomicrographs were taken through an optical microscope at high magnification (200x to 500x) using oil immersion objective lenses. All were taken in reflected white light with and without the use of a polarizer, an analyzer, and a retarder plate. In some cases the photomicrographs were taken in fluorescent light using ultra-violet illumination.

The photomicrographs were selected to show the most common structures and textures as well as inclusions of various kinds. At this time the sections listed below are available. However, additional sections including vitrinte macerals, liptinite macerals, inertinite macerals and anthracite are now being prepared and other sections are planned. If you have any specific interests for an additional chapter please contact Professor Crelling.

Metallurgical Coke Petroleum Coke Quinoline Insolubles Graphites Combustion Chars Coal Macerals Fly Ash