This book offers an up-to-date overview of the coal deposits of South Limburg (Netherlands), the Aachen area (Germany), and the Campine area (Belgium). Although the amount of available literature on these coal deposits is quite vast, the majority of the texts date back to the mid-twentieth century, and most publications focus more on the stratigraphy of the coal layers and the rank of the coal. Moreover, the concept of continental drift is largely ignored in these publications.   

In addition to providing updated information, this book also discusses coal mining in these regions; the formation and petrography of coal; and the geological evolution of Western Europe/the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. In order to explain the tropical nature of the flora in the Carboniferous period, paleogeographic aspects are also taken into account.