Geology and Coal Resources of the Coal-Bearing Rocks of Alabama ~y WILLIAM C. CULBERTSON :ONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1182-B A detailed estimate of the reserves of coal in Alabama and a description of the ~tratigraphy of the coal-hearing rocks UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1964 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printin!l Office WashinJ1ton, D.C., 20402 CONTENTS Page Abstract---------------------------------------------------------- B1 Introduction------------------------------------------------------ 2 Acknowledgments--------------------------------------------- 4 Location and structure of coal fields _______ ------------------------__ 4 StratigraphY------------------------------------------------------ 7 Parkwood Formation _______________________ -------_-----______ 7 Cliff coal bed_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ 8 Pottsville Formation___________________________________________ 8 Plateau coal field (excluding Blount Mountain)________________ 10 Underwood coal bed ___ ------ _______ ------------------_ 11 Upper Cliff coal beds ___________________ -'-______________ 12 Sewanee and Tatum coal beds___________________________ 13 Plateau coal field (Blount Mountain)________________________ 13 Swansea coal bed _________________________ ------------- 14 Altoona coal bed_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ 15 Bynum coal bed_______________________________________ 15 Warrior coal field__________________________________________ 16 Bear Creek coal bed___________________________________ 20 J, K, L, and M coal beds_______________________________ 21 Sapp coal bed__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ 22 Black Creek coal group_________________________________ 22 Mary Lee coal group___________________________________ 29 Pratt coal group_______________________________________ 31 Cobb coal group________________________________________ 32 Gwin coal group_______________________________________ 33 Utley coal group_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ 33 Brookwood coal group ____ ----------------------------- 34 Cahaba coal field__________________________________________ 35 Gould coal group___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ __ _ __ _ __ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ 41 Nunnally coal group _________________ ------------------ 41 Harkness coal bed_____________________________________ 41 Wadsworth coal bed _______ ---------- ____ -------------- 41 Big Bone coal bed ____________ --------______ ----------- 42 Pump coal beds--------------------------------------- 42 Buck coal bed_________________________________________ 42 Youngblood coal bed___________________________________ 42 Clark coal bed ___________. _ _ _ __ __ __ __ __ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ __ 42 Gholson coal bed __________ -------- __ ----------------__ 43 Thompson coal beds___________________________________ 43 Helena coal bed--------------------------------------- 43 Yeshic coal bed_______________________________________ 44 Montevallo coal bed _____________ ---------------------- 44 Coal beds between the Maylene and Montevallo coal beds__ 44 Maylene coal beds _____________ --------------__________ 45 m IV CONTENTS Stratigraphy-continued Pottsville Formation-continued Page Coosa coal field (northeastern part)-------------------------- B45 Chapman coal beds_ __ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ __ __ __ __ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 46 Fairview coal bed _______________________ --------_______ 47 Gann coal bed ___ ------------------------------------- 47 ~arion coal bed--------------------------------------- 47 BrokenAirowcoal bed--------------------------------- 47 Coal City coal bed_____________________________________ 49 Hammond coal bed ______________ ---------------------- 49 Coosa coal field (southwestern part)_________________________ 49 ~artin coal bed--------------------------------------- 50 Correlation of beds between coal fields----------------------- 50 Physical and chemical characteristics of Alabama coal ________ ,.._________ 51 Rank-------------------------------------------------------- 51 GrindabilitY---------------------·---------------------------- 55 Lignite----------------------------------------------------------- 56 Physical and chemical characteristics _______ ---------------------- 56 Occurrence of lignite __________________________________ ------___ 56 Reserves of lignite in the Coal Bluff lignite bed____________________ 58 ~ethod of preparing coal reserve estimates_------- __ ----------------- 60 Classi4Jcation according to characteristics of the coal_______________ 60 Rank of coal______________________________________________ 60 Thickness of the beds ____ ·-----_____________________ ------- 60 Thickness of overburden _________________ ------------------- 61 Classification according to abundance and reliability of data________ 61 ~easured and indicated reserves ______ -------- ___ ----------_ 61 Inferred reserves__________________________________________ 61 Distinction between original, remaining, and recoverable reserves____ 62 Method of computing coal reserve estimates_ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ 62 Estimates of coal reserves in Alabama________________________________ 64 Areas and beds .excluded from coal reserve estimates__ __ __ __ _ _ __ _ __ 65 Comparison of past and present estimates of coal reserves of. Alabama_ 68 History of coal-production in Alabama------------------------------- 70 Selected bibliography _________ -------------------------------------- 72 Index------------------------------------------------------------ 77 CONTENTS v ILLUSTRATIONS [All plates are in pocket] PLATE 1. Maps showing location of coal reserves and coal basins in the Cahaba and Coosa coal fields. 2. Columnar sections of Parkwood Formation. 3. Columnar sections showing position of coal beds. 4. Maps showing location of coal reserves in the Warrior coal field. Page FIGURE 1. Map of northern Alabama showing coal fields______________ B3 2. Structure map of a part of the Warrior coal field_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 6 3. Location of coal reserves on Lookout Mountain_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 11 4. Approximate location of coal reserves on Blount Mountain__ 15 5. Isopach map of interval between the Pratt and Mary Lee coal beds____________________________________________ 17 6. Isopach map showing thickness of the sandstone bed in Pratt coalgroup___________________________________________ 19 7. Variation in rank of coal beds___________________________ 52 8. Rank of coal bed in relation to depth_____________________ 54 9. Localities of measurements of the Coal Bluff lignite bed_____ 57 10. Bituminous coal and coke production in Alabama__________ 71 TABLES Page TABLE 1. .Analyses of coal in Plateau coal field_______________________ B9 2. Estimated remaining reserves of coal in the Plateau coal field by county, bed, and rank__________________________ 12 3. Average analyses of coal in Warrior coal field_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 21 4. Estimated remaining reserves of coal in the Warrior coal field by county and bed_------------------------------- 24 5. Summary by bed of estimated remaining reserves of coal in the Warrior coal field__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 28 6. Estimated remaining reserves of coal in the Cahaba coal field lJy county and bed________________________________ 38 7. Average analyses of coal in Cahaba coal field_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 40 8. Average analyses of coal in Coosa coal field, St. Clair County_ 46 9. Estimated remaining reserves of coal in the Coosa coal field by county and bed____________________________________ 48 10. Classification of coals by rank____________________________ 53 11. Analyses of lignite in Alabama____________________________ 59 12. Summary by coal field and county of remaining reserves of coal in Alabama_______________________________________ 66 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY GEOLOGY AND COAL RESOURCES OF THE COAL-BEARING ROCKS OF ALABAMA By WILLIAM c. CULBERTSON ABSTRACT The bituminous coal resources of Alabama a~re contained in the Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation in four coal fields, the Coosa, Cahaba, Warrior, and Plateau fields. The two southeasternmost fields, the Coosa and Cahaba, lie in narrow northeast-trending folded and truncated synclinal troughs. The large Warrior field lies in a shallow basin that is modified by the narrow Sequatchie anticline, the Blue C["eek basin, a few shallow :flexures, and numerous short en echelon normal faults. The Plateau field lies in the northeastern part of Ala­ bama where the lower I'esistant sandstone beds of the Pottsville form the caprock of mesab or synclinal mountains. In Alabama, as of January 1, 1958, the remaining reserves of bituminoos coal that is under less than 3,000 feet of overburden and that is in beds in which the coal is 14 inches or more thick are estimated to total 13.8 billion tons. Of this amount, 7.9 billion tons are in coal beds in which the coal is 28 inches or more thick. The total reserves are divided among the four coal fields as follows: 11.9 billion tons in 16 coal beds in the Warrior field; 1.8 billion tons in about 13 coal beds in the Cahaba field; 42 million tons in 5 coal beds in the Plateau field ; and 41 million tons in· 7 coal beds in the Coosa field. The rank of most of the coal is high-volatile