Chapter O National Coal Resource Investigations of the Distribution Assessment and Resources of Coal in the Southern Part of the Piceance Basin, Colorado Click here to return to Disc 1 By Robert D. Hettinger,1 Laura N.R. Roberts, 1 and T.A. Gognat2 Volume Table of Contents Chapter O of Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah Edited by M.A. Kirschbaum, L.N.R. Roberts, and L.R.H. Biewick U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625–B* 1 U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225 2 U.S. Geological Survey contract employee, Denver, Colorado 80225 * This report, although in the USGS Professional Paper series, is available only on CD-ROM and is not available separately U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Contents Abstract........................................................................................................................................................O1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Purpose and Scope ............................................................................................................................. 2 Methods ................................................................................................................................................ 2 Lithologic and Stratigraphic Data ............................................................................................ 2 Geologic and Geographic Coverages ..................................................................................... 3 Coal Resource Calculations......................................................................................................3 Location................................................................................................................................................. 4 Physiographic Features...................................................................................................................... 4 Coal Fields............................................................................................................................................. 6 Previous Geologic Investigations ..................................................................................................... 7 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................... 8 Geologic Setting............................................................................................................................................ 8 Paleogeography of the Southern Part of the Piceance Basin During the Late Cretaceous and Tertiary ........................................................................................ 8 General Stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary Strata in the Southern Part of the Piceance Basin ............................................................................... 10 Detailed Stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Formation and Mesaverde Group in the Southern Part of the Piceance Basin .................................. 11 Structure ............................................................................................................................................. 13 Coal Distribution, Quality, and Resources in the Mesaverde Group and Mesaverde Formation .................................................................................................................. 16 Coal Distribution in Outcrops........................................................................................................... 19 Black Diamond Coal Group (Anchor, Palisade, and Chesterfield Coal Zones)............... 19 Cameo-Fairfield Coal Group West of Long 107°15′W. (Cameo-Wheeler, South Canyon, and Coal Ridge coal zones) ............................................................ 21 Cameo-Fairfield Coal Group East of Long 107°15′W. in the Crested Butte Coal Field (Lower, Middle, and Upper Coal Zones)................................................ 23 Subsurface Distribution of Coal in the Cameo-Fairfield Coal Group......................................... 24 Cameo-Wheeler Coal Zone..................................................................................................... 24 South Canyon Coal Zone ........................................................................................................ 35 Coal Ridge Coal Zone .............................................................................................................. 35 Coal in the Cameo-Fairfield Coal Group East of Long 107°15′W. ...................................... 35 Coal Quality......................................................................................................................................... 35 Coal Resources .................................................................................................................................. 39 Cameo-Wheeler Coal Zone..................................................................................................... 40 South Canyon Coal Zone ........................................................................................................ 43 Coal Ridge Coal Zone .............................................................................................................. 46 Coal Resources in the Cameo-Fairfield Coal Group East of Long 107°15′W................... 46 Coal Production........................................................................................................................................... 49 Coal-Bed Methane ..................................................................................................................................... 52 Coal Resource Summary ........................................................................................................................... 52 References Cited ........................................................................................................................................ 54 Appendix 1—Summary of Data................................................................................................................ 58 Appendix 2—Summary of Coal Quality................................................................................................... 71 Appendix 3—Coal Tonnage Tables for Quadrangles, Townships, and Areas of Ownership ...................................................................................................................... 78 Appendix 4—Maps of Counties, Townships, 7.5′ Quadrangles, and Coal Ownership.................... 96 Appendix 5—Database Used for the Southern Piceance Basin Assessment Unit, Colorado [Location, lithologic, and stratigraphic data are available in ASCII format, DBF, and Excel spreadsheets on disc 2 of this CD-ROM set] Appendix 6—ArcView Project for the Southern Piceance Basin Assessment Unit, Colorado [The digital fi les used for the coal resource assessment of the Southern Piceance assessment unit are presented as views in the ArcView project. The ArcView project and the digital fi les are stored on both discs of this CD-ROM set—Appendix 6 of chapter O resides on both discs. Persons who do not have ArcView 3.1 may query the data by means of the ArcView Data Publisher on disc 1. Persons who do have ArcView 3.1 may utilize the full functionality of the software by accessing the data that reside on disc 2. An explanation of the ArcView project and data library —and how to get started using the software—is given by Biewick and Mercier (chap. D, this CD-ROM). Metadata for all digital fi les are also accessible through the ArcView project] Plate 1. Investigations of the distribution and resources of coal in the southern part of the Piceance Basin, Colorado .........................................................................................O101 Figure A. Location of drill holes and measured sections Figure B. Geologic map of the southern part of the Piceance Basin, Colorado Figure C. Stratigraphy of continental and marine rocks in the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group and Mesaverde Formation, along cross section A-A′, in the southern part of the Piceance Basin, Colorado Figures 1. Location of the Piceance Basin and adjacent structural features ....................................O4 2. Location of study area in southern part of the Piceance Basin, Colorado......................... 5 3. Location of coal fields.................................................................................................................. 6 4. Index map showing primary sources of geologic data in relation to the study area........ 8 5. Paleogeographic map of the central part of North America during the late part of the Campanian Stage of the Cretaceous Period ................................................................ 9 6. Stratigraphic correlations and facies relationships in the Mesaverde Group and Mesaverde Formation........................................................................................................ 12 7A. Faults and folds in the southern part of the Piceance Basin .............................................. 17 7B. Structure contour map of the top of the Rollins Sandstone Member of the Mount Garfield, Mesaverde, and Iles Formations ................................................................ 18 8. Schematic diagram showing the stratigraphic position and nomenclature used