Abstract: Coal-Resource Distribution Trends in Appalachian Coal Field

Kenneth J. Englund

Coal resources in the Appalachian coal field total about 236 billion MT or 35% of the identified bituminous coal resources in the United States. Although extensive areas of selected beds have been depleted by mining, the basin continues to supply about 360 million MT annually. This amount represents 60% of the nation's coal production including most of the premium metallurgic coal for domestic and export markets. Commercially important coal beds are found mainly in rocks of Pennsylvanian age which were deposited in coastal, deltaic, and alluvial environments.

To delineate the regional and stratigraphic distribution of coal resources with various quantity and quality parameters, Pennsylvanian coal-bearing rocks in the basin are related to a standard reference section (Pennsylvanian System stratotype) that is being established in south-central West Virginia. For this section, a sequence of overlapping component segments from the base to the top of the system has been selected and joined physically by geologic mapping supplemented by paleontologic studies and core drilling. In addition to serving as a model for regional or worldwide correlations, the 4,000 ft (1,219 m) of strata that comprise the proposed stratotype section also provides a threefold subdivision--Lower, Middle, and Upper Pennsylvanian Series--for presenting regional and strati raphic trends in the magnitude and character of Appalachian basin coal resources.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90961©1978 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma