Springfield Coal (Pennsylvanian) of Illinois Basin: Preliminary Report on Cooperative Project

Tri-State Coal Study Group, Illinois State Geological Survey, Indiana State Geological Survey, Kentucky Geological Survey

The Springfield Coal Member (Bed) is one of the largest individual coal resources in the Illinois basin. More than 52 million tons of this coal was mined in 1987 from Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. An in-depth understanding of this major energy resource can best be gained by basin-wide study. To accomplish this, the three state geological surveys in the basin have pooled their personnel and resources to form a cooperative study group.

A basin wide computer database on the Springfield containing location, elevation, thickness, coal quality, coal rank, petrographic data, and elemental-composition data has been assembled. These data are being used to produce a variety of basin maps that include datum point density, coal thickness, coal elevation, and mined-out areas. The effects of major structural features, such as faults and large anticlines, can be seen on the coal-elevation map. The coal-thickness map shows the influence of major contemporaneous channels where the Springfield coal is very irregular in thickness and is more than 13 ft thick in areas close to the channels. The density of publicly available data is highly variable and dependent on mining districts, but a compilation of these data will make possible b tter resource-related assessments of the Springfield coal.

Future basin wide products of the study group will include coal-quality maps, petrographic analysis of the coal, geologic and geochemical studies of facies associated with the coal, correlation sections, coal availability, and coal-rank maps. This study will serve as a pilot project for basin-wide studies of other coal units in the Illinois basin.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91023©1989 AAPG Eastern Section, Sept. 10-13, 1989, Bloomington, Indiana.