Print this pageABSTRACT: 
Basin
Analysis in the Illinois Basin
M. W. Leighton, D. Haney, N. Hester
In April 1989, the Illinois State Geological Survey and the Indiana and Kentucky Geological surveys formed the Illinois Basin Consortium (IBC) for the purpose of advancing the geologic understanding of the Illinois basin and of developing basin-wide studies for the assessment and wise development of the Illinois basin energy, mineral, and water resources.
Cooperative efforts include work on the AAPG Interior Cratonic Sag Basin volume, Springfield coal study, Paducah CUSMAP study in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey, Illinois Basin Cross Section Project, Geological Society of America Coal Division field trip and workshop on Lower Pennsylvanian geology, workshops in basin analysis, and the Tri-State Committee on correlations in the Pennsylvanian System of the Illinois Basin.
A network of 16 regional surface to basement cross sections portraying the structural and stratigraphic framework of the total sedimentary section of the entire basin is in preparation. Based on more than 140 of the deepest wells with wireline logs, the sections will show formation boundaries and gross lithofacies of the entire stratigraphic column.
A set of basin-wide maps shows structure, thickness, and coal quality of the economically important Springfield coal seam. These maps were generated from recently joined computerized databases of the three member surveys of IBC. A unified stratigraphic nomenclature of the Pennsylvanian System is being developed, including seven new members and seven new formation names. The goal is to simplify, standardize, and gradually improve the stratigraphic terminology to be used in the Illinois basin.
AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91003©1990 AAPG Annual Convention, San Francisco, California, June 3-6, 1990
