CONTENTS Page Sandstone of Lee Formation Base of formation to base of Van Lear coal bed- Base of Van Lear coal bed to base of Whitesburg coal bed -- Base of Whitesburg coal bed to base of Magoffin Member Base of Magoffin Member to base of Peach Orchard coal zone Base of Peach Orchard coal zone to top of Richardson coal zone Top of Richardson coal zone to top of formation Conemaugh and Monongahela(?) Formations Interpretation of depositional history FIGURE 1. Generalized geologic map of Pennsylvanian rocks in Adams, Blaine, 2. Stratigraphic positions and relative economic importance of 3. Interpreted environments of deposition of rocks in lower part of U.S. Geological Survey corehole K-3-75, from Van Lear 5. Map showing coal sample localities in and near report area 6-12. Maps showing areas for which coal resources were calculated for: 51 TABLES TABLE 1. Total coal resources stratigraphically by coal bed or zone in millions of 2. Total coal resources by quadrangle and county in millions of short tons 3. Descriptions of 55 bituminous coal samples collected in or near the 4. Arithmetic mean, observed range, geometric mean, and geometric deviation of 36 elements in 45 coal samples from the report area, reported on whole-coal basis, and geometric means of 331 Appalachian-region bituminous coal samples of Pennsylvanian age 5. Arithmetic means, by coal bed, of proximate, ultimate, heat of com- bustion, and forms-of-sulfur analyses of samples from the report area 6. Geometric means, by coal bed, of major-, minor-, and trace-element 24. Unnamed coal bed in Conemaugh Formation 25. Proximate, ultimate, and forms-of-sulfur analyses, air-dry loss, heat of combustion, apparent rank, free-swelling index, and fusibility of ash 26. Content of 42 elements in 53 coal samples from the report area 27. Major- and minor-oxide and trace-element composition of the 53 COAL GEOLOGY OF ADAMS, BLAINE, RICHARDSON, AND SITKA QUADRANGLES, KENTUCKY, AND LOUISA QUADRANGLE, KENTUCKY-WEST VIRGINIA By PHILIP T. HAYES and CAROL WAITE CONNOR ABSTRACT The report area, a part of the Appalachian Plateau physiographic province, contains outcropping rocks of the Lee, Breathitt, Conemaugh, and Monongahela(?) Formations of Pennsylvanian age. The Lee Formation, of which only about 45 m is exposed, is made up predominantly of sandstone and minor siltstone. The Breathitt Formation, about 250 m thick, is made up of interbedded sandstone, siltstone, shale, coal, underclay, and limestone, in roughly decreasing order of abundance. The Conemaugh Formation and overlying Monongahela(?) Formation, together about 135 m thick, are roughly similar to the Breathitt, but the only coal and limestone are in the lower part of the Conemaugh. The outcropping rocks of the Lee Formation are interpreted to have been deposited in a barrier-island complex. The Breathitt Formation, from base to top, is interpreted to represent a succession of environments from estuary or lagoon to lower delta plain to upper delta plain to alluvial plain. The Conemaugh and Monongahela(?) Formations apparently represent a return to deposition on a lower delta plain. A total of about 370 million short tons (336 million t) of demonstrated and inferred coal resources in 18 coal beds or zones underlie the area. Three of these units, the Van Lear coal bed and the Peach Orchard and Richardson coal zones, contain more resources and have produced more coal than the other 15 beds or zones combined, though 7 other beds or zones are of local importance. Thirty samples of coal from 14 beds were subjected to standard coal analysis, and 45 samples of coal were subjected to trace-element analysis. The standard analyses indicate that most of the coal in the area is of high-volatile B or A bituminous rank but that some is high-volatile C bituminous in rank. The indicated sulfur content of several of the coals is less than 1 percent but several others have sulfur contents in the 2-5 percent range. Some geographic and stratigraphic variations of certain trace elements within the coals are noted. 1 |