The Raton Basin
In this paper the coal system of the Raton Baton basin will be analyzed and broken down into sections that include, structure and stratigraphy, coal quality, igneous intrusions, coal-bed methane, and the hydrocarbon production within the basin. The purpose of analyzing the Raton Basin is to understand coal diagenesis and the aspects of the basin that affect coal quality and production. Information for this paper has been gathered by several reports published by the United States Geological Survey and the International Journal of Coal Geology.
Introduction
The Raton Basin is a structurally low area located on the western edge of the Great Plains in the United States of America (Geldon, 1985). The basin covers the southeastern …show more content…
The coal-beds dip in toward the central part of the basin which places them over 1,000 feet beneath the surface (Jurich, 1978). The Raton Basin contains 2.7 billion tons of bituminous coal reserves (Geldon, 1989). There are approximately 40 coals seams that have been indicated within the Raton Formation (Higley, 2007). Some of the coal zones within the Raton Formation include the upper and lower units, which are separated by a layer of sandstone (Flores and Bader, …show more content…
Overall the Btu/lb of the coal ranges from 12,210 to 15,150 on a dry basis and increases from the northern to the southern parts of the Raton Basin (Flores and Bader, 1999). The coal within the Vermejo Formation ranges from High Volatile bituminous C to low volatile bituminous (Rooper et al., 2006). Coal petrology indicates a vitrinite reflectance values of 0.57 to 1.58 percent reflectance with the maximum values located in the central part of the basin (Johnson and Finn, 2001). Coal ranks of anthracite occur locally near the Tertiary intrusions, where there was an influx of heat from igneous sills and dikes (Johnson and Finn,
In this paper the coal system of the Raton Baton basin will be analyzed and broken down into sections that include, structure and stratigraphy, coal quality, igneous intrusions, coal-bed methane, and the hydrocarbon production within the basin. The purpose of analyzing the Raton Basin is to understand coal diagenesis and the aspects of the basin that affect coal quality and production. Information for this paper has been gathered by several reports published by the United States Geological Survey and the International Journal of Coal Geology.
Introduction
The Raton Basin is a structurally low area located on the western edge of the Great Plains in the United States of America (Geldon, 1985). The basin covers the southeastern …show more content…
The coal-beds dip in toward the central part of the basin which places them over 1,000 feet beneath the surface (Jurich, 1978). The Raton Basin contains 2.7 billion tons of bituminous coal reserves (Geldon, 1989). There are approximately 40 coals seams that have been indicated within the Raton Formation (Higley, 2007). Some of the coal zones within the Raton Formation include the upper and lower units, which are separated by a layer of sandstone (Flores and Bader, …show more content…
Overall the Btu/lb of the coal ranges from 12,210 to 15,150 on a dry basis and increases from the northern to the southern parts of the Raton Basin (Flores and Bader, 1999). The coal within the Vermejo Formation ranges from High Volatile bituminous C to low volatile bituminous (Rooper et al., 2006). Coal petrology indicates a vitrinite reflectance values of 0.57 to 1.58 percent reflectance with the maximum values located in the central part of the basin (Johnson and Finn, 2001). Coal ranks of anthracite occur locally near the Tertiary intrusions, where there was an influx of heat from igneous sills and dikes (Johnson and Finn,