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Coal Fields of the Conterminous United States: National Coal Resource Assessment Updated Version

Frequently anticipated questions:

• What does this data set describe?
  1. How should this data set be cited?
  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
  3. What does it look like?
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
• Who produced the data set?
  1. Who are the originators of the data set?
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
• Why was the data set created?
• How was the data set created?
  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
• How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?
  1. How well have the observations been checked?
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the data, including topology?
• How can someone get a copy of the data set?
  1. Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
  2. Who distributes the data?
  3. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?
  4. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
  5. How can I download or order the data?
• Who wrote the metadata?

What does this data set describe?

1. How should this data set be cited?

   East, J.A., 2012, Coal Fields of the Conterminous United States: National Coal Resource Assessment Updated Version: Open File Report 2012-1205, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1205/>

2. What geographic area does the data set cover?

   West_Bounding_Coordinate: -124.363472

   East_Bounding_Coordinate: -71.149513

   North_Bounding_Coordinate: 49.001785

   South_Bounding_Coordinate: 26.034014

3. What does it look like?

4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?

   Calendar_Date: 2013

   Currentness_Reference: publication date

5. What is the general form of this data set?

   Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: vector digital data

6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
   1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?

      This is a Vector data set. It contains the following vector data types (SDTS terminology):

      • G-polygon (602)

   2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?

      Horizontal positions are specified in geographic coordinates, that is, latitude and longitude. Latitudes are given to the nearest 0.001. Longitudes are given to the nearest 0.001. Latitude and longitude values are specified in Decimal degrees.

      The horizontal datum used is North American Datum of 1983.
      The ellipsoid used is Geodetic Reference System 80.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222.
      

7. How does the data set describe geographic features?

   Coal_Fields

   Coal Bearing geologic unit polygons. (Source: text)

   FID

   Internal feature number. (Source: ESRI)

   Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.

   Shape

   Feature geometry. (Source: ESRI)

   Coordinates defining the features.

   PROVINCE

   Province that Coal polygon falls within (Source: Tully, J. (1996))

   Value	Definition
   Eastern	Eastern Province
   Gulf Coast	Gulf Coast Province
   Interior	Interior Province
   Northern Great Plains	Northern Great Plains Province
   Pacific Coast	Pacific Coast Province
   Rocky Mountain	Rocky Mountain Province

   NAME

   Name of Region, Area or Field of coal polygon (Source: Tully, J. (1996),Coal Age A (2010),Coal Age B (2010),Coal Age C (2010),Coal Age D (2010),Hildebrand (1978),Mason and Erwin (1955))

   Value	Definition
   Alberhill Field	Alberhill Field
   Appalachian Region	Appalachian Region
   Atlantic Coast Region	Atlantic Coast Region
   Big Bar Field	Big Bar Field
   Big Horn Basin Region	Big Horn Basin Region
   Black Diamond Area	Black Diamond Area
   Black Hills Region	Black Hills Region
   Black Mesa Field	Black Mesa Field
   Blackfeet-Valier Region	Blackfeet-Valier Region
   Broad Top Coal Field	Broad Top Coal Field
   Bull Mountain Field	Bull Mountain Field
   Camas Valley Area	Camas Valley Area
   Canon City Field	Canon City Field
   Carthage Field	Carthage Field
   Cavitt Creek Area	Cavitt Creek Area
   Centralia-Chehalis Field	Centralia-Chehalis Field
   Cerrillos Field	Cerrillos Field
   Coaldale Field	Coaldale Field
   Comstock Area	Comstock Area
   Coos Bay Field	Coos Bay Field
   Corral Hollow Field	Corral Hollow Field
   Covelo Field	Covelo Field
   Cretaceous Lignite Area	Cretaceous Lignite Area
   Datil Mountains Field	Datil Mountains Field
   Deer Creek Field	Deer Creek Field
   Denver Region	Denver Region
   Eagle Springs Field	Eagle Springs Field
   Eastern Region	Eastern Region
   Eden Ridge Field	Eden Ridge Field
   Electric Field	Electric Field
   Engle Field	Engle Field
   Flathead Field	Flathead Field
   Fort Union Region	Fort Union Region
   Garfield County Field	Garfield County Field
   Glacier Field	Glacier Field
   Goose Creek Field	Goose Creek Field
   Goshen Hole Field	Goshen Hole Field
   Great Falls Field	Great Falls Field
   Green River Field	Green River Field
   Green River Region	Green River Region
   Hams Fork Region	Hams Fork Region
   Hanna Field	Hanna Field
   Harmony Field	Harmony Field
   Hay Fork Valley Field	Hay Fork Valley Field
   Horseshoe Bend Field	Horseshoe Bend Field
   Hyampom Valley Field	Hyampom Valley Field
   Ione Field	Ione Field
   Issaquah-Grand Ridge Field	Issaquah-Grand Ridge Field
   Jackson Hole Field	Jackson Hole Field
   Jornada del Muerto Field	Jornada del Muerto Field
   Kelso-Castle Rock Area	Kelso-Castle Rock Area
   Lewistown Field	Lewistown Field
   Lincoln Field	Lincoln Field
   Livingston-Trail Creek Field	Livingston-Trail Creek Field
   Lombard Field	Lombard Field
   Lookingglass Area	Lookingglass Area
   Lower Nehalem	Lower Nehalem
   Lower Nehalem Area	Lower Nehalem Area
   Mississippi Region	Mississippi Region
   Missoula Field	Missoula Field
   Monero Field	Monero Field
   Montgomery Creek Field	Montgomery Creek Field
   Morton Field	Morton Field
   Mount Diablo Field	Mount Diablo Field
   North Central Fields	North Central Fields
   North Park Field	North Park Field
   North Park Region	North Park Region
   North-Central Region	North-Central Region
   Northern Region	Northern Region
   Orofino Field	Orofino Field
   Pagosa Springs Field	Pagosa Springs Field
   Pennsylvania Anthracite Region	Pennsylvania Anthracite Region
   Pinedale Field	Pinedale Field
   Powder River Region	Powder River Region
   Raton Mesa Region	Raton Mesa Region
   Rhode Island Meta-Anthracite Region	Rhode Island Meta-Anthracite Region
   Rio Puerco Field	Rio Puerco Field
   Rock Creek Field	Rock Creek Field
   Rogue River Field	Rogue River Field
   Roslyn Cleelum Field	Roslyn Cleelum Field
   S.E.Douglas City Field	S.E.Douglas City Field
   San Carlos Field	San Carlos Field
   San Juan River Region	San Juan River Region
   Sierra Blanca Field	Sierra Blanca Field
   Skagit County Area	Skagit County Area
   South Park Field	South Park Field
   Southwestern Region	Southwestern Region
   Stewart Ranch Area	Stewart Ranch Area
   Stillwater Field	Stillwater Field
   Stone Canyon Field	Stone Canyon Field
   Summit Creek Field	Summit Creek Field
   SW Utah Region	SW Utah Region
   Terlingua Field	Terlingua Field
   Tertiary Lake Beds Region	Tertiary Lake Beds Region
   Texas or Mississippi Regions	Texas or Mississippi Regions
   Texas Region	Texas Region
   Tijeras Field	Tijeras Field
   Tongue Mesa Field	Tongue Mesa Field
   Uinta Region	Uinta Region
   Una del Gato Field (Hagen Field)	Una del Gato Field (Hagen Field)
   Unnamed Region or Field	Unnamed Region or Field
   Waldo Hills Area	Waldo Hills Area
   Western Region	Western Region
   Whatcom County Area	Whatcom County Area
   Wilkeson-Carbonado Field	Wilkeson-Carbonado Field
   Willow Creek Area	Willow Creek Area
   Wind River Region	Wind River Region
   Yaquina Area	Yaquina Area

   AGE

   Geologic Age of formations that contain coal. (Source: Tully, J. (1996))

   Value	Definition
   Cretaceous	145.5 +/- 4.0 to 65.5 +/- 0.3 MA
   Jurassic	199.6 +/- 0.6 to 145.5 +/- 4.0 MA
   Mississippian	359.2 +/- 2.5 to 318.1 +/- 1.3
   Pennsylvanian-Permian	318.1 +/- 1.3 to 251.0 +/- 0.4 MA
   Tertiary	65.5 +/- 0.3 to 2.588 MA
   Tertiary-Cretaceous	145.5 +/- 4.0 to 2.588 MA
   Triassic	251.0 +/- 0.4 to 199.6 +/- 0.6 MA

   RANK

   Predominant Rank Classification of Coal (Source: Tully, J. (1996))

   Value	Definition
   Anthracite	Anthracite Coal
   Lignite	Lignite Coal
   Low Volatile Bituminous	Low Volatile Bituminous Coal
   Medium and High Volatile Bituminous	Medium and High Volatile Bituminous Coal
   Subbituminous	Subbituminous Coal

Who produced the data set?

1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
   • East, J.A.

2. Who also contributed to the data set?

   Technical reviews for this publication were provided by Leslie Ruppert, Christopher Garrity, Susan Tewalt, Lee Osmonson, James Luppens and James Coleman.

3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
   Joseph East
   U.S. Geological Survey
   Geologist
   MS 956 National Center
   Reston, VA 20192
   USA
   

   703-648-6450 (voice)
   703-648-6419 (FAX)
   jeast@usgs.gov
   

Why was the data set created?

This dataset was compiled to update the Coal Fields Map of the Conterminous United States OFR 96-92, using new data provided by the USGS Energy Program NCRA assessments. The pdf and shapefiles were updated with the intent to remove outdated economic information that was rendered obsolete due to changes in technology. New attributes for regional or area names, provinces, and the geologic age of the coal were added as well as in other miscellaneous graphic products for demonstration purposes with other Federal agencies and Congress.

How was the data set created?

1. From what previous works were the data drawn?

   Trumbull, J. (1960) (source 1 of 15)

   Trumbull, J., 1960, Coal Fields of the United States (sheet 1): U.S. Geological Survey Map (none).

   Type_of_Source_Media: Paper map

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 5000000

   Source_Contribution: Original Paper Map of the Coal Fields

   Tully, J. (1996) (source 2 of 15)

   Tully, J., 1996, Coal Fields of the Conterminous United States. U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 96-092.: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 96-092.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1996/of96-092/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: PDF of map, and Arc Info Coverage.

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 5000000

   Source_Contribution: Digital update of Trumbull 1960 used as base GIS for project

   Schruben and others (1998) (source 3 of 15)

   Schruben, P., Arndt, R., and Bawiec, W., 1998, Geology of the Conterminous United States at 1:2,500,000 Scale--A Digital Representation of the 1974 P.B. King and H.M. Beikman Map.: U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-11.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds11/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: Arc Info Coverage

   Source_Scale_Denominator: 2500000

   Source_Contribution:

   Provided updated outlines for coal bearing units not included in NCRA assessment.

   Fort Union Coal Assessment Team (1999) (source 4 of 15)

   Fort Union Coal Assessment Team, 1999, 1999 Resource Assessment of Selected Tertiary Coal Beds and Zones in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains Region.: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625-A.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1625a/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: ESRI shapefiles

   Source_Contribution:

   Provided areas that were updated in the NCRA Assessment of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains

   Kirschbaum and others (2000) (source 5 of 15)

   Kirschbaum, M., Roberts, L., and Biewick, L., 2000, Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625-B.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1625b/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: ESRI shapefiles

   Source_Contribution:

   Provided areas that were updated in the NCRA Assessment of the Colorado Plateau

   Northern and Central Appalachian Basin Coal Regions Assessment Team (2001) (source 6 of 15)

   Northern and Central Appalachian Basin Coal Regions Assessment Team, 2001, 2000 Resource Assessment of Selected Coal Beds and Zones in the Northern and Central Appalachian Basin Coal Regions.: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625-C.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1625c/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: ESRI coverages

   Source_Contribution:

   Provided areas that were updated in the NCRA Assessment of the Appalachian Basin

   Hatch and Affolter (2002) (source 7 of 15)

   Hatch, J., and Affolter, R., 2002, Resource Assessment of the Springfield, Herrin, Danville, and Baker Coals in the Illinois Basin.: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625-D.

   Online Links:

   • <http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/p1625d/>

   Type_of_Source_Media: ESRI shapefiles

   Source_Contribution:

   Provided areas that were updated in the NCRA Assessment of the Illinois Basin

   ASTM International (2005) (source 8 of 15)

   International, ASTM, 2005, Standard Classification of Coals by Rank (Designation D388-05): 2005 Annual Book of ASTM Standards, V 5.05 D388-05, V 5.05, P. 168-171.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.astm.org/Standards/D388.htm>

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Contribution:

   Provided ranges of carbon and calorific values for grades of coal

   Warwick and others (2011) (source 9 of 15)

   AAPG, Warwick, P., Karlsen, A., Merrill, M., and Valentine, B., 2011, Geologic assessment of coal in the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain, USA: AAPG Discovery Series/Studies in Geology DS 14/SIG 62.

   Online Links:

   • <http://www.datapages.com/Services/GISUDRIL/OpenFiles/GulfCoastCoalAssessment.aspx>

   Type_of_Source_Media: ESRI shapefile

   Source_Contribution:

   Provided areas that were updated in the NCRA Assessment of the Gulf Coast

   Coal Age A (source 10 of 15)

   Age, Coal, and International, Mining Media, 2010, Keystone Coal Industry Manual--Coal Geology of New Mexico: Keystone Coal Industry Manual 2010 p 517-527.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Contribution: Provided supplemental areas of New Mexico coal fields

   Coal Age B (source 11 of 15)

   Age, Coal, and International, Mining Media, 2010, Keystone Coal Industry Manual--Coal Geology of Colorado: Keystone Coal Industry Manual 2010 p 443-455.

   Type_of_Source_Media: Paper Map

   Source_Contribution: Provided supplemental areas of Colorado coal fields

   Coal Age C (source 12 of 15)

   Age, Coal, and International, Mining Media, 2010, Keystone Coal Industry Manual--Coal Geology of Utah: Keystone Coal Industry Manual 2010 p 577-585.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Contribution: Provided supplemental areas of Utah coal fields

   Coal Age D (source 13 of 15)

   Age, Coal, and International, Mining Media, 2010, Keystone Coal Industry Manual -- Coal Geology of Washington: Keystone Coal Industry Manual 2010 p 592-599.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Contribution: Provided supplemental areas of Washington coal fields

   Hildebrand (1978) (source 14 of 15)

   Survey, California Geological, and Hildebrand, R., 1978, Coal Deposits of California -- A selected Annotated Bibliography: California Geology Vol 31, No 12.

   Type_of_Source_Media: paper

   Source_Contribution: Provided supplemental areas of California coal fields

   Mason and Erwin (1955) (source 15 of 15)

   Mason, R., and Erwin, M., 1955, Coal Resources of Oregon: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 362.

   Type_of_Source_Media: Paper Map

   Source_Contribution: Provided supplemental areas of Oregon coal fields

2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?

   Date: 01-Sep-2011 (process 1 of 1)

   The coal_fields shapefile is based on the coverage for the USGS OFR 96-092 Coalfields of the Conterminous United States. The attributed polygon portion of the coverage was exported as a shapefile and the projection was defined as Geographic, NAD27. The shapefile was reprojected to NAD83 using the ESRI NADCON datum conversion. Polygon shapefiles from the NCRA assessments and the digital Geological Map of the United States were added to the project. Areas where the field and or basin outline were updated during the NCRA assessments were incorporated into the coalfields shapefile (predominantly in the western basins). Areas that were not assessed by the NCRA teams, and had implied boundaries, were updated using the maximum extent of the coal bearing formation taken from the digital Geological Map of the United States, Schruben and others (1998). These polygons were then merged together to form the updated boundaries. The original shapefile for OFR 96-092 (Tully, 1996) was modified to remove the economic factor of minability from the rank (DESCRIPTIO) attribute. Polygon boundaries with economic information were merged so that they only contained rank. These polygons were then attributed as Anthracite, Low Volatile Bituminous, Medium and High Volatile Bituminous, Subbituminous, and Lignite. A new attribute for the Province was created. The attribute was populated based on where individual polygons fell in certain provinces, as defined in USGS OFR 96-092 (Tully, 1996). The province lines fell in between the basins and fields, and did not require any splitting or merging of polygons. The Name attribute was not populated in the USGS OFR 96-092 (Tully, 1996) coverage. The field was populated by comparison with the printed report, and individual polygons were attributed with a Region, Area, or Field name. Some of the polygons did not have name information attached. The Age attribute was not populated in the USGS OFR 96-092 (Tully, 1996) coverage. Age was determined by comparison with the printed report, and the digital Geological Map of the United States, and the field was populated. A small amount of field names and points were added and or updated in the western states of Washington, Oregon, California, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico using additional coal resource literature.

3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

1. How well have the observations been checked?

   Attribute accuracy was tested by manual comparison of the source with georeferenced digital printouts of the original USGS OFR 96-092, shapefiles from the digital Geological Map of the United States, and the shapefiles from the NCRA assessments.

2. How accurate are the geographic locations?

   The digital file and shapefile is based on the Tully (1996) map, which does not have an entry for Positional Accuracy in its metadata. That file was primarily digitized off of Trumbull's (1960) map, which was based on existing mapping techniques. Potential exists for errors during the data collection phase and the digitization phase of the maps that this report uses.

3. How accurate are the heights or depths?

4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?

   Data set complete. No data were intentionally omitted from the hard copy and digital source maps.

5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?

   Map elements were visually checked for overshoots, undershoots, duplicates, polygon closure and proper attribution. All polygons were created from existing shapefiles or coverages that had already gone through the USGS publications process.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?

Access_Constraints: None

Use_Constraints: None

1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
   USGS Information Services
   Box 25286
   Denver, CO 80225
   U.S.A.
   

   1-888-ASK-USGS (voice)
   ask@usgs.gov
   

2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set?

   USGS OFR 2012-1205

3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?

   This digital publication was prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data published in this Open-File Report have been used by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the USGS as to the accuracy of the data and related materials and/or the functioning of the software. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the USGS in the use of these data, software, or related materials. Graphical map depictions are intended to be used within the map scale limits applicable to the source data. Although software enables the user to view data at various scales, the user is cautioned to refer to the source documentation for the appropriate map scale limitations.

4. How can I download or order the data?
   • Availability in digital form:

     Data format:	Coal field polygons with associated characteristics in format shapefile (version 1.0) Size: 220 megabytes
     Network links:	<http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2012/1205/Downloads/GIS.zip>

   • Cost to order the data: None

5. What hardware or software do I need in order to use the data set?

   ArcGIS Desktop 9.X is required to open the map document

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:

Last modified: 10-Jul-2013

Metadata author:

Joseph A. East
U.S. Geological Survey
Geologist
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Mail Stop 956
Reston, VA 20192
U.S.A

703-648-6450 (voice)
703-648-6419 (FAX)
jeast@usgs.gov

Metadata standard:

Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)