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Thermal maturity patterns in Pennsylvanian coal-bearing rocks in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania

Professional Paper 1708-F.2
By: , , , , and 
Edited by: Leslie F. Ruppert and Robert T. Ryder
https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1708F.2

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Abstract

Thermal maturation patterns of Pennsylvanian strata in the Appalachian basin and part of the Black Warrior basin were determined by compiling previously published and unpublished percent-vitrinite-reflectance (%R0) measurements and preparing isograd maps on the basis of the measurements. The isograd values range from 0.6 %R0 in Ohio and the western side of the Eastern Kentucky coal field to 5.5 %R0 in the Southern field in the Pennsylvania Anthracite region, Schuylkill County, Pa. The vitrinite-reflectance values correspond to the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) coal-rank classes of high-volatile C bituminous to meta-anthracite, respectively. In general, the isograds show that thermal maturity patterns of Pennsylvanian coals within the Appalachian basin generally decrease from east to west. In the Black Warrior basin of Alabama, the isograds show a circular pattern with the highest values (greater than 1.6 %R0) centered in Jefferson County, Ala. Most of the observed patterns can be explained by variations in the depth of burial, variations in geothermal gradient, or a combination of both; however, there are at least four areas of higher ranking coal in the Appalachian basin that are difficult to explain by these two processes alone: (1) a set of west- to northwest-trending salients centered in Somerset, Cambria, and Fayette Counties, Pa.; (2) an elliptically shaped, northeast-trending area centered in southern West Virginia and western Virginia; (3) the Pennsylvania Anthracite region in eastern Pennsylvania; and (4) the eastern part of the Black Warrior coal field in Alabama. The areas of high-ranking coal in southwestern Pennsylvania, the Black Warrior coal field, and the Pennsylvania Anthracite region are interpreted here to represent areas of higher paleo-heat flow related to syntectonic movement of hot fluids towards the foreland associated with Alleghanian deformation. In addition to the higher heat flow from these fluids, the Pennsylvania Anthracite region also was buried more deeply than other parts of the Appalachian basin. The area of high rank coal in southwestern Virginia probably was controlled primarily by overburden thickness, but may also have been influenced by higher geothermal gradients.

Suggested Citation

Ruppert, L.F., Trippi, M.H., Hower, J., Grady, W.C., Levine, J.R., 2014, Thermal maturity patterns in Pennsylvanian coal-bearing rocks in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1708, Report: iv, 12 p.; Figures 1-9; Appendix 1, https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1708F.2.

ISSN: 2330-7102 (online)

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Thermal maturity patterns in Pennsylvanian coal-bearing rocks in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania
Series title Professional Paper
Series number 1708
Chapter F.2
DOI 10.3133/pp1708F.2
Year Published 2014
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Eastern Energy Resources Science Center
Description Report: iv, 12 p.; Figures 1-9; Appendix 1
Larger Work Type Report
Larger Work Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Larger Work Title Coal and petroleum resources in the Appalachian basin: distribution, geologic framework, and geochemical character (Professional Paper 1708)
Country United States
Other Geospatial Appalacian basin
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) Y
Additional publication details