A study of the United States coal resources

Geologically significant coal resources were identified. Statistically controlled tonnage estimates for each resource type were prepared. Particular emphasis was placed on the identification and description of coals in terms of seam thickness, inclination, depth of cover, discontinuities caused by faulting and igneous intrusion, and occurrence as isolated or multiseam deposits. The national resource was organized into six major coal provinces: the Appalachian Plateau, the Interior Basins, the Gulf Coastal Plain, the Rocky Mountain Basins, the High Plains, and North Alaska. Each basin within a province was blocked into subareas of homogeneous coal thickness. Total coal tonnage for a subarea was estimated from an analysis of the cumulative coal thickness derived from borehole or surface section records and subsequently categorized in terms of seam thickness, dip, overburden, multiseam proportions, coal quality, and tonnage impacted by severe faulting and igneous intrusions. Confidence intervals were calculated for both subarea and basin tonnage estimates.