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Kansas Geological Survey Open-File Report |
by Jonathan P. Lange
The Cherokee basin of southeast Kansas, part of the Western Interior Coal Region, is a hydrocarbon-bearing foreland province with abundant, resources of deep coal [>30m burial depth], predominately within the Cherokee Group (Desmoinesian Stage, Middle Pennsylvanian Series). Estimates of total deep coal resource within eastern Kansas are on the order of 48 billion metric tons of predominately bituminous coal (Brady, 1990). The major Cherokee Group coal beds make up the largest portion of this resource and include the "Aw" (informal subsurface name), Bevier, Mineral, Riverton, and Weir-Pittsburg coals (Brady, 1997; Figure 1). Typical Cherokee Group coals are of high-volatile A and B bituminous rank. Medium-volatile bituminous coal is the ideal rank for coal bed generated methane (Stoeckinger, 1989). However, sufficient overburden, and a competent seal provided by thick shale, generated and trapped quantities of methane in the high-volatile A and B bituminous Cherokee Group coals (Stoeckinger, 1989).
The purpose of this report is to provide low and high-resolution cross-sections and isopach maps of the major Cherokee Group coals contained within the Cherokee basin that can be downloaded and printed for personal use. Full descriptions and interpretations of isopach maps can be found within the thesis "Stratigraphy, Depositional Environments and Coalbed Gas Resources of Cherokee Group Coals (Middle Pennsylvanian)--Southeastern Kansas", on file at the Kansas Geological Survey (available late September, 2003). All data used to construct cross-sections and isopach maps (formation tops, and raster logs images) are available through the KGS website through the oil and gas databases.
Each figure is presented in three forms: a small web image, a large web image, and an Acrobat PDF file at full size. Use the menu at the top of each web page to select a view.