Publications

The geochemical processes that control the distribution of hydrocarbons in the regional accumulation of natural gas and crude oil in reservoirs of Early Silurian age in the central Appalachian basin are not well understood. Gas and oil samples from 14 wells along a down-dip transect through the accumulation in northeastern Ohio and northwestern Pennsylvania were analyzed for molecular and stable i

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency funded drilling of a borehole (39.33889°N., 80.26542°W.) to evaluate the potential of enhanced coalbed-methane production from unminable Pennsylvanian coal beds at the Meadowfill Landfill near Bridgeport, Harrison County, W. Va. The drilling commenced on June 17, 2004, and was completed on July 1, 2004. The total depth of the borehole was 1,081 feet (ft) an

The Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory funded drilling of a borehole (39.64378°N., 80.04376°W.) to evaluate the potential for coalbed-methane and carbon-dioxide sequestration at Mylan Park, a public park in Monongalia County, W. Va. The total depth of the borehole was 2,525 feet (ft) and contained 1,483.41 ft of Pennsylvanian coal-bearing strata, 739.67 ft of Mississippian

Data from 157 counties in the Appalachian basin of average sulfur content of coal mined for electrical power generation from 1983 through 2005 show a general decrease in the number of counties where coal mining has occurred and a decrease in the number of counties where higher sulfur coals (>2 percent sulfur) were mined. Calculated potential SO2 emissions (assuming no post-combustion SO2 removal)

This chapter is a re-release of U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Investigations Map I–2791, of the same title, by Kulander and Ryder (2005), which in printed form consists of two oversized sheets and an accompanying pamphlet. The digital version of this publication, however, is only available as the pamphlet and a collection of all the individual graphics that are found on the two sheets.

Coalbed methane (CBM) occurs in coal beds of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous) age in the northern, central, and southern Appalachian basin coal regions, which extend almost continuously from Pennsylvania southward to Alabama. Most commercial CBM production in the Appalachian basin is from three structural subbasins: (1) the Dunkard basin in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and northern West Virg

The Carboniferous Coal-bed Gas Total Petroleum System, which lies within the central and southern Appalachian basin, consists of the following five assessment units (AUs): (1) the Pocahontas Basin AU in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, and southwestern Virginia; (2) the Central Appalachian Shelf AU in Tennessee, eastern Kentucky, and southern West Virginia; (3) the East Dunkard (Folded) A

This chapter is a re-release of U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 2985, of the same title, by Ryder and others (2008). For this chapter, two appendixes have been added that do not appear with the original version. Appendix A provides Log ASCII Standard (LAS) files for each drill hole along cross-section E–E'; they are text files which encode gamma-ray, neutron, density, and othe

This chapter is a re-release of U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3067, of the same title, by Ryder and others (2009). For this chapter, two appendixes have been added that do not appear with the original version. Appendix A provides Log ASCII Standard (LAS) files for each drill hole along cross-section D-D'; they are text files which encode gamma-ray, neutron, density, and othe

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 %R

Introduction The conodont color alteration index (CAI) introduced by Epstein and others (1977) and Harris and others (1978) is an important criterion for estimating the thermal maturity of Ordovician to Mississippian rocks in the Appalachian basin. Consequently, the CAI isograd maps of Harris and others (1978) are commonly used by geologists to characterize the thermal and burial history of the Ap

This chapter is a re-release of U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 2916, of the same title, by Ryder (2006).