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Romeo M. Flores

Publications and source records attributed to Romeo M. Flores.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

National coal resource assessment non-proprietary data: Location, stratigraphy, and coal quality for selected tertiary coal in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region

One of the objectives of the National Coal Resource Assessment in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region was to compile stratigraphic and coal quality-trace-element data on selected and potentially minable coal beds and zones of the Fort Union Formation (Paleocene) and equivalent formations. In order to implement this objective, drill-hole information was compiled from hard-copy and digital files of the: (1) U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offices in Casper, Rawlins, and Rock Springs, Wyoming, and in Billings, Montana, (2) State geological surveys of Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, (3) Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality in Cheyenne, (4) U.S. Office of Surface Mining in Denver, Colorado, (5) U.S. Geological Survey, National Coal Resource Data System (NCRDS) in Reston, Virginia, (6) U.S. Geological Survey coal publications, (7) university theses, and (8) mining companies.

Open-File Report

Preliminary report on coal resources of the Wyodak-Anderson coal zone, Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana

The National Coal Resource Assessment (NCRA) project by the U.S. Geological Survey is designed to assess US coal with the greatest potential for development in the next 20 to 30 years. Coal in the Wyodak-Anderson (WA) coal zone in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana is plentiful, clean, and compliant with EPA emissions standards. This coal is considered to be very desirable for development for use in electric power generation. The purpose of this NCRA study was to compile all available data relating to the Wyodak- Anderson coal, correlate the beds that make up the WA coal zone, create digital files pertaining to the study area and the WA coal, and produce a variety of reports on various aspects of the assessed coal unit. This report contains preliminary calculations of coal resources for the WA coal zone and is one of many products of the NCRA study. Coal resource calculations in this report were produced using both public and confidential data from many sources. The data was manipulated using a variety of commercially available software programs and several custom programs. A general description of the steps involved in producing the resource calculations is described in this report.

North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming

Preliminary report on methodology for calculating coal resources of the Wyodak-Anderson coal zone, Powder River basin, Wyoming and Montana

The National Coal Resource Assessment of the Wyodak-Anderson coal zone includes reports on the geology, stratigraphy, quality, and quantity of coal. The calculation of resources is only one aspect of the assessment. Without thorough documentation of the coal resource study and the methods used, the results of our study could be misinterpreted. The task of calculating coal resources included many steps, the use of several commercial software programs, and the incorporation of custom programs. The methods used for calculating coal resources for the Wyodak-Anderson coal zone vary slightly from the methods used in other study areas, and by other workers in the National Coal Resource Assessment. The Wyodak-Anderson coal zone includes up to 10 coal beds in any given location. The net coal thickness of the zone at each data point location was calculated by summing the thickness of all of the coal beds that were greater than 2.5 ft thick. The amount of interburden is not addressed or reported in this coal resource assessment. The amount of overburden reported is the amount of rock above the stratigraphically highest coal bed in the zone. The resource numbers reported do not include coal within mine or lease areas, in areas containing mapped Wyodak-Anderson clinker, or in areas where the coal is extrapolated to be less than 2.5 ft thick. The resources of the Wyodak-Anderson coal zone are reported in Ellis and others (1998). A general description of how the resources were calculated is included in that report. The purpose of this report is to document in more detail some of the parameters and methods used, define our spatial data, compare resources calculated using different grid options and calculation methods, and explain the application of confidence limits to the resource calculation.

Open-File Report

Comparative facies formation in selected coal beds of the Powder River Basin

Petrologic studies of thick coal beds [Warwick, 1985; Moore, 1986; Moore and others, 1986; Moore and others, 1987; Warwick and Stanton, in press], which build on sedimentological interpretations [Flores, this volume] of associated units, provide data to interpret and contrast the varieties of peat formation in the Powder River Basin. Detailed analyses of the composition of coal beds lead to more complete interpretations regarding the depositional environment on a regional and local scale. Our efforts in the Powder River Basin [areas A-D in fig. 1 of Flores, this volume] have resulted in a series of site-specific studies that interpret the types of peat formation from the arrangement of different facies which comprise the coal beds and from the spatial form of the coal beds. Our approach was to use a combination of megascopic criteria for facies sampling, and where only core was available, to analyze many interval samples to discriminate facies by their maceral composition. Coal beds in the Powder River Basin are composed of laterally continuous, compositional subunits of the bed (facies) that can be discerned most easily in weathered highwall exposures, less readily in fresh highwalls, and very poorly in fresh-cut core surfaces. In general, very low ash (

Montana, Wyoming

Stratigraphic framework of the upper Fort Union Formation, TA Hills, Western Powder River basin, Wyoming

The purpose of this study is to interpret a relationship between the stratigraphy and the environment of deposition of the upper part of the Fort Union Formation in the TA Hills in the western part of the Powder River Basin, Johnson County, Wyoming. This framework was used to map and correlate coal beds with those mapped by Hose (1955) and Mapel (1959) in the southern and northern parts of the study area, respectively. More specifically, the established stratigraphic and environmental relationships of the coal beds and associated rocks contribute to a depositional model for the upper part of the Fort Union Formation in the TA Hills.

Wyoming

Stratigraphic framework and coal correlation of the Upper Cretaceous Fruitland Formation, Bisti-Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah area, San Juan Basin, New Mexico

This report illustrates and describes the detailed stratigraphic framework and coal correlation of the Upper Cretaceous Fruitland Formation exposed in isolated badlands and along washes within a 20-mile outcrop belt in the Bisti-Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah area, southwestern San Juan Basin, Nex Mexico (see index). The stratigraphic framework showing the vertical and lateral distributions of rock types and the lateral continuity of coal beds is illustrated in cross sections. The cross sections were constructed from 112 stratigraphic sections measured at an average distance of 0.4 mi apart. Each section contained key marker beds (sandstone, coal, and tonstein) that were physically traced to adjacent sections. Each measured section was "hung" on multiple marker beds arranged in a geometric best-fit method that accounts for the differential compaction and facies associations of the deposits.

New Mexico

Petrographic differentiation of depositional environments of sandstones of the Pennsylvanian Breathitt Formation, northeastern Kentucky and southwestern West Virginia

Petrographic properties of sandstone samples from the lower and middle Pennsylvanian Breathitt Formation in northeastern Kentucky and southwestern West Virginia were utilized to classify their environments of deposition. Simultaneous consideration of mineral composition, grain size, and sorting of the sandstones by using stepwise multiple discriminant-function analysis has permitted differentiation between alluvial-plain and delta-plain sandstones. Stepwise multiple discriminant-function analysis of the sandstone samples- was performed in two parts. The first analysis assigned the sandstones of all grain-size classes to one of three environments of deposition: (1) alluvial plain, (2) upper delta plain, and (3) lower delta plain. The second analysis classed the sandstones by grain size and subdivided each grain-size class into these environmental groups. Discriminant analyses of sandstones of all grain-size classes led to correct assignment of depositional environment to 76 percent of the samples. Analyses of the sandstones classed by grain size led to correct classification of 67 percent of the medium-grained sandstones, 83 percent of the fine-grained sandstones, and 91 percent of the very fine grained sandstones. The discriminantfunction method was adopted to classify the depositional environment and stratigraphic position of test sandstone samples. Analyses of fine-grained and very fine grained sandstones resulted in correct classification of 84 percent of the test samples to their depositional setting and stratigraphic position. The best discrimination is offered by analyses of fine-grained sandstones, which resulted in correct classification of 88 percent of the samples. Thus, this statistical method can be adopted as a powerful tool for exploration programs that concern delineation of genetically similar sandstones.

Kentucky, Virginia