--> Abstract: Coal-Bed Methane Resources and Subsurface Definition of the Middle Pennsylvanian Allegheny Formation in Northern West Virginia, by A. V. Oldham, T. E. Repine, B. M. Blake, and K. J. Timberlake; #90995 (1993).
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OLDHAM, ANNE V., THOMAS E. REPINE, BASCOMBE M. BLAKE, and KIMBERLY J. TIMBERLAKE, West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey, Morgantown, WV

ABSTRACT: Coal-Previous HitBedNext Hit Methane Resources and Subsurface Definition of the Middle Pennsylvanian Allegheny Formation in Northern West Virginia

Traditional correlation methods have not proven effective in the subsurface definition of the Allegheny Formation. Sandstones are discontinuous, of channel fill origin, and have log signatures that are not uniquely traceable on a regional basis. Erosion and/or nondeposition associated with fluvial-deltaic channels were responsible for observed coal-Previous HitbedNext Hit discontinuities and resulted in preservation of incomplete depositional sequences. Lowermost Allegheny Formation and underlying Pottsville Group sandstones often coalesce and/or split. The regional unconformity between Mississippian and Pennsylvanian systems effectively prohibits correlation of sandstones above the middle Mississippian Greenbrier Limestone due to gross variations in sediment thickness and lithology.

In the overlying Conemaugh Group, core descriptions are helpful in locating marine zones and red beds, which may then be located on geophysical logs and used in correlations. The combined use of data from coal exploration core holes, gamma-ray and density logs, oil and gas well drillers' logs, and interval thicknesses derived from outcrop studies has allowed tentative subsurface definition of the Allegheny Formation. The number and thicknesses of Allegheny coal beds, associated sandstones, and reported gas shows have been mapped for use in future coal-Previous HitbedNext Hit methane development.

The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey developed this integrated approach to correlation while studying the coal-Previous HitbedTop methane potential of the Allegheny Formation in northern West Virginia under contract to the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology and funded by the Gas Research Institute.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90995©1993 AAPG Eastern Section Meeting, Williamsburg, Virginia, September 19-21, 1993.