Preliminary investigations of the distribution and resources of coal in the Kaiparowits Plateau, southern Utah

This report on the coal resources of the Kaiparowits Plateau, Utah is a contribution to the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) “National Coal Resource Assessment” (NCRA), a five year effort to identify and characterize the coal beds and coal zones that could potentially provide the fuel for the Nation’s coal-derived energy during the first quarter of the twenty-first century. For purposes of the NCRA study, the Nation is divided into regions. Teams of geoscientists, knowledgeable about each region, are developing the data bases and assessing the coal within each region. The five major coal-producing regions of the United States under investigation are: (1) the Appalachian Basin; (2) the Illinois Basin; (3) the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain; (4) the Powder River Basin and the Northern Great Plains; and (5) the Rocky Mountains and the Colorado Plateau. Six areas containing coal deposits in the Rocky Mountain and Colorado Plateau Region have been designated as high priority because of their potential for development. This report on the coal resources of the Kaiparowits Plateau is the first of the six to be completed.