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<br />The more resistant sandstone of the Mesaverde group caps the Mancos Shale. <br />This has resulted in a steep escarpment with the coal seams of the Mesaverde <br />exposed. The coal bearing units of the Mesaverde are found within the Mt. <br />Garfield Formation. The coal occurs in lenticular beds within the formation. <br />The Palisade coal zone, located directly above the Sego Sandstone (the basal <br />unit of the Mesaverde), is noncommercial in this area. The zone consists of a <br />series of three to four thin, overlapping lenses of coal in carbonaceous <br />shale. <br />The Cameo coal zone, located approximately 350 feet above the Anchor coal <br />zone, contains an economical coal seam ranging from 12 to 18 feet thick. The <br />Anchor coal zone, located approximately 350 feet below the Cameo coal zone, <br />contains a probable economic coal seam (depending on blending with lower <br />sulfur coals) ranging from 1.4 to 6 feet thick. The Carbonera coal zone, <br />located approximately 60 to 160 feet aabove the Cameo seam, average 3 feet in <br />thickness. The coal is a highly split, carbonaceous shale-coal sequence <br />considered to be noneconomical for mining in the lease areas. <br />The proposed lease areas cover approximately 15,000 acres in the Book Cliffs. <br />The strata within the lease area dip 2 to 12 degrees to the northeast. No <br />major faults are known to exist within the lease areas. The elevation at the <br />mine entrance is approximately 5,520 feet. Elevations within the proposed <br />lease areas range from 5,360 feet near the entrance to Coal Gulch to a maximum <br />of 7,300 feet in the northwest corner of the lease area. <br />Clinker beds, shale, and sandstone baked red by burned coal seams are apparent <br />along the Book Cliffs escarpment. The most affected zones of burning are the <br />Carbonera and Cameo zones, especially along the cliff front between Big Salt <br />Wash and West Salt creek. Burning was most extensive in the massive spurs. <br />In Coal Gulch, the clinker walls are from 130 to 150 feet high. Burning not <br />only destroys the burned coal but the heat produced drives off volatiles from <br />the adjacent unburned coal. <br />SOILS <br />The proposed lease areas and the proposed transportation routes encompass <br />three soil survey areas, as shown on map 1. General characteristics and <br />properties of soils of the affected environment are displayed by soil survey <br />area in table 6. The soils have been mapped by the Soil Conservation Service. <br />Soils within the proposed lease areas are shown on map 8; soils along the <br />proposed transportation routes are shown on map 9. <br />3-31 <br />