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<br />mining. This was reported by the operator. <br />3} Drill hole AM-5 being dry, further indicates that drilling <br />of another well in Section 16 or completion of AM-5 would serve <br />no purpose. <br />GEOLOGY <br />The Coal Gulch Mine Permit Area is located on the eroded <br />surface of the Mesa Verde Group of Cretaceous age. Higher ele- <br />vations are capped by the Cliff House Sandstone, the upper form- <br />at ion of the Mesa Verde Group. This formation is composed of <br />irregular to lenticular ledges of hard, fine- to medium grained <br />sandstone, argillaceous sandstone, mudstone and shale. The form- <br />ation has an uneroded thickness of 325'. <br />The Cliff House Sandstone is underlain by the Menefee Form- <br />ation, the middle formation of the Mesa Verde Group. The Menefee <br />is the coal bearing unit of the group. It has been exposed by <br />the incising erosion of Coal Gulch and it's tributaries and by <br />Lightner Creek Valley along the north boundary of the permit <br />area. The formation is composed of a complex assemblage of len- <br />ticular cross-bedded sandstones, brown to black shales and coal <br />beds. The formation is characterized by irregular bedding and <br />rapid lateral changes of litho logy. The formation has a local <br />average thickness of 240'. <br />The Menefee Formation overlies the Point Lookout Sandstone, <br />the lower formation of the Mesa Verde Group. The Point Lookout <br />is composed of an upper massive sandstone member and a lower, <br />thin interbedded shale and sandstcne member which transcends <br />(2) <br />