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<br /> <br />The Lower Coal Bearing (Bowie) member consists of 260 to 350 feet of <br />interbedded gray shales, thin to thick lenticular beds of buff-colored, <br />fine- to medium-grained sandstones, and coals. The top of the member is <br />usually capped by a massive buff-colored sandstone up to 90 feet in <br />thickness. This sandstone, however, appears not to be a single <br />persistent bed, but is actually several thick lenticular sandstones <br />occurring at progressively lower stratigraphic horizons from east to <br />west. <br />Three coal horizons exist in the Lower Coal-Bearing member, the "A" (Old <br />King) horizon, the "B" (Somerset) horizon, and the "C" (Bear) horizon. <br />The "A" horizon is immediately above the Rollins sandstone and is not <br />currently mined. The "B" horizon contains two coal seams and occurs <br />about 20 to 120 feet above the Rollins sandstone. This horizon has been <br />mined by U. S. Steel at the Somerset Mine. The "C" horizon contains one <br />coal seam that occurs 50 to 100 feet above the "B" horizon. This <br />horizon has been mined at U. S. Steel's Elk Creek Mine and the Bear No. l <br />and 2 Mines, and is currently mined at the Bear No. 3 Mine. <br />The Upper Coal-Bearing (Paonia) member consists of 200 to 500 feet of <br />gray shales, interbedded, buff-colored, lenticular sandstones, and <br />coals. The top of this member is generally considered to be capped by a <br />massive, cliff-forming sandstone. However, like the similar sandstone <br />at the top of the Lower Coat member, this sandstone is not a single <br />persistent bed. Drill hole data for both the Mt. Gunnison and the <br />Somerset life-of-mine areas show this sandstone unit to occur as several <br />lenticular sandstones at slightly different stratigraphic horizons. <br />Three coal horizons have been identified in the Upper Coal member, the <br />"D" (Oliver) Horizon, the "E" (Hawk's Nest) horizon, and the "F" <br />horizon. The "D" horizon occurs directly above the "massive" sandstone <br />of the Lower Coat-Bearing member and contains three seams. This horizon <br />is currently being mined in the Orchard Valley Mine, and is planned to <br />be mined at the Hawk's Nest Mine. This seam is mined by Bear Coal in <br />the Bear No. 3 Mine. The "E" horizon occurs about 130 feet above the <br />"D" horizon and contains two coal seams. This horizon is currently <br />being mined at the Hawk's Nest Mine and was historically mined at the <br />Blue Ribbon Mine. The "F" horizon contains two coal seams and presently <br />is only mined at the Mt. Gunnison Mine. Coal seams of the "F" horizon <br />do not exist to the north of the North Fork in thicknesses sufficient <br />for mining. <br />The Barren (Undifferentiated) member of the Mesa Verde Formation <br />consists of up to 1,600 feet of terrestrial sedimentary rocks. This <br />unit consists of fine-grained, buff-colored, lenticular sandstones, gray <br />shales and thin lenticular Coal beds. The sandstones predominate and <br />are highly lenticular, discontinuous and of limited lateral extent in <br />outcrop (Johnson, 1948). <br />34 <br />