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III. Cultural and Historic Resources - Rules 2.04.4 and 2.05.6(4) The applicant has submitted information on cultural and historic resources in Section 2.04.4 and Exhibit 9 of the permit application. Contact with State Historic Preservation Office indicated that there are no known cultural resources within the permit area, or resources listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The applicant is in compliance with the requirements of this section. IV. Geology - Rules 2.04.5 and 2.04.6 The applicant has supplied geologic information pertaining to the proposed operation and adjacent areas. This information may be reviewed in Sections 2.04.5 and 2.04.6 of the permit application. Additional information is available in the PAR response. The proposed Coal Gulch Mine is located on the northwestern rim of the San Juan Basin. The San Juan is an asymmetric structural basin in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The basin contains sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Cambrian to Holocene. The consolidated strata exposed in and near Coal Gulch were deposited during the upper Cretaceous by transgressing and regressing seas. The Perine Peak Syncline, identified by the applicant as a local synclinal structure, crosses the southeastern corner of the permit area striking about N20oE. The regional significance of this structure is minor. No large displacement faulting has been identified in the permit or adjacent areas. The stratigraphic units of interest include units of the Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group. The lowermost member of the Mesaverde Group is the 300 feet to 400 feet thick Point Lookout Sandstone. The upper portion of the Point Lookout is a massive, white to buff cliff forming sandstone, while the lower portion becomes shaley, and grades into the underlying Mancos Shale. The Menefee Formation, which conformably overlies the Point Lookout Sandstone, is the coal bearing unit in this area. At the proposed mine site, the Menefee dips 3o to the southeast, and strikes N65oW. This formation consists of approximately 350 feet of interbedded sandstone, shale, carbonaceous shale, and coal. Two coal seams, the 'A' and 'C', appear to be the most continuous units in the formation. The 'A' seam which is the coal to be extracted, is 5 feet to 6 feet thick, and is 100 feet to 150 feet below the 'C' seam, which is 3 feet to 4 feet thick. Conformably overlying the Menefee Formation is the uppermost member of the Mesaverde Group, the Cliff House Sandstone.