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• groundwater systems, if any. There are several ephemeral drainages that flow through or <br />into the area to be mined. <br />A detailed description of the geology of the permit area, adjacent area and general area is <br />given in Section 2.04.6. Detailed groundwater information for those areas descnbed above <br />can be found in the discussion under 2.04.7. The general area, with respect to surface water, <br />contains numerous ephemeral watershed which drain directly into the only perennial <br />drainage (Stollsteimer Creek) located within the area. <br />2.04.6 Geology Description <br />The area covered in the Permit area is located in the upper rim of the San Juan Basin. The <br />San Juan Basin has been the subject of numerous reports prepared by the United States <br />Geological Survey. The most recent report was published in 1971 and is entitled "Geology <br />and Fuel Resources of the Fruitland Formation and Kirtland Shale of the San Juan Basin, <br />New Mexico and Colorado;' by James E. Fassett and Jim S. Hinds. The publication is <br />referred to as Geological Survey Professional Paper 676. Basically, the publication describes <br />a surface and subsurface study of the coal-bearing Fruitland Formation, the Kirtland shale <br />and associated rocks. <br />The general geology in the Permit area and adjacent areas is relatively straightforward. The <br />San Juan Basin is an asymmetric structural basin in northwestern New Me~dco and portions <br />• of southwestern Colorado. The basin contains sedimentary rocks that range from Cambrian <br />to Holocene in age. Upper Cretaceous rocks are composed of intertonguing marine and <br />nonmarine sedimentary rocks. These sedimentary rocks were deposited during three basin <br />wide cycles of transgression and regression of an epicontinental sea. The 5na1 regression <br />of the sea is represented by the marine Pictured Cliff sandstone. <br />Concurrently with the Pictured Cliffs regression, a portion of the basin was uplifted. This <br />uplifting resulted in either the lack of deposition or the erosion of the Pictured Cliffs; there <br />the Fruitland Formation now rests on the Lewis shale. The coal seams within the Permit <br />area occur in the Fruitland Formation. Deposition of the coal was controlled by the position <br />and the relative stability of the strand lines of the Pictured Cliffs sea. <br />Stratieraohv <br />The Kirtland shale is the uppermost formation. That formation overlies the Fruitland <br />Formation which is the coal-bearing zone. The Fruitland Formation is followed by the <br />Pictured Cliffs sandstone. A generalized stratigraphic column depicts the relationship of <br />these Formations (Figure 3, Generalized Stratigraphic Section). <br />2.04-5 <br />