Vitrinite Reflectance and Its Implications Regarding the Gas Content, Maximum Depth of Burial, and Paleogeothermal Gradient for Pennsylvania Coalbeds, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

Ulery-JP

Proc Pennsylvania Acad Sci 1984 58(1):1 pages

10004639

A commonly used indicator of coal rank is vitrinite reflectance. This value was used by the Bureau of Mines to determine the rank of Pennsylvania coalbeds from a borehole drilled along the axis of the Greensburg syncline, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Thermal maturity of the coalbeds, as indicated by vitrinite relfectance, was found to relate directly to byproduct gas content. An estimate of the paleogeothermal gradient based on the Karwell nomogram for coalification indicates a significantly higher paleogeothermal gradient than had been proposed earlier. The estimated paleogeothermal gradient indicates a maximum depth of burial for the allegheny coals on only 1.6 to 1.7 Km.

19840101

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1984

OP 54-85

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PRC;

Proc. Pennsylvania Acad. Sci., V. 58, No. 1, 1984, P. 107

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