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Fossil Fuel and Geothermal Energy Sources for Local Use in Alaska Chapter J, Railbelt the younger stratigraphy of the Cook Inlet basin, including coal-bearing upper Tertiary strata. However, it appears to lack many of the same older stratigraphic units that provided the organic material to source the oil found in Cook Inlet. The timing of basin formation is uncertain, but has to be at least about 30 million years old, based on the oldest sediments (the Tyonek Formation) captured within the confines of the basin (Barnes, 1966). However, the mechanisms under which it was formed are uncertain. The most prominent topographic feature in the Railbelt development region is the central Alaska Range, with its tallest peak reaching over 20,000 feet in elevation, making it the highest mountain range in North America. The central Alaska Range is bounded to the north by the active right- lateral strike-slip Denali Fault, and situated where the fault bends to the southwest. As the crust to the south of the fault moves around the bend against the backstopping crust to the north of the fault, it runs out of space and must shorten and thicken, thus creating topographic relief that is incised by erosion into rugged peaks. The initial phases of this uplift may have started as early 52 to 39 million years ago (Plafker and others, 1992), but significant uplift did not occur until as recently as 6 million years ago (Fitzgerald and others, 1995), making the central Alaska Range one of the youngest mountain ranges in Alaska. The uplift of the Alaska Range may represent far-field effects of the collision of the Yakutat microplate into, and continued underplating beneath continental Alaska at the subduction zone near Prince William Sound. Tertiary age sediments deposited in the Nenana basin (sheet 2) record some of the history of Alaska Range uplift. Initial deposition into the basin was from source areas in the Yukon–Tanana highlands to the north (Wahrhaftig, 1969; Ridgway and others, 2007), in part from the northernmost Railbelt development area. As the Alaska Range became a more imposing topographic feature, detritus eroded from its flanks was carried by northward-flowing rivers into the Nenana basin (Wahrhaftig, 1969; Ridgway and others, 2007), and presumably southward-flowing rivers into the Cook Inlet and Susitna basins (Plafker and others, 1992). Currently, the Nenana basin is host to the only major coal mining operations in Alaska, and is considered a major underdeveloped coal province. Natural gas may also be important in the basin (see the following sections on Railbelt coal and petroleum resources, respectively). GEOLOGIC ENERGY RESOURCE POTENTIAL IN THE RAILBELT ENERGY REGION Mineable coal resource potential The Railbelt development region contains the two of the largest coal provinces in Alaska (the Cook Inlet–Susitna and Nenana coal provinces; fig J2). Unlike other coal-rich regions, such as Alaska’s remote western North Slope, the Cook Inlet and Nenana coal provinces are located in close proximity to rail and major road transportation systems and within 75 miles of the two largest metropolitan areas in Alaska: Anchorage and Fairbanks (sheet 1). Commercial coal extraction has either occurred in the past, or is currently underway, for both provinces. Due to this mining activity, the geology of both regions is moderately well understood. The Cook Inlet – Susitna coal province comprises the Cook Inlet and Susitna lowland areas and is the largest of the Railbelt development region coal provinces. The Nenana coal province lies along the northern foothills of the central Alaska Range, mostly between the Parks and Richardson highways. The coals in these provinces are broadly similar in age and both formed in low energy environments. The following discussion proceeds from the largest geographic category (coal province), followed by summaries of individual coal fields and their constituent districts (fig. J3). Cook Inlet – Susitna Coal Province. Coal-bearing rocks in the Cook Inlet–Susitna coal province are late Oligocene to early Pliocene in age and make up the Tyonek, Beluga, and Sterling formations of the Cook Inlet and Susitna basins. These strata are generally flat-lying or gently tilted except in the proximity of faults, where coal-bearing rocks are commonly tightly folded, steeply tilted, heavily sheared, and/ or abruptly truncated. Most bedrock located onshore within this coal province has been buried by more recent glacial and stream deposits, severely hampering the estimation of coal reserves. Coal-bearing rocks are generally exposed only along the faulted basin margins and associated folds, and it is only at these discontinuous exposures that surface geologic mapping can aid coal resource assessment. The remaining vast majority of the basin must be evaluated using more expensive subsurface methods such as exploratory drilling. The lenticular shape of individual coal beds limits their lateral continuity and further complicates extrapolating coal reserves over broad regions (Merritt, 1990). Coal throughout the Cook Inlet – Susitna coal province is commonly low- to medium-grade subbituminous in rank, but ranges from high grade anthracite in areas of the Matanuska Valley to low grade lignite in the outlying Broad Pass coal field area (fig. J3; Apell, 1944; Merritt, 1985a). Total coal resources in the Cook Inlet – Susitna coal province are estimated at 1.5 trillion short tons of hypothetical coal, with identified resources estimated at 11 billion short tons (Merritt, 1990). A coal-potential map published by Merritt (1990) shows much of the uppermost Cook Inlet and areas rimming the Susitna lowland as having low to moderate coal potential. High potential areas include the Beluga region on the west side of upper Cook Inlet and the Matanuska Valley. Identified coal resources in the Beluga–Yentna region are estimated at 10 billion tons with total resources estimated at around 30 billion tons (McGee and O’Connor, 1975; Sanders, 1981). Individual coal fields within the Cook Inlet – Susitna province are ranked in decreasing size below, based on Page 97 RailbeltPDF Image | FOSSIL FUEL AND GEOTHERMAL ENERGY SOURCES FOR LOCAL USE
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