Chapter K

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources

of the Blackhawk Formation in the 

Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah

By Russell F. Dubiel1

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1625–B*

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

National Coal

Resource

Assessment

Click here to return to Disc 1 

Volume Table of Contents

Chapter K of

Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau:

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah

Edited by M.A. Kirschbaum, L.N.R. Roberts, and L.R.H. Biewick

1

 U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado 80225

* This report, although in the USGS Professional Paper series,

is available only on CD-ROM and is not available separately
Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................K1

Location of the Southern Wasatch Plateau ............................................................................................. 2

The Southern Wasatch Plateau Study Area ............................................................................................ 3

Study Area Boundary.......................................................................................................................... 3

Mining Activity ..................................................................................................................................... 4

Physiography........................................................................................................................................ 5

Quadrangles ......................................................................................................................................... 6

Geology of the Southern Wasatch Plateau .............................................................................................. 7

Ownership of Coal and Subsurface Mineral Rights................................................................................ 8

Faults, Folds, and Shattered Zones............................................................................................................ 9

Paleogeography.......................................................................................................................................... 10

General Stratigraphy.................................................................................................................................. 11

Stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous Rocks............................................................................................... 12

Stratigraphy of the Star Point Sandstone and Blackhawk Formation ............................................... 13

Sedimentology............................................................................................................................................. 14

Lower Blackhawk Coal Zone ........................................................................................................... 16

Sequence Stratigraphy.............................................................................................................................. 17

Paleoshorelines .......................................................................................................................................... 19

Calculating Coal Resources: Four Steps................................................................................................. 20

Step 1—Structure Map .................................................................................................................... 20

Step 2—Thickness Categories........................................................................................................ 21

Step 3—Overburden Categories..................................................................................................... 23

Step 4—Reliability Categories......................................................................................................... 24

Coal Resources in the Southern Wasatch Plateau............................................................................... 25

References................................................................................................................................................... 26

Figures

 Photograph, view east looking down Convulsion Canyon in the 

southern Wasatch Plateau .......................................................................................................K1

 1A. Location of the Southern Wasatch Plateau study area in central Utah.............................. 2

 1B. The southern Wasatch Plateau in relation to Cretaceous 

coal-bearing strata in Utah......................................................................................................... 2

 2A. Southern Wasatch Plateau study area, showing the study area boundary 

defined by geology and faults and the location of active and inactive mines ................... 3

 Photograph of loadout area of the SUFCO mine in Convulsion Canyon.............................. 4

 2B. Physiography and major canyons in the southern Wasatch Plateau.................................. 5

 3. The 7.5′ quadrangles in and adjacent to the southern Wasatch Plateau........................... 6
 Photograph of Quitchipah Point in the southern Wasatch Plateau ..................................... 6

 4. Geology of the southern Wasatch Plateau .............................................................................. 7

 Photograph of exposures of the Blackhawk Formation, 

Star Point Sandstone, and Mancos Shale in Convulsion Canyon........................................ 7

 5A. Coal ownership in the southern Wasatch Plateau ................................................................. 8

 5B. Surface ownership in the southern Wasatch Plateau ........................................................... 8

 6. Faults and folds in the southern Wasatch Plateau ................................................................. 9

 7. Late Cretaceous paleogeography of the Western United States....................................... 10

 8A. General stratigraphy of the Wasatch Plateau ....................................................................... 11

 8B. Stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous rocks in the Wasatch Plateau..................................... 12

 8C. Stratigraphy of the Star Point Sandstone and Blackhawk Formation............................... 13

 9A. Definitions for sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy ................................................. 14

 Photograph of shoreface sandstones of the Star Point in Quitchipah Canyon ............... 15

 Photograph of outcrops in Convulsion Canyon showing occurrence of 

coal at the base of the Blackhawk Formation ....................................................................... 15

 9B. Schematic diagram showing geophysical well logs, stratigraphic units 

and interfingering, and the lower Blackhawk coal zone ..................................................... 16

 Photograph of coal in the Kenilworth Member of the Blackhawk Formation.................. 16

 10A. Models for development of parasequence boundaries 

and accommodation space ...................................................................................................... 17

 Photograph of north wall of Convulsion Canyon showing the 

westward pinch-out of one of the Star Point shoreface sandstones................................ 18

 10B. Map of the study area showing location of the westward pinch-outs 

of the Star Point shoreface sandstones and number-labels showing 

their relative stratigraphic position ......................................................................................... 19

 11. Structure contours on top of the Star Point Sandstone....................................................... 20

 12. Map of net-coal thickness in the Blackhawk Formation ..................................................... 21

 Photograph of Darrah Siding loadout in the northern part of the Wasatch Plateau....... 22

 13. Map showing overburden thickness above coals in the Blackhawk Formation............. 23

 14. Coal reliability categories in the southern Wasatch Plateau.............................................. 24

 Photograph of Soldier Creek mine in the northern Wasatch Plateau ............................... 25
Introduction

The southern Wasatch Plateau is one of 12 priority 

assessment areas within the Colorado Plateau region of the 

Western United States. The area is high priority because it 

contains signifi cant coal resources and currently has one active 

coal mine. The coal resources lie beneath Federal, State, and 

private land, and the mineral rights to these resources are held 

by Federal, State, and private concerns. The assessment of coal 

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources 

of the Blackhawk Formation in the 

Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah

By Russell F. Dubiel

Photograph. View east looking down Convulsion Canyon in the southern Wasatch Plateau.

K1

resources in the southern Wasatch Plateau is part of the U.S. 

Geological Survey National Coal Resource Assessment project 

that was initiated in 1994 (U.S. Geological Survey, 1996). This 

report provides a brief summary of the geology and the coal 

resources in the southern Wasatch Plateau of central Utah. For 

a more detailed report on the geology and coal resources of 

the southern Wasatch Plateau, see Dubiel and others (chap. S, 

this CD-ROM).
Location of the Southern Wasatch Plateau

Salt Lake City

Wasatch Plateau

Utah

Book Cliffs

Southern Wasatch Plateau

Study Area

 San 

 Rafael 

Swell

Figure 1A. Location of the Southern Wasatch Plateau study area in 

central Utah.

Figure 1B. The southern Wasatch Plateau in relation to Cretaceous 

coal-bearing strata in Utah.

The Wasatch Plateau coal fi eld extends for about 90 

miles NNE. from just south of I-70 at Last Chance Creek 

north to U.S. Highway 6 near Soldier Summit and the town 

of Scofi eld, Utah. The Southern Wasatch Plateau study area 

covers approximately the southern half of the coal fi eld and 

extends north from about I-70 to just south of the towns 

of Orangeville, Huntington, and Castle Dale, Utah (fi g. 1B). 

The towns of Emery, Ferron, Castle Dale, Huntington, and 

Orangeville are just east of the study area along State Highway 

10, which extends north from I-70 to the town of Price.

The southern Wasatch Plateau is located in central Utah 

to the west of the San Rafael Swell (fi g. 1A). The southern 

Wasatch Plateau is contiguous with the northern Wasatch 

Plateau (see report by Tabet and others, 1999). Together, the 

two areas form the Wasatch Plateau coal fi eld described in 

earlier reports (e.g., Spieker, 1931; Doelling, 1972a, 1972b; 

Davis and Doelling, 1977). Coal-bearing rocks in the southern 

Wasatch Plateau are a southward extension of the strata 

exposed in the Book Cliffs to the north and east of the study 

area.

Cedar City

Moab

Emery

Green River

Price

Scofield Helper 

Castle Dale Orangeville Huntington

Salt Lake City 

Ferron

 6

15

70

80

113 ̊

40 ̊

Southern Wasatch

 Plateau

Extent of coal-

 bearing strata

EXPLANATION

K2 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
Study Area Boundary

Coal within the southern Wasatch Plateau study area 

is primarily in the Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, 

which lies directly on the Upper Cretaceous Star Point 

Sandstone. The boundaries of the study area (fi g. 2A) were 

chosen to refl ect the geologic distribution of these two rock 

units and the coal in the Blackhawk; the boundary is defi ned 

by geologic contacts and by major faults.

Figure 2A (facing column). Southern Wasatch Plateau study area, 

showing the study area boundary defi ned by geology and faults and 

the location of active and inactive mines.

East of the study area, the Blackhawk Formation and 

the Star Point Sandstone form an erosional escarpment on 

the western fl ank of the San Rafael Swell. The eastern 

boundary of the study area corresponds with the contact 

between the Blackhawk Formation and the underlying Star 

Point Sandstone. The southern boundary of the study area is 

formed by the intersection of outcrops of the Star Point and 

Blackhawk with the north-south-trending Musinia fault zone. 

The western boundary is at several major north-trending faults 

of the Musinia fault zone. The northern boundary of the study 

area is an east-west line at lat 39°15′Ν. that coincides with the 

southern boundary of the Northern Wasatch Plateau study area. 

The area east of the Joes Valley fault system is geologically 

contiguous with and is included in the Northern Wasatch 

Plateau study area (see Rohrbacher and others, chap. F, this 

CD-ROM).









 

 2

Emery

Ferron

Sanpete County

Sevier County

38 ̊37'30"

39 ̊15'

111 ̊35' 111 ̊7'30"

70

1

4

5

6 7

3

Emery County

Eastern cliffs of

Wasatch Plateau

Joes Valley

fault system

Musinia fault zone

Mines

1. SUFCO

active area

3. Knight

4. Quitchupah

5. Link Canyon

6. Ricci

7. Slide Hollow

2. Clear Creek



Major

faults

Study area

Roads

0 6 miles

The Southern Wasatch Plateau Study Area

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K3
Coal was discovered in the Wasatch Plateau in 1874, and 

mining started in 1875 in Huntington Canyon in the northern 

part of the Wasatch Plateau. Mines were developed gradually 

in the Wasatch Plateau coal fi eld as demand increased, and 

the larger mines were concentrated in the northern Wasatch 

Plateau because of the preexisting railroad and the closer 

proximity to markets. Coal production from the Wasatch 

Plateau gradually increased until 1920 then and decreased 

slightly until World War II. During and after World War II, 

Utah coal production peaked, followed by another decline 

Photograph. Loadout area of the SUFCO mine in Convulsion Canyon.

in 1957. During the 1960’s renewed interest in coal power 

resulted in an increase in lease activity on the Wasatch Plateau. 

Through 1969, after 95 years of mining, almost 100 million 

short tons of coal had been removed from the Wasatch Plateau 

(Doelling, 1972a).

Mining in the southern Wasatch Plateau proceeded at a 

slower pace, primarily due to the long distance to markets. 

Several small mines have been active in the past, and only 

the SUFCO mine is presently active in the study area (see 

fi g. 2A).

Mining Activity

K4 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
The southern Wasatch Plateau is an 

area of rugged topography with deep 

canyons cut on its eastern fl ank (fi g. 2B). 

The eastern plateau edge is a steep cliff 

formed by the Star Point Sandstone that is 

overlain by steep slopes of the Blackhawk 

Formation, with total relief on the eastern 

escarpment of about 1,000 ft. Elevations 

range from about 7,000 ft on the eastern 

escarpment to almost 10,000 ft on plateau 

summits near the central and western parts 

of the study area. Major drainages such as 

Rock Canyon Creek, Ferron Creek, Muddy 

Creek, Quitchupah Creek, and Ivie Creek 

all have headwaters at high elevations on 

the Wasatch Plateau and fl ow southeast, 

eventually emptying into the Colorado 

River.

Figure 2B. Physiography and major canyons in the southern Wasatch Plateau.

Physiography

0 6 miles

Emery

Ferron

Sanpete County

Sevier County

Emery County

38 ̊37'30"

39 ̊15'

111 ̊35' 111 ̊7'30"

70

Emery County

Link Canyon

Convulsion Canyon

Muddy Canyon

Ivie Creek

Ferron Canyon

Rock 

Canyon

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K5
The southern Wasatch Plateau covers about 550 mi2

 in 

parts of 15 7.5′ quadrangles in eastern Sanpete and Sevier 

Counties and in the extreme western part of Emery County, 

Utah.

Figure 3 (facing column). The 7.5′

quadrangles in and adjacent to the 

southern Wasatch Plateau.

Photograph (below). Quitchipah Point in the southern 

Wasatch Plateau.

Quadrangles

Mussentuchit

 Flat 

Johns Peak Willow Springs Hilgard

 Mountain

(part) 

Old Woman Walker Flat Mesa Butte

Plateau 

Yogo Creek

(part)

Acord Lakes Emery West Emery East

Water

 Hollow

 Ridge

(part)

Heliotrope Flagstaff Peak Ferron

Mountain

Woods

Lake

(part)

Ferron Reservoir Ferron Canyon The Cap Black

 Mountain

(part)

38 ̊37'30"

39 ̊15'

111 ̊35' 111 ̊7'30"

0 6 miles

Eastern cliffs of

Wasatch Plateau

K6 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
The eastern edge of the coal fi eld consists of cliff 

exposures of the Upper Cretaceous Star Point Sandstone 

and Blackhawk Formation that dip gently west off of the 

San Rafael Swell (fi g. 4). To the west, the coal-bearing 

rocks continue to dip away from the San Rafael Swell into 

the subsurface at about 5° to 7°, where they are overlain 

by younger Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks. These strata are 

displaced along major normal faults near the western margin 

of the Wasatch Plateau. To the north of the study area, coalbearing Cretaceous rocks dip to the north into the Uinta Basin, 

and to the south of the study area they are covered by volcanic 

rocks of the Fish Lake Plateau. The southern Wasatch Plateau 

is bounded on the east and west by a series of north-southtrending normal faults.

The geology and the coal resources of the southern 

Wasatch Plateau were investigated by examining data at 

stratigraphic sections measured on outcrops during this study 

and from measured stratigraphic sections and drill-hole 

geophysical logs and cores reported in the literature. Data 

points used in the assessment of the coal resources of the study 

area are shown on the adjacent geologic map (fi g. 4), along 

with the major geologic units and the distribution of faults.

Figure 4 (facing column). Geology of the southern Wasatch Plateau.

Geology of the Southern Wasatch Plateau

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22S 7E 

21S 7E 

20S 7E 

19S 7E 

25S 4E 25S 3E 25S 6E 25S 5E 

24S 7E 

25S 7E 

0 6 miles

38 ̊37'30"

39 ̊15'

111 ̊35' 111 ̊7'30"

Younger K-T

Geologic units:

Blackhawk Fm.

Star Point Ss.

Mancos Sh.

● Data point locations

Faults

EXPLANATION

Photograph. Exposures of the 

Blackhawk Formation, Star Point 

Sandstone, and Mancos Shale in 

Convulsion Canyon.

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K7
The Federal Government owns the majority of coal (fi g. 

5A) and surface (fi g. 5B) rights in the southern Wasatch 

Plateau, whereas State and private interests hold small tracts 

of both mineral and surface ownership throughout the study 

area.

Figure 5A. Coal ownership in the southern Wasatch Plateau. Figure 5B. Surface ownership in the southern Wasatch Plateau.

Ownership of Coal and Subsurface Mineral Rights

Sanpete County

Sevier County

38 ̊37'30"

39 ̊15'

111 ̊35' 111 ̊7'30" Emery County

Roads

Coal Ownership

State or Private

Federal

Study area 

0 6 miles

Sanpete County

Sevier County

38 ̊37'30"

39 ̊15'

111 ̊35' 111 ̊7'30" Emery County

Bureau of Land Management

Surface Ownership

Forest Service

State of Utah

Private 

Study area boundary

0 6 miles

K8 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
In the eastern part of the Wasatch Plateau, three graben 

systems form the eastward extension of the basin-and-range 

faulting: the Joes Valley fault zone, the Pleasant Valley fault 

zone, and the North Gordon fault zone. The Pleasant Valley 

and North Gordon fault zones are in the northern part of the 

Wasatch Plateau. The Joes Valley fault zone is a 75-mile-long 

system of normal faults with vertical downward displacement 

in a central graben of between 1,500 and 2,500 ft (fi g. 

6) (Spieker, 1931). The graben is several miles wide and 

contains numerous minor faults parallel to the major faults, 

along with innumerable subsidiary fractures. Between the 

Figure 6. Faults and folds in the southern Wasatch 

Plateau.

Faults, Folds, and Shattered Zones

Joes Valley fault zone and the western boundary of the study 

area, the strata are relatively unbroken, except for a single 

normal fault about 3 miles west of Convulsion Canyon and 

several minor faults near the southern margin of the study 

area.

Strata in the southern Wasatch Plateau dip west at 

attitudes less than 5°, except locally near faults where they 

may dip as much as 20° (Doelling, 1972a). Strata have 

been gently warped into broad anticlines and synclines that 

trend east-west, perpendicular to the major north-trending fault 

systems.

Sanpete County

Sevier County

Emery County

38 ̊37'30"

39 ̊15'

111 ̊35' 111 ̊7'30"

0 6 miles

Eastern cliffs of

Wasatch Plateau

Musinia fault zone

Joes Valley fault zone

Major fault zones

Syncline

Anticline 

Roads 

Faults 

Explanation

Ferron

Emery

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K9
During the Late Cretaceous (approximately 65 to 98 

million years ago ), the region now forming the southern 

Wasatch Plateau was located about 45°N. paleolatitude 

within the Cretaceous Rocky Mountain foreland basin 

(fi g. 7). Clastic sediment was sourced from the west in 

the Sevier Highlands and was deposited in coastal-plain 

Figure 7. Late Cretaceous paleogeography of the Western United States.

Paleogeography

Wasatch

 Plateau

Sevier Highlands

Western

Interior

Seaway

Alluvial plain

and highlands

Coastal

plain

Peat

swamps

Western Interior

Seaway

Paleolatitude

Thrust fault

45

45

30

30

30

Utah

0 250 MILES

settings and along shorelines on the western margin of 

the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway (Weimer, 1986; 

Roberts and Kirschbaum, 1995). The sediments that were 

deposited in this Cretaceous coastal setting included a variety 

of continental, coastal-plain, marginal-marine, and offshoremarine facies.

K10 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
General Stratigraphy

Rocks in the vicinity of the Wasatch Plateau range in age 

from Late Cretaceous to early Eocene (fi g. 8A) (Hintze, 1980). 

The thickness of the stratigraphic section of rocks exposed at 

Castle Valley east of the study area near the towns of Emery, 

Ferron, and Castle Dale, Utah, and extending to the tops of the 

highest points in the southern Wasatch Plateau exceeds 10,000 

ft. In the central part of the San Rafael Swell, east of the study 

area, the Lower Permian White Rim Sandstone and Kaibab 

Limestone are the oldest rocks exposed (Hintze, 1980). Units 

exposed on the gently dipping western fl ank of the San Rafael 

Swell comprise these Lower Permian strata, through Triassic, 

Jurassic, and Cretaceous rocks to lower Eocene units, which 

are located west of the study area.

Figure 8A. General stratigraphy of the Wasatch Plateau.

In the Wasatch Plateau, the Upper Cretaceous section 

consists of, in ascending order, the Dakota Sandstone; Mancos 

Shale with its Tununk, Ferron Sandstone, Blue Gate Shale, 

Emery Sandstone, Masuk Shale Members; and Mesaverde 

Group. The Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group consists of 

upper Campanian strata assigned to the Star Point Sandstone, 

Blackhawk Formation, Castlegate Sandstone Member of the 

Price River Formation, and the main body of the Price 

River Formation. These rocks, in turn, are overlain by the 

Cretaceous and Tertiary North Horn Formation and by the 

Tertiary Flagstaff Limestone, Colton Formation, and Green 

River Formation (Fouch and others, 1983).

Age Ma

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

Major coal-bearing strata Minor coal-bearing strata

Age Wasatch Plateau Book Cliffs

North Horn Formation

Flagstaff Limestone

Green River Formation

Colton Formation

Price River Formation

Castlegate Sandstone Member

Emery Sandstone Member

Ferron Sandstone Member 

Masuk Member

Blue Gate Member

Mancos Shale

Tununk Member

Blackhawk Formation 

Star Point Sandstone 

Dakota Sandstone

 Maastrichtian

 Paleocene

 Eocene

(part)

Campanian

Santonian

Coniacian

Turonian

Cenomanian

(part) 

Wasatch Formation

Mesa Verde Group 

North Horn Formation

Flagstaff Limestone

Green River Formation

Colton Formation

Price River Formation

Castlegate Sandstone Member

Emery Sandstone Member

Ferron Sandstone Member 

Masuk Member

Blue Gate Member

Mancos Shale

Tununk Member

Blackhawk Formation 

Star Point Sandstone 

Dakota Sandstone

 Maastrichtian

 Paleocene

 Eocene

(part)

Campanian

Santonian

Coniacian

Turonian

Cenomanian

(part) 

Wasatch Formation

Mesa Verde Group 

Age

Major coal-bearing strata Minor coal-bearing strata

Wasatch Plateau Book Cliffs Ma

45

50

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K11
The eastern boundary of the southern Wasatch Plateau 

study area was chosen at the outcrop contact between the 

Star Point Sandstone and the underlying Mancos Shale. 

This contact was picked because the overlying Blackhawk 

Formation is the major coal-bearing unit in the Wasatch 

Plateau and because the stacking patterns of the marineshoreface sandstones of the Star Point infl uenced the 

distribution of the coals in the Blackhawk (fi g. 8B). Four 

geologic units are designated on the geologic map for the 

study area (fi g. 4) and they are shown within the stratigraphic 

section (fi g. 8B). In ascending order, they are (1) the Upper 

Cretaceous Mancos Shale, (2) the Upper Cretaceous Star Point 

Sandstone, (3) the Upper Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation, 

and (4) undifferentiated Cretaceous and Tertiary strata, which 

include the Castlegate Sandstone Member of the Price River 

Figure 8B. Stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous rocks in the Wasatch Plateau.

Stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous Rocks

1

Book Cliffs 

Ferron Sandstone Member

Emery Sandstone Member

Dakota Sandstone 

Star Point Sandstone

Castlegate Sandstone Member

Price River Formation 

Mancos Shale

Feet

0

1000

2000

3000

Quitchupah Creek Rock Creek

Price River

 Canyon

Farnham

 Dome

 Pace

Canyon

Whitmore

 Canyon

Sunnyside coal

Kenilworth coal

Spring Canyon coal

Blackhawk Formation 

Wasatch Plateau 

Spring Canyon Mbr

Storrs Mbr

Panther Tongue

Aberdeen Mbr

Sunnyside Mbr

Kenilworth Mbr

16 1/2

 mi 37 1/2

 mi 7

mi 12

 mi 11

 mi

1

2

2

2

1

2

1 Members of Star Point Sandstone

Members of Blackhawk Formation

West East

Formation and the main body of the Price River Formation, 

North Horn Formation, Flagstaff Limestone, and Colton 

Formation.

The Star Point Sandstone consists of stacked shoreface 

sandstones that prograde to the east and interfi nger with the 

Mancos Shale. Each of the shoreface sandstones in the Star 

Point has associated with it an overlying coal that extends west 

in a paleo-landward direction into the nonmarine deposits of 

the Blackhawk Formation.

In the study area, some coals may be present at 

great depth in the Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone and in the 

Ferron and Emery Sandstone Members of the Mancos Shale; 

however, the majority of thick, continuous coal beds at depths 

to 5,000 ft occur within the Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation.

K12 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
Spieker and Reeside (1925) named the Star Point 

Sandstone after a prominent headland of the Wasatch 

Plateau and the Blackhawk Formation for exposures near 

the Blackhawk mine near the coal town of Hiawatha. 

Clark (1928) included the Star Point as the base of the 

Mesaverde Group in the Book Cliffs. Clark’s (1928) Star 

Point comprised, in ascending order, the Panther, Storrs, and 

Spring Canyon Tongues (the latter two now called members) 

(fi g. 8C). Clark (1928) also named the Aberdeen Sandstone 

Member of the Blackhawk Formation, which overlies the 

Spring Canyon. Young (1955) redefi ned the Star Point to 

Figure 8C. Stratigraphy of the Star Point Sandstone and Blackhawk Formation.

Stratigraphy of the Star Point Sandstone and Blackhawk Formation

Panther Tongue

Storrs Member

Spring Canyon Member

Aberdeen Member

Kenilworth Member

Sunnyside Member

Grassy Member

Desert Member

Blackhawk

Formation

Star Point

Sandstone

Castlegate Sandstone Member of Price River Formation

Mancos Shale

Campanian (part)

Wasatch Plateau Book Cliffs

contain only the Panther and Storrs, and he combined 

the Spring Canyon Tongue with Clark’s (1928) Spring 

Canyon coal group into the Spring Canyon Member and 

placed it in the overlying Blackhawk Formation beneath the 

Aberdeen Member to conform with his classifi cation scheme 

in the Book Cliffs. This scheme also named the overlying 

Kenilworth, Sunnyside, Grassy, and Desert Members of 

the Blackhawk Formation. Sedimentologic studies for this 

project identifi ed several as yet unnamed shoreface sandstones 

beneath the Panther Tongue that are also part of the Star Point 

Sandstone.

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K13
The Star Point Sandstone and Blackhawk Formation contain a variety of 

marine, marginal-marine, lagoonal, and continental rocks (

fi g. 9A). The Star 

Point Sandstone is composed of massive cliff-forming shoreface sandstones that generally coarsen upward. The Blackhawk contains coal, siltstone, shale, and 

Figure 9A. Defi nitions for sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy.

Sedimentology

Progradational Parasequences in the

 Spring Canyon Member of the Blackhawk For

Parasequence 1

Parasequence 2

Parasequenc

Paraseque

Offsho

Coastal plain

coal

coal

coal

coal

Kamola and Huntoon (1995) recognized that the Canyon Member was composed of stacks of shosandstones in which four progradational to aggrashoreface parasequences form a parasequence se

Coastal Plain

ForeshoreEstuarine Upper ShorefaceUpper ShorefaceLower ShorefaceLower ShorefaceLower ShorefaceLower Shoreface

Lower Shoreface

Lower ShorefaceOffshoreOffshoreOffshoreOffshore

supratidal 

intertidal

fair weather wave base

 stormwave base

Depositional Environments

Sequence Stratigraphy divisions

Bedset

boundaries

Parasequences

Measured section 

Parasequence

Set

Parasequence

Set

Parasequence

Set

Bedset: Consists of two or more superposed beds characterizcomposition, texture, and sedimentary structures. Bedsets are surface of erosion, nondeposition, or an abrupt change in chaWagoner and others, 1990).Parasequence: A relatively conformable succession of genebedsets bounded by marine-flooding surfaces or their correlatflooding surface is a surface separating younger from older stthere is evidence of an abrupt increase in water depth (from Vothers, 1990).Parasequence set: A parasequence set is a succession of genparasequences forming a distinctive stacking pattern bounded flooding surfaces and their correlative surfaces. Stacking patsets are progradational, retrogradational, or aggradational (froothers, 1990).

Definitions

0

100

Feet

sandstone. Coal beds occur depositionally landward of tStar Point marine shoreface sandstones. The Star Point iin the Southern Wasatch Plateau study area comprises asets of shoreface and deltaic sandstones (

fi g. 9A).
Photograph. Shoreface sandstones of the Star Point in Quitchipah Canyon.

Photograph. Outcrops in Convulsion Canyon showing occurrence of coal at the base of the 

Blackhawk Formation.

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K15
In the southern Wasatch Plateau, coal occurs primarily in 

and is produced exclusively from the Blackhawk Formation (fi g. 

8B). Spieker (1931) noted that all of the principal coal beds 

occur in the lower 250 to 350 ft of the Blackhawk Formation. 

In general, the lower Blackhawk Formation in the southern 

Wasatch Plateau contains from one to four, laterally extensive, 

thick coal beds in a stratigraphic interval that extends about 150 

ft above the Star Point Sandstone. For the purposes of this study, 

the lower Blackhawk coal zone (fi g. 9B) was defi ned as the 

lower part of the Blackhawk Formation that contains signifi cant, 

thick, and laterally extensive coal beds that could be traced and 

correlated in well logs and on the outcrop. The coals that extend 

landward from the upper surfaces of the shoreface sandstones 

can be correlated in the subsurface based both on stratigraphic 

position above the Star Point Sandstone and on similarity of 

geophysical log response (fi g. 9B). In this study, coals were 

color-coded for correlation and are referred to as the red coal, 

blue coal, etc.

Figure 9B. Schematic diagram showing geophysical well logs, 

stratigraphic units and interfi ngering, and the lower Blackhawk coal 

zone.

Photograph. Coal in the Kenilworth Member of the Blackhawk 

Formation.

Lower Blackhawk Coal Zone

UGMS-20

127

BCR-4

166

Star Point Sandstone

blue coal

red coal

lower Blackhawk coal zone

Blackhawk Formation

Price

River

Formation Castlegate Sandstone Member

F t

0

1000

Southwest Northeast

Gamma Den Gamma Den Res 

K16 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
Tongues of the Star Point shoreface sandstones interfi nger 

eastward into the marine Mancos Shale, and they also 

interfi nger and pinch out westward into nonmarine rocks 

of the Blackhawk (fi g. 8B). Our current interpretation is 

that the westward interfi ngerings or pinch-outs represent the 

successive landward pinch-outs of shoreface parasequences 

(fi g. 10A) that were deposited by marine fl ooding and 

subsequent basinward migration of the shoreline. Marine 

fl ooding surfaces that indicate an abrupt increase in water 

Figure 10A. Models for development of parasequence boundaries and accommodation space.

Sequence Stratigraphy

Coastal Plain Shoreface Marine

Coastal Plain Shoreface Marine

Generation of Accommodation Space

Flooding Surface (FS)

FS

FS

A.

B.

FS

FS

FS

(after van Wagoner and others, 1990)

Parasequence Boundary Development

Coastal Plain Shoreface Marine

Progradation of Parasequence A

Flooding on top of Parasequence

Progradation of Parasequence B

Strata Sandstones Mudstones

A parasequence boundary develops when rapid water-depth increase floods the top of parasequence A. Progradation of 

parasequence B occurs when the rate of deposition exceeds the rate of water-depth increase. These two parasequences are 

aggradational, and parasequences can also stack retrogradationally or progradationally depending on the ratio of the rate of 

water-depth increase to the rate of sediment supply.

The occurrence, distribution, and thickness of coals are related to shoreface parasequence and parasequence set 

stacking patterns. Thin coals are associated with strongly progradational stacking patterns, whereas thick coals are 

associated with the greater accommodation space generated by aggradationally stacked patterns. The thickest coals 

develop where successive peat deposits overlie each other as a result of parasequence set development.

Flooding Surface (FS)

Flooding Surface (FS)

depth separate individual parasequences within the 

parasequence sets. The increase in water depth with fl ooding 

also served to elevate water tables in the nonmarine and 

continental settings, thereby providing the accommodation 

space for plant growth, peat development, and coal 

preservation. Each of these westward pinch-outs of shoreface 

sandstone parasequences (see photograph on next page) has 

associated coal that extends from on top of the shoreface 

sandstone landward into the nonmarine strata. In a seaward 

direction, the coals commonly thin and pinch out below the 

next stratigraphically higher shoreface sandstone (fi g. 8B).

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K17
Photograph. North wall of Convulsion Canyon showing the westward pinch-out of one of the Star 

Point shoreface sandstones.

K18 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
Recognizing the updip extent of the shoreface 

parasequence pinch-outs is important because coal beds that 

extend westward in a paleo-landward direction from the 

pinch-outs either directly overlie the shoreface sandstones 

or they overlie lagoonal rocks that are about 10 ft thick 

on top of the shoreface sandstones. To the northeast in 

the study area, stratigraphically higher shoreface sandstones 

successively pinch out to the southwest into nonmarine rocks 

of the Blackhawk (fi g. 10B), as they do in the Book Cliffs 

Figure 10B. Map of the study area 

showing location of the westward 

pinch-outs of the Star Point shoreface 

sandstones and number-labels 

showing their relative stratigraphic 

position: ( 0, stratigraphically lowest; 8, 

stratigraphically highest).

Paleoshorelines

(Young, 1955; Balsley and Horne, 1980; Kamola and Van 

Wagoner, 1995). These pinch-outs represent the successive 

paleoshorelines of the Star Point. The coals that extend 

landward from the upper surfaces of the shoreface sandstones 

can be correlated in the subsurface based on stratigraphic 

position above the Star Point Sandstone and based on 

similarity of geophysical log response. A crucial step 

in correlating individual coal beds is to recognize the 

geographical location and stratigraphic position of the 

sandstone parasequence pinch-outs in the well-log cross 

section.

0 6 miles

38 ̊37'30"

39 ̊15'

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Younger K-T

Geologic units:

Blackhawk Fm.

Star Point Ss.

Mancos Sh.

Shoreface sandstone

 pinch-outs

Faults

EXPLANATION

4 

3 

2 

1 2

0

-1 -2

5 6 

7 8 

GEOLOGY NOT MAPPED

Sanpete County

Sevier County

Emery County

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K19
Coal resources in the Southern Wasatch Plateau study 

area were calculated using the methodology of Wood and 

others (1983). To assess the coal resources of the southern 

Wasatch Plateau, digital fi les were created for various 

geologic, geographic, physiographic, and cultural features.

For each outcrop and subsurface data point within the 

database, fi les were generated that contain the elevation of 

a datum used to calculate a structure contour map of a 

horizon on which to calculate the overburden thickness at 

Figure 11. Structure contours on top of the 

Star Point Sandstone.

Calculating Coal Resources: Four Steps

Step 1—Structure Map

each point. In the southern Wasatch Plateau, the top of the 

Star Point Sandstone (equivalent to the base of the coalbearing Blackhawk Formation) was used because it is an 

easily identifi able stratigraphic unit recognizable in virtually 

all of the surface and subsurface data points in the database. 

The generated fi le also contains data on coal thickness and 

overburden thickness (thickness from the coal to the ground 

surface) at each data point.

9000

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0 6 miles

38 ̊37'30"

39 ̊15'

111 ̊35' 111 ̊7'30"

Zone of shattered rock

● Data point locations

Faults

Structure contours (in feet);

contour interval 200 ft

7800

K20 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
Coal resources reported for the southern Wasatch Plateau 

represent all beds of coal within the lower Blackhawk coal 

zone that are greater than 1.2 ft thick and under less than about 

5,500 ft of overburden (fi g. 12). Coal that is deeper than 6,000 

ft is not considered to be a resource according to Wood and 

others (1983), and, within the southern Wasatch Plateau study 

area, Blackhawk coal beds do not occur at depths greater than 

about 5,500 ft. Coal resources were determined by multiplying 

the volume of coal by the average density of coal. The volume 

Figure 12. Map of net-coal thickness 

in the Blackhawk Formation according to 

thickness categories of Wood and others 

(1983). Note that isopachs show net coal and 

not individual bed thickness.

Step 2—Thickness Categories

of coal was the product of the net-coal thickness and the areal 

distribution of coal greater than 1.2 ft thick as shown on the 

net-coal isopach map.

The area in the Joes Valley graben system has been 

mapped as a zone of intensely shattered and broken rock 

(Spieker, 1931; Doelling, 1972a). Due to its highly broken 

nature, the shattered zone is denoted as a separate polygon, 

and coal resources in that polygon are calculated separate from 

the rest of the study area.

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18S 3E 18S 6E 18S 4E 18S 5E 

24S 7E 

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0 6 miles

38 ̊37'30"

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Zone of shattered rock

Thickness Categories (ft)

2.3-3.5

1.2- 2.3

3.5-7.0

7.0-14.0

>14.0

0-1.2

● Data point location 

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K21
Photograph. Darrah Siding loadout in the northern part of the Wasatch Plateau.

K22 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
Coal resources are reported by coal overburden 

categories. Overburden categories represent a maximum 

overburden because the overburden thickness was calculated 

from the Earth’s surface to the top of the Star Point Sandstone 

(which is equivalent to the base of the lower Blackhawk coal 

zone). The top of the Star Point Sandstone was used because 

(1) this horizon is easily identifi ed in both measured sections 

and geophysical logs and (2) it is a relatively uniformly 

dipping surface (except for the small area of parasequence 

Figure 13. Map showing overburden thickness 

above coals in the Blackhawk Formation.

Step 3—Overburden Categories

pinch-outs) upon which to make the structure contour map. 

Overburden thickness (fi g. 13) was calculated by computergridding the elevation data for the top of the Star Point 

Sandstone in both measured sections and in drill holes and 

then subtracting that grid from the surface elevation grid 

imported from 1:24,000 digital elevation models for each of 

the 7.5′ quadrangles in the study area. Maximum overburden 

lines are shown on resultant maps at intervals of 500, 1,000, 

2,000, and 3,000 ft.

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0 6 miles

38 ̊37'30"

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111 ̊35' 111 ̊7'30"

0-500

500-1000

1000-2000

2000-3000

> 3000

Overburden Categories (ft)

Zone of shattered rock

● Data point locations

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K23
Reliability categories (fi g. 14) are based on the distance 

that a given coal resource occurs from a data point of measured 

coal thickness. Identifi ed resources are located within a 3-mile 

radius of a data point, and hypothetical resources are located 

beyond a 3-mile radius from a data point (Wood and others, 

1983). The majority of the southern Wasatch Plateau is 

considered to contain identifi ed resources. In the northwestern 

part of the study area, where there is both a lack of data 

from measured sections due to no outcrops and a lack of 

Figure 14. Coal reliability categories in the 

southern Wasatch Plateau.

Step 4—Reliability Categories

drill hole data, the resources are primarily hypothetical. The 

area just west of the zone of shattered rocks that lies in the 

northeastern part of the study area contains little subsurface 

data, but the resources calculated there are considered to be 

in the identifi ed category because the data that was used from 

measured stratigraphic sections and from drill holes east of 

the zone of shattered rock were within a 3-mile radius, even 

though they are located in the Northern Wasatch Plateau study 

area east of the shattered zone.

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25S 4E 25S 3E 25S 6E 25S 5E 25S 7E 

Reliability Categories

Identified

Hypothetical

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● Data point location

K24 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah
The coal quantities reported for this study are entirely 

“resources” and represent, as accurately as possible, all of 

the coal in beds greater than 1.2 feet thick within the lower 

Blackhawk coal zone. The resources are subdivided into 

categories of total coal thickness and of overburden categories 

(depth to the coal in the subsurface).

Within the southern Wasatch Plateau, original in-place 

resources for the overburden category 0 to 500 ft and the netcoal thickness category of 7 to 14 ft are 160 million short tons 

of coal; for the overburden category 0 to 500 ft and the net-coal 

thickness category of greater than 14 ft there are 140 million 

short tons of coal. For the overburden category 500 to 1,000 ft 

and net-coal thickness category 7 to 14 ft there are 420 million 

short tons of coal; for that overburden category and net-coal 

thickness category of greater than 14 ft there are 460 million 

short tons of coal. For overburden category 1,000 to 2,000 ft and 

Photograph. Soldier Creek mine in the northern Wasatch Plateau.

Coal Resources in the Southern Wasatch Plateau

net-coal thickness category 7 to 14 ft there are 310 million short 

tons of coal; for that overburden category and net-coal thickness 

category greater than 14 ft there are 2,100 million short tons of 

coal. For the overburden category 2,000 to 3,000 ft and net-coal 

thickness category 7 to 14 ft there are 1.4 million short tons of 

coal; and for that overburden category and net-coal thickness 

category greater than 14 ft there are 1,800 million short tons 

of coal. For the overburden category greater than 3,000 ft there 

are 1,200 million short tons of coal in the net-coal thickness 

category greater than 14 ft. Additional coal resources are in 

the thickness categories 1.2 to 2.3 ft, 2.3 to 3.5 ft, and 3.5 to 

7 ft throughout the study area. The southern Wasatch Plateau 

contains an original in-place resource of 6.8 billion short tons 

of coal. This total resource fi gure does not refl ect geologic, 

technologic, land-use, and environmental restrictions that may 

affect the availability and recoverability of the coal.

Summary of Geology and Coal Resources of the Blackhawk Formation in the Southern Wasatch Plateau, Central Utah K25
References

Balsley, J.K., and Horne, J.C., 1980 [unpublished], Cretaceous wavedominated systems: Book Cliffs, east-central Utah: Denver, Colo., 

Amoco Production Company, Field Conference Guidebook, 163 p.

Clark, F.R., 1928, Castlegate, Wellington, and Sunnyside quadrangles, 

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National Coal

Resource

Assessment

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K26 Geologic Assessment of Coal in the Colorado Plateau: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah