Open-File Report 2011–1261

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, 

Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, 

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, 

Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, 

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

KEN SALAZAR, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

Marcia K. McNutt, Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2012

For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living 

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U.S. Government.

Although this report is in the public domain, permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to 

reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this report.

Suggested citation:

Valentine, B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., 2012, Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1261, 102 p.
iii

Contents 

A. Overview of Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data— Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, 

Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

B. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Alabama

C. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Georgia

D. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Western Kentucky

E. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Northern Louisiana

F. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Mississippi

G. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Southeastern Missouri

H. Shallow Coal and Kaolinite Exploration Drill-Hole Data, North Carolina and South Carolina

I. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Western Tennessee

J. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Northeast Texas

K. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, South and East-Central Texas
Overview of Shallow Coal Exploration 

Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, 

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, 

and Texas

By Matthew D. Merrill, Brett J. Valentine, and Kristin O. Dennen

Chapter A of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–A

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

Merrill, M.D, Valentine, B.J., and Dennen, K.O., 2012, Overview of shalllow coal exploration drill-hole data—

Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, 

in Valentine, B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, 

Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 2011–1261, ch. A, 6 p. plus appendix. (Available online.)
iii

Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................................................A1

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................1

Data..................................................................................................................................................................1

Conclusions.....................................................................................................................................................1

References Cited............................................................................................................................................2

Appendix A. The North American Coal Corporation letter describing confidentiality 

agreements........................................................................................................................................4

Figures

A1. Regional map showing drill-hole locations ...........................................................................A2

A2. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing 

formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coast Plain...........................................3
Overview of Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—

Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, 

Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and 

Texas 

By Matthew D. Merrill, Brett J. Valentine, and Kristin O. Dennen

Introduction

 Coal exploration drill-hole data from over 24,000 wells 

in 10 States are discussed by State in the chapters of this 

report, and the data are provided in an accompanying spreadsheet. The drill holes were drilled between 1962 and 1984 

by Phillips Coal Company, a division of Phillips Petroleum 

Company (Phillips). The data were donated to the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS) in 2001 by the North American 

Coal Corporation, which purchased the Phillips assets as part 

of a larger dataset. Under the terms of the agreement with 

North American Coal Corporation, the data were deemed 

proprietary until February 2011, a period of 10 years after the 

donation (Appendix). Now that the required period of confidentiality has passed, the data have been digitized from tabulated data files to create unified and spatially consistent coal 

exploration drill-hole maps and reports for the States of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, 

North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. The 

data are made publically available by this report.

Methods

Annotated topographic field and county highway maps 

from Phillips, generally at 1:62,500 to 1:100,000 scale, were 

utilized to generate the drill-hole datasets. The drill-hole 

locations in State coordinate plane projections were digitized 

from hardcopy maps into a geographic information system 

using ArcMapTM software from the Environmental Systems 

Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI). Fiducial marks and county 

boundaries served as reference points. Maps were scanned and 

georeferenced; drill-hole locations were digitized and shapefile 

attribute values were populated with data from the maps. The 

maps and data were then reprojected into a North American 

Datum of 1983 geographic coordinate system.

Data

The data provide locally dense drill-hole coverage 

(fig. A1) for the Gulf of Mexico coal region, the southern 

part of the Appalachian coal region, and North and South 

Carolina. A regional stratigraphic chart with major and minor 

coal-bearing formations in the Gulf of Mexico coal region 

is shown in figure A2. Each of the 10 State reports (chapters 

B–K, this volume) has a map of the State with drill-hole 

coverage that includes drill holes where coal was found and 

drill holes where there was no coal. In addition, a list of 

counties is included in each State report with the number of 

drill holes for each county, and an appendix in each State 

report directs the reader to a spreadsheet with tabulated coal 

thickness data. When available, electric log probe depths and 

indications of core sampling are also included in the tabulated 

data. The coal thickness data from the State reports have been 

uploaded to the USGS National Coal Resources Data System 

UStratigraphic (USTRAT) database, part of the National Coal 

Resources Data System (NCRDS) at energy.usgs.gov/Tools/

NationalCoalResourcesDataSystem.aspx. 

Conclusions

The data provided in the State reports (chapters B–K) 

compliment NCRDS State shallow coal resources data 

because the data include both coal and “no-coal” drill-hole 

information, whereas the NCRDS accepts only coal thickness 

data points. The coal thickness data in the spreadsheet(s) that 

accompany each report reflect corrections for duplicates, 

mislabeling, and incorrect locations identified by the computer 

programs used to upload the data to NCRDS. For the States of 

North and South Carolina, the reports include “no-kaolinite” 

drill-hole locations as well as “no-coal” drill-hole locations 

because kaolinite is an economic resource in these States.
A2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

References Cited

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, Gabi, and Gradstein, F.M., 2008, The 

concise geologic time scale: Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge 

University Press, 184 p.

Warwick, P.D., SanFilipo, J.R., Crowley, S.S., Thomas, R.E., 

and Freid, J., comps., and Tully, J.K., digital comp., 1997, 

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land 

use in the Gulf Coast coal region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 97–172, 1 sheet, accessed April 20, 2011, 

at pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-172/.

Figure A1. Regional map showing drill-hole locations.

0 100 200 MILES

0 100 200 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

Areas where drill holes

are located

State boundary

Appalachian Coal

Region 

Gulf Coast Coal

Region 

TEXAS

FLORIDA

GEORGIA

KANSAS

OKLAHOMA

ARKANSAS

ALABAMA

MISSOURI VIRGINIA

LOUISIANA

KENTUCKY

TENNESSEE

MISSISSIPPI

NORTH CAROLINA

SOUTH

CAROLINA

ILLINOIS WEST

VIRGINIA

INDIANA

GULF OF MEXICO

ATLANTIC OCEAN

100°00' 95°00' 90°00' 85°00' 80°00'

35°00'

30°00'

25°00'
Overview A3

Wilcox

Midway

Jackson

Chronostratigraphic 

Units

Priabonian

Ypresian

Thanetian

Danian

International

Maastrichtian

Stage

Bartonian

Lutetian

Mississippi Louisiana Northeastern

Texas

East-Central

Texas

Rio Grande

Embayment

(Southern Texas)

Group or Formation by Geographic Area

Jackson Jackson

Jackson Jackson Yazoo Moodys Branch

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Kosciusko

Zilpha 

Tallahatta

Meridan Sand

Winona

Hatchetigbee

Bashi

Nanafalia

Tuscahoma

Clayton

Porters Creek

Naheola

Porters Creek

Kincaid / Clayton

Wills Point

Kincaid Kincaid

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

SpartaSand Cane River

Carrizo Sand

Sabinetown

Calvert Bluff

Simsboro

Hooper

Yegua

Cook Mtn / Stone City

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Wilcox

Yegua

Cook Mtn 

SpartaSand

Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Laredo

El PicoClay

Bigford

Upper 

Lower

Whitset

Manning

WelbornCaddell

Whitsett

Manning

Wellborn

Caddell Moodys Branch

Mosley Hill Danville Landing

Yazoo

Pendleton

MarthavilleHall Summit

Lime Hill

Converse

Cow Bayou

Dolet Hills

Naborton

Yegua

Cook Mtn

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Escondido

Olmos Navarro Navarro Navarro Kemp Clay Corsicana Marl Nacatoch

Navarro Arkadelphia Nacatoch Sand Saratoga Chalk Owl Creek Ripley

Alabama

and

Georgia

Moodys Branch

Yazoo

Jackson

Lisbon

Lisbon

Tallahatta

Gosport

Hatchetigbee

Tuscahoma

NanafaliaNaheola

Porters Creek

Clayton

Ripley

Missouri

and 

Tennessee

Kentucky 

Jackson Jackson

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Memphis Sand

Wilcox

Porters Creek

Clayton

Claiborne

Porters Creek

Clayton

Owl Creek McNairy

McNairy

Flour Island

Ft. Pillow Sand

Old Breastworks

Prairie Bluff Chalk/

Providence Sand

North American

Provincial 

Stage

Jacksonian

Claibornian

Sabinian

Midwayan

Navarroan

Selandian

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway

Tertiary

Series Eocene Paleocene

System Cretaceous

Wilcox Midway

Midway

Indio

Upper (part)

Explanation

disconformityuncertaininterfingeringtransitional

Group NameFormation NameMajor coal-bearing formationMinor coal-bearing formation

Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coast Plain (modified from Figure A2.

Warwick and others, 1997; Ogg and others, 2008).
A4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Appendix A. The North American Coal Corporation letter describing 

confidentiality agreements.
Overview A5
A6 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, 

Alabama

By Matthew D. Merrill, Peter D. Warwick, and Christopher R. Burr

Chapter B of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–B

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

Merrill, M.D., Warwick, P.D., and Burr, C.R., 2012, Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data, Alabama, in Valentine, 

B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File 

Report 2011–1261, ch. B, 5 p. plus appendix. (Available online.) 
iii

Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................................................B1

Methods ..........................................................................................................................................................1

Generalized Coal Geology of Alabama .......................................................................................................1

Data..................................................................................................................................................................1

References Cited............................................................................................................................................2

Appendix B1. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for Alabama .................................................2

Figures

 B1. Map of Alabama showing locations of areas with drill holes ............................................B4

 B2. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing 

formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain .......................................5

Tables

 B1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the Alabama coal 

exploration drill-hole dataset. ..................................................................................................B2

 B2. Explanation of comments used to describe the Alabama drill-hole dataset. .....................3

 B3. Alabama counties and the number of drill holes by county. .................................................3
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Alabama

By Matthew D. Merrill, Peter D. Warwick, and Christopher R. Burr

Introduction

Coal exploration drill-hole data from 2,520 wells 

drilled in Alabama between 1977 and 1979 by Phillips 

Coal Company, a division of Phillips Petroleum Company 

(Phillips), are discussed in this chapter, and the data are provided in an accompanying spreadsheet. The data are part of 

a larger dataset donated to the U.S. Geological Survey by the 

North American Coal Corporation, which purchased Phillips 

assets in 2001 (see chapter A, this volume). The data in 10 

State reports have been digitized from field maps to create 

unified and spatially consistent coal exploration drill-hole 

datasets for each of the States (chapters B–K, this volume). 

Data for Alabama include a map of the State showing areas 

with drill-hole coverage (fig. B1), a list of data attributes and 

explanations of the data format (table B1), a list of comments 

found in the data and descriptions of them (table B2), a list 

of counties and the number of drill holes for each county 

(table B3), and tabulated data in spreadsheet format (see 

appendix B1).

Methods 

Annotated topographic field and county highway maps 

from Phillips, generally at 1:62,500 to 1:100,000 scale, were 

utilized to generate the drill-hole datasets. Alabama State 

coordinate plane projection source material from 1927 was 

digitized from hardcopy maps into a geographic information 

system using ArcMapTM software from the Environmental 

Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI). Fiducial marks and 

county boundaries served as reference points. Maps were 

scanned and georeferenced; drill-hole locations were digitized 

and shapefile attribute values were populated with data from 

the maps. To facilitate combining this dataset with datasets 

for other States, the dataset has been projected into a North 

American Datum of 1983 geographic coordinate system. The 

shapefile data were exported to a spreadsheet (appendix B1).

Generalized Coal Geology of Alabama

The Eocene/Paleocene Wilcox Group is a coal-bearing 

unit in southern Alabama (Warwick and others, 1997) 

(fig. B2). Coal-bearing formations in the Wilcox include the 

Nanafalia, Tuscahoma Sand, and Hatchetigbee. The coal-bearing formation of the Paleocene Midway Group is the Naheola 

Formation (Warwick and others, 1997). The Pennsylvanian 

age Upper Pottsville Formation is a shallow coal-bearing unit 

in the Warrior Basin in northwestern Alabama (Hatch and 

Pawlewicz, 2007). 

Data

The Alabama data provide drill-hole coverage in southern 

Alabama from the west to the east of the State as well as 

drill-hole coverage in northwestern Alabama (figs. B1, B2). 

Probed depth data for 1,867 drill holes range from 17 to 395 

feet with a mean depth of 205 feet. The discrepancy between 

the 2,520 total holes in this dataset and the 1,867 cited above 

reflects holes that were planned and mapped but may not have 

been drilled. Location error, due to the reduced resolution and 

generalized nature of highway maps, is expected to be ±0.25 

miles. Shapefile attributes include all original raw data from 

the Phillips drill-hole location maps (table B1). 
B2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

References Cited

Gesch, D., Oimoen, M., Greenlee, S., Nelson, C., Steuck, 

M., and Tyler, D., 2002, The National Elevation Dataset: 

Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, v. 68, 

no. 1, p. 5-11.

Hatch, J.R., and Pawlewicz, M.J., 2007, Petroleum assessment of the Pottsville Coal Total Petroleum System, Black 

Warrior Basin, Alabama and Mississippi, in Hatch, J.R., and 

Pawlewicz, M.J., comps., Geologic assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Black Warrior Basin 

Province, Alabama and Mississippi: U.S. Geological Survey 

Digital Data Series DDS–69–I, ch. 4, 28 p., accessed 

August 31, 2011, at pubs.usgs.gov/dds/dds-069/dds-069-i/

REPORTS/69_I_CH_4.pdf.

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, Gabi, and Gradstein, F.M., 2008, The concise 

geologic time scale: Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge University Press, 184 p.

Warwick, P.D., SanFilipo, J.R., Crowley, S.S., Thomas, R.E., 

and Freid, J., comps., and Tully, J.K., (digital comp., 1997, 

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land 

use in the Gulf Coast coal region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 97–172, 1 sheet, accessed April 20, 2011, 

at pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-172/.

Appendix B1

The Alabama coal exploration drill-hole dataset in 

spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1261/

Appendices/B1-AL.xls.

Table B1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the Alabama coal exploration drill-hole dataset.

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL-HOLE NAME Two-letter county code followed by drill-hole number.

COUNTY County where the drill hole is located.

ELEVATION Elevation above sea level in feet.

DEPTH_TOTAL Depth of drill hole in feet.

DEPTH_PROBED Depth of geophysical probe measurement in feet.

LATITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

LONGITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

X_C Thickness of coal for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_CP Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_DEPTH Top depth of bed number X in feet.

COMMENT Additional information regarding the drill hole. See table B2 for an explanation of comments.
Alabama B3

Table B2. Explanation of comments used to describe the Alabama drill-hole dataset (J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, written 

commun., 2009).

Comment Description

?

Carbonaceous; CM

Data Depth

DEM

Inferior Lignite

Lignite

NC

NP

NSL

Partially Inferior Lignite

Poor Lignite

Trace Lignite

Visual Estimate

There is uncertainty about the drill hole.

Coal has a high ash content.

Minimum depth as determined by the deepest coal depth and thickness when well depth is not available.

Elevation of the drill-hole determined by a digital elevation model (Gesch, 2002).

Lignite found in the drill hole was of poor quality.

Lignite was found in the drill hole.

Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill-hole.

Abbreviation for “Not probed.” Geophysical logging never occurred at this location.

Abbreviation for “No significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because the 

coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 ft. thick) no coal data was recorded.

Lignite found in the drill hole was of poor quality.

Lignite found in the drill hole was of poor quality.

The drill hole contained only traces of lignite.

Depth to top of coal bed estimated visually—not measured.

Table B3. Alabama counties and the number of drill holes by 

county.

County Number of drill holes

Barbour 493

Butler 331

Choctaw 98

Coffee 176

Conecuh 53

Covington 82

Crenshaw 209

Dale 174

Franklin 10

Henry 388

Houston 19

Lamar 7

Lowndes 1

Marengo 135

Marion 135

Monroe 143

Pike 3

Sumter 5

Wilcox 58

Total 2,520
B4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Lauderdale

Colbert

Franklin

Lawrence

Limestone

Marion Winston Cullman

Cleburne

DeKalb

Marshall

Madison Jackson

Morgan

Lamar Fayette

Walker

Pickens Tuscaloosa

Jeffereson

Greene

Sumter

Hale

Bibb

Perry

Dallas Marengo

Chilton Tallapoosa

Russel

Montgomery

Elmore Lee

Autauga

Lowndes

Chambers

Macon

Etowah

Cherokee

St. Clair

Shelby

Talladega

Clay Randolph

Calhoun

Blount

Coosa

Choctaw

Wilcox

Clarke

Washington

Monroe

Escambia

Mobile

Baldwin

Conecuh

Pike

Dale

Geneva

Coffee

Houston

Bullock

Covington

Crenshaw

Barbour

Butler

Henry

0"N

34 0’0"N

30 0’0"N

32 0’

88 0’0"W 86 0’0"W

°

°

°

° °

EXPLANATION

Areas with drill holes

State boundary

County boundary

02 SELIM

0 20 40 80 KILOMETERS

0 40 80

Figure B1. Map of Alabama showing locations of areas with drill holes.
Alabama B5

Wilcox

Midway

Jackson

Chronostratigraphic 

Units

Priabonian

Ypresian

Thanetian

Danian

Maastrichtian

International

Stage

Bartonian

Lutetian

Mississippi Louisiana Northeastern

Texas

East-Central

Texas

Rio Grande

Embayment

(Southern Texas)

Group or Formation by Geographic Area

Jackson Jackson Jackson Jackson Yazoo Moodys Branch

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Kosciusko

Zilpha 

Tallahatta

Meridan Sand

Winona

Hatchetigbee

Bashi

Nanafalia

Tuscahoma

Clayton

Porters Creek

Naheola

Porters Creek

Kincaid / Clayton

Wills Point

Kincaid Kincaid

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

SpartaSand Cane River

Carrizo Sand

Sabinetown

Calvert Bluff

Simsboro

Hooper

Yegua

Cook Mtn / Stone City

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Wilcox

Yegua

Cook Mtn 

SpartaSand

Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Laredo

El PicoClay

Bigford

Upper 

Lower

Whitset

Manning

WelbornCaddell

Whitsett

Manning

Wellborn

Caddell Moodys Branch

Mosley Hill Danville Landing

Yazoo

Pendleton

MarthavilleHall Summit

Lime Hill

Converse

Cow Bayou

Dolet Hills

Naborton

Yegua

Cook Mtn

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Escondido

Olmos Navarro Navarro Navarro Kemp Clay Corsicana Marl Nacatoch Navarro Arkadelphia Nacatoch Sand Saratoga Chalk Owl Creek Ripley

Alabama

and

Georgia

Moodys Branch

Yazoo

Jackson

Lisbon

Lisbon

Tallahatta

Gosport

Hatchetigbee

Tuscahoma

NanafaliaNaheola

Porters Creek

Clayton

Ripley

Missouri

and 

Tennessee

Kentucky 

Jackson Jackson

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Memphis Sand

Wilcox

Porters Creek

Clayton

Claiborne

Porters Creek

Clayton

Owl Creek McNairy

McNairy

Flour Island

Ft. Pillow Sand

Old Breastworks

Prairie Bluff Chalk/

Providence Sand

North American

Provincial 

Stage

Jacksonian

Claibornian

Sabinian

Midwayan

Navarroan

Selandian

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway Midway

Tertiary

Series Eocene Paleocene

System Cretaceous

Wilcox Midway

Midway

Indio

Upper (part)

Explanation

disconformityuncertaininterfingeringtransitional

Group NameFormation NameMajor coal-bearing formationMinor coal-bearing formation

arwick and Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain (modified from W Figure B2.

others, 1997; Ogg and others, 2008).
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, 

Georgia

By Matthew D. Merrill and Peter D. Warwick

Chapter C of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–C

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

Merrill, M.D., and Warwick, P.D., 2012, Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data, Georgia, in Valentine, B.J., and 

Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, 

Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1261, 

ch. C, 5 p. plus appendix. (Available online.)
iii

Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................................................C1

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................1

Data..................................................................................................................................................................1

References Cited............................................................................................................................................1

Appendix C1. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for Georgia ...................................................1

Figures

C1. Map of Georgia showing locations of areas with drill holes .............................................C4

C2. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing 

formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain .......................................5

Tables

C1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the Georgia coal 

exploration drill-hole dataset...................................................................................................C2

C2. Explanation of comments used to describe the Georgia drill-hole dataset. ......................2

C3. Georgia counties and the number of drill holes by county....................................................3
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Georgia

By Matthew D. Merrill and Peter D. Warwick

Introduction

Coal exploration drill-hole data from 746 wells drilled 

in Georgia between April and November of 1978 by Phillips 

Coal Company, a division of Phillips Petroleum Company 

(Phillips), are discussed in this chapter, and the data are 

provided in an accompanying spreadsheet. The data are part of 

a larger dataset donated to the U.S. Geological Survey by the 

North American Coal Corporation, which purchased Phillips 

assets in 2001 (see chapter A, this volume). The data in 10 

State reports have been digitized from field maps to create 

unified and spatially consistent coal exploration drill-hole 

datasets for each of the States (chapters B–K, this volume). 

Data for Georgia include a map of the State showing areas 

with drill-hole coverage (fig. C1), a list of data attributes and 

explanations of the data format (table C1), a list of comments 

found in the data and descriptions of them (table C2), a list 

of counties and the number of drill holes for each county 

(table C3), and tabulated data in spreadsheet format (see 

appendix C1).

Methods

Annotated topographic field and county highway maps 

from Phillips, generally at 1:62,500 to 1:100,000 scale, were 

utilized to generate the drill-hole datasets. Georgia State 

coordinate plane projection source material from 1927 was 

digitized from hardcopy maps into a geographic information 

system using ArcMapTM software from the Environmental 

Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI). Fiducial marks and 

county boundaries served as reference points. Maps were 

scanned and georeferenced, drill-hole locations were digitized, 

and shapefile attribute values were populated with data from 

the maps. To facilitate combining this dataset with datasets 

for other States, the dataset has been reprojected into a North 

American Datum of 1983 geographic coordinate system. The 

shapefile was exported to a spreadsheet (see appendix C1).

Data

The Georgia data provide drill-hole coverage for southwestern Georgia (fig. C1). Drill-hole depths range from 30 to 

300 feet with an average depth of 237 feet. For a stratigraphic 

chart of coal-bearing formations in Georgia, see figure C2. 

Location error, if present, is the result of those completing 

the data sheets. The transcription process involved no map 

digitization; therefore, there are no spatial errors associated 

with the creation of this dataset. Comparisons between 

digitized highway map points and their corresponding drillhole tabulation sheet coordinates indicate that the drilling team 

accurately determined their locations from local topographic 

maps. Shapefile attributes include all original raw data with 

the exception of the landowner information (table C1). 

References Cited

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, Gabi, and Gradstein, F.M., 2008, The 

concise geologic time scale: Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge 

University Press, 184 p.

Warwick, P.D., SanFilipo, J.R., Crowley, S.S., Thomas, R.E., 

and Freid, J., comps., and Tully, J.K., digital comp., 1997, 

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land 

use in the Gulf Coast coal region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 97–172, 1 sheet, accessed April 20, 2011, 

at pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-172/.

Appendix C1

The Georgia coal exploration drill-hole dataset in 

spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1261/

Appendices/C1-GA.xls.
C2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Table C1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the Georgia coal exploration drill-hole dataset.

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL-HOLE NAME Two-letter county code followed by drill-hole number.

COUNTY County where the drill hole is located.

ELEVATION Elevation above sea level in feet.

DEPTH_TOTAL Depth of drill hole in feet.

DEPTH_PROBED Depth of geophysical probe measurement in feet.

LATITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

LONGITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

X_C Thickness of coal for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_CP Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in decimal feet.

COMMENT Additional information regarding the drill hole. See table C2 for an explanation of comments.

Table C2. Explanation of comments used to describe the Georgia drill-hole dataset (J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, written 

commun., 2009).

Symbol/Comment Description

? Questionable data/information.

Inferior Subjective term used to describe low-quality coal.

Inferior Lignite Subjective term used to describe low-quality lignite.

Lignite A low-ranking coal was found during exploration.

NC Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

No Data No data was recorded on the original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

NP Abbreviation for “not probed.” Geophysical logging never occurred at this location.

NSL Abbreviation for “no significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because the 

coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 feet thick) no coal data was recorded.

Partially Inferior Lignite Used to describe that a portion of the coal bed is of a low quality.
Georgia C3

Table C3. Georgia counties and the number of drill holes by 

county.

County Number of drill holes

Clay 195

Dooly 7

Houston 37

Macon 77

Marion 1

Peach 16

Quitman 133

Randolph 67

Schley 40

Stewart 43

Sumter 50

Taylor 1

Terrell 8

Webster 71

Total 746
C4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Ware

Burke

Clinch

Hall

Laurens

Early

Floyd

Lee

Worth

Bulloch

Coffee Wayne

Charlton

Tift

Long

Harris Screven

Liberty

Emanuel

Decatur

Troup

Carroll

Bryan

Irwin

Dodge

Grady

Telfair

Wilkes

Polk

Colquitt

Camden

Brooks

Dooly

Bartow

Tattnall

Appling

Sumter

Gilmer

Thomas

Mitchell

Walker

Jones

Talbot

Cobb

Elbert

Taylor

Glynn

Hart

Echols

Stewart

Macon

Coweta

Baker

Fannin Rabun

Washington

Wilcox

Union

Bibb

Jasper

Terrell

Henry

Brantley

Pierce

Crisp

Miller

Upson

Pike

Heard

Gordon

Walton

Clay Bacon

Turner

Cook

Butts

Dougherty

Fulton

Berrien

Jefferson

Lowndes

Hancock

Greene

Marion

Monroe

Twiggs

Murray

Gwinnett

Effingham

Chatham

Wilkinson

Morgan

Putnam

Toombs

Jenkins

Meriwether

Cherokee

Houston

Randolph

McIntosh

White

Jackson

Oglethorpe

Warren

Atkinson

Banks

DeKalb

Newton

Lincoln

Paulding

Crawford Johnson

Wheeler

Whitfield

Pulaski

Lumpkin

Madison

Baldwin

Franklin

Jeff Davis

Forsyth

Calhoun

Dade

Columbia

Richmond

Ben Hill

Haralson

Candler

Lanier

Chattooga

McDuffie

Pickens

Evans

Lamar

Towns

Dawson

Seminole

Fayette

Bleckley

Webster

Schley

Treutlen

Habersham

Douglas

Oconee

Peach

Barrow

Spalding

Taliaferro

Muscogee

Catoosa

Stephens

Montgomery

Clayton

Clarke

Quitman

Glascock

Rockdale

85°0'0"W 83°0'0"W 81°0'0"W

35°0'0"N

33°0'0"N

31°0'0"N

EXPLANATION

Area with drill holes

State boundary

County boundary

0 40 80 KILOMETERS

0 40 80 MILES

Figure C1. Map of Georgia showing locations of areas with drill holes.
Georgia C5

arwick and Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain (modified from W Figure C2.

others, 1997; Ogg and others, 2008).

Wilcox

Midway

Jackson

Chronostratigraphic 

Units

Priabonian

Ypresian

Thanetian

Danian

Maastrichtian

International

Stage

Bartonian

Lutetian

Mississippi Louisiana Northeastern

Texas

East-Central

Texas

Rio Grande

Embayment

(Southern Texas)

Group or Formation by Geographic Area

Jackson Jackson Jackson Jackson Yazoo Moodys Branch

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Kosciusko

Zilpha 

Tallahatta

Meridan Sand

Winona

Hatchetigbee

Bashi

Nanafalia

Tuscahoma

Clayton

Porters Creek

Naheola

Porters Creek

Kincaid / Clayton

Wills Point

Kincaid Kincaid

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

SpartaSand Cane River

Carrizo Sand

Sabinetown

Calvert Bluff

Simsboro

Hooper

Yegua

Cook Mtn / Stone City

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Wilcox

Yegua

Cook Mtn 

SpartaSand

Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Laredo

El PicoClay

Bigford

Upper 

Lower

Whitset

Manning

WelbornCaddell

Whitsett

Manning

Wellborn

Caddell Moodys Branch

Mosley Hill Danville Landing

Yazoo

Pendleton

MarthavilleHall Summit

Lime Hill

Converse

Cow Bayou

Dolet Hills

Naborton

Yegua

Cook Mtn

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Escondido

Olmos Navarro Navarro Navarro Kemp Clay Corsicana Marl Nacatoch Navarro Arkadelphia Nacatoch Sand Saratoga Chalk Owl Creek Ripley

Alabama

and

Georgia

Moodys Branch

Yazoo

Jackson

Lisbon

Lisbon

Tallahatta

Gosport

Hatchetigbee

Tuscahoma

NanafaliaNaheola

Porters Creek

Clayton

Ripley

Missouri

and 

Tennessee

Kentucky 

Jackson Jackson

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Memphis Sand

Wilcox

Porters Creek

Clayton

Claiborne

Porters Creek

Clayton

Owl Creek McNairy

McNairy

Flour Island

Ft. Pillow Sand

Old Breastworks

Prairie Bluff Chalk/

Providence Sand

North American

Provincial 

Stage

Jacksonian

Claibornian

Sabinian

Midwayan

Navarroan

Selandian

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway Midway

Tertiary

Series Eocene Paleocene

System Cretaceous

Wilcox Midway

Midway

Indio

Upper (part)

Explanation

disconformityuncertaininterfingeringtransitional

Group NameFormation NameMajor coal-bearing formationMinor coal-bearing formation
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, 

Western Kentucky

By Christina A. DeVera, Krystina R. Scott-Sanchez, and Peter D. Warwick

Chapter D of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–D

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

DeVera, C.A., Scott-Sanchez, K.R., and Warwick, P.D., 2012, Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data, western 

Kentucky, in Valentine, B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. Geological 

Survey Open-File Report 2011–1261, ch. D, 5 p. plus appendix. (Available online.)
iii

Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................................................D1

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................1

Generalized Coal Geology of Western Kentucky ......................................................................................1

Data..................................................................................................................................................................2

References Cited............................................................................................................................................2

Appendix D1. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for Western Kentucky ................................2

Figures

 D1. Regional map of western Kentucky with generalized geology overlaid with 

drill-hole locations .....................................................................................................................D4

 D2. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing 

formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain .......................................5

Tables

 D1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the western Kentucky 

drill-hole dataset. .......................................................................................................................D3

 D2. Explanation of comments used to describe the western Kentucky drill-hole 

dataset............................................................................................................................................3

 D3. Western Kentucky counties and the number of drill holes by county. ................................4
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Western 

Kentucky

By Christina A. DeVera, Krystina R. Scott-Sanchez, and Peter D. Warwick

Introduction

Coal exploration drill-hole data from 657 wells in 

western Kentucky drilled between 1962 and 1981 by Phillips 

Coal Company, a division of Phillips Petroleum Company 

(Phillips), are discussed in this chapter, and the data are 

provided in an accompanying spreadsheet. The data are part 

of a larger dataset donated to the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) by the North American Coal Corporation, which 

purchased Phillips assets in 2001 (see chapter A, this volume). 

The data in 10 State reports have been digitized from field 

maps to create unified and spatially consistent coal exploration drill-hole datasets for each of the States (chapters B–K, 

this volume). Data for western Kentucky include a geologic 

map of the State with drill-hole coverage (fig. D1), a list of 

data attributes and explanations of the data format (table D1), 

a list of comments found in the data and their explanations 

(table D2), a list of counties and the number of drill holes 

for each county (table D3), and tabulated data in spreadsheet 

format (see appendix D1).

Methods

Hardcopy Phillips exploration maps, in Kentucky South 

1927 State coordinate plane projection, were digitized into 

a geographic information system using ArcMapTM software 

from the Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc. 

(ESRI). Roads and county boundaries served as reference 

points to georeference scanned maps. Shapefile attribute 

values were populated with data from drill-hole locations in 

eight counties in western Kentucky. Comments were added 

to the attribute table (table D1) to indicate notations made by 

the coal company as well as general observations made when 

digitizing the drill-hole points (table D2). The dataset was projected into a North American Datum of 1983 geographic coordinate system to facilitate combining this dataset with similar 

Phillips datasets published by the USGS for other States. The 

shapefile was exported to a spreadsheet (see appendix D1).

Generalized Coal Geology of Western 

Kentucky

Western Kentucky is a part of the Jackson Purchase area, 

which is comprised of the northernmost part of the Mississippi 

Embayment region of the Gulf Coastal Plain and contains sediments of Cretaceous through Quaternary ages (figs. D1, D2) 

(Cushing and others, 1964; Hackley and others, 2006). Lignite 

deposits are found in the Gulf Coastal Plain Coal Province that 

extends into western Kentucky (Cushing and others, 1964; 

Hackley and others, 2006). The lignite-bearing counties within 

the Jackson Purchase area of western Kentucky are Ballard, Carlisle, Calloway, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Marshall 

and McCracken Counties (table D3) (Hackley and others, 

2006). The Upper Cretaceous and Lower Tertiary strata of the 

Jackson Purchase area contain thin, discontinuous lignite beds 

(Olive and McDowell, 1986; Hackley and others, 2006). The 

majority of the lignite lenses in western Kentucky are found 

in the Wilcox, Claiborne, and Jackson Formations and, to a 

lesser extent, in the McNairy Formation (fig. D2) (Hackley 

and others, 2006).

The McNairy Formation is Upper Cretaceous in age containing marine and freshwater deltaic deposition that produced 

the lignite beds in this formation (Stephenson, 1914; Hackley 

and others, 2006). Sediments in the McNairy Formation were 

deposited in an environment with a subtropical climate, shown 

through pollen studies (Tschurdy, 1970; Hackley and others, 

2006). The lignite in the McNairy Formation is found in northeastern Calloway County in a bed that is one and one-half feet 

thick (Olive, 1980; Hackley and others, 2006). Lignite from 

the McNairy Formation can also be found in the subsurface 

in McCracken County (Hower and others, 1990; Hackley and 

others, 2006). McNairy Formation lignite originated from 

allochthonous organic material (Hower and others, 1990; 

Hackley and others, 2006).

The Tertiary Age formations in the Jackson Purchase area 

are the Wilcox, Claiborne, and Jackson Groups. The Wilcox 

Group sediments are from the Paleocene/Eocene and were 

deposited in a freshwater environment (Olive, 1980; Hackley 

and others, 2006). Lignite lenses as thick as 3 feet can be 

found in northeastern Calloway County (Olive, 1980; Hackley 

and others, 2006), although they are relatively rare (Hower 
D2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

and others, 1990). The Wilcox Group also contains sands and 

clays that include lignitized plant material and leaf imprints 

(Olive, 1980; Hackley and others, 2006). In the Claiborne 

Group overlying the Wilcox Group, lignite can be found in 

beds generally less than 5 feet thick (Olive, 1980; Hackley 

and others, 2006). This lignite is locally composed of woody 

fragments of tree trunks and stumps (Olive, 1980; Hackley 

and others, 2006). Lignite of the Claiborne Group most likely 

formed from sediment that was deposited in an oxbow lake 

environment (Potter and Dilcher, 1980; Hower and others, 

1990). The Jackson Formation overlies the Claiborne Group 

and is comprised of similar lithologies (Hackley and others, 

2006). Underlying modern stream floodplains are Pliocene, 

Pleistocene, and Holocene aged sediments that include loess 

and alluvium. (Olive and Finch, 1969; Olive and McDowell, 

1986; Hackley and others, 2006). 

Data

The drill-hole dataset from western Kentucky is part 

of the data for lignite deposits in the Gulf Coast region (see 

fig. A1 in chapter A, this volume). A total of 657 drill-hole 

locations were in western Kentucky, with 31 drill holes that 

had recorded probe depths. Out of the 657 drill holes, 196 

contained coal with an average thickness of 3.72 feet for the 

coal bed and partings. The minimum depth at which coal 

was found was 28 feet and the maximum coal depth was 292 

feet. The majority of the drill holes with coal were found in 

Fulton County (244 drill holes containing coal) and to a lesser 

extent in Hickman County (146 drill holes containing coal) 

(table D3). There is a ±0.25 mile error in location due to the 

generalized nature of the drill-hole locations on the original 

highway maps and georeferencing those maps to a new base 

layer.

References Cited

Cushing, E.M., Boswell, E.H., and Hosman, R.L., 1964, 

General geology of the Mississippi Embayment: 

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 448–B, 28 p.

Hackley, P.C., Warwick, P.D., Thomas, R.E., and Nichols, D.J., 2006, Review of lignite resources of Western 

Tennessee and the Jackson Purchase area, western Kentucky: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2006–

1078, 34 p., pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1078.

Hower, J.C., Rich, F.J., Williams, D.A., Bland, A.E., and 

Fiene, F.L., 1990, Cretaceous and Eocene lignite deposits, 

Jackson Purchase, Kentucky: International Journal of Coal 

Geology, v. 16, p. 239–254.

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, Gabi, and Gradstein, F.M., 2008, The 

concise geologic time scale: Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge 

University Press, 184 p.

Olive, W.W., 1980, Geologic maps of the Jackson Purchase 

region, Kentucky: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous 

Investigations Series Map I–1217, scale 1:250,000.

Olive, W.W., and Finch, W.I., 1969, Stratigraphic and 

mineralogic relations and ceramic properties of clay 

deposits of Eocene Age in the Jackson Purchase 

Region, Kentucky, and in adjacent parts of Tennessee: 

U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1282, 35 p.

Olive, W.W., and McDowell, R.C., 1986, Cretaceous and 

Tertiary systems: U.S. Geological Survey Professional 

Paper 1151–H, p. H46–H49.

Nicholson, S.W., Dicken, C.L., Horton, J.D., Labay, K.A., 

Foose, M.P., Mueller, J.A.L., 2005, Preliminary integrated 

geologic map databases for the United States: Kentucky, 

Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia: U.S. Geological 

Survey Open-file Report 2005–1324, Version 1.1 (updated 

December 2007), pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1324.

Potter, F.W., Jr., and Dilcher, D.L., 1980, Biostratigraphic 

analysis of Eocene clay deposits in Henry County, 

Tennessee, in Dilcher, D.L., and Taylor, T.N., eds., 

Biostratigraphy of fossil plants: Stroudsburg, Pa., Dowden, 

Hutchinson, and Ross, p. 211–225.

Stephenson, L.S., 1914, The Cretaceous-Eocene contact in the 

Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 90–J, p. 155–182.

Tschurdy, T.H., 1970, Two new pollen genera (Late Cretaceous and Paleocene) with possible affinity to the 

Illiciaceae: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 

643–F, 13 p.

Warwick, P.D., SanFilipo, J.R., Crowley, S.S., Thomas, R.E., 

and Freid, J., comps., and Tully, J.K., digital comp., 1997, 

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land 

use in the Gulf Coast coal region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 97–172, 1 sheet, accessed April 20, 2011, 

at pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-172/.

Appendix D1

The western Kentucky coal exploration drill-hole 

dataset in spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/

of/2011/1261/Appendices/D1-KY.xls.
Western Kentucky D3

Table D1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the western Kentucky drill-hole dataset.

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL-HOLE NAME Two-letter county code followed by drill-hole number.

COUNTY The county where the drill hole was located.

ELEVATION Elevation above sea level in feet.

DEPTH_TOTAL Depth of drill hole in feet.

DEPTH_PROBED Depth of geophysical probe measurement in feet.

LATITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

LONGITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

COMMENT Additional information regarding the entire drill hole.

X_C Thickness of coal for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_CP Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_DEPTH Top depth of bed number X in feet.

X_BED A number or letter assigned to different coal beds of the same drill hole, which are not correlated 

throughout the dataset.

X_COMMENT Additional information regarding coal bed X.

Table D2. Explanation of comments used to describe the western Kentucky drill-hole dataset (modified from J.A. Luppens, 

U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2009).

SYMBOL/COMMENT DESCRIPTION

? Questionable data/information.

CORED Indicating that the drill hole was cored.

I Abbreviation for “inferior.” Subjective term used to describe poor coal quality.

LOCATION FROM LOG Locations were not digitized from coal exploration maps. The locations were acquired from sample 

description sheets completed by the geologist onsite. The coordinates originally were in a State plane 

coordinate system.

NC Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NO DATA No data were recorded on the original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

NP Abbreviation for “not probed.” Geophysical logging never occurred at this location.

NSL Abbreviation for “no significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because the 

coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 feet thick) no coal data was recorded.

PI Abbreviation for “partially inferior.” Used to describe that a portion of the coal bed is of a low quality.
D4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Table D3. Western Kentucky counties and the number of drill 

holes by county.

County Number of drill holes

Ballard 52

Carlisle 81

Calloway 36

Fulton 244

Graves 75

Hickman 146

Marshall 6

McCracken 17

Total 657

EXPLANATION

Drill-hole location

State lines

Eocene

Holocene

Pennsylvanian

Mississippian

Paleocene

Permian

Quaternary

Tertiary

Upper Cretaceous

Qh

Q

Te

Tp

Cp

P

Ku

T

Cm

Qh

Qh

Q

Te Tp

T

Ku

P Cp

Cm

KENTUCKY

ILLINOIS

MISSOURI

TENNESSEE

0 10 20 KILOMETERS 5

0 5 10 20 MILES

89°30' 89°00' 88°30' 88°00'

37°00'

36°30'

Geologic map from Nicholson and others, 2005.

Figure D1. Regional map of western Kentucky with generalized geology overlaid with drill-hole locations.
Western Kentucky D5

arwick and Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain (modified from W Figure D2.

others, 1997; Ogg and others, 2008).

Wilcox

Midway

Jackson

Chronostratigraphic 

Units

Priabonian

Ypresian

Thanetian

Danian

Maastrichtian

International

Stage

Bartonian

Lutetian

Mississippi Louisiana Northeastern

Texas

East-Central

Texas

Rio Grande

Embayment

(Southern Texas)

Group or Formation by Geographic Area

Jackson Jackson Jackson Jackson Yazoo Moodys Branch

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Kosciusko

Zilpha 

Tallahatta

Meridan Sand

Winona

Hatchetigbee

Bashi

Nanafalia

Tuscahoma

Clayton

Porters Creek

Naheola

Porters Creek

Kincaid / Clayton

Wills Point

Kincaid Kincaid

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

SpartaSand Cane River

Carrizo Sand

Sabinetown

Calvert Bluff

Simsboro

Hooper

Yegua

Cook Mtn / Stone City

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Wilcox

Yegua

Cook Mtn 

SpartaSand

Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Laredo

El PicoClay

Bigford

Upper 

Lower

Whitset

Manning

WelbornCaddell

Whitsett

Manning

Wellborn

Caddell Moodys Branch

Mosley Hill Danville Landing

Yazoo

Pendleton

MarthavilleHall Summit

Lime Hill

Converse

Cow Bayou

Dolet Hills

Naborton

Yegua

Cook Mtn

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Escondido

Olmos Navarro Navarro Navarro Kemp Clay Corsicana Marl Nacatoch Navarro Arkadelphia Nacatoch Sand Saratoga Chalk Owl Creek Ripley

Alabama

and

Georgia

Moodys Branch

Yazoo

Jackson

Lisbon

Lisbon

Tallahatta

Gosport

Hatchetigbee

Tuscahoma

NanafaliaNaheola

Porters Creek

Clayton

Ripley

Missouri

and 

Tennessee

Kentucky 

Jackson Jackson

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Memphis Sand

Wilcox

Porters Creek

Clayton

Claiborne

Porters Creek

Clayton

Owl Creek McNairy

McNairy

Flour Island

Ft. Pillow Sand

Old Breastworks

Prairie Bluff Chalk/

Providence Sand

North American

Provincial 

Stage

Jacksonian

Claibornian

Sabinian

Midwayan

Navarroan

Selandian

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway Midway

Tertiary

Series Eocene Paleocene

System Cretaceous

Wilcox Midway

Midway

Indio

Upper (part)

Explanation

disconformityuncertaininterfingeringtransitional

Group NameFormation NameMajor coal-bearing formationMinor coal-bearing formation
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, 

Northern Louisiana

By Celeste D. Lohr, Krystina R. Scott-Sanchez, and Brett J. Valentine

Chapter E of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–E

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

Lohr, C.D., Scott-Sanchez, K.R., and Valentine, B.J., 2012, Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data, northern 

Louisiana, in Valentine, B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. Geological 

Survey Open-File Report 2011–1261, ch. E, 6 p. plus appendix. (Available online.)
iii

Contents

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. E1

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................1

Generalized Coal Geology of Northern Louisiana ....................................................................................1

Data..................................................................................................................................................................1

References Cited............................................................................................................................................2

Appendix E1. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for Northern Louisiana.............................2

Figures

E1. Map of northern Louisiana showing generalized geology overlaid with drill-hole 

locations...................................................................................................................................... E5

E2. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations 

in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain............................................................6

Tables

E1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the northern Louisiana 

drill-hole dataset........................................................................................................................ E2

E2. Explanation of comments used to describe the northern Louisiana drill-hole 

dataset............................................................................................................................................3

E3. Louisiana parishes and the number of drill holes by parish..................................................4
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Northern 

Louisiana

By Celeste D. Lohr, Krystina R. Scott-Sanchez, and Brett J. Valentine

Introduction

Coal exploration drill-hole data from 2,910 wells drilled 

in northern Louisiana between 1975 and 1984 by Phillips 

Coal Company, a division of Phillips Petroleum Company 

(Phillips), are discussed in this chapter, and the data are 

provided in an accompanying spreadsheet. The data are part 

of a larger dataset donated to the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) by the North American Coal Corporation, which 

purchased Phillips assets in 2001 (see chapter A, this volume). 

The data in 10 State reports have been digitized from field 

maps to create unified and spatially consistent coal exploration 

drill-hole datasets for each of the States (chapters B–K, this 

volume). Data for Louisiana include a geologic map of the 

State with drill-hole coverage (fig. E1), a stratigraphic column 

(fig. E2), a list of data attributes and explanations of the data 

format (table E1), a list of comments found in the data and 

descriptions of them (table E2), a list of parishes and the 

number of drill holes for each parish (table E3), and tabulated 

data in spreadsheet format (see appendix E1).

Methods

Hardcopy Phillips exploration maps, in Louisiana North 

1927 state coordinate plane projection, were digitized into a 

geographic information systems using ArcMapTM software 

from the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 

(ESRI). Roads and parish boundaries served as reference 

points to georeference scanned maps. Shapefile attribute 

values were populated with data from drill-hole locations in 

18 parishes in northern Louisiana (table E3). The attribute 

table for each point (table E1) contains basic identification 

and location references along with depth and thickness 

data for each coal bed. Changes to the original data did not 

occur during the digitizing process in order to maintain the 

integrity of the dataset. Comments were added to the attribute 

table to indicate any discrepencies or additional information 

(table E2). After the digitizing was completed, the dataset was 

projected into a North American Datum of 1983 geographic 

coordinate system to facilitate combining this dataset with 

similar Phillips datasets published by the USGS for other 

States. The shapefile data were exported to a spreadsheet (see 

appendix E1).

Generalized Coal Geology of Northern 

Louisiana

In northern Louisiana, major coal (lignite)-bearing 

intervals are in the Tertiary Wilcox Group consisting of 

interbedded sandstone, siltstone, claystone, coal, and 

limestone (Nilsson, 1984; Warwick and others, 2008, and 

fig. E2). During the early Cenozoic, peat mires associated 

with fluvial and deltaic deposits developed across the 

northern margin of the basin (McIntosh and others, 2010). 

These peat mires, which are now coal beds, were stacked on 

a progradational fluvial-deltaic plain and influenced by the 

positive structural elements of the uplifts in the northeast 

and the west (Hackley and others, 2007). Lignite coal in the 

Wilcox Group occurs at depths of 200 feet or less from the 

surface and, on average, contains 0.81 percent sulfur, 10.72 

percent ash, 27.08 percent volatile matter, and 27.09 percent 

fixed carbon (Louisiana Geological Survey, 2000).

Data

The northern Louisiana drill-hole dataset contains data on 

shallow lignite in the Gulf Coast region (fig. E1). Probed depth 

data for 2,014 drill holes (out of 2,910) had an average depth 

of 274 feet with a maximum depth of 325 feet. Red River 

Parish had the densest coverage with 616 drill holes. Bienville 

Parish also had dense coverage with 532 drill holes. Due to the 

generalized nature of the original highway maps that contained 

the drill-hole information and the process of georeferencing 

these maps to a new base layer, we expect the location error to 

be ±0.25 miles.
E2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data— AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

References Cited

Hackley, P.C., Warwick, P.D., and Breland Jr., F.C., 2007, 

Organic petrology and coalbed gas content, Wilcox Group 

(Paleocene—Eocene), northern Louisiana: International 

Journal of Coal Geology, v. 71, p. 54–71.

Louisiana Geological Survey, 2000, Lignite resources in 

Louisiana, Public Information Series No. 5.

McIntosh, J.C., Warwick, P.D., Martini, A.M., and Osborn, 

S.G., 2010, Coupled hydrology and biogeochemistry of 

Paleocene—Eocene coal beds, northern Gulf of Mexico: 

Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 122, no. 7/8, p. 

1248–1264.

Nilsson, H.D., 1984, Deep-basin lignite in northwest 

Louisiana: Transactions—Gulf Coast Association of 

Geological Societies, v. 34, p. 183–186.

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, Gabi, and Gradstein, F.M., 2008, The 

concise geologic time scale: Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge 

University Press, 184 p.

Stoeser, D.B., Green, G.N., Morath, L.C., Heran, W.D., 

Wilson, A.B., Moore, D.W., and Van Gosen, B.S., 2005, 

Preliminary integrated geologic map databases for the 

United States central States—Montana, Wyoming, 

Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, 

Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 2005–1351, version 1.0.

Warwick, P.D., Breland Jr., F.C., and Hackley, P.C., 2008, 

Biogenic origin of coalbed gas in the northern Gulf of 

Mexico Coastal Plain, U.S.A.: International Journal of Coal 

Geology, v. 76, p. 119–137.

Warwick, P.D., SanFilipo, J.R., Crowley, S.S., Thomas, R.E., 

and Freid, J., comps., and Tully, J.K., digital comp., 1997, 

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land 

use in the Gulf Coast coal region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 97–172, 1 sheet, accessed April 20, 2011, 

at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-172/. 

Appendix E1

The northern Louisiana coal exploration drill-hole 

dataset in spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/

of/2011/1261/Appendices/E1.xls.

Table E1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the northern Louisiana drill-hole dataset.

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL_HOLE NAME Two-letter parish code followed by drill-hole number.

PARISH Name of parish in which drill hole is located.

ELEVATION Elevation above sea level in feet.

DEPTH_TOT Total depth of drill hole in feet.

DEPTH_PROB Depth of geophysical probe measurement in feet.

LAT Latitudinal decimal degree location values given to 8 decimal places.

LONG Longitudinal decimal degree location values given to 8 decimal places.

COMMENT Additional information regarding the entire drill hole.

X_C Thickness of coal for bed number X in feet.

X_CP Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in feet.

X_DEPTH Top depth of bed number X in feet.

X_BED A number or letter assigned to different coal beds of the same drill hole, which are not correlated throughout the dataset.

X_COMMENT Additional information regarding coal bed X.
Northern Louisiana E3

Table E2. Explanation of comments used to describe the northern Louisiana drill-hole dataset (J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, 

written commun., 2009).

Symbol/Comment Description

? Questionable data/information.

+ More coal than the amount that was recorded could be expected.

CORED Indicating that the drill hole was cored.

Abbreviation for “drill hole.”

The drill-hole name was used for two different locations on the original coal exploration maps.

Abbreviation for inferior. Subjective term used to describe poor coal quality.

Original coal exploration maps could not be accurately georeferenced due to insufficient reference points. 

Drill-hole location accuracy may be greater than 0.25 miles.

DH

DUPLICATE DH NAME

I

INACCURATE LOCATION

NC Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NO DATA RECORDED No data was recorded on original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

NO DENSITY CURVE No geophysical denisty data was recorded during exploration.

NO ELEVATION RECORDED No ground elevation information was recorded on the original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

NO E-LOG No geophysical logging was completed for this drill hole.

NO LOG No geophysical logging was completed for this drill hole.

NO PROBE DEPTH RECORDEDNo probe depth information was recorded on original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

NP Abbreviation for “not probed.” Geophysical logging never occurred at this location.

Abbreviation for “no significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because the 

coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 feet thick) no coal data was recorded.

NSL

OTC Notation is on the original coal exploration maps and is listed either by itself under the drill-hole name 

and elevation or it is listed with a depth range (example: OTC (0-128’)). No information about the 

definition of this notation is listed on any of the Phillips coal exploration maps or drilling logs. The 

meaning of the notation is unknown. 

OX Abbreviation for “oxidized” or “oxidation.”

PI Abbreviation for “partially inferior.” Used to describe that a portion of the coal bed is of a low quality.

POOR A subjective term used to describe coal of poor quality. 

PUNKY LIGNITE Describing a poor quality lignite.

Comment was written next to coal beds that may contain a layer of high ash partings. SPLIT

VI Abbreviation for “very inferior.” Subjective term used to describe coal of a very low quality.

WEATHERED Used to describe coal that has been altered by chemical or physical means.

WO Abbreviation for “washout.” Occurs when a friable layer of material is eroded in the bore hole and the 

well diameter is enlarged. 
E4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data— AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Table E3. Louisiana parishes and the number of drill holes by 

parish.

Parish Number of drill holes

Bienville 532

Bossier 92

Caddo 143

Caldwell 31

Claiborne 177

De Soto 379

East Carroll 40

Franklin 75

Lincoln 100

Morehouse 56

Natchitoches 139

Ouachita 70

Red River 616

Richland 143

Sabine 41

Union 67

Webster 93

West Carroll 116

Total 2,910
Northern Louisiana E5

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94°0'0"W 93°0'0"W 92°0'0"W 91°0'0"W

33°0'0"N

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EXPLANATION

Louisiana drill holes

Eocene

Holocene

Miocene

Oligocene

Paleocene

Pleistocene

Qh

Qp

Tm

To

Te

Tp

W Water

Study Area

0 30 06 MILES

0 30 60 KILOMETERS

Geologic map by Stoeser and others (2005).

Figure E1. Map of northern Louisiana showing generalized geology overlaid with drill-hole locations.
E6 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data— AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TXarwick and Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain (modified from W Figure E2.

others, 1997; Ogg and others, 2008).

Wilcox

Midway

Jackson

Chronostratigraphic 

Units

Priabonian

Ypresian

Thanetian

Danian

Maastrichtian

International

Stage

Bartonian

Lutetian

Mississippi Louisiana Northeastern

Texas

East-Central

Texas

Rio Grande

Embayment

(Southern Texas)

Group or Formation by Geographic Area

Jackson Jackson

Jackson Jackson Yazoo Moodys Branch

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Kosciusko

Zilpha 

Tallahatta

Meridan Sand

Winona

Hatchetigbee

Bashi

Nanafalia

Tuscahoma

Clayton

Porters Creek

Naheola

Porters Creek

Kincaid / Clayton

Wills Point

Kincaid Kincaid

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

SpartaSand Cane River

Carrizo Sand

Sabinetown

Calvert Bluff

Simsboro

Hooper

Yegua

Cook Mtn / Stone City

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Wilcox

Yegua

Cook Mtn 

SpartaSand

Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Laredo

El PicoClay

Bigford

Upper 

Lower

Whitset

Manning

WelbornCaddell

Whitsett

Manning

Wellborn

Caddell Moodys Branch

Mosley Hill Danville Landing

Yazoo

Pendleton

MarthavilleHall Summit

Lime Hill

Converse

Cow Bayou

Dolet Hills

Naborton

Yegua

Cook Mtn

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Escondido

Olmos Navarro Navarro Navarro Kemp Clay Corsicana Marl Nacatoch

Navarro Arkadelphia Nacatoch Sand Saratoga Chalk Owl Creek Ripley

Alabama

and

Georgia

Moodys Branch

Yazoo

Jackson

Lisbon

Lisbon

Tallahatta

Gosport

Hatchetigbee

Tuscahoma

NanafaliaNaheola

Porters Creek

Clayton

Ripley

Missouri

and 

Tennessee

Kentucky 

Jackson Jackson

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Memphis Sand

Wilcox

Porters Creek

Clayton

Claiborne

Porters Creek

Clayton

Owl Creek McNairy

McNairy

Flour Island

Ft. Pillow Sand

Old Breastworks

Prairie Bluff Chalk/

Providence Sand

North American

Provincial 

Stage

Jacksonian

Claibornian

Sabinian

Midwayan

Navarroan

Selandian

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway

Tertiary

Series Eocene Paleocene

System Cretaceous

Wilcox Midway

Midway

Indio

Upper (part)

Explanation

disconformityuncertaininterfingeringtransitional

Group NameFormation NameMajor coal-bearing formationMinor coal-bearing formation
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, 

Mississippi

By Matthew D. Merrill, Peter D. Warwick, and Christopher R. Burr

Chapter F of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–F

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

Merrill, M.D., Warwick, P.D., and Burr, C.R., 2012, Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data, Mississippi, in Valentine, 

B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, 

Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 

2011–1261, ch. F, 5 p. plus appendix. (Available online.)
iii

Contents

Introduction...................................................................................................................................................F1

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................1

Generalized Coal Geology of Mississippi ..................................................................................................1

Data..................................................................................................................................................................1

References Cited............................................................................................................................................1

Appendix F1. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for Mississippi..............................................2

Figures

F1. Map of Mississippi showing locations of areas with drill holes.........................................F4

F2. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing 

formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain .......................................5

Tables

F1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the Mississippi coal 

exploration drill-hole dataset....................................................................................................F2

F2. Explanation of comments used to describe the Mississippi drill-hole dataset. ................2

F3. Mississippi counties and the number of drill holes by county..............................................3
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Mississippi

By Matthew D. Merrill, Peter D. Warwick, and Christopher R. Burr

Introduction

Coal exploration drill-hole data from 2,789 wells 

drilled in Mississippi between 1975 and 1976 by Phillips 

Coal Company, a division of Phillips Petroleum Company 

(Phillips), are discussed in this chapter, and the data are provided in an accompanying spreadsheet. The data are part of 

a larger dataset donated to the U.S. Geological Survey by the 

North American Coal Corporation, which purchased Phillips 

assets in 2001 (see chapter A, this volume). The data in 10 

State reports have been digitized from field maps to create unified and spatially consistent coal exploration drill-hole datasets 

for each of the States (chapters B–K, this volume). Data for 

Mississippi include a map of the State showing areas with 

drill-hole coverage (fig. F1), a list of data attributes and explanations of the data format (table F1), a list of comments found 

in the data and descriptions of them (table F2), a list of counties and the number of drill holes for each county (table F3), 

and tabulated data in spreadsheet format (see appendix F1).

Methods

Annotated field and county highway maps from Phillips, 

at scales from 1:62,500 to 1:100,000, were utilized to display 

the original data. Drill-hole locations in Mississippi 1927 State 

coordinate plane projection were digitized from hardcopy 

maps into a geographic information system using ArcMapTM 

software from the Environmental Systems Research Institute, 

Inc. (ESRI). Fiducial marks and county boundaries served as 

reference points. Maps were scanned and georeferenced; drillhole locations were digitized, and shapefile attribute values 

were populated with data from the maps. Once the digitizing 

of the maps was complete, the spatial data were then projected 

into a North American Datum of 1983 geographic coordinate 

system in order to standardize all of the Phillips datasets into 

a common projection. The shapefile data were exported to a 

spreadsheet (see appendix F1).

Generalized Coal Geology of 

Mississippi

This dataset explores resources in the Gulf Coast coal 

region of Mississippi (fig. F2). Coal-bearing strata in this 

region includes the Claiborne Group (Cockfield, Cook 

Mountain, Kosciusko, and Meridan Sand Formations), Wilcox 

Group (Hatchetigbee, Tuscahoma, and Nanafalia Formations), 

and the Midway Group (Naheola Formations) (Warwick and 

others, 1997). 

Data

The Mississippi data provide drill-hole coverage in 

eastern Mississippi (fig. F1). Location error, due to the 

reduced resolution and generalized nature of highway maps, 

is expected to be ±0.25 miles. Shapefile attributes include all 

original raw data from the Phillips coal drill-hole location 

maps (table F1). The shapefile was exported to a spreadsheet 

(see appendix F1).

References Cited

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, Gabi, and Gradstein, F.M., 2008, The 

concise geologic time scale: Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge 

University Press, 184 p. 

Warwick, P.D., SanFilipo, J.R., Crowley, S.S., Thomas, R.E., 

and Freid, J., comps., and Tully, J.K., digital comp., 1997, 

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land 

use in the Gulf Coast coal region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 97–172, 1 sheet, accessed April 20, 2011, 

at pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-172/. 
F2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Table F1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the Mississippi coal exploration drill-hole dataset.

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL-HOLE NAME A one- or two-letter county code followed by the drill-hole number.

COUNTY County where the drill hole is located.

ELEVATION Elevation above sea level in feet.

LATITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

LONGITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

X_C Thickness of coal for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_CP Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_DEPTH Top depth of bed number X in feet.

COMMENT Additional information regarding the drill hole.

Table F2. Explanation of comments used to describe the Mississippi drill-hole dataset (J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, written 

commun., 2009).

Symbol/Comment Description

Good Coal Comment was listed on the original coal exploration maps, but no coal data were recorded. The exact 

meaning is not clear, but the comment seems to indicate that coal was encountered during exploration 

and that it was of either a good quality or quantity.

NC Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NSL Abbreviation for “no significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because the 

coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 feet thick) no coal data were recorded.

NP Abbreviation for “not probed.” Geophysical logging never occurred at this location.

Appendix F1

The Mississippi coal exploration drill-hole dataset in 

spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1261/

Appendices/F1-MS.xls.
Mississippi F3

Table F3. Mississippi counties and the number of drill holes by 

county.

County Number of drill holes

Attala 79

Benton 94

Calhoun 259

Choctaw 282

Grenada 29

Holmes 241

Kemper 326

Lafayette 234

Lauderdale 192

Leake 46

Madison 54

Neshoba 173

Newton 12

Pontotoc 16

Tallahatchie 86

Webster 323

Winston 298

Yazoo 45

Total 2,789
F4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Tishomingo

Alcorn

Tippah

Prentiss

Itawamba

Lee

Union

Benton

Marshall

Pontotoc

Monroe Chickasaw

Lafayette

Calhoun

Clay

Oktibbeha Lowindes

Webster

Noxubee

Winston

Choctaw

Yalobusha

Grenada

Carroll

Attala

Montgomery

Kemper

Neshoba Leake

Scott Newton Lauderdale

Madison

Clarke Smith Jasper

Rankin

Simpson

Wayne Jones

Covington

Jefferson 

Davis

Lawrence

Perry Greene

Forrest

Lamar Marion

George

Jackson

Stone

Pearl

River

Hancock

Harrison

Walthall

Wilkinson Amite Pike

Lincoln Adams Franklin

Jefferson

Copiah

Claiborne

Warren

Hinds

Yazoo

Humphreys

Issaquena

Holmes

Sharkey

Washington

Sunflower Leflore

Bolivar Tallahatchie

Coahoma Quitman

Tunica

Panola

Tate

Desoto

92°0'0"W 90°0'0"W 88°0'0"W

35°0'0"N

33°0'0"N

31°0'0"N

EXPLANATION

Areas with drill holes

State boundary

County boundary 0 20 40 80 MILES

0 40 80 20 KILOMETERS

Figure F1. Map of Mississippi showing locations of areas with drill holes.
Mississippi F5

arwick and Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain (modified from W Figure F2.

others, 1997; Ogg and others, 2008).

Wilcox

Midway

Jackson

Chronostratigraphic 

Units

Priabonian

Ypresian

Thanetian

Danian

Maastrichtian

International

Stage

Bartonian

Lutetian

Mississippi Louisiana Northeastern

Texas

East-Central

Texas

Rio Grande

Embayment

(Southern Texas)

Group or Formation by Geographic Area

Jackson Jackson Jackson Jackson Yazoo Moodys Branch

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Kosciusko

Zilpha 

Tallahatta

Meridan Sand

Winona

Hatchetigbee

Bashi

Nanafalia

Tuscahoma

Clayton

Porters Creek

Naheola

Porters Creek

Kincaid / Clayton

Wills Point

Kincaid Kincaid

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

SpartaSand Cane River

Carrizo Sand

Sabinetown

Calvert Bluff

Simsboro

Hooper

Yegua

Cook Mtn / Stone City

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Wilcox

Yegua

Cook Mtn 

SpartaSand

Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Laredo

El PicoClay

Bigford

Upper 

Lower

Whitset

Manning

WelbornCaddell

Whitsett

Manning

Wellborn

Caddell Moodys Branch

Mosley Hill Danville Landing

Yazoo

Pendleton

MarthavilleHall Summit

Lime Hill

Converse

Cow Bayou

Dolet Hills

Naborton

Yegua

Cook Mtn

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Escondido

Olmos Navarro Navarro Navarro Kemp Clay Corsicana Marl Nacatoch Navarro Arkadelphia Nacatoch Sand Saratoga Chalk Owl Creek Ripley

Alabama

and

Georgia

Moodys Branch

Yazoo

Jackson

Lisbon

Lisbon

Tallahatta

Gosport

Hatchetigbee

Tuscahoma

NanafaliaNaheola

Porters Creek

Clayton

Ripley

Missouri

and 

Tennessee

Kentucky 

Jackson Jackson

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Memphis Sand

Wilcox

Porters Creek

Clayton

Claiborne

Porters Creek

Clayton

Owl Creek McNairy

McNairy

Flour Island

Ft. Pillow Sand

Old Breastworks

Prairie Bluff Chalk/

Providence Sand

North American

Provincial 

Stage

Jacksonian

Claibornian

Sabinian

Midwayan

Navarroan

Selandian

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway Midway

Tertiary

Series Eocene Paleocene

System Cretaceous

Wilcox Midway

Midway

Indio

Upper (part)

Explanation

disconformityuncertaininterfingeringtransitional

Group NameFormation NameMajor coal-bearing formationMinor coal-bearing formation
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, 

Southeastern Missouri

By Brett J. Valentine, Krystina R. Scott-Sanchez, Christina A. DeVera, and 

Peter D. Warwick

Chapter G of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–G

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

Valentine, B.J., Scott-Sanchez, K.R., DeVera, C.A., and Warwick, P.D., 2012, Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data, 

southeastern Missouri, in Valentine, B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, 

Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. 

Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1261, ch. G, 5 p. plus appendix. (Available online.)
iii

Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................................................G1

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................1

Generalized Coal Geology of Southeastern Missouri..............................................................................1

Data..................................................................................................................................................................1

References Cited............................................................................................................................................2

Appendix G1. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for Southeastern Missouri ........................2

Figures

G1. Regional Missouri map with generalized geology overlaid with drill-hole 

locations......................................................................................................................................G4

G2. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing 

formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain .......................................5

Tables

G1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the southeastern 

Missouri drill-hole dataset. ......................................................................................................G2

G2. Explanation of comments used to describe the southeastern Missouri 

drill-hole dataset...........................................................................................................................3

G3. Southeastern Missouri counties and the number of drill holes by county. ........................3
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Southeastern 

Missouri

By Brett J. Valentine, Krystina R. Scott-Sanchez, Christina A. DeVera, and Peter D. Warwick

Introduction

Coal exploration drill-hole data from 1,049 wells in 

southeastern Missouri drilled between 1976 and 1978 by 

Phillips Coal Company, a division of Phillips Petroleum 

Company (Phillips), are discussed in this chapter, and the data 

are provided in an accompanying spreadsheet. The data are 

part of a larger dataset donated to the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) by the North American Coal Corporation, which 

purchased Phillips assets in 2001 (see chapter A, this volume). 

The data in these reports have been digitized from field maps 

to create unified and spatially consistent coal exploration 

drill-hole datasets for each of the States (chapters B–K, this 

volume). Data for southeastern Missouri include a geologic 

map of the State with drill-hole coverage (fig. G1), a list of 

data attributes and explanations of the data format (table G1), 

a list of comments found in the data and descriptions of them 

(table G2), a list of counties and the number of drill holes 

for each county (table G3), and tabulated data in spreadsheet 

format (see appendix G1).

Methods

Hardcopy Phillips exploration maps, in Missouri East 

1927 State coordinate plane projection, were scanned and 

georeferenced into a geographic information system (GIS) 

using ArcMapTM software from the Environmental Systems 

Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI). Drill-hole locations were then 

digitized into the GIS, and all coal data were recorded into 

an attribute table for each drill-hole point. Each data point is 

uniquely labeled with a two-letter county code followed by 

a numeral. The attribute table for each point contains basic 

site information and location references along with information on the coal beds found during exploration (table G1). For 

example, drill-hole locations where coal was found will have 

beds numbered sequentially (that is, 1,2,3...15), followed by 

thickness of the coal bed (1_C), thickness of coal and partings (1_CP), depth to the top of the bed (1_DEPTH), a bed 

regional name (1_BED), and any comments about quality or 

other information in regard to the coal bed (1_COMMENTS) 

(table G2). All of the depth and thickness measurements are 

measured in decimal feet. Comments have been added by 

USGS staff if there were problems or uncertainties during 

compiling or if any additional information on the maps needed 

to be described. Once the digitizing of the maps was complete, 

the spatial data were then projected into a North American 

Datum of 1983 geographic coordinate system in order to standardize all the Phillips datasets into a common projection. The 

shapefile data were exported to a spreadsheet (see appendix 

G1).

Generalized Coal Geology of 

Southeastern Missouri

The surface geology of southeastern Missouri is dominated by Quaternary aged alluvial sediments, with Tertiary and 

Upper Cretaceous outcrops that extend to the northeast out of 

Arkansas with Ordovician bedrock bounding the Gulf Coast 

sediments to the northwest (fig. G1). The major coal-bearing 

formations of this region are of Tertiary Age and are separated 

into the Wilcox, Claiborne, and Jackson Groups that formed in 

a cyclic nearshore deltaic environment (fig. G2). Most of the 

coal beds form lenses that have limited areal extent, making it 

difficult to correlate beds across the region (Oman, 1986).

Data

The southeastern Missouri coal exploration drill-hole 

dataset contains information on coals in seven counties within 

the Gulf Coast (fig. G1, table G3). Of the 1,049 drill holes, 

593 drill holes are noted as no coal found during exploration, 

161 drill holes are listed as “no significant lignite” (NSL), 

and the remaining 278 drill-hole locations record coal-bed 

penetrations. Exploration depth ranged from a minimum of 42 

feet to a maximum exploration depth of 297 feet. Due to the 

generalized nature of the original highway maps that contained 

the drill-hole information and the process of georeferencing 

these maps to a new base layer, location error is expected to be 

±0.25 miles.
G2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

References Cited

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, Gabi, and Gradstein, F.M., 2008, The concise geologic time scale: Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge 

University Press, 184 p.

Oman, J.K., 1986, Stratigraphic framework and correlation 

of the Tertiary lignite-bearing formations from southeast 

Missouri to the Fort Pillow test well of west Tennessee: 

U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1644, 7 p.

Stoeser, D.B., Green, G.N., Morath, L.C., Heran, W.D., 

Wilson, A.B., Moore, D.W., and Van Gosen, B.S., 2005, 

Preliminary integrated geologic map databases for the 

United States central States—Montana, Wyoming, 

Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, 

Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 2005–1351, version 1.0.

Warwick, P.D., SanFilipo, J.R., Crowley, S.S., Thomas, R.E., 

and Freid, J., comps., and Tully, J.K., digital comp., 1997, 

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land 

use in the Gulf Coast coal region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 97–172, 1 sheet, accessed April 20, 2011 

at pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-172/. 

Appendix G1

The Southeastern Missouri coal exploration drill-hole 

dataset in spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/

of/2011/1261/Appendices/G1-MO.xls.

Table G1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the southeastern Missouri drill-hole dataset. 

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL_HOLE NAME Two-letter county code followed by drill-hole number.

COUNTY County where the drill hole is located.

ELEVATION Elevation above sea level in feet.

DEPTH_TOTAL Depth of drill hole in feet.

DEPTH_PROBED Depth of geophysical probe measurement in feet.

LATITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

LONGITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

COMMENT Additional information regarding the entire drill hole.

X_C Thickness of coal for bed number X in feet.

X_CP Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in feet.

X_DEPTH Top depth of bed number X in feet.

X_BED Regional name for coal bed X. 

X_COMMENT Additional information regarding coal bed X.
Southeastern Missouri G3

Table G2. Explanation of comments used to describe the southeastern Missouri drill-hole dataset (modified from J.A. Luppens, 

U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2009).

Comment Description

? Questionable data/information.

CORED Indicating that the drill hole was cored.

DH Abbreviation for “drill hole.”

I Abbreviation for inferior. Subjective term used to describe poor coal quality.

NC Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NP Abbreviation for “not probed.” Geophysical logging never occurred at this location.

NSL Abbreviation for “no significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because the 

coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 feet thick) no coal data were recorded.

ODD DH SYMBOL Location symbol on the original coal exploration maps was square. The meaning of the square symbol is 

unknown. The majority of drill-hole locations on the Phillips coal exploration maps were marked with 

a circle; or if the drill hole was cored, a triangle was used. 

PI Abbreviation for “partially inferior.” Used to describe that a portion of the coal bed is of a low quality.

Table G3. Southeastern Missouri counties and the number of 

drill holes by county.

County Number of drill holes

Butler 43

Dunklin 198

Mississippi 214

New Madrid 171

Pemiscot 196

Scott 68

Stoddard 159

Total 1,049
G4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX Map area !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !(!(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !(!(!( !( !( !( !(!(!(!(!( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !(!(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !(!(!( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!(!( !(!( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !(!(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !(!(!(!(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !(!( !(!( !(!(!(!( !( !( !(!( !(!( !(!( !(!(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!(!(!( !(!( !(!( !( !( !(!(!( !(!( !( !(!( !( !(!( !( !( !( !(!( !(!( !(!( !(!( !(!( !( !(!(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !(!( !(!(!( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !(!( !(!( !(!( !(!( !( !( !( !( !(!( !(!( !( !( !(!(!( !(!(!( !(!( !(!(!( !(!( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !(!( !( !(!(!( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !(!( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !(!( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !(!(!(!( !( !(!(!( !( !(!( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !(!( !(!( !(!( !( !(!(!( !( !( !( !(!(!(!( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !(!(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!(!(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !(!( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( !( 89°00' 89°30' 90°00' 90°30' 37°00' 36°30' 36°00'

0 10 20 MILES

0 10 20 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

!

Quaternary

Tertiary

CretaceousDevonianSilurianOrdovicianCambrianPrecambrianDrill-hole location

Geologic map by Stoeser, D.B. and others (2005).

MISSOURI

ILLINOIS

KENTUCKY

TENNESSEE

ARKANSAS

Figure G1. Regional Missouri map with generalized geology overlaid with drill-hole locations (Stoeser and others, 2005).
Southeastern Missouri G5

arwick and Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain (modified from W Figure G2.

others, 1997; Ogg and others, 2008). 

Wilcox

Midway

Jackson

Chronostratigraphic 

Units

Priabonian

Ypresian

Thanetian

Danian

Maastrichtian

International

Stage

Bartonian

Lutetian

Mississippi Louisiana Northeastern

Texas

East-Central

Texas

Rio Grande

Embayment

(Southern Texas)

Group or Formation by Geographic Area

Jackson Jackson

Jackson Jackson Yazoo Moodys Branch

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Kosciusko

Zilpha 

Tallahatta

Meridan Sand

Winona

Hatchetigbee

Bashi

Nanafalia

Tuscahoma

Clayton

Porters Creek

Naheola

Porters Creek

Kincaid / Clayton

Wills Point

Kincaid Kincaid

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

SpartaSand Cane River

Carrizo Sand

Sabinetown

Calvert Bluff

Simsboro

Hooper

Yegua

Cook Mtn / Stone City

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Wilcox

Yegua

Cook Mtn 

SpartaSand

Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Laredo

El PicoClay

Bigford

Upper 

Lower

Whitset

Manning

WelbornCaddell

Whitsett

Manning

Wellborn

Caddell Moodys Branch

Mosley Hill Danville Landing

Yazoo

Pendleton

MarthavilleHall Summit

Lime Hill

Converse

Cow Bayou

Dolet Hills

Naborton

Yegua

Cook Mtn

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Escondido

Olmos Navarro Navarro Navarro Kemp Clay Corsicana Marl Nacatoch

Navarro Arkadelphia Nacatoch Sand Saratoga Chalk Owl Creek Ripley

Alabama

and

Georgia

Moodys Branch

Yazoo

Jackson

Lisbon

Lisbon

Tallahatta

Gosport

Hatchetigbee

Tuscahoma

NanafaliaNaheola

Porters Creek

Clayton

Ripley

Missouri

and 

Tennessee

Kentucky 

Jackson Jackson

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Memphis Sand

Wilcox

Porters Creek

Clayton

Claiborne

Porters Creek

Clayton

Owl Creek McNairy

McNairy

Flour Island

Ft. Pillow Sand

Old Breastworks

Prairie Bluff Chalk/

Providence Sand

North American

Provincial 

Stage

Jacksonian

Claibornian

Sabinian

Midwayan

Navarroan

Selandian

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway

Tertiary

Series Eocene Paleocene

System Cretaceous

Wilcox Midway

Midway

Indio

Upper (part)

Explanation

disconformityuncertaininterfingeringtransitional

Group NameFormation NameMajor coal-bearing formationMinor coal-bearing formation
Shallow Coal and Kaolinite Exploration 

Drill-Hole Data, North Carolina and South 

Carolina

By Matthew D. Merrill and Peter D. Warwick

Chapter H of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–H

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

Merrill, M.D., and Warwick, P.D., 2012, Shallow coal and Kaolinite exploration drill-hole data, North Carolina and 

South Carolina, in Valentine, B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, 

Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. 

Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1261, ch. H, 7 p. plus appendix. (Available online.)
iii

Contents

Introduction..................................................................................................................................................H1

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................1

Generalized Coal and Kaolinite Geology of North Carolina and South Carolina.................................1

Data..................................................................................................................................................................1

References Cited............................................................................................................................................2

Appendix H1. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for North Carolina .......................................2

Appendix H2. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for South Carolina.......................................2

Figures

H1. North Carolina regional map with county lines showing the North Carolina coal 

exploration drill-hole locations................................................................................................H5

H2. South Carolina regional map with county lines showing the South Carolina coal 

exploration drill-hole locations...................................................................................................6

H3. Generalized stratigraphic chart of North Carolina and South Carolina upper 

Cretaceous through Pleistocene formations in the upper Coastal Plain............................7

Tables

H1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the North Carolina coal 

and kaolinite exploration drill-hole dataset...........................................................................H2

H2. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the South Carolina coal 

and kaolinite exploration drill-hole dataset..............................................................................3

H3. Explanation of comments used to describe the North Carolina drill-hole dataset. ..........3

H4. Explanation of comments used to describe the South Carolina drill-hole dataset. ..........3

H5. North Carolina counties and the number of drill holes by county........................................4

H6. South Carolina counties and the number of drill holes by county........................................4
Shallow Coal and Kaolinite Exploration Drill-Hole Data, 

North Carolina and South Carolina

By Matthew D. Merrill and Peter D. Warwick

Introduction

Coal and kaolinite exploration drill-hole data from 

533 and 200 wells in North Carolina and South Carolina, 

respectively, drilled between November 1978 and June 1979 

by Phillips Coal Company, a division of Phillips Petroleum 

Company (Phillips), are discussed in this chapter, and the 

data are provided in accompanying spreadsheets. The data are 

part of a larger dataset donated to the U.S. Geological Survey 

by the North American Coal Corporation, which purchased 

Phillips assets in 2001 (see chapter A, this volume). The 

data in 10 State reports have been digitized from field maps 

to create unified and spatially consistent coal exploration 

drill-hole datasets for each of the States (chapters B–K, this 

volume). Data for North Carolina and South Carolina include 

maps of each State with drill-hole coverage (figs. H1 and H2), 

a list of data attributes and explanations of the data format 

(tables H1 and H2), a list of comments found in the data and 

definitions of them (tables H3 and H4), a list of counties and 

the number of drill holes for each county (tables H5 and H6), 

and tabulated data in spreadsheet format (see appendixes H1 

and H2).

Methods

Data from drill-hole tabulation sheets completed by 

Phillips were entered into spreadsheets. Annotated field and 

highway maps from Phillips, generally 1:62,500 to 1:100,000 

scale, were utilized to spot check the accuracy of the location 

information in the drill-hole tabulation sheets. Spot checks 

were made using the appropriate 1927 State coordinate plane 

projection source material digitized from hardcopy maps into 

a geographic information system (GIS) using ArcMapTM software from the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. 

(ESRI). Fiducial marks served as reference points. Drill-hole 

locations were digitized and compared to the locations of 

the points given in the tabulated data sheets. To facilitate 

combining this dataset with datasets for other States, the drillhole dataset has been reprojected into a North American Datum 

of 1983 geographic coordinate system. The shapefile data were 

exported to a spreadsheet (see appendixes H1 and H2). 

Generalized Coal and Kaolinite 

Geology of North Carolina and South 

Carolina

Upper Cretaceous units in North Carolina and South 

Carolina contain both lignite and kaolinite (fig. H3). In South 

Carolina, the Paleocene Sawdust Landing Formation of the 

Black Mingo Group contains lignite and kaolinite, and the 

Eocene Huber Formation and an unnamed Miocene unit 

contain kaolinite (Siesser and others, 1985; Krutak and Beron, 

1990; Nystrom and others, 1991; Sohl and Owens, 1991). 

Data

The North Carolina and South Carolina data provide drillhole coverage for the Atlantic Coastal Plain (figs. H1 and H2). 

Drill-hole depths range from 10 to 300 feet in North Carolina, 

with an average depth of 237 feet, and 50 to 310 feet in South 

Carolina, with an average depth of 240 feet. Exploration 

data for North Carolina recorded only 14 drill-hole locations 

(out of a total of 533 drill holes) with coal information and 

8 drill holes that were described as having the occurrence of 

kaolinite; exploration in South Carolina yielded only three 

locations with coal data (out of a total of 200 drill holes). 

Comparisons between digitized highway map points and their 

corresponding drill-hole tabulation sheet coordinates indicate 

that the drilling team accurately determined their locations 

from local topographic maps; therefore, there are no spatial 

errors associated with the creation of this dataset. Shapefile 

attributes include all original raw data with the exception of 

the land owner information (tables H1 and H2). The shapefile 

was exported to spreadsheets (see appendixes H1 and H2).
H2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

References Cited

Dicken, C.L., Nicholson, S.W., Horton, J.D., Foose, M.P., and 

Mueller, J.A.L., 2005, Preliminary integrated geologic map 

databases for the United States: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, 

Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005–1323, version 1.1.

Krutak, P.R., and Beron Jr., P., 1990, Heterostegina zone—

A shallow Anahuac (late Oligocene—early Miocene) oil 

frontier in southern Louisiana and Mississippi: Transactions—Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies, v. 

60, p. 397–409.

Nystrom Jr., P.G., Willoughby, R.H., Price, L.K., 1991, 

Cretaceous and Tertiary stratigraphy of the Upper Coastal 

Plain, South Carolina, in Horton, J.W., and Zullo, V.A., eds., 

The geology of the Carolinas: Carolina Geological Society 

Fiftieth Anniversary Volume, p. 221–240.

Self-Trail, J.M., Wrege, B.M., Prowell, D.C., Seefelt, E.L, and 

Weems, R.E., 2004, Preliminary physical stratigraphy and 

geophysical data of the USGS Elizabethtown core (BL-244/

BL-C-1-2003), Bladen County, North Carolina: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2004–1301, 26 p.

Siesser, W.G., Fitzgerald, B.G., Kronman, D.J., 1985, Correlation of Gulf Coast provincial Paleogene stages with 

European standard stages: Geological Society of America 

Bulletin, v. 96, p. 827–831.

Sohl, N.F., and Owens, J.P., 1991, Cretaceous stratigraphy of 

the Carolina Coastal Plain, in Horton, J.W., and Zullo, V.A., 

eds., The geology of the Carolinas: Carolina Geological 

Society Fiftieth Anniversary Volume, p. 191–220.

Appendix H1

The North Carolina coal exploration drill-hole dataset in 

spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1261/

Appendices/H1-NC.xls.

Appendix H2

The South Carolina coal exploration drill-hole dataset in 

spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1261/

Appendices/H2-SC.xls.

Table H1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the North Carolina coal and kaolinite exploration drill-hole dataset.

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL-HOLE NAME Two-letter county code followed by drill-hole number.

COUNTY County where the drill hole is located.

ELEVATION Elevation above sea level in feet.

DEPTH_TOTAL Depth of drill hole in feet.

DEPTH_PROBED Depth of geophysical probe measurement in feet.

LATITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

LONGITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

X_C Thickness of coal for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_CP Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_DEPTH Top depth of bed number X in feet.

K_THICKNESS Thickness of kaolinite for bed number X in decimal feet.

K_DEPTH Depth of kaolinite for bed number X in feet.

COMMENT Additional information regarding the drill hole.
North Carolina and South Carolina H3

Table H2. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the South Carolina coal and kaolinite exploration drill-hole dataset.

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL-HOLE NAME Two-letter count code followed by drill-hole number.

COUNTY County where the drill hole is located.

ELEVATION Elevation above sea level in feet.

DEPTH_TOTAL Depth of drill hole in feet.

DEPTH_PROBED Depth of geophysical probe measurement in feet.

LATITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

LONGITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

X_C Thickness of coal for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_CP Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_DEPTH Top depth of bed number X in feet.

COMMENT Additional information regarding the drill hole.

Table H3. Explanation of comments used to describe the North Carolina drill-hole dataset (modified from J.A. Luppens, 

U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2009).

Symbol/Comment Description

? Questionable data/information.

HUNG PROBE (150’) During exploration the geophysical logging instrument were stuck in the drill hole at 150 feet. Due to this 

issue no geophysical data were recovered for this drill hole. 

KAOLINITE CORED During exploration a kaolinte deposit was encountered and a core sample was taken. The depth of the 

core is listed in the comment section after the notation.

NC Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NK Abbreviation for “no kaolinite.” No kaolinite was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NO ELEVATION RECORDED No ground elevation information was recorded on the original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

NP Abbreviation for “not probed.” Geophysical logging never occurred at this location.

NSL Abbreviation for “no significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because the 

coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 feet thick) no coal data were recorded.

POOR A subjective term used to describe coal of poor quality. 

Table H4. Explanation of comments used to describe the South Carolina drill-hole dataset (modified from J.A. Luppens, 

U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2009).

Symbol/Comment Description

NC Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NSL Abbreviation for “no significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because the 

coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 feet thick) no coal data were recorded.

POOR A subjective term used to describe coal of poor quality.
H4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Table H5. North Carolina counties and the number of drill holes 

by county.

County Number of drill holes

Bladen 33

Cumberland 24

Greene 38

Harnett 4

Hoke 11

Johnston 23

Lenoir 24

Pitt 47

Robeson 69

Sampson 99

Wayne 161

Total 533

Table H6. South Carolina counties and the number of drill holes 

by county.

County Number of drill holes

Berkely 27

Clarendon 75

Darlington 15

Florence 8

Lee 9

Sumter 27

Williamsburg 39

Total 200
North Carolina and South Carolina H5

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Johnston

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Chatham

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Craven

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SOUTH CAROLINA

35°30'

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TR

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EXPLANATION

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0 20 40 KILOMETERS

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TR

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Quaternary

Tertiary

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Cambrian-Late Proterozoic

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! Drill-hole location

0 Geologic map modified from Dicken, C.L. and 

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ATLANTIC OCEAN

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SC

GA

TN NC

Map area

KY WV

Figure H1. North Carolina regional map with county lines showing the North Carolina coal exploration drill-hole locations (geologic 

map modified from Dicken, C.L. and others, 2005).
H6 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

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Lee

Sumter

Florence

Berkeley

Williamsburg

Kershaw

Clarendon

Orangeburg

Darlington

Marion

Richland

Georgetown

Dillon

Calhoun

Dorchester

Marlboro

Chesterfield

80°30' 80°00' 79°30'

34°00'

33°30'

Geologic map modified from 

Dicken, C.L. and others (2005).

EXPLANATION

Tp

K

Q

Cretaceous

Quaternary Pliocene

! Drill-hole location

Qp Pleistocene

Qh Holocene

Q

Q

Q

Q

Q

Q

Qh

Qh

T Tertiary

N Neogene

Te Eocene

Te

Te Te

Tp

Tp

Tp

Qp

Qp

Qp

N

N

T

K

K

Tp

0 10 20 KILOMETERS

0 10 20 MILES

SC

GA

NC

Map area

ATLANTIC 

OCEAN

Figure H2. South Carolina regional map with county lines showing the South Carolina coal exploration drill-hole locations (geologic 

map modified from Dicken, C.L. and others, 2005).
North Carolina and South Carolina H7

Figure H3. Generalized stratigraphic chart of North Carolina and South Carolina upper Cretaceous through Pleistocene formations in 

the upper Coastal Plain (Siesser and others, 1985; Krutak and Beron, 1990; Nystrom and others, 1991; Sohl and Owens, 1991; Self-Trail 

and others, 2004).

Lignite- and kaolinite-bearing formation

Kaolinite-bearing formation

Uncomformable

Transitional Unsure

System

Orangeburg Group

Black MingoGroup

Tertiary Cretaceous

Waccamaw Formation

North Carolina

Formations

South Carolina 

Formations Series Stage

Pleistocene

Pliocene Pinehurst Formation

Miocene

Oligocene

Belgrade Formation

unnamed upland unit

Eocene

Castle Hayne Formation

Barnwell Group

McBean Formation

Warley Hill Formation

Huber 

Formation

Congaree

 Formation

Sawdust Landing Formation

Lang Syne Formation

Beaufort Formation

Paleocene

Midwayan

Sabinian

Claibornian

Jacksonian

Vicksburgian

Upper

(in part)

Chicasawhayan

Campanian

Santonian

Peedee Formation

Donoho Creek Formation

Bladen Formation

Tar Heel Formation

Middendorf Formation

Quaternary

Maestrichtian

River Bend Formation

Anahuac

Cape Fear Formation
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, 

Western Tennessee

By Krystina R. Scott-Sanchez, Brett J. Valentine, and Peter D. Warwick

Chapter I of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–I

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

Scott-Sanchez, K.R., Valentine, B.J., and Warwick, P.D., 2012, Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data, western 

Tennessee, in Valentine, B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. Geological 

Survey Open-File Report 2011–1261, ch. I, 5 p. plus appendix. (Available online.)
iii

Contents

Introduction................................................................................................................................................... I1

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................1

Generalized Coal Geology of Western Tennessee...................................................................................1

Data..................................................................................................................................................................1

References Cited............................................................................................................................................2

Appendix I1. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for Western Tennessee ...............................2

Figures

I1. Regional geologic map of western Tennessee with county boundaries overlaid 

with drill-hole locations from the western Tennessee coal exploration drill-hole 

dataset.......................................................................................................................................... I4

I2. Cross section of the Mississippi Embayment ..........................................................................4

I3. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing 

formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain .......................................5

Tables

I1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the western Tennessee 

drill-hole dataset......................................................................................................................... I2

I2. Explanation of comments used to describe the western Tennessee drill-hole 

dataset............................................................................................................................................3

I3. Western Tennessee counties and the number of drill holes by county. .............................3
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Western 

Tennessee 

By Krystina R. Scott-Sanchez, Brett J. Valentine, and Peter D. Warwick

Introduction

Coal exploration drill-hole data from 2,390 wells 

covering 18 counties in western Tennessee drilled between 

1970 and 1977 by Phillips Coal Company, a division of 

Phillips Petroleum Company (Phillips), are discussed in this 

chapter, and the data are provided in an accompanying spreadsheet. The data are part of a nationwide dataset donated to the 

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) by the North American Coal 

Corporation in 2001 (see chapter A, this volume). The data 

were digitized from field maps to create unified and spatially 

consistent coal exploration drill-hole datasets for each of the 

States in the donation (chapters B–K, this volume). Data for 

western Tennessee include a geologic map of the State with 

drill-hole coverage (fig. I1), a list of data attributes and explanations of the data format (table I1), a list of comments found 

in the data and their explanations (table I2), a list of counties 

and the number of drill holes for each county (table I3), and 

tabulated data in spreadsheet format (see appendix I1).

Methods

Hardcopy Phillips exploration maps, in western 

Tennessee 1927 State coordinate plane projection, were 

scanned and digitized into a geographic information system 

(GIS) using ArcMapTM software from the Environmental 

Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI). Roads and county 

boundaries served as reference points to georeference the 

scanned exploration maps. Coal data attributes (table I1) were 

populated using the information contained on the exploration 

maps. Comments have been added by USGS staff if there were 

problems or uncertainties during compiling or if any additional 

information on the maps needed to be described (table I2). The 

dataset was projected into a North American Datum of 1983 

geographic coordinate system to facilitate combining the dataset with similar Phillips datasets published by the USGS for 

other States. The data attributes were exported from the GIS to 

a spreadsheet (see appendix I1). 

Generalized Coal Geology of Western 

Tennessee

Western Tennessee (fig. I1) is part of the Mississippi 

Embayment structure (fig. I2), which is a syncline filled 

with several thousands of feet of Upper Cretaceous to Upper 

Eocene marine and deltaic sediments locally overlain by 

Pliocene and Quaternary fluvial deposits of the Mississippi 

River (Cox and Van Arsdale, 2002). Lignite beds and lignitic 

clays occur as discontinuous lenses in sediments of the 

Paleogene Wilcox Group, Claiborne Group, Jackson Formation, and less frequently in the Upper Cretaceous McNairy 

Formation (fig. I3) (Hackley and others, 2006; Parks, 1981). 

These lignite deposits are part of the Gulf Coastal Plain Coal 

Province (Hackley and others, 2006).

Data

The western Tennessee drill-hole dataset contains coal 

exploration information for 2,390 drill-hole locations within 

18 counties in the Gulf Coast region. Geophysical instruments were used on a total of 419 drill holes with probe depths 

ranging from 63 to 300 feet, while the remaining 1,971 drill 

holes were assigned a probed depth value of 0 feet due to 

unrecorded probe depths on the original maps. The densest 

drill-hole coverage is found in the center of western Tennessee 

in Lauderdale, Dyer, Crockett, and Gibson Counties, which 

include 40 percent of the total data (table I3). Due to the generalized nature of the original highway maps that contained 

the drill-hole information and the process of georeferencing 

these maps to a new base layer, we expect the location error to 

be ±0.25 mile. 
I2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

References Cited

Cox, R.T., and Van Arsdale, R.B., 2002, The Mississippi 

Embayment, North America—A first order continental 

structure generated by the Cretaceous super plume mantle 

event: Journal of Geodynamics, v. 34, p. 163–176.

Hackley, P.C., Warwick, P.D., Thomas, R.E., and Nichols, D.J., 2006, Review of lignite resources of western 

Tennessee and the Jackson Purchase Area, western 

Kentucky: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 

2006–1078, 34 p., accessed August 2, 2011, at pubs.usgs.

gov/of/2006/1078/.

Nicholson, S.W., Dicken, C.L., Horton, J.D., Labay, K.A., 

Foose, M.P., and Mueller, J.A.L., 2005, Preliminary 

integrated geologic map databases for the United States—

Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005–1324, Version 1.1 

(updated December 2007), at pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1324.

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, Gabi, and Gradstein, F.M., 2008, The 

concise geologic time scale: Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge 

University Press, 184 p.

Parks, W.S., 1981, Appraisal of hydrologic information needed 

in anticipation of lignite mining in Lauderdale County, 

Tennessee: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources 

Investigations Report 80–54, 67 p. 

Warwick, P.D., SanFilipo, J.R., Crowley, S.S., Thomas, R.E., 

and Freid, J., comps., and Tully, J.K., digital comp., 1997, 

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land 

use in the Gulf Coast coal region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 97–172, 1 sheet, accessed April 20, 2011, 

at pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-172/.

Appendix I1

The western Tennessee coal exploration drill-hole 

dataset in spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/

of/2011/1261/Appendices/I1-TN.xls.

Table I1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the western Tennessee drill-hole dataset.

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL-HOLE NAME Two-letter county code followed by drill-hole number.

COUNTY The county where the drill hole was located.

ELEVATION Elevation above sea level in feet.

DEPTH_TOTAL Depth of drill hole in feet.

DEPTH_PROBED Depth of geophysical probe measurement in feet.

LATITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

LONGITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

COMMENT Additional information regarding the entire drill hole.

X_C Thickness of coal for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_CP Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_DEPTH Top depth of bed number X in feet.

X_BED A number or letter assigned to different coal beds of the same drill hole, which is not correlated throughout the dataset.

X_COMMENT Additional information regarding coal bed X.
Western Tennessee I3

Table I2. Explanation of comments used to describe the western Tennessee drill-hole dataset (J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, 

written communication, 2009). 

Comment Explanation

BED DEPTH NOT RECORDED No coal-bed depth information was recorded for this coal bed.

I Abbreviation for inferior. Subjective term used to describe poor coal quality.

NC Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NC/CLAY No coal was found during exploration, but a kaolinitic clay deposit was found during drilling.

NO DATA RECORDED No data were recorded on original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

NO ELEVATION RECORDED No ground elevation information was recorded on the original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

NP Abbreviation for “not probed.” Geophysical logging never occurred at this location.

NSL

Abbreviation for “no significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because the 

coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 feet thick) no coal data were recorded.

PI Abbreviation for “partially inferior.” Used to describe that a portion of the coal bed is of a low quality.

Table I3. Western Tennessee counties and the number of drill 

holes by county.

County Number of drill holes

Benton 1

Chester 9

Crocket 124

Carroll 3

Dyer 208

Fayette 122

Gibson 144

Hardeman 204

Haywood 181

Henry 100

Lauderdale 501

Lake 39

Madison 42

Mississippi 2

Obion 267

Shelby 54

Tipton 170

Weakley 219

Total 2,390
I4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

90°00' 89°00'

36°00'

35°00'

Geologic map modified from Nicholson and others, 2005.

Cretaceous

EXPLANATION

Quaternary

Tertiary

Drill-hole location

Devonian

Mississippian

Silurian

Ordovician

KENTUCKY

ARKANSAS

TENNESSEE

MISSOURI

MISSISSIPPI

Map area

80 16 KILOMETERS

0 8 16 MILES

Figure I1. Regional geologic map of western Tennessee with county boundaries overlaid with drill-hole locations 

from the western Tennessee coal exploration drill-hole dataset (geologic map modified from Nicholson and others, 

2005).

1,000 FEET

25 MILES

A

A’

Eocene (Eoc) sands and lignite clay beds (38-54 M.Y.)

Paleozoic (Pz) sedimentary rocks (300-570 M.Y.)

Paleocene (PE) terrigenous clay and lignite clay beds (54-65 M.Y.) 

Quaternary (Q) alluvial, loess, and fluvial deposits (0-1.8 M.Y.)

Cretaceous (K) sandstone (65-136 M.Y.)

EXPLANATION

Modified from Parks, 1981.

EXPLANATION

Pz

Mississippi River

PE

K

Eoc

Q

A’

A

AR TN

MO KY

MS

Gulf Coast Region Embayment

Cross Section Line

State Boundary

Figure I2. Cross section of the Mississippi Embayment (modified from Parks, 1981).
Western Tennessee I5

Figure I3. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain (modified from Warwick and others, 1997; Ogg and others, 2008).

Wilcox

Midway

Jackson

Chronostratigraphic 

Units

Priabonian

Ypresian

Thanetian

Danian

Maastrichtian

International

Stage

Bartonian

Lutetian

Mississippi Louisiana Northeastern

Texas

East-Central

Texas

Rio Grande

Embayment

(Southern Texas)

Group or Formation by Geographic Area

Jackson Jackson Jackson Jackson Yazoo Moodys Branch

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Kosciusko

Zilpha 

Tallahatta

Meridan Sand

Winona

Hatchetigbee

Bashi

Nanafalia

Tuscahoma

Clayton

Porters Creek

Naheola

Porters Creek

Kincaid / Clayton

Wills Point

Kincaid Kincaid

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

SpartaSand Cane River

Carrizo Sand

Sabinetown

Calvert Bluff

Simsboro

Hooper

Yegua

Cook Mtn / Stone City

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Wilcox

Yegua

Cook Mtn 

SpartaSand

Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Laredo

El PicoClay

Bigford

Upper 

Lower

Whitset

Manning

WelbornCaddell

Whitsett

Manning

Wellborn

Caddell Moodys Branch

Mosley Hill Danville Landing

Yazoo

Pendleton

MarthavilleHall Summit

Lime Hill

Converse

Cow Bayou

Dolet Hills

Naborton

Yegua

Cook Mtn

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Escondido

Olmos Navarro Navarro Navarro Kemp Clay Corsicana Marl Nacatoch Navarro Arkadelphia Nacatoch Sand Saratoga Chalk Owl Creek Ripley

Alabama

and

Georgia

Moodys Branch

Yazoo

Jackson

Lisbon

Lisbon

Tallahatta

Gosport

Hatchetigbee

Tuscahoma

NanafaliaNaheola

Porters Creek

Clayton

Ripley

Missouri

and 

Tennessee

Kentucky 

Jackson Jackson

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Memphis Sand

Wilcox

Porters Creek

Clayton

Claiborne

Porters Creek

Clayton

Owl Creek McNairy

McNairy

Flour Island

Ft. Pillow Sand

Old Breastworks

Prairie Bluff Chalk/

Providence Sand

North American

Provincial 

Stage

Jacksonian

Claibornian

Sabinian

Midwayan

Navarroan

Selandian

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway Midway

Tertiary

Series Eocene Paleocene

System Cretaceous

Wilcox Midway

Midway

Indio

Upper (part)

Explanation

disconformityuncertaininterfingeringtransitional

Group NameFormation NameMajor coal-bearing formationMinor coal-bearing formation
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, 

Northeast Texas

By Rachel M. Gesserman, Matthew D. Merrill, and Peter D. Warwick

Chapter J of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–J

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

Gesserman, R.M., Merrill, M.D., and Warwick, P.D., 2012, Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data, northeast Texas 

in Valentine, B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, 

Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: U.S. Geological Survey OpenFile Report 2011–1261, ch. J, 8 p. plus appendix. (Available online.)
iii

Contents

Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. J1

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................1

Generalized Coal Geology of Northeast Texas .........................................................................................1

Data..................................................................................................................................................................1

References Cited............................................................................................................................................2

Appendix J1. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for Northeast Texas.....................................2

Figures

J1. Geology of northeast Texas with drill-hole locations .......................................................... J6

J2. Geology and structure of northeast Texas ...............................................................................7

J3. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing 

formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain .......................................8

Tables

J1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the northeast Texas 

drill-hole dataset........................................................................................................................ J3

J2. Explanation of comments used to describe the northeast Texas drill-hole 

dataset............................................................................................................................................3

J3. Northeast Texas counties and the number of drill holes by county....................................5
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, Northeast Texas

By Rachel M. Gesserman, Matthew D. Merrill, and Peter D. Warwick

Introduction

Coal exploration drill-hole data from 8,010 wells in 

northeast Texas drilled between 1977 and 1982 by Phillips 

Coal Company, a division of Phillips Petroleum Company 

(Phillips), are discussed in this chapter, and the data are 

provided in an accompanying spreadsheet. The data are part 

of a larger dataset donated to the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) by the North American Coal Corporation, which 

purchased Phillips assets in 2001 (see chapter A, this volume). 

The data in 10 State reports have been digitized from field 

maps to create unified and spatially consistent coal exploration drill-hole datasets for each of the States in the donation 

(chapters B–K, this volume). Data for northeast Texas include 

a geologic map of the State with drill-hole coverage (fig. J1), 

a list of data attributes and explanations of the data format 

(table J1), a list of comments found in the data and descriptions of them (table J2), a list of counties and the number of 

drill holes for each county (table J3), and tabulated data in 

spreadsheet format (see appendix J1).

Methods

Hardcopy Phillips exploration maps, in Texas North 

Central 1927 State coordinate plane projection, were digitized into a geographic information system using ArcMapTM 

software from the Environmental Systems Research Institute, 

Inc. (ESRI). Roads and county boundaries served as reference points to georeference scanned maps. Shapefile attribute 

values were populated with data from drill-hole locations 

in 16 counties in northeast Texas (fig. J1, table J3). All raw 

data from the Phillips maps were entered into the shapefile 

attributes, as well as various comments, abbreviations, and 

symbols that were used to denote information about the drilled 

wells (table J1 and table J2). Some changes to the original data 

were made to maintain uniformity throughout the digitized 

maps. The dataset was projected into a North American Datum 

of 1983 geographic coordinate system to facilitate combining the dataset with similar Phillips datasets published by 

the USGS for other States. The shapefile was exported to a 

spreadsheet (see appendix J1).

Generalized Coal Geology of Northeast 

Texas

The undivided Paleocene to Eocene Wilcox Group crops 

out in northeast Texas and is overlain by the Eocene Claiborne 

Group in the East Texas Basin (Warwick and others, 2002). 

Correlations between these geologic units in other parts of 

Texas and Louisiana can be seen in figure J3. Structurally, 

the Mount Enterprise Fault Zone extends to southern Panola 

County (fig. J2) and divides the study area into westward 

dipping strata north of the fault zone and steeper, southward 

dipping strata south of the fault zone (Kaiser, 1990). To the 

east in the Sabine Uplift area (fig. J2), Wilcox sediment that 

was derived from the Ouachita Mountains of Oklahoma 

and Arkansas is represented in a progradational deltaic 

depositional system in the lower parts of the group, while the 

upper Wilcox sediments are characteristic of aggradational 

fluvial sedimentation (Kaiser, 1990). Lignite occurs throughout the Wilcox Group, but in Texas it is most commonly found 

in the upper two-thirds of the formation (Kaiser and others, 

1980). In Louisiana, lignite is most commonly found in the 

lower Wilcox (Warwick and others, 2008).

The Claiborne Group represents a cycle of marine transgressions and regressions, marked by alternating marine clays 

and silts with nonmarine, nearshore blanket sands (Eargle, 

1968). Surficial formations in the Claiborne Group include the 

Carrizo Sand, Reklaw Formation, Queen City Sand, Weches 

Formation, and Sparta Sand (Warwick and others, 2002) 

(fig. J2). 

Data

The northeast Texas drill-hole dataset contains coal 

exploration information for 8,010 drill-hole locations in 

16 counties in the Gulf Coast region (fig. J1, table J3). 

Geophysical instruments were used to log a total of 6,836 

drill holes and had depths ranging from 54 to 1,000 feet with 

an average depth of 259 feet. The remaining 1,174 drill holes 

did not have any probe depth information and were assigned a 

value of 0 feet. For drill holes that had coal data, the average 

thickness range of beds, including partings, was 2.04 feet. 
J2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

The densest drill-hole coverage is found in Hopkins, Rusk, 

and Harrison Counties, which contain 66 percent of the data 

plotted. Location error is expected to be ±0.25 mile due to 

the generalized nature of the original maps and the process of 

georeferencing a new base layer. 

References Cited

Eargle, D.H., 1968, Nomenclature of formations of 

Claiborne Group, Middle Eocene coastal plain of Texas, in

Contributions to general geology, 1967: U.S. Geological 

Survey Bulletin 1251–D, p. D1–D25.

Kaiser, W.R., 1990, The Wilcox Group (Paleocene-Eocene) 

in the Sabine Uplift area, Texas—Depositional systems 

and deep-basin lignite: The University of Texas at Austin, 

Bureau of Economic Geology, 20 p.

Kaiser, W.R., Ayers, W.B., Jr., and La Brie, L.W., 1980, 

Lignite resources in Texas: The University of Texas 

at Austin, Bureau of Economic Geology Report of 

Investigations No. 104, 52 p.

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, Gabi, and Gradstein, F.M., 2008, The 

concise geologic time scale: Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge 

University Press, 184 p.

Stoeser, D.B., Green, G.N., Morath, L.C., Heran, W.D., 

Wilson, A.B., Moore, D.W., and Van Gosen, B.S., 2005, 

Preliminary integrated geologic map databases for the 

United States; central states—Montana, Wyoming, 

Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, 

Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, 

Arkansas, and Louisiana: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File 

Report 2005–1351, version 1.2 (updated December 2007) 

on-line only, accessed August 4, 2011, at pubs.usgs.gov/

of/2005/1351/.

Warwick, P.D., SanFilipo, J.R., Crowley, S.S., Thomas, R.E., 

and Freid, J., comps., and Tully, J.K., digital comp., 1997, 

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land 

use in the Gulf Coast coal region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 97–172, 1 sheet, accessed April 20, 2011, 

at pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-172/. 

Warwick, P.D., Aubourg, C.E., Suitt, S.E., Podwysocki, S.M., 

and Schultz, A.C., 2002, Preliminary evaluation of the coal 

resources for part of the Wilcox Group (Paleocene-Eocene), 

central Texas: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 

02–359, 80 p., accessed August 4, 2011, at pubs.usgs.gov/

of/2002/of02-359/.

Warwick, P.D., Breland, F.C., Jr., and Hackley, P.C., 2008, 

Biogenic origin of coalbed gas in the northern Gulf of 

Mexico coastal plain, USA: International Journal of Coal 

Geology, v. 76, p. 119–137. 

Appendix J1

The northeast Texas coal exploration drill-hole dataset in 

spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1261/

Appendices/J1-TX.xls.
Northeast Texas J3

Table J1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the northeast Texas drill-hole dataset.

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL-HOLE NAME County code followed by drill-hole number.

COUNTY County where the drill hole is located.

ELEVATION Elevation above sea level in feet.

DEPTH_TOTAL Depth of drill hole in feet.

DEPTH_PROBED Depth of geophysical probe measurement in feet.

LATITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

LONGITUDE Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

COMMENT Additional information regarding the entire drill hole.

X_C Thickness of coal for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_CP Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in decimal feet.

X_DEPTH Top depth of bed number X in feet.

X_BED A number or letter assigned to different coal beds of the same drill hole, which is not correlated throughout the dataset.

X_COMMENT Additional information regarding coal bed X.

Table J2. Explanation of comments used to describe the northeast Texas drill-hole dataset (J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, 

written commun., 2009). —Continued

Symbol/Comment Description

- Notation is on the original coal exploration maps and is listed under the drill-hole name and elevation, 

with no coal data recorded. No information about the definition of this notation is listed on any of 

the Phillips coal exploration maps or drilling logs. The meaning of the notation is unknown. 

? Questionable data/information.

+ More coal than the amount that was recorded could be expected.

< Less than.

> Greater than.

b Found at the end of a drill-hole name if the name had already been used for another location in the 

dataset. This symbol was added after digitizing in order to give each drill hole a unique drill-hole 

name. 

BAD LOG Indicates a problem with the geophysical log instrument during exploration. 

BED DEPTH NOT RECORDED No coal-bed depth information was recorded for this coal bed.

BOTTOMED IN COAL Terminated drilling in a coal bed. Coal extends deeper than the depth explored.

C Found in the comment section of a coal bed, meaning carbonaceous. The coal bed was described to 

contain a high ash content.

C (after the drill-hole name) Found at the end of the drill-hole name representing that the drill hole was cored. 

CADY This comment is written on the original coal exploration maps and the meaning is unknown. It could 

be a misspelling of “CARBY”, which describes carbonaceous material. 

CARBY Describing that the coal bed is “carbonaceous” and that it contains a high ash content.

CM Abbreviation for “carbonaceous material.” The coal was described to contain a high ash content.

CORE SYMBOL Triangle shaped drill-hole symbol meaning the drill hole was cored.

CORED Indicating that the drill hole was cored.
J4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Table J2. Explanation of comments used to describe the northeast Texas drill-hole dataset (J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, 

written commun., 2009). —Continued

Symbol/Comment Description

DH Abbreviation for “drill hole.”

DO Abbreviation for “depth of oxidation.” The depth of the contact between weathered and unweathered 

material.

DUPLICATE DH Information on the original maps show two drill holes in two separate locations with the same data. It 

is unclear which location is correct for the data listed.

DUPLICATE DH NAME The drill-hole name was used for two different locations on the original coal exploration maps.

H.S. Abbreviation for “hard streak.” Indicates beds of cemented limestone or sandstone that were used as 

marker beds.

HOLE BOTTOMED IN LIGNITE Drilling was terminated in lignite. Coal extends deeper than the depth explored.

I Abbreviation for “inferior.” Subjective term used to describe poor coal quality.

ILLEGIBLE DH NAME The drill-hole name was not legible on the original coal exploration maps and may not be correct.

NC Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NL Abbreviation for “no lignite.” No lignite was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NO COAL No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

NO DATA No data were recorded on the original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

NO E-LOG No geophysical logging was completed for this drill hole.

NO LOG No geophysical logging was completed for this drill hole.

NP Abbreviation for “not probed.” Geophysical logging never occurred at this location.

NSL Abbreviation for “no significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because 

the coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 feet. thick) no coal data were recorded.

OX Abbreviation for “oxidized” or “oxidation.”

P Abbreviation for “poor.” A subjective term used to describe a low-quality coal.

P BOTTOM The coal quality at the bottom of the coal bed was found to be poor. Coal quality in the bed decreased 

with depth.

PI Abbreviation for “partially inferior.” Used to describe that a portion of the coal bed is of a low quality.

POOR A subjective term used to describe coal of poor quality.

POOR LOG Indicates an issue with the geophysical log instrument during exploration. 

POOR TOP Poor coal quality on the top section of the coal bed. Quality improved with depth in the coal bed. 

PW Abbreviation for “poor weathered.” A subjective term used to describe coal of a poor quality that has 

been altered by chemical or physical means.

RD (after the drill-hole name) Abbreviation for “re-drill.” Was used when a location had to be re-explored either due to problems 

with the first drill hole at the location or in some cases the location was re-drilled to explore deeper 

strata.

SAND A layer of sand was encountered during exploration.

TD IN COAL Terminated drilling in a coal bed. Coal extends deeper than the depth explored.

TRI Abbreviation for “triangle.” Signifies that the drill hole/coal bed was cored.

TRIANGLE Signifies that the drill hole/coal bed was cored.

TWO DH NAMES Drill-hole location had two names. The first name listed was used as the drill-hole name and the second name is listed in the comment section.

VD Notation was written next to a coal bed on the original coal exploration maps. The meaning of the 

comment is unknown. Could be a misspelling of “VP.”

VERY POOR Subjective term used to describe coal of a very low quality.

VP Abbreviation for “very poor.” Subjective term used to describe coal of a very low quality.
Northeast Texas J5

Table J2. Explanation of comments used to describe the northeast Texas drill-hole dataset (J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, 

written commun., 2009). —Continued

Symbol/Comment Description

VPW Abbreviation for “very poor, weathered.” A subjective term used to describe coal of a poor quality that 

has been altered by chemical or physical means.

W Abbreviation for “weathered.” Used to describe coal that has been altered by chemical or physical 

means.

WEATHERED Used to describe coal that has been altered by chemical or physical means.

Table J3. Northeast Texas counties and the number of drill 

holes by county.

County Number of drill holes

Bowie 389

Camp 15

Franklin 205

Harrison 1,207

Hopkins 2,419

Marion 94

Morris 2

Panola 535

Rains 165

Red River 69

Rusk 1,676

Shelby 102

Titus 3

Upshur 165

Van Zandt 140

Wood 824

Total 8,010
J6 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Base from Stoeser and others, 2005

96°00' 95°00' 94°00'

34°00'

33°00'

32°00'

Map area

EXPLANATION

Drill-hole Locations

Study Area

Sparta Sand

Weches Formation

Queen City Sand

Reklaw Formation

Carizzo Sand

Wilcox Group Undivided

Other Formations

0 10 20 40 MILES

0 20 40 10 KILOMETERS

Es

EPAwi

Ec

Er

Eqc

Ew

Es

EPAwi

Ec Er

Eqc

Ew

TEXAS

30

30

Figure J1. Geology of northeast Texas with drill-hole locations (Stoeser and others, 2005).
Northeast Texas J7

96°00' 95°00' 94°00'

34°00'

33°00'

32°00'

EXPLANATION

Fault

Basin Axis

Study Area

Contact between Upper and 

Lower Wilcox 

Sparta Sand

Weches Formation

Queen City Sand

Reklaw Formation

Carizzo Sand

Wilcox Group Undivided

Other Formations

0 10 20 40 MILES

0 20 40 10 KILOMETERS

SABINE UPLIFT

AXIS 

MOUNT ENTERPRISE FAULT ZONE

TALCO 

FAULT ZONE

TEXAS

EAST

BASIN

OF

Es

EPAwi

Ec

Er

Eqc

Ew

Es

EPAwi

Ec

Er

Eqc

Ew

TEXAS

Upper and Lower Wilcox

contact by Kaiser, 1990

Base from Stoeser and others, 2005

and Warwick and others, 2002

Map area

30

30

BOWIE COUNTY

RED RIVER COUNTY

LAMAR COUNTY

FANNIN COUNTY

HUNT COUNTY

HOPKINS COUNTY

FRANKLIN

COUNTY TITUS COUNTY

MORRIS

COUNTY

CASS COUNTY

MARION COUNTY

HARRISON COUNTY

GREGG

COUNTY

UPSHUR COUNTY

CAMP

COUNTY

WOOD COUNTY

RAINS COUNTY

VAN ZANDT COUNTY

HENDERSON COUNTY

ANDERSON COUNTY

FREESTONE

COUNTY

HOUSTON COUNTY

CHEROKEE COUNTY

SMITH COUNTY

RUSK COUNTY

PANOLA COUNTY

SHELBY COUNTY

NACOGDOCHES COUNTY

DELTA COUNTY

Figure J2. Geology and structure of northeast Texas (Kaiser, 1990; Stoeser and others, 2005; Warwick and others, 2002).
J8 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX Figure J3. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain (modified from Warwick and 

others, 1997; Ogg and others, 2008).

Wilcox

Midway

Jackson

Chronostratigraphic 

Units

Priabonian

Ypresian

Thanetian

Danian

Maastrichtian

International

Stage

Bartonian

Lutetian

Mississippi Louisiana Northeastern

Texas

East-Central

Texas

Rio Grande

Embayment

(Southern Texas)

Group or Formation by Geographic Area

Jackson Jackson

Jackson Jackson Yazoo Moodys Branch

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Kosciusko

Zilpha 

Tallahatta

Meridan Sand

Winona

Hatchetigbee

Bashi

Nanafalia

Tuscahoma

Clayton

Porters Creek

Naheola

Porters Creek

Kincaid / Clayton

Wills Point

Kincaid Kincaid

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

SpartaSand Cane River

Carrizo Sand

Sabinetown

Calvert Bluff

Simsboro

Hooper

Yegua

Cook Mtn / Stone City

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Wilcox

Yegua

Cook Mtn 

SpartaSand

Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Laredo

El PicoClay

Bigford

Upper 

Lower

Whitset

Manning

WelbornCaddell

Whitsett

Manning

Wellborn

Caddell Moodys Branch

Mosley Hill Danville Landing

Yazoo

Pendleton

MarthavilleHall Summit

Lime Hill

Converse

Cow Bayou

Dolet Hills

Naborton

Yegua

Cook Mtn

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Escondido

Olmos Navarro Navarro Navarro Kemp Clay Corsicana Marl Nacatoch

Navarro Arkadelphia Nacatoch Sand Saratoga Chalk Owl Creek Ripley

Alabama

and

Georgia

Moodys Branch

Yazoo

Jackson

Lisbon

Lisbon

Tallahatta

Gosport

Hatchetigbee

Tuscahoma

NanafaliaNaheola

Porters Creek

Clayton

Ripley

Missouri

and 

Tennessee

Kentucky 

Jackson Jackson

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Memphis Sand

Wilcox

Porters Creek

Clayton

Claiborne

Porters Creek

Clayton

Owl Creek McNairy

McNairy

Flour Island

Ft. Pillow Sand

Old Breastworks

Prairie Bluff Chalk/

Providence Sand

North American

Provincial 

Stage

Jacksonian

Claibornian

Sabinian

Midwayan

Navarroan

Selandian

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway

Tertiary

Series Eocene Paleocene

System Cretaceous

Wilcox Midway

Midway

Indio

Upper (part)

Explanation

disconformityuncertaininterfingeringtransitional

Group NameFormation NameMajor coal-bearing formationMinor coal-bearing formation
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, 

South and East-Central Texas

By Brett J. Valentine, Matthew D. Merrill, Celeste D. Lohr, and Peter D. Warwick

Chapter K of

Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—Alabama, Georgia, 

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, 

South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas

Edited by Brett J. Valentine and Kristin O. Dennen

Open-File Report 2011–1261–K

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
Suggested citation:

Valentine, B.J., Merrill, M.D., Lohr, C.D., and Warwick, P.D., 2012, Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data, south and 

east-central Texas, in Valentine, B.J., and Dennen, K.O., eds., Shallow coal exploration drill-hole data—Alabama, 

Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas: 

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011–1261, ch. K, 9 p. plus appendix. (Available online.)
iii

Contents

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

Methods...........................................................................................................................................................1

Generalized Coal Geology of South and East-Central Texas..................................................................1

South Texas Coal Deposits..................................................................................................................1

East-Central Texas Coal Deposits ......................................................................................................2

Data..................................................................................................................................................................2

South Texas Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Dataset ............................................................................2

East-Central Texas Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Dataset.................................................................2

References Cited............................................................................................................................................2

Appendix K1. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for South Texas............................................3

Appendix K2. Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data for East-Central Texas................................3

Figures

K1. Regional map of south Texas with county boundaries overlaid with drill-hole 

locations and major coal-bearing formations of the Gulf Coast Region ..........................K7

K2. Regional map of east-central Texas with county boundaries overlaid with 

drill-hole locations and major coal-bearing formations of the Gulf Coast Region ............8

K3. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing 

formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain .......................................9

Tables

K1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the south and east-central 

Texas drill-hole datasets...........................................................................................................K4

K2. Explanation of comments used to describe the south and east-central Texas 

drill-hole atasets. ..........................................................................................................................4

K3. South Texas counties and the number of drill holes by county. ...........................................6

K4. East-central Texas counties and the number of drill holes by county................................6
Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data, South and EastCentral Texas

By Brett J. Valentine, Matthew D. Merrill, Celeste D. Lohr, and Peter D. Warwick

Introduction

Coal exploration drill-hole data from 3,825 wells in 

southern to east-central Texas drilled between 1975 and 1984 

by Phillips Coal Company, a division of Phillips Petroleum 

Company (Phillips), are discussed in this chapter, and the data 

are provided in an accompanying spreadsheet. The data are 

part of a larger dataset donated to the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) by the North American Coal Corporation, which 

purchased Phillips assets in 2001 (see chapter A, this volume). 

The data in 10 State reports have been digitized from field 

maps to create unified and spatially consistent coal exploration drill-hole datasets for each of the States included in the 

donation (chapters B–K, this volume). The drill-hole data for 

Texas have been divided into three coal exploration drill-hole 

datasets: northeast Texas, south Texas, and east-central Texas. 

Included in this report chapter are maps of major coal-bearing 

formations in south Texas and east-central Texas overlaid with 

drill-hole locations (figs. K1, K2), a list of data attributes and 

explanations of the data format (table K1), a list of comments found in the data and their descriptions (table K2), a 

list of counties and the number of drill holes for each county 

(tables K3, K4), and two electronic files in spreadsheet format 

with tabulated data for south Texas and east-central Texas (see 

appendixes K1 and K2). Information for northeast Texas can 

be found in chapter J of this open-file report. 

Methods

Hardcopy Phillips exploration maps, in Texas central, 

south-central, and south 1927 State coordinate plane 

projection, were scanned and georeferenced into a geographic 

information system (GIS) using ArcMapTM software from the 

Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI). Drillhole locations were then digitized in the GIS, and coal data 

were recorded in an attribute table (table K1) for each drillhole point. Each data point is uniquely labeled, first identifying the county with one or two letters followed by a numeral. 

The drill-hole name listed is the same name presented on the 

original maps. Alterations to the name occurred only when text 

was illegible on the original maps, or in the case of a duplicate 

drill-hole name the letter “b” was added after the number in 

the name. The attribute table for each point contains basic site 

information and location references along with information 

on the coal beds found during exploration (tables K1, K2). 

For example, drill-hole points where coal was found will have 

the beds numbered sequentially (for example: 1,2,3...16), 

followed by thickness of coal (1_C), thickness of coal and 

partings (1_CP), depth to the top of the bed (1_DEPTH), a 

bed regional name (1_BED), and any comments about quality 

or information in regard to the coal bed (1_COMMENTS). 

All of the depth and thickness measurements are measured 

in decimal feet. Comments have been added by USGS staff 

if there were problems or uncertainties during compiling 

or if any additional information on the maps needed to be 

described. Once the digitizing of the maps was complete, 

the spatial data were then reprojected into a North American 

Datum of 1983 geographic coordinate system in order to standardize all of the Phillips datasets into a common projection.

Generalized Coal Geology of South and 

East-Central Texas

South Texas Coal Deposits

The major coal-bearing formations in south Texas are 

found in sediments deposited during the Upper Cretaceous and 

the Tertiary (fig. K3). Upper Cretaceous coal-bearing strata of 

the Olmos Formation (Navarro Group) extend north out of the 

Sabinas Basin in Mexico and cross the Rio Grande at Eagle 

Pass, Texas, where the Olmos Formation’s extent diminishes 

in the northeastern corner of Maverick County (fig. K1). The 

Olmos was deposited in a deltaic (fluvial dominated) depositional system (SanFilipo, 1999). 

Coal-bearing formations of the Tertiary age in south 

Texas are found in the lower Wilcox, Claiborne, and Jackson Groups (fig. K3). Unlike the Olmos Formation, these 

Paleogene-aged formations can be found throughout the 

Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain. While the majority of the coal 

resources in the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain are lignitic, 
K2 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

coals of the Claiborne Group in south Texas are bituminous, 

blocky, and non-banded, resembling cannel and boghead 

coals of the bituminous coalfields of the Appalachian basin 

and Great Britain (Warwick and Hook, 1995). These coals 

formed in a transitional system between a marine-influenced, 

sandstone dominated, lower delta plain depositional environment and a more inland, mudstone, predominately freshwater 

deltaic environment (Warwick and Hook, 1995). Lignite 

deposits of the lower Wilcox Group and Jackson Group 

primarily formed in a barrier bar-strandplain depositional 

system, where clastic sediments were trapped as lagoonal 

muds up-dip of barrier bars (Kaiser, 1974). 

East-Central Texas Coal Deposits

East-central Texas (fig. K2) is dominated with outcrops 

of Upper Cretaceous- and Tertiary-aged rocks with younger 

Quaternary sediments distributed along drainage systems 

of the Colorado, Brazos, and Trinity Rivers. The major 

coal-bearing formations within the region are found in the 

Wilcox, Claiborne, and Jackson Groups (see fig. K3). The 

Wilcox Group is divided into the Hooper, Simsboro, and 

Calvert Bluff Formations, which dip to the southeast increasing from 0.5° to 2°, from northeast to southwest (Tewalt and 

others, 1983; Tewalt and Jackson, 1991). Coal-bearing strata 

of the Wilcox Group formed during progradation of a delta 

in the region during the late Paleocene and early Eocene. 

The Hooper Formation of the lower Wilcox is characterized by multi-stacked, upward coarsening sedimentary 

layers including discontinuous lignites that were deposited 

as interdistributary peats (Kaiser, 1974). Discontinuously 

overlying the Hooper Formation is the Simsboro Formation, a 

massive, cross-bedded, quartz and kaolinitic sand that displays typical fluvial sedimentary structures (Bammel, 1979). 

Deposition slowed in the lower Eocene, allowing an extensive 

accumulation of thick blanket peats, mainly of marsh (nonwoody) origin, to form at the contact between the Simsboro 

and the Calvert Bluffs Formations (fig. K3), with some coals 

containing woody material suggesting formation higher in 

the deltaic plain (Atlee and others, 1968; Kaiser, 1974). Most 

of the lignite of the Calvert Bluff Formation can be found at 

the contact with the Simsboro sands and within 200 feet of 

the overlying Carrizo Formation (middle Eocene Claiborne 

Group), but secondary occurrences are scattered irregularly 

throughout (Johnston and Jobling, 1979; Ayers and Kaiser, 

1987).

The late Eocene-aged lignite-bearing intervals of the 

Yegua Formation (Claiborne Group) and the Manning 

Formation (Jackson Group) formed during transgressive–

regressive cycles of deposition, with each cycle containing 

sediments from multiple environments (Yancey, 1997). Yancey 

(1997) characterized the Yegua-Jackson lignites to be part of a 

strand plain system, where peat was deposited near the marine 

shoreline, and was preserved as the shoreline migrated over 

the accumulated organic material.

Data

South Texas Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Dataset

The south Texas drill-hole dataset contains coal exploration information for 980 drill-hole locations within eight counties in the Gulf Coast region (fig. K1, table K3). Geophysical 

instruments were used on 939 drill holes and had an average 

depth of 254 feet, with a maximum depth of 367 feet. The 

41 drill holes that did not have any probe depth information 

were assigned a depth of 0 within the attribute table. The area 

that has the densest coverage with 694 drill holes is along the 

margin of Upper Cretaceous- and Paleocene-aged sediments, 

extending from Eagle Pass to Bexar County, Texas (fig. K1). 

The remainder of the data (286 drill holes), explores Oligocene- to Eocene-aged sediments located along the Rio Grande 

from Webb County to Starr County, Texas. Due to the generalized nature of the original highway maps that contained the 

drill-hole information and the process of georeferencing these 

maps to a new base layer, we expect the location error to be 

±0.25 mile.

East-Central Texas Coal Exploration Drill-Hole 

Dataset

The east-central Texas drill-hole dataset contains coal 

exploration information for 2,845 drill-hole locations within 

17 counties in the Gulf Coast region (fig. K2, table K4). 

Geophysical instruments were used on 2,273 drill holes and 

had an average probe depth of 228 feet, with a maximum 

depth of 944 feet. The 572 drill-hole points that did not have a 

recorded probe depth were given a value of 0 within the attribute table. The drill-hole locations are concentrated in areas 

along the Wilcox and lower Claiborne Formation boundaries 

shown in figure K2, between Bastrop to Henderson Counties, 

and along the Upper Claiborne and Jackson Formation boundaries shown in figure K2, between Fayette and Trinity Counties. Due to the generalized nature of the original highway 

maps that contained the drill-hole information and the process 

of georeferencing these maps to a new base layer, we expect 

the location error to be ±0.25 mile.

References Cited

Atlee, W.A., Elsik, W.C., Frazier, D.E., and Zingula, R.P., 

Field Committee, 1968, Environments of deposition, 

Wilcox Group, Texas Gulf Coast: Houston Geological Society, Field Trip Guidebook, 43 p.
South and East-Central Texas K3

Ayers, W.B., and Kaiser, W.R., 1987, Regional depositional 

settings, resources, and quality of lignite in the Wilcox 

Group of east Texas and the Jackson Group of east and 

south Texas, in Finkelman, R.B., Casagrande, D.J., and 

Benson, S.A., eds., Gulf Coast lignite geology, Prepared 

for the fourteenth Biennial Lignite Symposium on the 

Technology and Utilization of Low-Rank Coals: Environmental and Coal Associates, Reston, Va., p. 83–128.

Bammel, B.H., 1979, Stratigraphy of the Simsboro Formation, 

east-central Texas: Baylor Geological Studies, Baylor University, Bulletin No. 37, 40 p.

Johnston, J.E., and Jobling, J.L., 1979, Lignite resources in 

east-central Texas: American Association of Petroleum 

Geologists, Society of Economic Paleontologists and 

Mineralogists Convention, 1979, Houston Geological 

Society, Field Trip Guidebook, 15 p.

Kaiser, W.R., 1974, Texas lignite—Near-surface and deepbasin resources: Bureau of Economic Geology, University 

of Texas at Austin, Report of Investigations No. 79, 70 p.

Ogg, J.G., Ogg, Gabi, and Gradstein, F.M., 2008, The concise geologic time scale: Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge 

University Press, 184 p.

SanFilipo, J.R., 1999, Some speculations on coal-rank 

anomalies of the South Texas Gulf Province and adjacent 

areas of Mexico and their impact on coal-bed methane and 

source rock potential 1999 CBM Gulf Coast Region Coal, 

in Warwick, P.D., Aubourg, C.E., and Willett, J.C., eds., 

Tertiary coals in south Texas—Anomalous cannel-like coals 

of Webb County (Claiborne Group, Eocene) and lignites of 

Atascosa County (Jackson Group, Eocene); geologic setting, character, source-rock and coal-bed methane potential: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99–301, p. 

37–47.

Tewalt, S.J., Bauer, M.A., Mathew, D., Roberts, M.P., Ayers, 

W.B., Jr., Barnes, J.W., and Kaiser, W.R., 1983, Estimation 

of coal resources in Texas Gulf Coast, Ohio Northern 

Appalachian, and Wyoming Powder River Basins—A comparison of statistical approaches: Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin, Report of Investigations 

No. 136, 137 p.

Tewalt, S.J., and Jackson, M.L.W, 1991, Estimation of lignite 

resources in the Wilcox Group of central and east Texas 

using the National Coal Resources Data System: Bureau 

of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin, 

Geological Circular 91–1, 44 p.

Warwick, P.D., and Hook, R.W., 1995, Petrography, 

geochemistry, and depositional setting of the San Pedro and 

Santo Thomas coal zones—Anomalous algae-rich coals in 

the middle part of the Claiborne Group (Eocene) of Webb 

County, Texas: International Journal of Coal Geology, v. 28, 

p. 303–342.

Warwick, P.D., SanFilipo, J.R., Crowley, S.S., Thomas, R.E., 

and Freid, J., comps., and Tully, J.K., digital comp., 1997, 

Map showing outcrop of the coal-bearing units and land 

use in the Gulf Coast coal region: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 97–172, 1 sheet, accessed April 20, 2011, 

at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1997/of97-172/.

Yancey, T.E., 1997, Depositional environments of Late Eocene 

lignite-bearing strata, east-central Texas: International 

Journal of Coal Geology, v. 34, p. 261–275. 

Appendix K1

The south Texas coal exploration drill-hole dataset in 

spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1261/

Appendices/K1-STX.xls.

Appendix K2

The east-central coal exploration drill-hole dataset in 

spreadsheet format is available at pubs.usgs.gov/of/2011/1261/

Appendices/K2-ECTX.xls.
K4 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Table K1. Attribute titles and data descriptions and formats for the south and east-central Texas drill-hole datasets. 

Attribute title Data description and format

DRILL-HOLE NAME

COUNTY

ELEVATION

DEPTH_TOTAL

DEPTH_PROBED

LATITUDE

LONGITUDE

COMMENT

X_C

X_CP

X_DEPTH

X_BED

X_COMMENT

County code followed by drill-hole number. In some cases a county may have both a one-letter and twoletter code for drill-hole names.

County where the drill hole is located.

Elevation above sea level in feet.

Depth of drill hole in feet.

Depth of geophysical probe measurement in feet.

Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

Decimal degree location values given to 4 decimal places.

Additional information regarding the entire drill hole. 

Thickness of coal for bed number X in decimal feet.

Thickness of coal and partings combined for bed number X in decimal feet.

Top depth of bed number X in feet.

Coal bed regional name for coal bed X.

Additional information regarding coal bed X.

Table K2. Explanation of comments used to describe the south and east-central Texas drill-hole datasets (modified from 

J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2009).—Continued

Symbol/Comment Description

-

“A”?

“B”?

?

+

>

b

BED DEPTHS NOT RECORDED

BH

BLANK COAL

C (After the drill-hole name)

CARB ZONE

CARBY

CM

CORED

DH

DUPLICATE DH NAME

GAS LEAK

Notation is on the original coal exploration maps and is listed under the drill-hole name and elevation, 

with no coal data recorded. No information about the definition of this notation is listed on any of the 

Phillips coal exploration maps or drilling logs. The meaning of the notation is unknown. 

The letter “A” was written next to the surface elevation on the original maps. May be related to the occurrence of a geologic formation or a specific coal bed.

The letter “B” was written next to the surface elevation on the original maps. May be related to the occurrence of a geologic formation or a specific coal bed.

Questionable data/information.

More coal than the amount that was recorded could be expected.

Greater than.

Found at the end of a drill-hole name if the name had already been used for another location in the dataset. This symbol was added after digitizing in order to give each drill hole a unique drill-hole name. 

No coal bed depth information was recorded on the original maps for this drill hole.

Abbreviation for “bore hole.”

No data were recorded on the original maps for this location.

Found at the end of the drill-hole name representing that the drill hole was cored. 

Describing that the coal bed is “carbonaceous” and that it contains a high ash content.

Describing that the coal bed is “carbonaceous” and that it contains a high ash content.

Abbreviation for “carbonaceous material.” The coal was described to contain a high ash content.

Indicating that the drill hole was cored.

Abbreviation for “drill hole.”

The drill-hole name was used for two different locations on the original coal exploration maps.

Observed natural gas seeping from the drill hole during exploration.
South and East-Central Texas K5

Table K2. Explanation of comments used to describe the south and east-central Texas drill-hole datasets (modified from 

J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2009).—Continued

Symbol/Comment Description

GRAVEL?

HB

HOLE BRIDGED

I

ILLEGIBLE

ILLEGIBLE DEPTH

ILLEGIBLE PROBE DEPTH

INACCURATE LOCATION

INF

NC

NDE

NO COAL

NO DATA RECORDED

NO ELEVATION RECORDED

NO LOG

NO PROBE DEPTH RECORDED

NP

NSL

ODOR

OK

P

P BOTTOM

P.B.

P.T.

PI

POOR

RD (after the drill-hole name)

SCZ

A gravel layer may have been found during exploration.

This comment was written on the original coal exploration maps and the meaning is unknown. Could 

possibly be the abbreviation for “hole bridged,” meaning that the drill-hole walls collapsed during 

exploration.

The drill-hole walls collapsed during exploration.

Abbreviation for “inferior.” Subjective term used to describe poor coal quality.

Original information on maps was not legible for this drill hole and may not be correct as transcribed.

The coal depth was not legible on the original coal exploration maps and may not be accurate as transcribed.

The probe depth was not legible on the original coal exploration maps and may not be accurate as transcribed.

Original coal exploration maps could not be accurately georeferenced due to insufficient reference points. 

Drill-hole location accuracy maybe greater than 0.25 miles.

Abbreviation for “inferior.” Subjective term used to describe low quality coal.

Abbreviation for “no coal.” No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

Abbreviation for “not deep enough.” This comment was used on the original coal exploration maps for a 

drill hole when a particular coal bed was not found due to insufficient depth of exploration.

No coal was found during exploration for this drill hole.

No data were recorded on original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

No ground elevation information was recorded on the original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

No geophysical logging was completed for this drill hole.

No probe depth information was recorded on original coal exploration maps for this drill hole.

Abbreviation for “not probed.” Geophysical logging never occurred at this location.

Abbreviation for “no significant lignite.” Coal may have been found during exploration but because the 

coal beds were thin (usually less than 2 feet thick) no coal data were recorded.

Comment was written on the original coal exploration maps above the drill-hole name and the meaning is 

unknown. 

Comment was written at the end of coal-bed data on the original coal exploration maps and the meaning 

is unknown. Typically information written after coal-bed data subjectively describes the coal quality of 

the bed.

Abbreviation for “poor.” A subjective term used to describe a low quality coal.

The coal quality of the bottom of the coal bed was found to be poor. Coal quality in the bed decreased 

with depth.

Abbreviation for “poor bottom.” The coal quality of the bottom of the coal bed was found to be poor. 

Coal quality in the coal bed decreased with depth.

Abbreviation for “poor top.” Poor coal quality on the top section of the coal bed. Quality improved with 

depth in the coal bed. 

Abbreviation for “partially inferior.” Used to describe that a portion of the coal bed is of a low quality.

A subjective term used to describe coal of poor quality. In some cases only a portion of the entire coal 

bed was listed as “POOR” (example: POOR (1.5’)).

Abbreviation for “re-drill.” Was used when a location had to be re-explored either due to problems with 

the first drill hole at the location or in some cases the location was re-drilled to explore deeper strata.

Notation is listed with a depth range (example: 15-25’ SCZ) on the original coal exploration maps with 

no coal data listed at the drill-hole location. No information about the definition of this notation is 

listed on any of the Phillips coal exploration maps or drilling logs. The meaning of the notation is 

unknown. 
K6 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Table K2. Explanation of comments used to describe the south and east-central Texas drill-hole datasets (modified from 

J.A. Luppens, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 2009).—Continued

Symbol/Comment Description

SL Abbreviation for “silt.” A layer of silt was encountered during exploration.

TD IN COAL Terminated drilling in a coal bed. Coal extends deeper than the depth explored.

TRI Abbreviation for “triangle.” Signifies that the drill-hole/coal bed was cored during exploration.

TRIANGLES Signifies that multiple coal beds were cored during exploration.

V. INF Abbreviation for “very inferior.” Subjective term used to describe coal of a very low quality.

VP Abbreviation for “very poor.” Subjective term used to describe coal of a very low quality.

WASHOUT Occurs when a loose layer of material is eroded in the bore hole and the well diameter is enlarged. 

WEATHERED Used to describe coal that has been altered by chemical or physical means.

WSOUT Abbreviation for “washout.” Occurs when a loose layer of material is eroded in the bore hole and the well 

diameter is enlarged. 

Table K3. South Texas counties and the number of drill holes by 

county.

County Number of drill holes

Atascosa 32

Bexar 39

Maverick 208

Medina 374

Starr 35

Uvalde 41

Webb 167

Zapata 84

Total 980

Table K4. East-central Texas counties and the number of drill 

holes by county.

County Number of drill holes

Anderson 4

Bastrop 160

Brazos 2

Burleson 334

Falls 7

Fayette 258

Freestone 591

Henderson 38

Houston 65

Lee 305

Leon 4

Limestone 629

Milam 175

Polk 4

Trinity 88

Walker 48

Washington 133

Total 2,845
South and East-Central Texas K7 Figure K1. Regional map of south Texas with county boundaries overlaid with drill-hole locations and major coal-bearing formations of the Gulf Coast Region (Warwick and others, 1997).

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WEBB COUNTY

DUVAL COUNTY

FRIO COUNTY

STARR COUNTY

UVALDE COUNTY BEXAR COUNTY

ZAVALA COUNTY

KINNEY COUNTY

LA SALLE COUNTY

MEDINA COUNTY

BEE

COUNTY DIMMIT COUNTY

HIDALGO

COUNTY

ZAPATA

COUNTY

ATASCOSA

COUNTY

MAVERICK

COUNTY

KENEDY

COUNTY

BROOKS

COUNTY

LIVE OAK

COUNTY

JIM HOGG

COUNTY

WILSON COUNTY

MCMULLEN

COUNTY

KARNES

COUNTY

VAL VERDE

COUNTY

JIM WELLS

COUNTY

KLEBERG

COUNTY

NUECES

COUNTY

GUADALUPE

COUNTY

Eagle Pass

MEXICO

98°00' 99°00' 100°00' 101°00'

29°00'28°00'27°00'

Texas

Map area

0 20 40 MILES0 20 40 KILOMETERS

Jackson Group

Claiborne Group

Wilcox Group

Olmos Formation

Eocene

Paleocene

Late Cretaceous

EXPLANATION

Drill-hole locations

Major Coal-Bearing Formations

!

Outcrop of coal-bearing units map by Warwick and others (1997). 
K8 Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN, TX

Figure K2. Regional map of east-central Texas with county boundaries overlaid with drill-hole locations and major coal-bearing formations of the Gulf Coast Region (Warwick and others, 1997).

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95°00' 96°00' 97°00'

32°00'31°00'30°00'

HARRIS COUNTY

HILL COUNTY

POLK COUNTY

LEON COUNTY

BELL COUNTY

ELLIS COUNTY

LEE COUNTY

RUSK

COUNTY

FALLS COUNTY

MILAM COUNTY

HOUNSTON COUNTY

LIBERTY

COUNTY

NAVARRO COUNTY

FAYETTE

COUNTY

SMITH COUNTY

BASTROP COUNTY

ANDERSON COUNTY

CHEROKEE

COUNTY

WALKER COUNTY

GRIMES

COUNTY

TRINITY COUNTY

MCLENNAN

COUNTY

AUSTIN COUNTY

FREESTONE

COUNTY

LIMESTONE

COUNTY

HENDERSON COUNTY

COLORADO COUNTY

BRAZOS

COUNTY

ROBERTSON

COUNTY

MONTGOMERY

COUNTY

WALLER

COUNTY

BOSQUE

COUNTY

BURLESON COUNTY

JOHNSON

COUNTY

FORT BEND COUNTY

WILLIAMSON

COUNTY SAN JACINTO

COUNTY

MADISON COUNTY

ANGELINA

COUNTY

WASHINGTON

COUNTY

GONZALES

COUNTY

TRAVIS

COUNTY

LAVACA COUNTY

NACOGDOCHES

COUNTY

CALDWELL

COUNTY

Trinity River

Brazos River

Colorado River

0 20 40 MILES

20 40 KILOMETERS 0

Jackson Group

Claiborne Group

Wilcox Group

Eocene

Paleocene

EXPLANATION

Drill-hole locations

Major Coal-Bearing Formations

!

Map area Texas

Outcrop of coal-bearing units map by Warwickand others (1997).
South and East-Central Texas K9 Figure K3. Generalized stratigraphic chart showing major and minor coal-bearing formations in the Mississippi Embayment and Gulf Coastal Plain (modified from Warwick and others, 1997; Ogg and others, 2008).

Wilcox

Midway

Jackson

Chronostratigraphic 

Units

Priabonian

Ypresian

Thanetian

Danian

Maastrichtian

International

Stage

Bartonian

Lutetian

Mississippi Louisiana Northeastern

Texas

East-Central

Texas

Rio Grande

Embayment

(Southern Texas)

Group or Formation by Geographic Area

Jackson Jackson

Jackson Jackson Yazoo Moodys Branch

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Kosciusko

Zilpha 

Tallahatta

Meridan Sand

Winona

Hatchetigbee

Bashi

Nanafalia

Tuscahoma

Clayton

Porters Creek

Naheola

Porters Creek

Kincaid / Clayton

Wills Point

Kincaid Kincaid

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

SpartaSand Cane River

Carrizo Sand

Sabinetown

Calvert Bluff

Simsboro

Hooper

Yegua

Cook Mtn / Stone City

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Wilcox

Yegua

Cook Mtn 

SpartaSand

Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Laredo

El PicoClay

Bigford

Upper 

Lower

Whitset

Manning

WelbornCaddell

Whitsett

Manning

Wellborn

Caddell Moodys Branch

Mosley Hill Danville Landing

Yazoo

Pendleton

MarthavilleHall Summit

Lime Hill

Converse

Cow Bayou

Dolet Hills

Naborton

Yegua

Cook Mtn

SpartaSand Weches

Queen City

Reklaw

Carrizo Sand

Escondido

Olmos Navarro Navarro Navarro Kemp Clay Corsicana Marl Nacatoch

Navarro Arkadelphia Nacatoch Sand Saratoga Chalk Owl Creek Ripley

Alabama

and

Georgia

Moodys Branch

Yazoo

Jackson

Lisbon

Lisbon

Tallahatta

Gosport

Hatchetigbee

Tuscahoma

NanafaliaNaheola

Porters Creek

Clayton

Ripley

Missouri

and 

Tennessee

Kentucky 

Jackson Jackson

Cockfield

Cook Mountain

Memphis Sand

Wilcox

Porters Creek

Clayton

Claiborne

Porters Creek

Clayton

Owl Creek McNairy

McNairy

Flour Island

Ft. Pillow Sand

Old Breastworks

Prairie Bluff Chalk/

Providence Sand

North American

Provincial 

Stage

Jacksonian

Claibornian

Sabinian

Midwayan

Navarroan

Selandian

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Claiborne

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Wilcox

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway

Midway

Tertiary

Series Eocene Paleocene

System Cretaceous

Wilcox Midway

Midway

Indio

Upper (part)

Explanation

disconformityuncertaininterfingeringtransitional

Group NameFormation NameMajor coal-bearing formationMinor coal-bearing formation
Valentine and Dennen, eds.—Shallow Coal Exploration Drill-Hole Data—AL, GA, KY, LA, MS, MO, NC, SC, TN and TX—Open-File Report 2011–1261

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