The USGS has established a Texas mapping liaison office in Austin to help support this cooperative effort. The assessment of Texas Gulf Coastal Plain coal deposits is part of the USGS National Coal Resource Assessment, a multiyear project to identify and characterize coal beds and coal zones that will provide the bulk of the Nation's coal-derived energy during the first quarter of the 21st century. Texas ranks sixth among the States in U.S. coal production. Most of the coal mined in Texas is used as fuel for electric power-generating plants. In Texas, the USGS is working with the Bureau of Economic Geology, the Railroad Commission, and mining companies to provide high-quality, digital, georeferenced databases and geologic interpretations characterizing the coal that is expected to be mined during the next 30 years in several priority areas.
Geologic studies are underway to improve understanding of the stratigraphy of the coal-bearing beds.
Emphasis is being given to characterization of coal geochemistry, including the environmentally sensitive trace elements identified by the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. General chemical composition of samples from the Austin Chalk from an oil well, Giddings field, Tex. The USGS also is conducting a National Oil and Gas Assessment to understand the geologic reasons for, and assess the availability of, oil and gas resources in the United States. In 1995, the Assessment determined that the Austin Chalk in Texas and Louisiana is the Nation's largest onshore domestic continuous-type, unconventional oil resource. USGS scientists are studying the stratigraphy and the burial and production histories of the Austin Chalk to determine a reasonable quantitative estimate of this large domestic oil and gas resource.