. "2 Coalbed Methane Produced Water in Western U.S. Basins: Hydrogeological and Geochemical Foundations." Management and Effects of Coalbed Methane Produced Water in the United States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2010.
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Management and Effects of Coalbed Methane Produced Water in the Western United States
FIGURE 2.1 Map of western CBM basins within the six states that are the subject of this study. Only those basins with cumulative production to date greater than 40 billion cubic feet (BCF) are included in the discussion in this report. SOURCE: Adapted from EIA (2007).
brackish origin (southern reaches of the Rocky Mountains; see Figure 2.2). Because of the naturally discontinuous distribution of these wetland settings and the tectonic processes that affected buried coals during and after their formation, most of the coal deposits now in these western basins, although regionally pervasive, are also discontinuous. The coal deposits occur as seams or beds that are often distributed as discrete “lenses” or layers that pinch out, terminate, or branch (see descriptions of individual basins below). Discontinuities within these coalbeds or seams (hereafter referred to as “coalbeds”) are important in that they affect the way in which water in the coalbeds and surrounding sedimentary formations migrates and is replenished.
