Depositional environments of Cretaceous-Paleogene coal beds and surrounding strata within the Raton Basin of Colorado and New Mexico, USA

Abstract

The Raton Basin of Colorado and New Mexico is a Laramide foreland basin that has been important to coal geology since its first identification as a coal resource in 1821, and as a major Coal Bed Methane resource in the modern era. This study serves as an investigation into the depositional model of the Cretaceous-Paleocene Raton Formations coal deposits and their surrounding fluvial deposits, specifically by: analyzing outcrops through facies mapping and architecture analysis, performing core descriptions and interpretations, and conducting organic petrography, palynology, chemical analysis and vitrinite analysis of coals. Results reveal that the relatively extensive and laterally continuous woody coals formed in a lacustrine depositional environment during periods of preferential peat preservation in the lacustrine lifecycle.