2008 ISGS Annual Report - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

sively well drained due to the sand’s texture. In contrast, thick glacial
and fluvial outwash sand and gravel classified as Batavia Member of
Henry Formation was deposited by meltwater from the ice front that
built the Bloomington Morainic System in Lee County. Outwash sand
can vary in grain size and often coexists with gravel.
The geologic significance of the Lee County map is that it shows the
distribution of eolian sand in relation to outwash sand. The sands
are not mutually exclusive at some localities because eolian sand is
generally above glacial and fluvial outwash sand in the Green River
Lowland. Classifications of eolian versus glacial and fluvial sands are
based on data from topography, parent materials of soil reported in
the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Survey, water and related
well records, and grain size. Previous differentiation of eolian and
outwash sand has been at the statewide scale, and the new county
map will provide much more detailed information. The map improves
the understanding of the distribution and use of this sand and gravel
resource and the eolian and the glacial and fluvial processes.
Completion of this new map will complete the mapping of the sand
distribution of the entire Green River Lowland (Bureau, Henry, Lee,
Rock Island, and Whiteside Counties). A similar map of Bureau
County has been completed, and the surficial geology of Henry, Rock
Island, and Whiteside Counties has been mapped by Richard Anderson,
Augustana College. Collective information from these mapping
projects will provide a clear picture of sand distribution in the Green
River Lowland.
Assessment of a Geophysical Coal
Exploration Method Completed
The final technical
report for the assessment
of a geophysical
coal exploration
method was submitted
to the Illinois
Clean Coal Institute.
The report contains
data pertaining to
coal thickness, depth
to coals, chemical
analyses of coal,
geophysical models,
and stratigraphic
correlations in Saline
County, approximately
5 miles southeast of
Harrisburg, Illinois.
Coal mine locations in the study area, approximately
5 miles southeast of Harrisburg, Illinois, in
Saline County.
The focus of the
project described in
the report was to accurately and cost effectively predict the geology
of a coal field. More geologic data generally yield a better geological
model of the coal field, and advances in geophysical methods may
provide tools to supplement the traditional methods of coal exploration.
In this study, two seismic methods, multi-channel analysis of surface
waves (MASW) and shear wave (SH-wave) analysis, were evaluated
to determine their usefulness as coal exploration tools. It was
determined that the MASW method was useful to model the relief of
the bedrock surface. Because the geophone spacing was 5 feet, the
mapping of the unconsolidated material thickness was much more
accurate than results using a typical coal exploration program. The
method was not useful in modeling below the bedrock surface due to
its poor vertical resolution and limited depth of penetration.
The project results also showed that the SH-wave survey was able to
accurately model bedrock down to 150 to 200 feet below the surface.
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Amplitude change, or the tuning effect, was useful to image the existing
thin (less than 5 feet) coal layers. The method also allowed prediction
of locations of igneous dikes, which intrude through the coal
seams in this region. Two-dimensional geologic models constructed
with this method were very useful in visualizing complex fault zones.
Illinois Coal Bed
Methane Cores Donation
BPI Energy, the major developer of coal bed methane in Illinois,
donated cores, logs, and data from their exploration efforts to the
ISGS. The cores, from approximately 12 wells from various areas
of southern Illinois, are being described by Coal Section members.
Several cores are continuous for several hundreds of feet and provide
valuable documentation of the variations of Pennsylvanian stratigraphy,
particularly coals, in the Illinois Basin.
Abandoned Mine Maps
Delivered to IDOT
Mapping of abandoned
mines has
been completed for
13 quadrangles in
Jackson, Williamson,
Franklin, Hamilton,
and White Counties.
The 7.5-minute maps
for those quadrangles,
accompanied by
directories containing
detailed information
on the mine histories
and sources of
information, have
been delivered in
both paper and digital
formats to the Illinois
Department of
Transportation, the
project sponsor, and
have been released
to the public.
One of the 2008 abandoned mine maps produced
by the Coal Section of the ISGS: Coal Mines in
Illinois, De Soto Quadrangle, Jackson, Williamson &
Franklin Counties, Illinois, Herrin Coal.
The new maps are for the Carbondale, De Soto, Gorham, Oraville,
Pomona, Christopher, Sesser, Ewing, Norris City, McLeansboro,
Thackeray, Macedonia, and Enfield Quadrangles. The maps and
directories will help government planners, developers, and private
citizens to identify areas that have been undermined.
Combustion By-Product Research
Receives Additional Funding
Illinois State Geological Survey researchers have received additional
funding from Duke Energy to conduct scale-up production test runs
for the U.S. Department of Energy coal combustion by-product
research project. The scientists also received support from Tampa
Electric Inc. and ConocoPhillips to conduct coal combustion
by-product utilization research. An invention disclosure related to
manufacturing autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) utilizing fly ash
has been filed with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Additionally, two papers, one related to power plant slag utilization
and the other related to AAC production utilizing fly ash, have been
presented to the 23rd International Conference on Solid Waste Technology
and Management, which was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
March 29 to April 2, 2008.