Delineation of Acid Mine Drainage Potential of Coal-Bearing Strata of the Pottsville and Allegheny Groups in Western Pennsylvania

摘要

The goal of the research was to test the relationship between paleoenvironment and acid mine drainage production on a regional basis. Coal mining data from 23 counties, or approximately 225 quadrangles, were obtained from mine drainage permit records, and a computer program was written to map these data. More than 150,000 lines of water-quality data were retrieved from the STORET data base, from which contour maps and trend surface maps were constructed. A computer program was developed to compare the water-quality and coal mining data using a grid cell structure.