The Cahaba Basin is a geologic area of central

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

developed for

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

and

coalbed methane Coalbed methane (CBM or coal-bed methane), coalbed gas, coal seam gas (CSG), or coal-mine methane (CMM) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, Au ...

(CBM) production. Centered in eastern

Bibb Bibb may refer to: Places in the United States * Bibb County, Alabama * Fort Bibb, Alabama, constructed in 1818 * Bibb City, Georgia, in Muscogee County * Bibb County, Georgia People * Bibb (surname) * Bibb (given name) Ships * , a Revenue Mari ...

and southwestern Shelby Counties, the basin is significantly smaller in area and production than the larger

Black Warrior Basin The Black Warrior Basin is a geologic sedimentary basin of western Alabama and northern Mississippi in the United States. It is named for the Black Warrior River and is developed for coal and coalbed methane production, as well as for convention ...

in Tuscaloosa and western Jefferson Counties to the northwest. The coalbed methane is produced from the Gurnee Field of the Pottsville Coal Interval. Coalbed gas production has been continuous since at least 1990 and annual gas production has increased from 344,875 Mcf in 1990 to 3,154, 554 Mcf through October 2007.

Geology

The Cahaba Basin is located across an

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the ...

from the neighboring

. Within the Cahaba Basin, the Pennsylvanian age

coal bed Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

s have an average bed thickness of .http://www.geometinc.com/ir/documents/bofaenergyconfnov07.pdf; GeoMet, Inc.; Bank of America 2007 Energy Conference, November 16, 2007 The developed formations are known as the Gurnee Field of the Pottsville Formation.

Development

The coal resources of the Cahaba Basin have been developed for over a century and contributed to the Birmingham area's rise as an iron and

steel production Steelmaking is the process of producing steel from iron ore and carbon/or scrap. In steelmaking, impurities such as nitrogen, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and excess carbon (the most important impurity) are removed from the sourced iron, and ...

center. Numerous small coal mines continue to operate in the basin. Several CBM developers operate within the Cahaba Basin with GeoMet, Inc. and CDX Gas being two of the largest. The field has been developed for CBM since the 1980s. GeoMet, Inc. and CDX both operate pipelines which join the SONAT Bessemer Calera Pipeline and

Enbridge Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. ...

Pipeline respectively. GeoMet, Inc. operates a discharge water pipeline to the

Black Warrior River The Black Warrior River is a waterway in west-central Alabama in the southeastern United States. The river rises in the extreme southern edges of the Appalachian Highlands and flows 178 miles (286 km) to the Tombigbee River, of which the Bl ...

References

External links

Geological Survey of Alabama; Alabama State Oil and Gas Board
Coalbed Methane Association of Alabama; non-profit trade association
CDX Gas – a significant Cahaba Basin CBM developerGeoMet, Inc. - a significant Cahaba Basin CBM developer
{{Alabama Geography of Bibb County, Alabama Geography of Shelby County, Alabama Methane Coal mining regions in the United States Mining in Alabama