The Durham Coalfield is a

coalfield A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological. A coalfield often groups the seams of ...

in north-east

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is continuous with the Northumberland Coalfield to its north. It extends from

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surr ...

in the south to the boundary with the county of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

along the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Wat ...

in the north, beyond which is the Northumberland Coalfield. The two contiguous coalfield areas were often referred to as the Durham and Northumberland Coalfield(s) or as the Great Northern Coalfield.

Geology

: ''See also Geology of County Durham'' The following coal seams are recorded from the Durham coalfield. They are listed here in stratigraphic order with the youngest at the top and the oldest/deepest at the bottom: Upper Coal Measures :* Hylton Castle Middle Coal Measures :* Dean :* Hebburn Fell :* Usworth :* Ryhope Five-Quarter :* Ryhope Little :* High Main :* Metal :* Five-Quarter :* Main :* Maudlin :* Durham Low Main :* Brass Thill :* Hutton Lower Coal Measures :* Harvey :* Tilley :* Busty :* Three-Quarter :* Brockwell :* Victoria :* Marshall Green :* Ganister Clay

Future developments

With the development of modern technology to produce energy and capture carbon dioxide by

carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) or carbon capture and sequestration is the process of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) before it enters the atmosphere, transporting it, and storing it (carbon sequestration) for centuries or millennia. Usually th ...

(CCS) there is renewed interest in the exploitation of the Durham Coalfield reserves by underground coal gasification. This is of strategic importance to local energy intensive industry such as the commodity chemical and steel members of the

Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster The North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) is an economic cluster created following the industrial cluster ideas and strategy of Michael Porter. This Process Industry Cluster has been created by the chemistry using industries ...

(NEPIC).

References

Coal mining regions in England Geography of County Durham Mining in County Durham {{mining-stub