British Coalfields
The Durham Coalfield is a
coalfield in north-east
England .
[1] It is continuous with the
Northumberland Coalfield to its north. It extends from
Bishop Auckland in the south to the boundary with the county of
Northumberland along the
River Tyne in the north, beyond which is the
Northumberland Coalfield .
[2]
The two contiguous coalfield areas were often referred to as the Durham and Northumberland Coalfield(s) or as the Great Northern Coalfield .
[3]
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:
[4]
Upper Coal Measures
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 (CCS)
[5] there is renewed interest in the exploitation
[6] 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 (NEPIC).
[7]
References
^
The Durham Coalfield , Coalmining History Research Centre, archived from
the original on 19 July 2011, retrieved 5 December 2010
^ British Geological Survey 2007 Bedrock geology: UK North 1:625,000 scale geological map, BGS, Keyworth, Notts
^
"The Great Northern Coalfield: Mining Collections at Beamish Museum - Northumbria University, Newcastle UK" . Archived from
the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2010 .
^ British Geological Survey 1:50,000 scale geological map sheet no 21 (England & Wales series) Sunderland
^ Roddy, Dermot; Younger, Paul (24 February 2010). Underground coal gasification with CCS: a pathway to decarbonising industry . Energy & Environmental Science.
^ Pierce, Fred (15 February 2014).
Beyond Fracking The next energy revolution could be fired by coal (PDF) . New Scientist. Retrieved 4 November 2016 .
^ Higgins, Stan; O'Hare, Felix (27 October 2016).
"What industry needs form a UK industry strategy" . The Chemical Engineer - www.thechemicalengineer.com. Archived from
the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016 .
54°50′19″N 1°36′16″W / 54.8386°N 1.6045°W / 54.8386; -1.6045