Tectonic and Structural Setting

 

The Cherokee Basin, located in southeastern Kansas, is the northernmost extent of the Arkoma foreland basin. This province formed in response to the convergent Ouachita orogeny during Early Pennsylvanian time. The Cherokee basin is bounded by the Nemaha Uplift to the west, the Bourbon Arch to the north, and the Ozark Dome to the east.
Adjustment to tectonic influences within the basin resulted in vertical displacement of basement fault blocks along an orthogonal set of faults, trending northeast-southwest and northwest-southeast. Basement features are translated upward through the stratigraphic section and are expressed by antiformal structures in the Phanerozoic sedimentary cover. Stratigraphic evidence suggests that movement along these faults took place throughout Pennsylvanian and into the Permian time.

 

Tectonic and structural activities play not only an important role in the development, accumulation, and preservation of coal-forming peat, but also affect development and orientation of cleats in coals. The understanding of both past and current stress regimes is important for predicting the extent and orientation of cleats.