Abstract
Across the San Juan Basin both coal rank and heat flow suggest the past and present geothermal influence of a massive thermal source associated with the San Juan volcanic field. Maximum paleotemperature estimates are calculated for the Fruitland Formation coals across the San Juan Basin by correlating coal rank to temperature-maturation charts for the Gulf Coast region, and by considering the effects of paleoclimate, uplift, additional burial and the San Juan volcanic field heat source. Estimated maximum paleotemperatures for the Basin are generally consistent with the regional pretroleum production, oil production occurring in the cooler regions around the western, southern and eastern periphery, gas production occurring in the warmer central and northern areas. Paleotemperatures in upper Pennsylvanian rocks, in the northern and perhaps central parts of the Basin, have likely exceeded the dry gas preservation limit (150°C for Cretaceous rock in the Gulf Coast); therefore Paleozoic petroleum production in these areas is questionable.
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