3D Fault Architecture and Coal-Seam Continuity in the Central Sub-basin, Mae Moh Basin, Northern Thailand
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Abstract
The Mae Moh Basin hosts Thailand’s largest lignite mine, where planned underground development requires an accurate understanding of fault geometry and coal-seam continuity. This study integrates a newly acquired high-resolution, depth-domain 3D seismic dataset covering approximately 9.6 km² with borehole data to construct a mine-focused 3D structural model of the Central Sub-basin. The Red Bed, K, Q, and R horizons were interpreted together with fault surfaces to characterize fault orientation, linkage, vertical extent, dip variation, and their effects on the coal-bearing succession. The interpreted network is dominated by N–S- to NW–SE-striking normal faults. Short, discontinuous fault segments at shallow levels commonly link downward into larger composite surfaces. Major faults exhibit listric geometries, with steep upper segments progressively flattening below the principal coal seams. Fault density and displacement generally increase with depth, resulting in greater structural compartmentalization of the R seam than of the shallower K and Q seams. The K and Q seams remain laterally continuous across much of the survey but are locally offset, deformed, or omitted near major fault zones. In the eastern part of the study area, the no-coal area is associated with linked east-dipping listric faults that structurally omit and juxtapose parts of the coal-bearing succession. The resulting 3D fault model improves the delineation of fault-bounded coal blocks and provides a geological framework for coal-reserve estimation, underground mine planning, targeted drilling, and assessment of fault-related geological uncertainty.
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Copyright © 2008 Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University. Parts of an article can be photocopied or reproduced without prior written permission from the author(s), but due acknowledgments should be stated or cited accordingly.
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