Advances in Western Canadian Coal Geoscience: Forum Proceedings, Edmonton, Alberta, April 24-25

The Western Canadian Coal Geoscience Forum is held periodically to exchange information on recent advances in coal geosciences. The first conference of this kind was held in Edmonton in 1971. Coal in western Canada is an important natural resource with well established, growing markets. However, proper development of this resource is dependant on a thorough understanding of the geological setting of the coal deposits and of resulting coal quality. The 1989 Forum shows how government agencies, industry and academic institutions are progressing in this understanding.The papers published in these proceedings are the oral presentations of the technical program of the Forum. The authors were requested to submit camera-ready manuscripts and to have the papers reviewed by at least one colleague. The contents of the papers have been divided into four different themes, which are: 1) Geology of coal-bearing strata, 2) Geological controls on coal utilization, 3) Geological controls on coal composition, and 4) Geological techniques and models. These four themes constitute the four sessions of oral presentations given during the Forum. In addition, the abstracts of the posters presented during the conference are included in this volume.