Recent detailed mapping and drilling has defined the Cretaceous coal-bearing sequence in the little-known Salt Lake field in the west-central part of New Mexico. Structurally, the Salt Lake field is simple with only a few northeast-trending faults and small-scale flexures related to the Tertiary volcanism throughout the field. The regional dip in this field is 3°-5° to the southeast. The majority of the coals in the Salt Lake field are in the Moreno Hill Formation with a few thin coals in the underlying Dakota Sandstone.

The 3 members of the Moreno Hill Formation contain 4 coal zones. The upper member has one and the lower Moreno Hill contains 3 coal zones. These 4 coal zones vary in thickness, quality, and location within the Salt Lake field. The 4 zones contain resources in excess of 400 million tons of bituminous coal. Research has shown that the variations which occur within a zone and between zones are indicative of changing depositional environments. The better quality coals within the Moreno Hill Formation are directly related to particular sedimentation sequences.

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