This report provides a data base for decisions about lignite mining and reclamation in the Wilcox Group of East Texas. Kaiser (1974, 1978) estimates that about 12.2 billion short tons of potentially strip-minable lignite resources occur in East and South Texas.

Mapping based on Landsat imagery was initiated along the Texas coast for four test sites selected for contrasting vegetation, environmental geology, and levels of economic development. Standard Landsat transparencies of part of a 1:1,000,000 band 7 image were optically enlarged to fit an existing 1:125,000 map base.

Approximately 800 sediment samples from stream beds and bay bottoms of water bodies that compose the Matagorda Bay system were collected and analyzed. Shell-sand-mud ratios and total organic carbon content were determined, and 20 trace elements were detected.