A strong case can be made that foreland basins are where the casual links between sedimentation and tectonic events were first recognized, as evidenced by the interpretations of geologists working in classic foreland areas. This Special Publication was derived from a Research Symposium entitled "Stratigraphic Sequences in Foreland Basins" held at the AAPG-SEPM joint annual meeting on June, 1992, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This volume provides a well-balanced perspective of current research on foreland basin stratigraphy and also serves as another element in the evolving framework that comprises our understanding of foreland basins. Given that so many of earth's resources are found in foreland basins and that foreland basin strata often provide the only preserved record of the tectonic events that led to basin development, the impetus for continued studies of foreland basin strata should remain for many generations of geologists to come.

Coalbed gas has been considered a hazard since the early 19th century when the first mine gas explosions occurred in the United States in 1810 and France in 1845. In eastern Australia methane-related mine disasters occurred late in the 19th century with hundreds of lives lost in New South Wales, and as recently as 1995 in Queensland's Bowen Basin. Ventilation and gas drainage technologies are now in practice. However, coalbed methane recently is becoming more recognized as a potential source of energy; rather than emitting this gas to the atmosphere during drainage of gassy mines it can be captured and utilized. Both economic and environmental concerns have sparked this impetus to capture coalbed methane. The number of methane utilization projects has increased in the United States in recent years as a result, to a large extent, of development in technology in methane recovery from coal seams. Between 1994 and 1997, the number of mines in Alabama, Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia recovering and utilizing methane increased from 1 0 to 17. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that close to 49 billion cubic feet (Bet) of methane was recovered in 1996, meaning that this amount was not released into the atmosphere. It is estimated that in the same year total emissions of methane equaled 45. 7 Bcf. Other coal mines are being investigated at present, many ofwhich appear to be promising for the development of cost-effective gas recovery.

The 'sedimentary cover' refers to the stratified rocks of youngest Proterozoic and Phanerozoic age that rest upon the largely crystalline basement rocks of the continental interior. This volume presents data and interpretations of the geophysics of the craton and summarizes the craton's tectonic evolution. It also presents the stratigraphy, structural history, and economic geology of specific sedimentary basins (e.g. Appalachian basin) and regions (e.g. Rocky Mountains). It concludes with a discussion of the currently popular theories of cratonal tectonics, & unresolved questions are identified.