The Appalachian Basin is one of the most important coal producing regions in the US and one of the biggest in the world. The range is mostly located in the United States but extends into southeastern Canada, forming a zone from 100 to 300 mi (160 to 480 km) wide, running from the island of Newfoundland 1,500 mi (2,400 km) south-westward to Central Alabama in the United States. Appalachian Basin bituminous coal has been mined throughout the last three centuries. Currently, the coal primarily is used within the eastern U.S. for electrical power generation, but some of it is suitable for metallurgical uses. Economically important coal beds were deposited primarily during Pennsylvanian time in a southeastward-thickening foreland basin. Coal and associated rocks form a clastic wedge that thickens from north to south, from Pennsylvania into southeast West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. The geology of the Appalachians dates back to more than 480 million years ago.
A look at rocks exposed in today's Appalachian mountains reveals elongated belts of folded and thrust faulted marine sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks and slivers of ancient ocean floor, which provides strong evidence that these rocks were deformed during plate collision
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