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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Deadhorse Creek Watershed <br />October 25, 1996 <br /> <br />Evidence of karstification can be found in the Leadville limestone <br />to the northwest in Deep Creek. There are three significant cave <br />systems, Groaning, Fixin-to-Die, and Premonition. Indian Cave is <br />located to the southwest of Deadhorse Spring on the West Fork. The <br />extent of passage at Indian is not known. The limestone supports <br />numerous springs in the East and West Forks, and in the adjacent <br />drainages along the highwall on the east side of Grizzly Creek, and <br />the north end of French Creek. <br /> <br />Four cross-sections were made to display the stratigraphic section <br />and help interpret the subsurface water flow. Exhibit 2 shows two <br />cross-sections which cross Deadhorse Creek, one at Hanging Lake and <br />a second further up stream. The location of the cross-sections is <br />shown on Exhibit 1. The bedrock units strike northeast and dip on <br />average 10'SE as shown on the cross-section drawings for the East <br />(Exhibit 3) and West (Exhibit 4) Forks. <br /> <br />DATA COLLECTION <br /> <br />A total of eleven stream discharge stations have been established <br />by the Forest Service on the East and West Forks and main Deadhorse <br />Creek. Flow data, measured in cubic feet per second (cfs), was <br />collected in May, 1996. These data reflect the water gain or loss <br />between stations as shown in the following table. <br /> <br /> EAST FORK - DEADHORSE CREEK <br />station II +/- Bedrock <br />OS 1 - DS 5A + 3.57 cfs Cd, Dc, om <br />DS 5A - OS 7 - 9.02 cfs Cs <br />DS7-DS8 + 3.77 cfs Cs, Xbg <br /> <br />In summary, a gain of 3.57 cfs was measured from OSl-DS5A over a <br />combination of limestone, dolomite, shale, sandstone, and quart- <br />zite, the Manitou (om), Chaffee (Dc), and Ootsero (Cd) formations. <br />These carbonate-rich rocks and permeable sediments do not appear to <br />be absorbing the water. A loss of 9.02 cfs occurred from Spouting <br />Rock (OS 5A) downstream to station 7. This loss occured mainly <br />over the Sawatch (Cs), an orthoquartzite. A gain of 3.77 cfs was <br />measured between stations 7 and 8, which is mainly a biotite gneiss <br />(Xbg). The gain appears to occur near the orthoquartzite-gneiss <br />contact, specifically in the arkosic-conglomerate member. The <br />water loss in the East Fork is topographically below the Grizzly <br />Creek Fault which eliminates this feature as a conduit for water <br />loss. These sections and the corresponding geology are shown on <br /> <br />3 <br />