FLOOD00810 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

section of the Great Plains Province the river flows over shales, s nd- stones and limestones of the Pierre, Niobr~ra, Benton, Dakota and Purgatoire formations of the Cretaceous Period, ana. the Morrison fo ma- tion of the Jurassic Period. About 7 miles upstream from the mouth of the Cuchara River, a regional fault CrQSS6S the Ruerfano, but this fault is in a static condition. At the confluence ,of the Cuchara and Huerfano Rivers about 5 miles southeast of Cedarwood, Colorado, the river crosses the Apishapa uplift and has cut through the Dakota an Purgatoire formations into the Morrison formation of the Jurassic Period. The Dakota and Purgatoire formations are largely resistant sandstone, and as a consequence the river has cut steep-walled cany ns where they are encountered. The Pierre, Niobrara, and Benton forma ions consist largely of shales in which the river has formed a wide, flat valley extending from the lower end of the canyon section to its co fluence with the A~k~ansas River. 8. Descriutten - Climate. - The Huer~ano River lies in asemia id region. Climatic conditions vary considerably within the basin, pri ci- pally because of the great differences in topography. Temperatures vary considerably between the summer and" winter months, the maximum recorded at Huerfane (near) being 105 degrees above zero in July, wh Ie the minimum at the same place was 42 degrees below zero in December. Owing to the variations in topography and to the insufficient number of weather stations within the basin, any attempt to present average values for climatic factors of the basin as a whole would be mislead ng. Consequently, mean values were computed for individual weather stati ns to indicate conditions in the immediate vicinity of these stations. Generally the summers are warm and the winters moderate with occasio a1 cold waves of short duration. Additional i~formation on temperature , wind velocities and humidity are given in Appendix B. - 6 -