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<br />. t.~'; :... '--; .,.'10... I . <br /> <br />the fact that the remains were mined, and further broken-up and disarticulated, I (Curator <br />of Paleontology) don't believe much further paleontological work can be conducted at <br />this locality: <br /> <br />Minerals <br /> <br />The BLM holds a 25,070-acre withdrawal on lands within the Gunnison Gorge (23,791 <br />acres Federal surface/Federal minerals; 1,279 acres private surface/Federal minerals). <br />This withdrawal segregates the lands from operation of the general mining laws. That is, <br />no locatable mineral developments are permitted on these lands. <br /> <br />Energy and mineral resources that may occur in the study area include coal, precious and <br />base metals, clays, and sand and gravel. The Grand Mesa, Paonia-Somerset, and <br />Tongue Mesa coal iields are adjacent to this area. Precious metals may occur as placers <br />near Cedar Flats. Sand and gravel occurs along the Gunnison River and its tributaries, <br /> <br />The Gunnison Gorge WSA, which is included in Alternatives 1 and 2 for expanding the <br />monument boundary, contains no known mineral deposits, with only a few mineralized <br />areas. United States Geologic Survey Bulletin 1715, addressing the mineral resource <br />values of the study area states there are subeconomic resources of gypsum in the <br />Wanakah formation and coal in the Dakota sandstone. The entire area has low mineral <br />and energy resource potential for copper, gold, lead, zinc, silver, uranium, and <br />geothermal. There is no potential for oil and gas. <br /> <br />Soils <br /> <br />The study area includes stony loam Torriorthent soils of variable depth and sandstone <br />rock outcrop along the steep canyon sideslopes. The more gentle slopes above the <br />canyon have shallow, loamy Kech and Lazear and moderately deep, loamy Progresso <br />soils along with sandstone rock outcrop. The adobe hills west of the gorge are <br />composed of bare Mancos shale outcrop and shallow, silty clay loam soils on the hilis <br />with deep alluvial, silty clay loam soils in the drainages. Most of the soils in the adobes <br />are highly saline. Natural erosion rates are high for most of the soils in the area due to <br />steep slopes and sparse vegetation cover. <br /> <br />Water Resources <br /> <br />The Gunnison River, which is the most prominent water resource in the study area, is a <br />tributary of the Colorado River, which it joins near Grand Junction, Colorado. The Bureau <br />of Reclamation (BOR) administers a series of dams and reservoirs upstream of the <br />Gunnison Gorge, BOR tries to maintain a minimum flow of 300 cubic feet per second <br />(cfs) through the Gunnison Gorge, During both the summers of 1983 and 1984, flows <br />approached 10,000 cfs through the Gunnison Gorge due to higher than normal spring- <br />summer runoff, <br /> <br />A portion of the current stream flows in the Smith Fork and Crystal Creek (Red Canyon) <br />are diverted for irrigation purposes, Springs within the study area are fairly rare, and <br /> <br />10 <br />