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<br />41"'-. <br />~.j <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />West of the Divide the area encompassing Project features is dcained <br />by the Fryingpan River and Hunter Creek, bDth Df which are tribu- <br />taries Df the Roaring Fork River which in turn is a tributary of <br />the Colorado River. The natural topography of these drainages <br />was formed by glaciation which sculptuI:ed the I:Dck and scooped <br />out the valleys, leaving the valleys with V-shaped profiles and <br />cirques cut into high mountain peaks. Glaciation left great <br />mounds of lateral and te.rminal moraines and broad flat meadows <br />fDrmed by glacial outwash (Figure 1II-3 and Figure 1I1-4). <br />Natural climatic conditions and erosion have produced a variety <br />of features such as talus slopes, alluvial fans, and small alpine. <br />lakes, meadows, and marshes (Figure IlI-5). <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Small alpine lakes and marshes and numerous springs emerging <br />from the valley slopes below the glacial moraines are the origin <br />of the many mountain streams. During the late spring and early <br />sunnner months the streams develop from tiny rivulets emerging <br />from the rapidly melting snow which has accumula ted on the high <br />mountain peaks during the winter months. The tiny rivulets <br />combine and form streams which continue to grow as the water <br />cascades down the steep rocky slopes to the valley floors. As <br />the water reaches the valley floors, the gradients of the stream <br />channels lessen, resulting in a decline in the velocity of the <br />water which cuts a meandering channel across the broad flat <br />meadows of the valley floors. The high streamflows of late <br />spring and early sunmer overtop the streambanks and flush out <br />over the meadows providing them with natural irrigation. <br />During midsummer the streamflows recede into the clean eroded <br />channels left by the high flows and stabilize near the base <br />flows for the remainder of the year. <br /> <br />East of the Continental Divide the area encornpassine Prn~~Q <br />tlln::>.;:. ;f d~rtansas .H.iver and its tributarie.s. The <br />mountainous terrain is similar to that of the west slope-as it <br />too was subjected to repeated glaciation; however, the evidence <br />of glaciation is not nearly so prominent. Moisture deficiency <br />has prevented extensive development of secondary drainages with <br />many tributaries similar to thDse of the western slope. The <br />drainages of the eastern slope mountainous area are small and <br />contain small streams that are direct tributaries of the <br />Arkansas River and do not have tributary networks of their own~ <br />also known as first order streams. <br /> <br />Glaciation of the east flank of the Sawatch Range scooped out <br />the valleys leaving them with U-shaped profiles. It also left <br />large mounds of 1a teral rnoL~aines, smaller terminal moraines, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />IIl-6 <br />