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This report presents field and laboratory methodology used in the study as well as: <br />• A soil map delineating soil mapping units <br />• Map unit descriptions <br />• Taxonomic unit descriptions <br />• Chemical and physical data <br />• Recommended topsoil salvage depths for each soil series and soil mapping unit <br />• Prime farmland assessment <br />3. General Nature of the Area <br />The New Horizon Mine soil study area is located within the Colorado Plateau Physiographic <br />Province, Canyon Land Section, in southwest Colorado. It is within USDA Major Land Resource <br />Area 35, Colorado and Green Rivers Plateau (USDA -SCS, 1978). Average elevation is about <br />5,700 feet. <br />4. Climate <br />The New Horizon Mine soil study area is located in an "ustic-aridic" soil moisture regime and a <br />"mesic" soil temperature regime (Hawn, 1987). <br />The mean annual precipitation ranges from 10 to 14 inches. Were it not for the presence of <br />irrigation water throughout most of the study area, the soils would have soil moisture deficits <br />during the growing season as a result of the quantity and distribution of precipitation. Periods of <br />peak precipitation occur in the spring and early summer months. <br />Mean annual air temperature is about 46 to 48 degrees F. The average frost -free period is about <br />130 days. Additional climatological data is contained in Section 2.04.8 of this permit application. <br />5. Geology <br />A detailed discussion of the New Horizon geology is presented in Section 2.04.6 of this <br />application. Appropriate sections are summarized in the following text. The Nucla Syncline (San <br />Miguel Syncline) is a northwest trending geologic structure which contains the coal reserves <br />of the study area. This shallow, broad syncline is a simple fold with gently dipping flanks. <br />The Cretaceous -age Dakota Sandstone is the youngest formation found in the study area, with <br />the exception of Quaternary deposits. The overlying upper Cretaceous Mancos shale (a soft, <br />homogeneous, dark -gray fissile rock) is not found in the study area. The Dakota consists <br />primarily of resistant yellowish to gray, fissile sandstone, and conglomeratic sandstones <br />January 2016 (TR -70) 2.04.9-2 <br />