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Ales, most likel~~ associated with the ori~inat ,Icon ntt ir,~ of <br />the Salle}• I,y the Ancient North Fork oE' t.hu Gnnni.~ut~ Ffi~,•i il~i~ <br />ancient scope failure comt,ie~ apps renLLy he5ins immed iatel} ra5t <br />of the present cemetery Loc :rt ion and exteudti wer.l apt~ru>.im.rtei~ I <br />mile down the valley. Rased upon our field uLSrr~atiun~ and <br />study of area topographic mapping, this ancient nlot,e failure <br />complex appears to be approx imately bounded b.' F.1 k ('re'el, t o ~ ha~ <br />east, Bear Creek to the vest and the Rollins sandstone outc•rol, <br />near Che Valley bottom (sout.hern limit) and the upper slopes :.t <br />elevations ranging from approximately 6fi00 feet to the east., <br />rapidly rising t.o 7000-7200 feet to the north and nurthwrst <br />margins. Four major ancient and eery eroded s]ope failure com- <br />plex features are tentativel~• identified. The site of this <br />proposed coal mine waste bank appears to be within the two eatit- <br /> et•n most features. <br /> Based upon our inter1~reCatiorrs of this <br /> site geomorphology and geology, the tentatively identified slope <br /> failure features are not believed t.o be the result of a single <br /> event but, a long series of progressive events, gradually in- <br /> creasing in size ati the valley bottom was lowered b}' erosion of <br /> t. tie North Fork of tFre Gunnison River. It is our int.erl~retation <br /> that when the Rollins sandst one was reached and e~enttrally <br /> breached by the erosion of the North Fot•k of the Gunnison Riper, <br /> the upper slope failures were not significantly aggravated l,~ <br /> increasing valley depth. It is believed that during the Downward <br /> erosion process, the North Fork and the unnamed dt•ainages in this <br /> area removed much of the slope failure material, deposited some <br />• coarse grained alluvial gt•avels and cobbles and set. the stae,,~ for <br /> g <br />