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State Reg. <br />• 2.04.5 <br />2.04.6 <br />GEOLOGIC <br />I. PHYSIOGRAPHY <br />Peabody Coal Company's Nucla Mine is located tc4o and one-half <br />miles northkest of Nucla in Montrose County, Colorado. The mine <br />is located within the Colorado Plateau Physiographic Province, <br />Canyon Land section in soutYrnest Colorado. The region is char- <br />acterized by broad, fairly smooth surfaced plateaus and mesas <br />with gently dipping slopes dissected by deep canyons. Numerous <br />large folds and rugged laccolithic mountains attribute their <br />topographic relief and steep slopes to geologic structures; <br />while local hills, drains, and canyons are erosional features <br />produced by surface drainage. <br />• In relation to regional drainage systems, the permit area is <br />located in the upper reaches of Tuttle Draw, a tributary to <br />the San Miguel River. The San Miguel River empties into the <br />Dolores River northeast of Uravan, Colorado, which in turn, <br />leaves the state northo-rest of Gateway, Colorado and empties into <br />the upper Colorado River in Utah (see Exhibit 6-1). <br />Approximately 9,870 feet of relief is present in the Nucla area, <br />from a high elevation of 9,870 feet (MSL) at the crest of the <br />Unca~ahgre Plateau to the northeast, to below 5,000 feet (MSL) <br />along the San Miguel River at Uravan. Steep slopes are common <br />on the flanks of the Uncanpahgre Plateau; whereas more gentle <br />slopes daninate in the Nucla area. Vertical drops of several <br />hundred feet are not uncommon along t':e San Miguel and Dolores <br />River canyons. <br />Surface elevations at the mine range fran a high of 5,767 feet <br />(PtiSL) in the northeast part of the permit, to a low of slightly <br />6-1 <br />