Laserfiche WebLink
deposit, and the miner is obligated to deal with <br />• the water encountered. By custom, miners adopt <br />the mining waters for use in the mine. <br />Because of the water encountered in the Green Pond <br />area, applicant anticipates little requirements of water <br />from private sources or well drillings. <br />15. Climatological Information. The permit area is arrid <br />and quite dry, having its main source of precipitation from <br />winter snow and spring runoff. Other climatological data <br />has been requested from authorities near the permit area. <br />16. Soils Resource Information. Soils in the portal areas <br />presently are a mixture of fine shale, sandstone and fine <br />rock and coal debris with little organic matter except in <br />small accumulations along the trough gulleys. Trees and <br />shrubs seem to thrive; grasses do not do well, perhaps <br />because of thin soil and lack of precipitation in recent <br />years. <br />Soils on gently dissected upland areas are for the most <br />part sandy or silty, reflecting their Cliffhouse sandstone <br />origin. Gulley slopes have small accumulations of soil <br />under clefts and on top slopes of rock debris and detritus. <br />Organic rich soils are rare in any of the areas above the <br />• gulleys. Soils in the gulley areas are more often aggregates <br />of fine shale, sandstone and some organic matter. Wedges of <br />soil up to 2 feet thick have been seen in undercut gulley <br />banks, but these are quite small. In general, where the <br />surface has not been disturbed, the material that serves for <br />soil is a weathered mixture of shale and sandstone often <br />poorly sorted and very lean in organic matter. <br />Overburden is of two types: Loose weathered rock <br />debris and pseudo soil with intermixed coal and mine waste. <br />Top soil in the portal area is thin, if present at all. <br />The surface mantel is an unsorted mixture of shale and <br />sandstone with minor amounts of organic matter. Such soils <br />as may be recoverable in excavation work will be set aside <br />and used to cover areas that will be reseeded. <br />In general, the soils are suitable to support meager <br />shrubs and tree life, but little else except sparse grasses. <br />17. Vegetation Information. On the affected lands, ever- <br />greens, brush and scrub oak appear to thrive where some <br />grasses endure. In general, vegetation is sparse, with <br />scarcity of tree seedlings probably a result of accumulations <br />of shrubs and other plants which grow or leaf close to the <br />ground. Occasional trees and clumps of grass grow on steeper <br />gulley slopes and more abundantly on north facing slopes <br />• where water is available to early summer. <br />- 10 - <br />