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The upper contact oiF the Saline Zone is marked by the Dissolution Surface <br />which represents the lowermost penetration of circulating ground water into <br />the Parachute Creek Member. The stratigraphic location of the Dissolution <br />Surface is delineated by the point at which saline minerals have not been <br />dissolved by the relatively fresh ground waters present in the overlying <br />ground water aquifer. Thus, the thickness of the Saline Zone is determined <br />by the stratigraphic location of the Dissolution Surface within the <br />Parachute Creek Member. Lateral from the area of maximum thickness of the <br />Saline Zone in the northern part of the lease area, the Dissolution Surface <br />penetrates progressively deeper into the formation, reducing the Saline Zone <br />to a zero thickness .at points outside of the lease area. <br />The formation above the Dissolution Surface is generally fractured and <br />broken. The intensity of fracturing is directly related to the quantity of <br />saline minerals that have been removed by leaching and the amount of <br />subsequent subsidence resulting from their removal. This interval above the <br />Dissolution Surface and below the Mahogany Zone is referred to as the <br />C• Leached Zone. <br />Cross-sections indicating the stratigraphy of the area have been developed <br />utilizing holes drilled within and outside of the lease area including a <br />core hole within the proposed project (Drill Hole MMC-IRI-3). These <br />structural cross-sections are generally north-south (Figure G-7) and <br />east-west (Figure G-8). The location of the holes, and their ground level <br />elevation (in feet) are shown on the respective cross-sections. <br />G.1.4 Important Nahcolite Horizons <br />Studies of nahcolite mineralization in the Saline Zone, primarily from 21 <br />core hoes located on or adjacent to the lease area (Figure G-9) have <br />indicated that 26 mappable horizons are present (Figure G-5). Many of these <br />horizons are thin, contain halite, have lateral transition from nahcolite to <br />halite, or are truncated by the Dissolution Surface. Major nahcolite <br />horizons, such as L-5A (Boies Bed), L-4D (Love Bed), R-3D (Greeno Bed), L-2A <br />• (TI Bed) of the stratiform type, and the R3-J and R3-F Beds of the <br />disseminated type are well understood due to previous exploration. General <br />G-10 <br />