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• The topography of the permit area is mountainous. The area has been dissecxed by strrams <br />resulting in local relief in excess of 6,000 feet. The elevation at the Bear No. 3 Mine <br />facilities area is approximately 6,000 feet, and the elevation at Ute top of Mt. Gumison is in <br />excess of 12,000 feet. <br />Numerous landslides are present on the permit airy and throughout the North Fork of the <br />Gunnison River drainage. The landslides are caused by surFicial failure of clluvial material <br />or rotational failure of incompetent bedrock on oversteepened slopes. <br />The geologic structure of the area lacks any prominent folding or faulting. The strata dip to <br />the north-northeast at three to five degrees. Dips increase to the south as igneous intrusives <br />influence We structure. <br />A detailed geological description of the permit area is also given in the Probable Hydrologic <br />Consequences section of this document and Cumulative Hydrologic Impact Study for the <br />North Fork of the Gunnison River. <br />Hydrologic Balance -Rules 2.04.5. 2.04.7. 2.05.3. 2.05.6(3 an~05 <br />Ground Water - <br />Ground water resoumxs information for the Bear No. 1, 2, and 3 Mines is presented in <br />• Section 2.04.7 of the Bear No. 1 and 2 permit application, and Sections 2.04.7 and 4.05 of <br />the Bear No. 3 permit revision application. Additional ground water information is pn seated <br />on Map 10 (Mine Facilities Map) of the Bear No. 3 permit revision application. <br />Several potential aquifers exist in, and adjacent to, ffie permit area, including: (1) Alluvial <br />and alluvial terrace deposits associated with the North Fork of the Gunnison River and <br />Sylvester Gulch; (2) Colluvial deposits; (3) Lenticular, discontinuous sandstones and coals; <br />and (4) The Rollins Sandstone. The most significant occurrence of ground water in the <br />general area is the alluvial aquifer adjacent to the North Fork of the Gunnison River. <br />Several domestic wells are located along the river in the alluvial material. Local bedrock <br />ground water movement in the discontinuous lenticular sandstones above the Rollins <br />Sandstone is controlled by strafigraphy, faults and fractures. Ground water discharge occurs <br />through numerous seeps and springs in the area. The spring flows are generally intermittent <br />and emanate from localized, lenticular sandstones above the F-Seam of the Upper Coal <br />Member. Small seasonal springs emanate from unconsolidated clluvial material. These <br />springs flow in response to seasonal precipitation. <br />No alluvial valley floors (AVFs), as defined in Rule 1.04(10), exist within the permit area. <br />Alluvial deposits along the North Fork of the Gunnison River below the town of Somerset <br />have been found to meet the geomorphic criteria and irrigation requirements of an alluvial <br />valley floor. This area will not be affected by the operation. The facilities area at the Bear <br />No. 3 Mine is located on alluvial material adjacent to the North Fork of the Gunnison River, <br />• and this has t>eea the case since 1934. This alluvial material does not meet the criteria for <br />designation as as alluvial valley floor. <br />