Laserfiche WebLink
l lah BLM11 Stone ('abin 31) Seismic Sut~cy [environmental Assessment Page I of 17 <br />CHAPTER 3 -AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES <br />3.1 INTRODUCTION <br />The proposed protect is located in northeastern Carbon County. Utah, on the West Tavaputs Plateau, and would <br />include portions of T12S, Rt4 tot 7E and T13S, R15 to t 7E Due to the high elevation of the Protect Area, Iho <br />predominant yearly moisture is rn the form of snow. During the summer months, short-duration, high intensity <br />thunderstorms are common. Average annual precipitation ranges from t 0 inches rn the lower elevations to 20 <br />inches In the higher elevations Elevations rn the Project Area range from approximately 5,000 lest in the canyon <br />bottoms to 8,200 feet on the Plateau. <br />Vegetative cover wiUtht the area is mostly comprised of pinyon pine and {uniper but there are areas of aspen, <br />p;ne, Gr, and openings of upland grasslsagebrush, poop ruyged canyons drwde the Project Area The majority of <br />the area drams northeasterly to Nlno Mile Creek, wdh a lesser portion of the drainage flowiny east In Jack Creek <br />to the Green River Riparian areas exist along Nino Mile Creek and typically along the bottoms of the ma{or <br />canyons draining into Nine Mile Creek and the Groen Rwer Riparian areas of the tributary canyon bottoms are <br />distributed along the canyon bottoms within 330 foot of the drainage channels in the Prolecl Aroa The Project <br />Area is primarily used for livestock graziny. wildlife habdat. wild horse habitat, recreation/hunting, and Col and gas <br />production. There are four hydrocarbon units in this area Prickly Pear, Jack Canyon, Peters Point and Nine Mile <br />This area is primarily under Iho jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, Price Field Office. Surface <br />Ownership rs approximately 9U percent federal. 8 percent state, and 2 percent private. <br />Tha southeastern portion of the Project Aroa Iles within the Jack Canyon and Desolation Canyon WSAs (Figure 1- <br />1). There are other lands in the Prolecl Area that were lound to have wilderness charactenshcs in the 1999 Utah <br />wilderness re-inventory and are contiguous to the WSAs (BLM 1989). <br />WSAs are managed rn a manner so a5 not to impair lhe~r sudabllity for preservation as wilderness. Lands outside <br />existing WSAs found to have wilderness characteristics in the 1999 wilderness re•inventory are managed <br />acrord~ng to existntg land use plans. <br />3.2 RESOURCES POTENTIALLY AFFECTED <br />3.2.1 Geology, Minerals, 8 Geahazards <br />3,2,1.1 Affected Environment <br />The Slone Cabin 3D Seismic Survey Prolecl Area ~s located on the West Tavaputs Plateau northeast and above <br />the Roan Cliffs m eastern Carbon County, approximately 45 miles from the community of Price. Utah. The Roan <br />Chfis are a northwest to southeast trending. south-lacing, sutuous escarpment that defines part of the southern <br />flank of the Uinta Basin (Weiss et al 1990). The Uinta Basin is a structural and topographic basin containing a <br />thick suceession of lower Tertiary lacustrine and fluvial sediments. In the Project Area. the sedimentary beds dip <br />gently to the north. Beds exposed rn the Protect Area are the upper and middle members of the Green Rwer <br />Formation and the underlying Colton Formation. Lithologies of the Green River Formation are marlstone, <br />mudstone, limestone, silistone, Sandstone, and shale that alternate irregularly Many thin beds of oil shale are <br />present m the lower section of the upper member. Lithologies of the underty~ng Collor Formation are nuttistone <br />and shaly sdtstone interlayered with thin sandstone layers- The raised West Tavaputs Plateau is underlain and <br />held up by These geologic unils- <br />Sr$1?llll(r <br />htgt:!'wt~ w.ut.l+lm.gov.'stonccabin; GA chapter3a.hlm <br />