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<br /> <br />CANON CITY DOLOMITE QUARRY <br /> <br />The study site at the Canon City Quarry is located three miles west <br />of Canon City in Fremont County at an elevation of 1830 m. The climate <br />and vegetation are typical of Foothills Pinyon-Juniper lifezones. Pinyon <br />pine (Pinus edulis} and Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopularum) are <br />the dominant native species. <br />Fifteen years of climatological data from the Canon City U.S. <br />4leather Bureau station has been collected. The average annual precipita- <br />tion between 1962 and 1976 was 32 cm. The average frost-free period was <br />168 days, April 28 to October 13. During the three years of this study, <br />precipitation ranged from a high of 28.4 cm in 1979 to a low of 17 cm in <br />1978 at the study site. Temperatures often exceed 38C in August and drop <br />below -18C in January. <br />Dolomite is quarried from the Fremont formation of the Ordovician <br />period. Soil analyses performed on samples of waste material showed that <br />gravel fragments greater than 2 mm accounted for 55 percent of the waste <br />material volume. The remaining 45 percent was classified as a loamy sand <br />in texture. The amount of plant-available phosphorus (2 ppm) and potassium <br />(8 ppm) was found to be low. Nitrate-N was found to be adequate (23 ppm); <br />however this does not indicate long-term N availability. The pH was 8.8, <br />and the electrical conductivity was 1.3 to 2.2 mmhos/cm. Organic matter <br />content was 0.3 percent, and lime was determined to be low to medium. The <br />complete soil analysis is contained in Appendix Table 1. <br />The current land use of the area adjacent to the quarry is wildlife <br />habitat and livestock grazing. Much of the land utilized for grazing is in <br />an eroded and deteriorated condition. <br />3 <br />