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Investigative Methods for Controlling Groundwater Flow to Underground Mine Workings
The somewhat drier sites border these areas slightly upslope (figure 3). These sites are bordered upslope by upland forests dominated by lodgepole pine growing on coarse glacial till or colluvium (map unit 3U). Farther west (lower in elevation), the parks are dominated by the very wet map unit. Characteristic soils on the wettest portions of the large parks are Histic Cryaquolls, Typic Cryaquolls, Cryohemists, and Cryofibrists (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Survey Staff 1999). Soils are saturated above the 12-inch depth throughout the year in most years. Dominant plant associations are water sedge, wolf willow/water sedge, and tufted hairgrass (Hansen and others 1995). Characteristic soils on the somewhat drier portions of these large parks are Cumulic Cryaquolls, Aquic Argicryolls, and Aquic Haplocryolls. Soils are saturated to the surface during snowmelt and the early part of the growing season. The depth to saturation drops to 20 to 35 inches at the end of the growing season. The dominant plant association is tufted hairgrass.
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| Figure 3—Map unit 2H: A meadow in extremely bouldery glacial till, seasonally saturated in the upper 12 inches of soil which has a thick, dark mineral surface. The plant community is dominated by tufted hairgrass and American bistort. |
Very wet Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir areas are associated with coarse stream alluvium and glacial till (figure 4). Dominant soils are Histic Cryaquepts, Typic Cryaquepts, and Typic Cryaquolls. The depth to saturated soils is to 18 inches throughout the year in most years.
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| Figure 4—Map unit 1F: A wet slump deposit at the base of a steep glacial moraine. The soil has 17 inches of saturated hemic (partially decomposed) organic material at the surface. The plant community is mainly Holm’s Rocky Mountain sedge, Engelmann spruce, and Jeffrey’s shooting star. |
Characteristic plant associations are Engelmann spruce/Holm’s Rocky Mountain sedge (an undescribed type), subalpine fir/Labrador tea-bluejoint reedgrass, and Engelmann spruce/bluejoint reedgrass. Slightly drier forested areas form transi-tion zones between these wet forests and the dry upland forests (figure 5).
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| Figure 5—Map unit 2F: Foreground is a moderately wet inclusion (too small to map as a separate unit) dominated by common camas, tufted hairgrass, and American bistort. The forested background is the major part of the map unit, dominated by Engelmann spruce, subalpine fir, arrowleaf groundsel, and Labrador tea. |
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