| Authors: |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Owners: |
|
This resource does not have an owner who is an active HydroShare user. Contact CUAHSI (help@cuahsi.org) for information on this resource. |
| Type: | Collection | |
| Storage: | The size of this collection is 1.1 KB | |
| Created: | Apr 04, 2022 at 8:04 p.m. (UTC) | |
| Last updated: | Sep 02, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. (UTC) | |
| Citation: | See how to cite this resource |
| Sharing Status: | Public |
|---|---|
| Views: | 4233 |
| Downloads: | 101 |
| +1 Votes: | Be the first one to this. |
| Comments: | No comments (yet) |
Abstract
LOCATION: Coal Creek (CC) is a high-elevation headwater tributary to the Upper Colorado Basin, located in the Ruby-Anthracite Range of the central Colorado Rocky Mountains. The CC watershed is 53 km² in area and ranges in elevation from 2,712 to 3,668 meters. Coal Creek originates near Lake Irwin and enters the Slate River near the town of Crested Butte before joining the East River and eventually the Gunnison River.
CLIMATE: The watershed is seasonally snow-covered from November through June. The average temperature is 0.9°C, and the watershed receives approximately 670 mm of precipitation each year, about 66% of which falls as snow (Carroll et al., 2018). The remaining precipitation falls primarily during the summer monsoon season from July through September. Although monsoon rains comprise nearly 40% of annual precipitation, they contribute minimally to streamflow because much of this moisture is taken up by vegetation and lost through evapotranspiration (Carroll et al., 2020).
VEGETATION: Vegetation in the basin is strongly influenced by slope aspect. North-facing aspects are dominated by evergreen forest (65%), while south-facing aspects are dominated by deciduous (9%) and herbaceous (20%) vegetation. High-elevation ridges are largely barren (3%) (Zhi et al., 2019).
HYDROLOGY: Discharge in Coal Creek is dominated by snowmelt, with average peak flow occurring in June. Flows recede throughout the summer and fall, with smaller increases associated with monsoon events. Coal Creek typically reaches baseflow conditions by early September, which persist through winter until the onset of snowmelt in April.
GEOLOGY: The lower Coal Creek watershed is underlain predominantly by sandstone of the Mesaverde Formation, with glacial till deposits occurring near the streambed. The upper watershed is underlain by mafic intrusive plutonic rock emplaced during the Middle Tertiary. Areas of the upper north slope of the watershed are underlain by mudstone of the Wasatch Formation.
Subject Keywords
Coverage
Spatial
Temporal
| Start Date: | |
|---|---|
| End Date: |
Collection Contents
| Add | Title | Type | Owners | Sharing Status | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CO - Coal Creek - Distinct Source Water Chemistry Shapes Contrasting Concentration Discharge Patterns | Resource | Eric Parrish | Public & Shareable | ||
| DWCZ - CO - Coal Creek - Stream and Spring Chemistry, Radon, and Stable Water Isotopes - 2021 - Johnson (DWCZ-CC-RadonArray-KJohnson) | Resource | Eric Parrish | Public & Shareable | ||
| DWCZ- CO - Coal-Creek, Soil sensors, SoilAuger, Soil Pits, (DWCZ-CC_Soil_LBixby)-(2020-2022) | Resource | Eric Parrish | Public & Shareable | ||
| Coal Creek -CO - Significant stream chemistry response to temperature variations in a high-elevation mountain watershed | Resource | Eric Parrish | Public & Shareable |
How to Cite
This resource is shared under the Creative Commons Attribution CC BY.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Comments
There are currently no comments
New Comment