alpine area of the range. It is separated from the Hellroaring 

 Plateau on the west and north by the deep valley of Rock Creek. 

 The Line Creek Plateau falls off sharply on the east side into 

 the valley of the Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River. The 

 east face is formed of the same metamorphic basement rock and a 

 steep ridge of vertically tilted Paleozoic Madison limestone (Alt 

 and Hyndman 1986) . The limestone weathers to form calcareous 

 soils very different from the coarse-textured soil derived from 

 the predominant crystalline parent material. The highest portion 

 of the Line Creek Plateau occurs in Wyoming, south of the study 

 area and is bounded by the canyon of Littlerock Creek. 



The surface of the Line Creek Plateau is gently arched but 

 relatively level. Massive faulting and glacial action has 

 created very steep sides that fall precipitously 2,000-3,000 ft 

 to the Rock Creek Valley on the north and more gentle foothills 

 on the east. Elevations range from 10,427 ft at the west end of 

 the study area adjacent to the wilderness to ca . 5,700 ft at the 

 southeast corner of the study area. 



Permafrost, permanently frozen soil, has been reported from 

 the Beartooth Mountains of Montana and Wyoming (Johnson and 

 Billings 1962, Alt and Hyndman 1986). This typically arctic 

 feature results in permanently saturated soils that have a 

 tendency to slump. It seems unlikely that there is any 

 permafrost on the Line Creek Plateau at this time, but it may 

 have played a roll in forming the level plateau landscape that 

 exists today (Alt and Hyndman 1986) . Solifluction terraces, 

 slowly moving wet slumping soil, can be found on the Line Creek 

 Plateau, usually on steeper north slopes. Frost boils, stone 

 nets and stone stripes are also common in the Beartooth 

 Mountains. These features are caused by the action of frost 

 heaving and do occur on the Line Creek Plateau; however, they are 

 more common in the wetter and higher areas of the range. Johnson 

 and Billings (1962) provide a thorough description of these soil 

 features from near the Line Creek Plateau. 



Soils 



Soil surveys have not been conducted in the study area. 

 Throughout most of the area soils are derived from hard coarse- 

 grained metamorphic rocks. Typical soils of various landforms in 

 the Beartooth Mountains have been described by Veseth and 

 Montagne (1980) : 



Loamy skeletal, mixed Dystric Cryochrepts develop in coarse 

 residium on moderately sloping to steep, glacially scoured ridges 

 at elevations above 8,000 ft. Soils are well-drained with 20-30% 

 boulders and 25-35% gravel and cobbles. Soils have base 

 saturations of less than 60% and generally support the Abies 

 lasiocarpa / Vaccinium scoparium habitat type. 



