668 H. B. PATTON ^ROCK STREAMS OF VETA PEAK, COLORADO 



pears to be no appreciable difference in texture or composition or out- 

 ward appearance in different portions of the stream. A striking feature 

 is the comparative uniformity in the size of the rock fragments. In the 

 greater part of the stream there appears to be absolutely no fine material 

 such as clay or sand, but simply clean, angular fragments of rock without 

 a particle of finer cementing material. Equally noticeable is the absence 

 of very large fragments. In only one case was a rock fragment of over 

 6 feet noticed. As will be noted later, the size of the fragments may 

 vary considerably in different portions of the stream, but within certain 

 well defined sections the size is very uniform, say from 1 to 2 feet in 

 diameter. See plate 51, figure 1. On the other hand, certain portions of 

 the rock stream do contain considerable sand and clay. This is particu- 

 larly noticeable in the southern branch. Such portions are also more or 

 less covered with vegetation, whereas the parts free from fine materials 

 contain no vegetation whatever. 



SIZE AND ELEVATION 



Elevations were taken by aneroid barometer and are not perfectly 

 reliable, as no efficient check on the readings could be made. The eleva- 

 tion of the ridge of South Veta Peak at the point where the landslide 

 started is something over 11,000 feet, probably about 11,200 feet, above 

 sealevel. The bottom of the valley of South Veta Creek where it is 

 joined by the side valley in which the rock stream lies is approximately 

 8,800 feet high. The lowest point of the rock stream is some 200 feet 

 vertically above this junction of the valleys and is distant about 2,000 

 feet therefrom. The total drop, therefore, from the crest to the bottom 

 of the rock stream is 2,200 feet. The total distance traveled by the rock 

 fragments as measured between these two points is upward of one mile. 

 The rock stream proper measured from the base of the steep declivity, 

 seen in plate 48, figures 1 and 2, to the left of a, is 4,500 feet. In width 

 the two branches are each about 1,000 feet a short distance above the 

 junction. Below the junction the combined stream measures about 500 

 feet wide. The depth can not be determined, but, judging from the 

 average slope of the valley bottom below the rock stream and from such 

 measurements as could be taken, it was estimated that the depth of the 

 stream at a point some 300 feet from the lower end is not less than 130 

 feet. 



SURFACE FEATURES 



Although the surface of the rock stream shows in the main a relatively 

 uniform slope down stream, the average for the north branch being about 



