PHOTO PATTERN DATA ELEMENTS: CONTINENTAL PLAIN
The Great Plains- The High Plains sections, a long broad syncline uninterrupted by
uplifts, is located on the eastern edge of the Southern Rockies; it is a rolling plain (basin)
consisting of sediments from the eastward flowing streams exiting the Front Range.
There uplands have irregular surfaces subject to strong wind erosion. “Dust Bowls”,
circular forms occur in scattered location. (Semi-arid)
Form
Upland, a very flat plain with many shallow depressions.
Drainage
Young streams meander across without developing
significant patterns in granular materials.
Gully Characteristics
Saucer-shaped where developed inland, but at valley walls
U-shaped gullies predominate.
Special Features
Buffalo wallows.
Color (Photo Gray
Light to medium gray tones, except dark in poorly-drained
Tones)
areas where moisture can collect such as in buffalo wallows.
Land Use
Farming, alternate field patterns.
Vegetation
Grassy plains.
Source: Terrain analysis procedural guide for surface configuration, US Army engineer
topographic laboratories, p. 7-31