A Two-Year Record of Eolian Sedimentation in the Wind River Range, Wyoming, U.S.A.

Abstract

Eolian sediment collected at three locations in the Wind River Range at seven seasonal intervals from December 1988 to October 1990 were used as a baseline from which to estimate the effects of eolian sedimentation in this region. Dust was collected from snow- and rain-catch instruments installed by the U.S. Forest Service at Hobbs Lake, Lester Pass, and Black Joe Lake. These data show that dust influx rates varied from 0.23 to 31.0 × 10⁻⁷g cm⁻² d⁻¹ during the sampling period. The highest sedimentation rates occur during the late summer from July through September and the lowest rates occur during the winter. High influx rates during the summer months apparently reflect the dry, snow-free conditions in the adjacent Green River Basin, from which much of the eolian sediment originates. Accumulations of dust that originates outside the Wind River Range may affect the ability of soils and sediments of the range to buffer increases in SO₄ and NO, deposition.