Spectral Unmixing Applied to Desert Soils for the - Naval ...

The soil distribution of the Canyonlands study area is depicted in Figure 13 and
includes some information on the parent material as well as the geomorphology of the
area. Overall the soil types are consistent with the nature of those of the ASD collection
sites in Mono Basin and Mazourka Canyon. Characteristics of all sites include igneous
and sedimentary soil origins (Lammers, 1991; Tallyn, 1996) with sandstone, shale,
diorite, limestone, and granite being the primary parent materials. Soils of both locations
show a history of being influenced by Aeolian, glacial, lake, and river presence with most
soils exhibiting well drained characteristics though some units are poorly drained soils
(Lammers, 1991; Tallyn, 1996). Both the Utah and California sites are used primarily for
rangeland, wildlife habitat, watershed, recreation, along with some cropland use and
urbanization (Lammers, 1991; Tallyn, 1996).
The area of collection for the Mono Basin and Owens and Death Valley areas
consisted of Panum Crater in the vicinity of Mono Lake, and Mazourka Canyon near
Independence, Ca. (Figure 14, Inset B). Figure 14, inset C shows the author getting the
spectrometer ready for collection at the Panum Crater location. The geology of Mono
Basin includes Mono Lake, the remnant of Pleistocene Lake Russell, which has twice the
salinity of the ocean (Figure 15, inset A). The most recent volcanic eruption in this area
was roughly 300 years ago with highly silicic lava types of dacite and rhyolite; obsidian
is also present in the dome (Sharp and Glazner, 1997; Tallyn, 1996). Panum Crater had
eruption events between 1325 and 1365 CE and was the youngest vent of the Mono
Craters eruptions and exhibited both pyroclastic (explosive) and phreatic (steam) type
eruptions (Bursik and Sieh, 1989; Sieh and Bursik, 1986). The ring around the dome of
the volcano is the result of a strombolian type of eruption (Sieh and Bursik, 1986; Sharp
and Glazner, 1997). Rocks underlying Panum Crater consist of the granitic and
metamorphic batholith associated with the Sierra Nevada. On top of this sits a mixture of
basaltic to rhyolitic volcanic rocks that are from 3.5 million years to less than 760,000
years of age. Also present are glacial deposits, gravel sediment, and rhyolitic glass and
pumice formed domes (Sieh and Bursik, 1986).
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