SBCT Final EIS - Govsupport.us

Chapter 3 ⎯ Affected EnvironmentElevations in the SBMP range from about 660 feet above mean sea level (amsl) along the easternboundary to about 3,000 feet amsl on the ridgeline of the Waianae Range.Wheeler Army Airfield. WAAF is near the southern edge of the Schofield Plateau, between SBMPand the SBER. It is bounded by Waikele Stream on the south and by Wahiawa Reservoir on the north.The land is relatively flat, with a gentle southward slope over most of the installation, and elevationsrange from about 860 feet amsl near Wahiawa Reservoir, to about 790 feet amsl on the south edge ofthe plateau. Along the southern boundary of the installation, the slope breaks sharply in steep gulliesthat drain to the channel of Waikele Stream, about 80 to 100 feet below the level of the runways.Schofield Barracks East Range. SBER is on the east side of the Schofield Plateau geomorphic province,an area created by the lapping of basalt flows from the Koolau Volcano against the remnants ofthe older Waianae Volcano to the west. The eastern side of SBER lies within the Koolau Range geomorphicprovince.The southern boundary of SBER is the boundary between the Kaukonahua watershed and theWaikele watershed. The northern boundary of SBER, east of Wahiawa, corresponds to the boundarybetween the Kaukonahua watershed and the Poamoho watershed. SBER is on the leeward slope of theKoolau Range. The landscape is geologically young and undergoing rapid erosion. Streams cut deepV-shaped valleys in volcanic flow deposits that have deeply weathered in place, leaving the remnantstructure of the volcanic flows but reducing their original permeability.The upper surface of SBER slopes at an average rate of about 10 percent, dropping from an elevationof about 2,681 feet amsl on the Koolau Ridge at Puu Kaaumakua to about 850 feet amsl at Highway99. The slope increases to the east. The western third of the range slopes at about half that rate, whilethe eastern third slopes at nearly twice that rate. The terrain is very rugged; the walls of the streamvalleys in the eastern two-thirds of the range typically have slopes of 30 to more than 100 percent.South Range Acquisition Area. Most of the SRAA is south of Waikele Stream, and consists of a generallyeast-sloping upland that slopes from an elevation of about 1,200 feet amsl in the southwest toabout 850 feet amsl near WAAF on the east. The upland surface is deeply dissected by WaikeleGulch and gulches of several north-draining tributaries to Waikele Stream. The channel of WaikeleStream is more than 100 feet below the rim in some areas.GeologySchofield Barracks Main Post. SBMP is underlain by the Koolau Basalt member of the Koolau formation,which butts up against the older eroded surface of the Kamaileunu and Lualualei (lower andmiddle) members of the Waianae formation (USAG-HI 2004). The Koolau Basalt flowed in thin,nearly horizontal layers, on which soils developed and alluvial sediments were deposited betweenflows during the various eruptions of the Koolau Volcano. The Koolau basalts are overlain by recentalluvial sediments eroded from the Waianae Range, which account for the surficial deposits that covermost of the SBMP (Oki 1998).The thickness of the alluvial sediments generally increases toward the center of the Schofield Plateau.Beneath that is soil that developed in place on the surface of the Koolau basalts. This soil surface isunderlain by saprolite (basalt that has been intensely weathered in place but retains many of the featuresof the original rock), which is exposed in some stream channels and grades with depth into lessweathered basalt. Thus, relatively soft materials are found at depths of 100 to 200 feet below theground surface (Harding Lawson Associates 1992).February 2008 3–3 2/25th SBCT Final EIS