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Absaroka-Gallatin Volcanic Mountains

Ecoregion in Rocky Mountains in WY, MT

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The high, forested, partially glaciated Absaroka-Gallatin Volcanic Mountains ecoregion has rock outcrops, volcanic mud flows, and extensive glacial drift and colluvial deposits. Ecoregion 17i is underlain primarily by pyroclastic material, Tertiary volcanic flows, and water-laid volcanics; it is lithologically distinct from the Mid-Elevation Sedimentary Mountains (17g) and Gneissic-Schistose Forested Mountains (17l). Its air-fall volcanics readily weather to clay and tend to muddy the streams of Ecoregion 17i making them more turbid than those of Ecoregion 17l. Percolation rates are high and water tables are commonly perched, especially in unglaciated areas. Storm hydrographs show considerably greater lag time between rainfall and runoff than in the Gneissic-Schistose Forested Mountains (17l). Springs and wetlands are common. Climax vegetation is mapped as subalpine fir and Douglas-fir forests; it differs from that of the higher Alpine Zone (17h). Recreation, grazing, logging, and mining are common land uses.

— EPA

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