Geologic Mapping Studies at Buffalo National River, Northern Arkansas

Earth Surface Processes Team - Central Region

Geologic Mapping Studies at Buffalo National River, Northern Arkansas

Detailed geologic mapping is being conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in and adjacent to the Buffalo National River (figs. 1, 2), a park administered by the National Park Service, to better understand and characterize the natural resources and associated ecosystems of this area within the Ozark Plateau region. General-purpose geologic maps (fig. 3) are created to provide a framework for a host of natural resource, natural history, and public education uses. The mapping activities focus on understanding development of karst features (fig. 4) and ground water flow paths through extensive karst aquifers within Ordovician through Pennsylvanian rock strata that underlie the Buffalo River watershed.

The geologic maps provide background to understand major cave resources in the park, geologic controls on major spring locations, and recharge areas for springs, including recharge basins that extend beyond the surface watershed boundaries of the Buffalo River.

Buffalo National River, Arkansas, site map.
Figure 1. Location map.

Figure 2. Photograph of Buffalo River from river trail overlook near Steel Creek.

Figure 3. Geologic map of the Jasper Quadrangle - example of products.

Photos of karst features within the Buffalo National River Park.

Figure 4. Examples of karst features within the Buffalo National River Park. Karst is a type of topography that is formed over limestone, dolomite, or gypsum by dissolving or solution, and that is characterized by closed depressions or sinkholes, caves, and underground drainage (American Geological Institute Dictionary of Geologic Terms).

Project Activities

Conduct geologic mapping at 1:24,000 scale of quadrangles in and adjacent to the Buffalo River watershed (fig. 5). As part of geologic mapping for each quadrangle, summarize the stratigraphic succession, document structural features, and develop a structure contour map for the major aquifer unit.

Status of the geologic mapping of the Buffalo River region.
Figure 5. Status of mapping in the western part of the Buffalo River region.

Construct and compile Geographic Information System (GIS) databases of the geologic data.
Integrate geology with National Park Service karst and spring inventories and dye tracer results to investigate geologic controls on karst hydrology.
Conduct three-dimensional modeling of geologic framework (fig. 6).

3-dimensional modeling of the geologic framework.
Figure 6. Three-dimensional geology model of the western part of the Buffalo River area. View is toward the north and colors show different rock formations that are distributed across the area.

Results

The geologic mapping helps place inventories of springs and caves within the park in proper stratigraphic context. Caves and springs are present in a variety of geologic formations ranging in age from Ordovician to Pennsylvanian, but they are concentrated within the 120-m-thick, Mississippian-aged limestone of the Boone Formation. Springs (fig. 7) in the western part of the park are most frequent near the unconformable contact between the basal St. Joe Member of the Boone Formation and underlying sandstone-rich Ordovician Everton Formation. These features indicate that the Boone Formation, comprising the karstic Springfield aquifer, is the principal path for ground-water flow into the western Buffalo River watershed. New mapping documents that major springs and cave systems are localized in structural lows (fig. 8) of the Boone Formation where ground water discharges at lowest elevations within the perched Springfield aquifer. Dye-tracer studies indicated that some springs localized in structural lows have captured recharge from beyond topographic watershed boundaries (fig. 9). This interbasin flow of ground water becomes a land management concern if agricultural land use of adjacent watersheds results in transfer of nutrient-enriched ground water in the Buffalo River.


Figure 7. Springs localized in basal St. Joe Limestone Member of Boone Formation, the principal karst aquifer of the western Buffalo River region.		Figure 8. Three-dimensional model of geology showing major springs localized at base of structural low in Boone Formation.
Figure 9. Dye tracer study of Dogpatch Springs interbasin recharge area. Discharge springs are localized at corner of structural low formed by intersection of two faults. New geologic mapping in the middle part of the Buffalo River documents a transition from the Springfield aquifer to lower karstic Ordovician formations of the Salem aquifer. The largest spring in the park, Mitch Hill Spring (fig. 10), discharges from a stratigraphic level in the lowest part of the Ordovician Everton Formation above impervious argillaceous dolostone of the Powell Dolomite that is brought to the surface along the Buffalo River in a structural high. Dye tracer studies integrated with the geologic mapping are investigating probably pathways for ground water between the two aquifers.
Figure 10. Mitch Hill Spring. (Click on image for a larger view.)
New geologic mapping has recognized many new faults and folds in the region and has added information on the age and character of new and previously recognized faults. These data are revealing new insights into the ancient history of deformation in the area that was probably related to past interactions among tectonic plates in late Paleozoic time. Funding Sources Internal Karst Applied Research Studies through Geologic Mapping Project, USGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program External National Park Service Water Resources and Geologic Divisions Staff Mark R. Hudson, geologic mapping, geohydrology applications, tectonics Kenzie J. Turner, GIS applications, geologic mapping Key Collaborators Chuck Bitting, Geologist and Karst Specialist, Buffalo National River, Harrison, Arkansas Dr. Doy Zachry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas Dr. Van Brahana, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas Dr. Jeffrey Connelly, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas Angela Chandler, Arkansas Geological Survey, Little Rock, Arkansas Scott Ausbrooks, Arkansas Geological Survey, Little Rock, Arkansas Dr. Jeffrey Spooner, U.S. Geological Survey, Rolla, Missouri Publications Hudson, M.R., and Mott, D.N., 1997, Faulting and coincident interbasin ground water flow in a karst aquifer, Buffalo National River region, northwestern Arkansas: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 29, n. 6, p. 181-182. Hudson, M.R., 1998, Geologic map of parts of the Jasper, Hasty, Ponca, Gaither, and Harrison quadrangles in and adjacent to Buffalo National River, northwestern Arkansas: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-116, 1:24,000 scale with 20 p. text. Hudson, M.R., and Mott, D.N., 1998, Structural influence on springs and interbasin recharge in a karst aquifer, Buffalo National River, northwestern Arkansas, USA: Proceedings of American Institute of Hydrology/International Association of Hydrologists "Gambling with Groundwater" Conference, p. 36-37. Mott, D.N., Hudson, M.R., and Aley, T., 1998, Water resources, geologic mapping, and dye-tracings employed to develop a model of interbasin recharge, Buffalo National River: Proceedings of the Friends of Karst/International Geologic Correlation Program Conference, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky, p 26. Mott, D.N., Hudson, M.R., and Aley, T., 1999, Nutrient loads traced to interbasin groundwater transport at Buffalo National River, Arkansas, in Harmon, D., ed., Proceedings of the 10th Conference on Research and Resource Management in Parks and on Public Lands, George Wright Society, Hancock, Michigan, p. 114-121. Hudson, M.R., 2000, Multiphase late Paleozoic deformation in the western Buffalo River region of northern Arkansas: A foreland record of an evolving Ouachita orogeny: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, n. 3, p. 15. Mott, D.N., Hudson, M.R., and Aley, T., 2000, Hydrogeologic investigations reveal interbasin recharge contributes significantly to nutrient loads at Buffalo National River, Arkansas: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, n. 3, p. 36-37. Hudson, M.R., 2000, Coordinated strike-slip and normal faulting in the southern Ozark dome of northern Arkansas: Deformation in a late Paleozoic foreland: Geology, v. 28, p. 511-514. Mott, D.N., Hudson, M.R., and Aley, T., 2000, Hydrologic investigations reveal interbasin recharge contributes significantly to detrimental nutrient loads at Buffalo National River, Arkansas: Proceedings of Arkansas Water Resources Center Annual Conference MSC-284, Fayetteville, Ark., p. 13-20. Hudson, M.R., Mott, D.N., and Bitting, C.J., 2001, Geologic framework of karst features in western Buffalo National River, northern Arkansas, in Kuniansky, E.L., ed., U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Proceedings, U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 01-4011, p. 16-17. Hudson, M.R., Murray, K.E., and Pezzutti, D., 2001, Geologic map of the Jasper Quadrangle, Newton and Boone Counties, Arkansas: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2356, 1:24,000 scale. Murray, K.E., and Hudson, M.R., 2002, Three-dimensional geologic framework modeling for a karst region in the Buffalo National River, Arkansas: in Kuniansky, E.L., ed., U.S. Geological Survey Karst Interest Group Proceedings, Water-Resources Investigations Report 02-4174, p. 51-58. Hudson, M.R., 2002, Three-phase late Paleozoic deformation of the southern Ozark dome, western Buffalo River region, northern Arkansas: Geological Society of America Abstract with Programs, v. 34, n. 6, p. 79. Murray, K.E., and Hudson, M.R., 2002, Three-dimensional geologic framework modeling in the Buffalo National River, Arkansas: Geological Society of America Abstract with Programs, v. 34, n. 6, p. 120. Hudson, M.R., Mott, D.N., Murray, K.E., and Bitting, C.J., 2002, Geologic framework of karst development and groundwater flow, Buffalo National River, northern Arkansas, in Proceedings of National Park Service Water Professionals Meeting, Fort Collins, Colorado, p. 22. Hudson, M.R., and Cox, R.T., 2003, Late Paleozoic tectonics of the southern Ozark dome, in Cox, R.T., compiler, Field trip guidebook for Joint South-Central and Southeastern Sections, Geological Society of America, Tennessee Division of Geology Report of Investigations 51, p. 15-32. Hudson, M.R., 2003, The Indian Creek fault zone: a late Paleozoic oblique rift in northern Arkansas: Geological Society of America Abstract with Programs, v. 35, n. 1, p. 71. Hudson, M.R., and Murray, K.E., 2003, Geologic map of the Ponca Quadrangle, Newton, Boone, and Carroll Counties, Arkansas: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-2412, 1:24,000 scale. Hudson, M.R., and Murray, K.E., 2004, Geologic map of the Hasty Quadrangle, Boone, and Newton Counties, Arkansas: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map SIM-2847, 1:24,000 scale. Hudson, M. R., Mott, D.N., Turner, K.J., and Murray, K.E., 2005, Geologic controls on a transition between karst aquifers at Buffalo National River, northern Arkansas, in Knuiansky, E.L., editor, U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2005-5160, p. 143. Hudson, M.R., and Turner, K.J., 2006, Three-phase late Paleozoic deformation on the southern flank of the Ozark dome, northern Arkansas: Geological Society of American Abstracts with Programs, n. 6, v. 38, p. 12. Hudson, M.R., Turner, K.J., and Repetski, J.E., 2006, Geologic map of the Western Grove Quadrangle, Northwestern Arkansas: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 2921, 1:24,000 scale. Turner, K.J., Hudson, M.R., Murray, K.E., and Mott, D.N., 2007, Three-dimensional geologic framework model for a karst aquifer system, Hasty and Western Grove quadrangles, northern Arkansas: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5095, 12 p. and CD digital archive. Hudson, M.R., and Turner, K.J., 2007, Geologic map of the Boxley Quadrangle, Newton and Madison Counties, Arkansas: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 2991, 1:24,000 scale. ESP Team Research Activities \| ESP Team Home page Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices U.S. Department of the Interior \| U.S. Geological Survey URL: http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/research/buffaloriver/ Page Contact Information: ESP Web Team Page Last Modified: Thu 6-Dec-2007 9:20:50 MST