Methods for Creation of KIG Website Karst Map
by Bradley D. Garner, USGS
The national karst map shown on this website was created using a variety of previously published spatial data (Table 1). Aquifer delineations ("features") mostly were obtained from Tobin and Weary (2004). However, because Tobin and Weary is an engineerng map, it does not necessarily convey hydrologic boundaries accurately. Therefore, U.S. Geological Survey (2003) was used as a guide in selecting the appropriate feature subset from the Tobin and Weary data. The delineation between the Edwards aquifer and Trinity aquifer features was chosen using professional judgment, as this distinction was not made within the available data. In three cases, preliminary data from the USGS National Karst Map project (Doctor, unpublished data) was used as an improved source for features.
Additional data sources for features were considered but were not used. Cederstrand (1996) conveys only surficial geology, and only for a subset of the extent of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. Ludington and others (2005) was found to have been integrated into other datasets that were used. Weary (2008) is a highly detailed, hydrologicly oriented dataset for the eastern United States Appalachain province, and might be used on this map in the future.
| Aquifer Feature | Source |
|---|---|
| Pacific Northwest | Doctor, unpub. data |
| Basin and Range | Doctor, unpub. data |
| Colorado Plateau | Doctor, unpub. data |
| Roswell | Tobin and Weary, 2004 |
| Madison | Tobin and Weary, 2004 |
| Edwards Trinity | adapted from Tobin and Weary, 2004 |
| Edwards Balcones Fault Zone | adapted from Tobin and Weary, 2004 |
| Arbuckle-Simpson | Tobin and Weary, 2004 |
| Ozark | Tobin and Weary, 2004 |
| Midwest | Tobin and Weary, 2004 |
| Floridan and Biscayne | Tobin and Weary, 2004 |
| Valley and Ridge | Tobin and Weary, 2004 |
| New England | Tobin and Weary, 2004 |
References
- Cederstrand, J.R., 1996, Digitized geology of Ardmore and Sherman quadrangles, south-central Oklahoma: available online at http://ok.water.usgs.gov/arbsimp/.
- Doctor, D.H., unpublished data, Preliminary national karst map: information available at http://geology.er.usgs.gov/eespteam/Karst/tasks/karstmap/karstmap.html
- Ludington, Steve, Moring, B.C., Miller, R.J., Flynn, Kathryn; Hopkins, M.J., Stone, Paul, Bedford, D.R., and Haxel, G.A., 2005, Preliminary integrated geologic map databases for the United States - western states: California, Nevada, Arizona, and Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1305.
- Tobin, B.D., and Weary, D.J., 2004, Digital engineering aspects of karst map: a GIS version of Davies, W.E., Simpson, J.H., Ohlmacher, G.C., Kirk, W.S., and Newton, E.G., 1984, Engineering aspects of Karst: U.S. Geological Survey, National Atlas of the United States of America, Scale 1:7,500,000: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2004-1352.
- U.S. Geological Survey, 2003, Principal aquifers of the 48 conterminous United States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands: U.S. Geological Survey, Madison, WI, USA, available online at http://nationalatlas.gov/mld/aquifrp.html.
- Weary, D.J., 2008, Preliminary map of potentially karstic carbonate rocks in the central and southern Appalachian states: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2008-1154.
