Keywords
Theme:
karst, caves, sinkhole, collapse, carbonate
Place:
United States, Appalachians, Coastal Plain, Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, Appalachian Plateaus, Adirondacks, St. Lawrence Valley, Central Lowlands, Interior Low Plateaus, Mississippi Alluvial Plain
Description
Abstract
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI), the National Speleological Society (NSS), and various State geological surveys is working on a new national karst map that will delineate areas of karst and karst-like features nationwide. This product attempts to identify potentially karstic areas of the Appalachian states as defined by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), with the addition of the state of Delaware. This map is labeled preliminary because there is an expectation that it will be revised and updated as part of a new national, karst map. The ARC is a federal-state partnership that works with the people of Appalachia to create opportunities for self-sustaining economic development and improved quality of life. Its area is based on the location of counties in the Appalachian highlands and some socio-economically similar adjacent counties.
Purpose
This product is intended to broadly delineate areas likely to contain karst features of any type, but primarily caves and sinkholes. Since this map displays data at a regional scale for a future depiction of karst areas at a national scale, it does not contain discrete karst features such as caves, sinkholes, and springs. Therefore, this dataset should not be used for site-specific research, but rather as an indicator that karst features may occur in, but not be limited to, certain areas.
Links to graphics describing the data
_________________
Status of the data
Complete
Data update frequency:
As needed
Time period for which the data is relevant
Date and time:
April 2008
Description:
publication date
Publication Information
Who created the data: David J. Weary
Date and time:
2008
Publisher and place:
U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA, USA
Series name: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report
Series issue: OF-2008-1154
_________________
Data storage and access information
File name: Appalachian_karst
Type of data: vector digital data
Location of the data:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1154
Data processing environment: Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 2; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.2.2.1350
Accessing the data
Network location:
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1154
Constraints on accessing and using the data
Access constraints:
None
Use constraints:
None with proper citation
Details about this document
Contents last updated: 20080429
at time 08384700
Who completed this document
David J. Weary
U.S. Geological Survey
mailing address:
MS926A 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20192
USA
703-648-6897 (voice)
dweary@usgs.gov
Hours of service:
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM ET
Contact Instructions:
Standards used to create this document
Standard name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Standard version: FGDC-STD-001-1998
Time convention used in this document: local time
Metadata profiles defining additonal information
ESRI Metadata Profile: http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html
Horizontal coordinate system
Projected coordinate system name: NAD_1983_Albers
Geographic coordinate system name: GCS_North_American_1983
Details
Map Projection Name: Albers Conical Equal Area
Standard Parallel: 25.000000
Standard Parallel: 50.000000
Longitude of Central Meridian: -96.000000
Latitude of Projection Origin: 37.000000
False Easting: 0.000000
False Northing: 0.000000
Planar Coordinate Information
Planar Distance Units: meters
Coordinate Encoding Method: coordinate pair
Coordinate Representation
Abscissa Resolution: 0.016384
Ordinate Resolution: 0.016384
Geodetic Model
Horizontal Datum Name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid Name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator of Flattening Ratio: 298.257222
Altitude System Definition
Resolution: 0.000010
Encoding Method: Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
_________________
Bounding coordinates
Horizontal
In decimal degrees
West:
-92.283388
East:
-66.614399
North:
49.862757
South:
23.253202
In projected or local coordinates
Left: 373499.466968
Right: 2176264.493927
Top: 1464271.181750
Bottom: -1301321.118298
_________________
Lineage
FGDC lineage
Process step 1
Process description: Polygon data for states with digital karst coverages (Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia) were converted to shapefiles and projected to Albers conical equal area using the NAD83 datum and then clipped to their state outlines using state outline shapefiles from the USGS National Atlas. The polygons were then converted to ESRI personal geodatabases for manipulation with ArcMap 9.2. The polygons within each state were all merged and all previous user-assigned attributes deleted. Polygon outlines in higher resolution datasets (>1:250,000) were generalized using a weed tolerance of 150 meters. Polygons were assigned K_TYPE, State, and REF_CODE attributes. Polygons were then split into areas of various karst type based on overlaying the Allegany structural front and intersecting a polygon shapefile of areas with greater than 50 feet of glacially derived overburden based on the map of Soller and Packard (1998). K_TYPE, State, and reference code attribute values were then populated as appropriate. A polygon topology was built with a cluster tolerance of 50 meters with a rule disallowing overlaps and used to check the geometry of polygons in each state and the final map compilation. All polygons were queried in ArcMap to ensure no empty values and proper state attribute values.
Process software and version: ArcMap 9.2
Source used: \\DWEARY1\D$\karst\appalachia\1M_master\us_karst.mdb
Who did this process
David J. Weary
U.S. Geological Survey
mailing address:
MS926A 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA 20164
USA
703-648-6897 (voice)
dweary@usgs.gov
Hours of service:
8:00 AM - 3:00 PM ET
Process step 2
Process description: The coverage for the karst areas of New Jersey was obtained from a .pdf vector graphic file produced by Donald Monteverde of the New Jersey Geological Survey from digital geologic maps of the state. The .pdf was georegistered in ArcInfo , converted to a coverage, projected to Albers conical equal area using the NAD83 datum and then exported to a personal geodatabase. Polygons were assigned K_TYPE, State, and REF_CODE attributes; polygons were then split into areas of various karst type based on overlaying the Allegany structural front and intersecting a polygon shapefile of areas with greater than 50 feet of glacially derived overburden based on the map of Soller and Packard (1998) and also based on lithologic descriptions of the geologic units in the geologic maps. KTYPE, State and REF_CODE attributes were then populated. A polygon topology was built with a cluster tolerance of 50 meters with a rule disallowing overlaps and used to check the geometry of polygons in each state and the final map compilation. All polygons were queried in ArcMap to ensure no empty values and proper state attribute values.
Process software and version: ArcMap 9.2
Process step 3
Process description: The coverage for New York was derived from a shapefile of rock type polygons from a map published by the New York Geologic Survey (Fickies and Fallis, 1996). Polygons were projected to Albers conical equal area using the NAD83 datum and then clipped to the state outline. Based on unit lithologic descriptions, polygons were accepted as potentially karstic or were discarded. Polygons then split into areas of various karst type based on overlaying the Allegany structural front and intersecting a polygon shapefile of areas with greater than 50 feet of glacially derived overburden based on the map of Soller and Packard (1998). The shapefiles were then converted to ESRI personal geodatabases. Polygons were then assigned K_TYPE, State, and REF_CODE attributes which were populated with values. A polygon topology was built with a cluster tolerance of 50 meters with a rule disallowing overlaps and used to check the geometry of polygons in each state and the final map compilation. All polygons were queried in ArcMap to ensure no empty values and proper state attribute values.
Process software and version: ArcMap 9.2
Process step 4
Process description: For states with an available GIS-based geologic map (Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia) the data was downloaded and converted to shapefiles (if not already in that format) and projected to Albers conical equal area using the NAD83 datum. Polygons were clipped to their state outline using state outline shapefiles from the National Atlas. Polygons were queried for lithologic information, and if not a carbonate-bearing unit, deleted from the dataset; in datasets with unit names, but no lithologic description, unit lithologies were looked up on the National Geologic Names lexicon (GEOLEX). All previous user-assigned attributes were deleted. Polygons were assigned K_TYPE, State, and REF_CODE attributes. Polygons were then split into areas of various karst type based on overlaying the Allegany structural front and intersecting a shapefile of areas with greater than 50 feet of glacially derived overburden based on the map of Soller and Packard (1998). The shapefiles were then converted to ESRI personal geodatabases. Coastal Plain and Piedmont units were discriminated based on lithologic descriptions. All attribute values were populated. In Georgia and North Carolina, additional editing was done over a dataset of Coastal Plain geologic units (unpublished data of Wayne Newell and others, USGS). Some small areas of karst were added to southwestern Georgia by buffering unpublished digital sinkhole locations delineated by Roger G. Moore to a radius of 1 kilometer and then merging the buffered areas into polygons. In Virginia, areas of karst identified in the Valley and Ridge were further refined in area and detail by editing those areas over georegistered scans of karst maps by David Hubbard ( 1983, 1988, 2001). A polygon topology was built with a cluster tolerance of 50 meters with a rule disallowing overlaps and used to check the geometry of polygons in each state and the final map compilation. All polygons were queried in ArcMap to ensure no empty values and proper state attribute values.
Process software and version: ArcMap 9.2
Process step 5
Process description: The coverage for karst areas of Maryland was derived from a digital lithogeochemical map of the Chesapeake Bay watershed (Peper and others, 2001). Polygons were projected to Albers conical equal area using the NAD83 datum and then clipped to the state outline. Based on unit lithogeochemical descriptions polygons were accepted as potentially karstic or were discarded. Polygons in the Allegany Plateau and Valley land Ridge Provinces were then split into areas of various karst type based on overlaying the location of the Allegany structural front. All previous user-assigned attributes were deleted; polygons were then assigned K_TYPE, State, and REF_CODE attributes. A few areas in the Coastal Plain were amended based on editing over a dataset of Coastal Plain geologic units (unpublished data of Wayne Newell and others, USGS). A polygon topology was built with a cluster tolerance of 50 meters with a rule disallowing overlaps and used to check the geometry of polygons in each state and the final map compilation. All polygons were queried in ArcMap to ensure no empty values and proper state attribute values.
Process software and version: ArcMap 9.2
Process step 6
Process description: The coverage for South Carolina was a compilation of data from a digital geologic map of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge (Horton, 2001) and a dataset of Coastal Plain geologic units (unpublished data of Wayne Newell and others, USGS). Polygons were projected to Albers conical equal area using the NAD83 datum then clipped to the state outline. Based on unit lithologic descriptions polygons were accepted as potentially karstic or were discarded. The shapefiles were then converted to ESRI personal geodatabases. Polygons were then assigned K_TYPE, State, and REF_CODE attributes which were populated with values. A polygon topology was built with a cluster tolerance of 50 meters with a rule disallowing overlaps and used to check the geometry of polygons in each state and the final map compilation. All polygons were queried in ArcMap to ensure no empty values and proper state attribute values.
Process software and version: ArcMap 9.2
Sources
Source 1:
Geologic Map of Alabama
(AL1)
Media: CD-ROM
Scale denominator: 250,000
Contribution: Geologic map of Alabama
Source 2:
Generalized geologic map of Delaware
(DE1)
Media: paper
Scale denominator: 600,000
Contribution: Geology of Delaware
Source 3:
Digital environmental atlas of Georgia
(GA1)
Media: CD-ROM
Scale denominator: 250,000
Contribution: Geology of Georgia
Source 4:
occurrence in Kentucky
(KY1)
Media: CD-ROM
Scale denominator: 500,000
Contribution: Delineation of karst areas of Kentucky
Source 5:
, Preliminary lithogeochemical map showing near-surface rock types in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Virginia and Maryland
(MD1)
Media: internet
Scale denominator: 500,000
Contribution: Lithogeochemical map of Maryland.
Source 6:
Geologic Map of Mississippi
(MS1)
Media: internet
Scale denominator: 500,000
Contribution: Geologic map of Mississippi.
Source 7:
Bedrock geologic map of northern New Jersey
(NJ1)
Media: vector graphics
Scale denominator: 100,000
Contribution: Delineation of karst areas of New Jersey.
Source 8:
Rock Type Map of New York State
(NY1)
Media: shapefiles
Scale denominator: 1,000,000
Contribution: Map of carbonate rocks areas of New York
Source 9:
Geology - North Carolina
(NC1)
Media: internet
Scale denominator: 250,000
Contribution: Geologic map of North Carolina.
Source 10:
, Known and probably karst in Ohio
(OH1)
Media: shapefiles
Scale denominator: 24,000
Contribution: Delineation of known and probable karst areas of Ohio.
Source 11:
Bedrock geologic units of Pennsylvania
(PA1)
Media: internet
Scale denominator: 250,000
Contribution: Geologic map of Pennsylvania.
Source 12:
Preliminary digital geologic map of the Appalachian Piedmont and Blue Ridge, South Carolina Segment
(SC1)
Media: internet
Scale denominator: 500,000
Contribution: Geologic map of the South Carolina Piedmont and Blue Ridge.
Source 13:
Superfund GIS - 1:250,000 geology of Tennessee
(TN1)
Media: internet
Scale denominator: 250,000
Contribution: Gelogic map of Tennessee.
Source 14:
Digital representation of the 1993 geologic map of Virginia
(VA1)
Media: shapefiles
Scale denominator: 500,000
Contribution: Geologic map of Virginia.
Source 15:
Selected karst features of the northern Valley and Ridge province
(VA2)
Media: paper
Scale denominator: 250,000
Contribution: Delineation of carbonate areas of Virginia.
Source 16:
Selected karst features of the central Valley and Ridge province
(VA3)
Media: paper
Scale denominator: 250,000
Contribution: Delineation of carbonate areas of Virginia.
Source 17:
Selected karst features of the southern Valley and Ridge Province
(VA4)
Media: paper
Scale denominator: 250,000
Contribution: Delineation of carbonate areas of Virginia.
Source 18:
Karst regions derived from 1968 geological map of West Virginia
(WV1)
Media: internet
Scale denominator: 250,000
Contribution: Delineation of potentially karstic areas of West Virginia.
Source 19:
Digital representation of a map showing the thickness and character of Quaternary sediment in the glaciated United States east of the Rocky Mountains
(O1)
Media: internet
Scale denominator: 1,000,000
Contribution: Delineation of areas with more than 50 feet of glacially derived overburden in the northern U.S.
Source 20:
Tectonic lithofacies map of the Appalachian orogen
(O2)
Media: paper
Scale denominator: 1,000,000
Contribution: Locaton of Allegany structural front
Source 21:
Surficial geology and geomorphology of the Atlantic Coastal Plain
(O3)
Media: ESRI coverage
Scale denominator: unknown
Contribution: Delineation of Atlantic Coastal Plain geologic units
Source 22:
Sinkholes in southwestern Georgia
(GA2)
Media: digital files
Scale denominator: 182,000
Contribution: Delineation of sinkholes in southwestern Georgia
Source 23:
Geologic map of New Jersey: central sheet
(NJ1)
Media: vector graphic files
Scale denominator: 100,000
Contribution: Delineation of potentially karstic areas of New Jersey
Source 24:
Geologic map of New Jersey: southern sheet
(NJ1)
Media: digital graphics
Scale denominator: 100,000
Contribution: Delineation of potentially karstic areas of New Jersey.
ESRI geoprocessing history
1. FeatureClassToFeatureClass_2
Date and time:
20080407
at time 130007
Tool location:
C:\arcgis\ArcToolbox\Toolboxes\Conversion Tools.tbx\FeatureClassToFeatureClass
Command issued
FeatureClassToFeatureClass C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2 C:\karst\appalachian_OF_working\appalachian_OF_working\Appalachian_OFR\Review_and_GIS\GIS_data\Appalachian_karst.mdb\ap_polys Appalachian_karst # "AREA AREA true true false 8 Double 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,AREA,-1,-1;PERIMETER PERIMETER true true false 8 Double 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,PERIMETER,-1,-1;GT50ALB_ GT50ALB_ true true false 4 Long 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,GT50ALB_,-1,-1;GT50ALB_ID GT50ALB_ID true true false 4 Long 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,GT50ALB_ID,-1,-1;CODE CODE true true false 4 Long 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,CODE,-1,-1;CNT_CODE CNT_CODE true true false 4 Long 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,CNT_CODE,-1,-1;K_TYPE K_TYPE true true false 254 Text 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,K_TYPE,-1,-1;Shape_Leng Shape_Leng true true false 8 Double 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,Shape_Leng,-1,-1;state state true true false 20 Text 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,state,-1,-1;REF_CODE REF_CODE true true false 12 Text 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,REF_CODE,-1,-1;Shape_Length Shape_Length false true true 8 Double 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,Shape_Length,-1,-1;Shape_Area Shape_Area false true true 8 Double 0 0 ,First,#,C:\karst\USKARST_master\US_karst_final\us_karst.mdb\app_polys\app_karst_2,Shape_Area,-1,-1" # C:\karst\appalachian_OF_working\appalachian_OF_working\Appalachian_OFR\Review_and_GIS\GIS_data\Appalachian_karst.mdb\ap_polys\Appalachian_karst
_________________
Spatial data quality
Horizontal positional accuracy
Horizontal accuracy varies as the source data resolution was variable. Some generalization of source information was performed. Accuracy is believed to be within 300 meters.
Vertical positional accuracy
Data is locally accurate at the earth's surface.
_________________
Spatial data description
Vector data information
ESRI description
Appalachian_karst
ESRI feature type: Simple
Geometry type: Polygon
Topology: FALSE
Feature count: 5355
Spatial Index: TRUE
Linear referencing: FALSE
SDTS description
Feature class: SDTS feature type, feature count
Appalachian_karst:
G-polygon, 5355