Geologic map of the west-central Buffalo National River region,
northern Arkansas

By Mark R. Hudson and Kenzie J. Turner

2014

Scientific Investigations Map 3314

ABSTRACT

This map summarizes the geology of the west-central Buffalo
National River region in the Ozark Plateaus region of northern
Arkansas. Geologically, the region lies on the southern flank
of the Ozark dome, an uplift that exposes oldest rocks at its
center in Missouri. Physiographically, the map area spans the
Springfield Plateau, a topographic surface generally held up
by Mississippian cherty limestone and the higher Boston
Mountains to the south, held up by Pennsylvanian rocks. The
Buffalo River flows eastward through the map area, enhancing
bedrock erosion of an approximately 1,600-ft- (490-m-) thick
sequence of Ordovician, Mississippian, and Pennsylvanian
carbonate and clastic sedimentary rocks that have been mildly
deformed by a series of faults and folds. Quaternary surficial
units are present as alluvial deposits along major streams,
including a series of terrace deposits from the Buffalo River,
as well as colluvium and landslide deposits mantling bedrock
on hillslopes.

This report provides a geologic map database of the map area
that improves understanding of the regional geologic framework
and its influence on the regional groundwater flow system.
Furthermore, additional edits were made to the Ponca and Jasper
quadrangles in the following ways:  new control points on
important contacts were obtained using modern GPS; recent higher
resolution elevation data allowed further control on placement
of contacts; some new contacts were added, in particular the
contact separating the upper and lower Everton Formation.

NOTES

This report presents a compilation and update of previously
published geologic mapping for all or parts of eight U.S.
Geological Survey 1:24,000-scale quadrangles in the west-central
Buffalo National River area (fig. 1). For ease of plotting, the
physical map is divided into two parts: a western part (sheet 1)
that consists of the Ponca, Jasper, Gaither, Harrison, and Hasty
quadrangles. The eastern part (sheet 2) is composed of the
Western Grove, St. Joe, and Maumee quadrangles. The report makes
available a continuous Geographic Information System (GIS) database
(not divided into western and an eastern parts) for the geology,
including the southern Gaither and southwestern Harrison quadrangles
that were previously only available in printed form (Hudson, 1998),
and it also includes an area of new mapping for the southeastern
part of the Harrison quadrangle. The map updates some areas of the
previously published maps. 

 
DISCLAIMERS

Any use of trade, product or firm names is for descriptive purposes
only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public
domain, it also contains copyrighted material as noted in the text.
Permission to reproduce copyrighted items for other than personal use
must be secured from the copyright owner.

This database, identified as SIM 3314, has been approved for release
and publication by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).  Although this
database has been subjected to rigorous review and is substantially
complete,the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to
further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition
that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government may be held liable
for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use.

Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer
system at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty, expressed or
implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any
other system, or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act
of distribution constitute such warranty.  The USGS or the U.S
Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of
the data described and/or contained herein.

DATA FILES

List of files:
00ReadMe.txt
SIM3314_west_sheet1.pdf
SIM3314_east_sheet2.pdf
SIM3314.met

Datafiles directory

	westernBuffRiver_hillshade.tif/tfw

	BuffaloRiverCompile.gdb.zip
		BuffaloGeology
			attitudes
			control_pnts
			folds
			geology_arc
			geology_label
			polygons
			structurecntrs
       
	  			
	shapefiles.zip directory:
		attitudes.shp (dbf/prj/sbn/sbx/shp.xml/shx)
		control_pnts.shp (dbf/prj/sbn/sbx/shp.xml/shx)	
		folds.shp (dbf/prj/sbn/sbx/shp.xml/shx)
		geology_arc.shp (dbf/prj/sbn/sbx/shp.xml/shx)
		polygons.shp (dbf/prj/sbn/sbx/shp.xml/shx)
		structurecntrs.shp (dbf/prj/sbn/sbx/shp.xml/shx)

	basemaps.zip:
      		gaither_base.tif/.tfw
      		harrison_base.tif/.tfw
      		hasty_base.tif/.tfw
      		jasper_base.tif/.tfw
      		maumee_base.tif/.tfw
      		ponca_base.tif/.tfw
      		stjoe_base.tif/.tfw
      		westerngrove_base.tif/.tfw

Note: The folder "Basemaps.zip"  contains the trimmed versions of the maps
with their *.tfw file. The unmodified versions of the basemaps are available
for download from The National Map at http://nationalmap.gov/.
      		

HOW TO OBTAIN THE DIGITAL FILES

The digital files constituting the geologic map database of this
report can be obtained via the Internet from the U.S. Geological 
Survey publications website. Go to the web page at
http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3314/ or http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sim3314
and follow the directions to download the files.

The main product is a Portable Document Format (.pdf) map, which
requires Adobe Acrobat for viewing, and from which paper copies may be
printed.  Acrobat software runs on a variety of systems, and is
available for download free of charge from Adobe at
http://www.adobe.com.

ArcReader may be downloaded free of charge from
http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcreader/download.htm for viewing
additional files included in this report.