Sinkhole Polygons of the Ozark Plateaus, Northern Arkansas from Topographic Maps

Springs and sinkholes in the Ozark Plateaus Physiographic Province (Ozarks) in Arkansas were digitized from 1:24,000-scale topographic maps to produce a digital dataset of karst features. Karst landscapes generally are created from bedrock dissolution that results in distinctive landforms, including sinkholes, springs, caves, and sinking streams, and a high degree of interaction between surface water and groundwater. The dataset can be used to better understand groundwater flow in the karst landscape of the Arkansas Ozarks and potential effects of karst-feature density on water quality, geomorphology, water resources, and karst hazards. In the Ozarks, karst features are present in several limestone and dolomite formations (for example, the Boone Formation, Pitkin Limestone, and Powell Dolomite). Springs (points) and sinkholes (polygons and centroid points) were digitized from over 200 topographic quadrangle maps from 22 different counties with published dates ranging from 1942 to 2014. The digitization efforts using the topographic maps resulted in 805 springs and 1,242 sinkholes across the Arkansas Ozarks. This dataset represents the sinkhole polygons from the digitization efforts. Topographic maps were the only source of data used to provide a distribution from a single data source over the Ozarks in Arkansas. This karst-feature dataset will be a resource for years to come in karst science, water science, geomorphology, and other fields.