The geology of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR) in southern Missouri has been mapped at 1:24,000 scale. This was achieved through the combined efforts of U.S. Geological Survey and Missouri Geological Survey individual 7.5 minute quadrangle mapping and additional field work by the authors of this report. Geologic data covering the area of the ONSR, which also includes a 1 mile buffer zone surrounding the park, as well as a few key adjoining areas, have been compiled into a single, seamless GIS database.

This data release contains numerous shapefiles that describe baseline characterization of the physical attributes of the riverine ecosystems in two national parks – Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR), Missouri, and Buffalo National River (BNR), Arkansas. The individual metadata associated with each shapefile describe in detail the specific process steps, source inputs for the data, and the specific river the data characterizes.

This data release contains numerous shapefiles that describe baseline characterization of the physical attributes of the riverine ecosystems in two national parks – Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR), Missouri, and Buffalo National River (BNR), Arkansas. The individual metadata associated with each shapefile describe in detail the specific process steps, source inputs for the data, and the specific river the data characterizes.

This dataset was compiled to summarize discharge measurements from several published groundwater and surface-water studies in the Ozarks of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. The discharge measurements were part of numerous USGS studies to assess interaction between streams and groundwater aquifers. A gaining stream is described as a surface-water stream that gains water from the groundwater aquifer and a losing stream is described as a surface-water stream that loses water to the groundwater aquifer. This product is intended to be used in surface-water and groundwater investigations assessing water quantity, quality, and availability. The product includes flow-line data digitized along National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) flow lines and between adjacent discharge measurements (that is, seepage flow-line reaches). The seepage flow-line reaches include a calculation to determine if discharge between the upstream and downstream measurement points is increasing (termed "Gain"), decreasing (termed "Lose"), or remaining neutral if the net change in discharge is not greater than the error (termed "Neutral"). Original seepage-run studies included estimates of discharge measurement error and some studies estimated error along the seepage flow-line reach; however, because of the variety of ways that error was calculated in the original studies and to create a consistent error estimation for the entire spatial dataset, error was assumed to be 10% of the largest discharge measurement along the seepage flow-line reach. Contribution of discharge from tributaries and springs that emerge before flowing into the stream was taken into account, such that the net change in discharge between the upstream and downstream measurement points was calculated as the downstream discharge minus the total discharge from the upstream measurement point and from tributaries/springs. This calculation quantifies the amount of groundwater flow entering the stream as diffuse or point discharge, presumably into the stream bed. The net change in discharge was additionally calculated as the downstream discharge minus the total discharge from both the upstream measurement point and from surface-water tributaries only. This calculation quantifies the amount of groundwater entering the stream as discrete springs adjacent to the stream and diffuse or point groundwater flow directly to the stream bed. A positive net change in discharge results in the seepage flow-line reach gaining discharge (that is, "Gain") and a negative net change in discharge results in the seepage flow-line reach losing discharge (that is, "Lose"). Designations of gaining, losing, or neutral streams may vary between this dataset and the original studies because of differences in how error was calculated and other interpretations made in the seepage-run studies. Users are encouraged to refer to the source reports for further details about data collection methods, results, and interpretations of stream-aquifer dynamics. This spatial dataset is meant to provide a digital compilation of seepage studies in the Ozarks and to create a consistent dataset across studies completed over 24 years.

This dataset was compiled to summarize discharge measurements from several published groundwater and surface-water studies in the Ozarks of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. The discharge measurements were part of numerous USGS studies to assess interaction between streams and groundwater aquifers. A gaining stream is described as a surface-water stream that gains water from the groundwater aquifer and a losing stream is described as a surface-water stream that loses water to the groundwater aquifer. This product is intended to be used in surface-water and groundwater investigations assessing water quantity, quality, and availability. The product includes flow-line data digitized along National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) flow lines and between adjacent discharge measurements (that is, seepage flow-line reaches). The seepage flow-line reaches include a calculation to determine if discharge between the upstream and downstream measurement points is increasing (termed "Gain"), decreasing (termed "Lose"), or remaining neutral if the net change in discharge is not greater than the error (termed "Neutral"). Original seepage-run studies included estimates of discharge measurement error and some studies estimated error along the seepage flow-line reach; however, because of the variety of ways that error was calculated in the original studies and to create a consistent error estimation for the entire spatial dataset, error was assumed to be 10% of the largest discharge measurement along the seepage flow-line reach. Contribution of discharge from tributaries and springs that emerge before flowing into the stream was taken into account, such that the net change in discharge between the upstream and downstream measurement points was calculated as the downstream discharge minus the total discharge from the upstream measurement point and from tributaries/springs. This calculation quantifies the amount of groundwater flow entering the stream as diffuse or point discharge, presumably into the stream bed. The net change in discharge was additionally calculated as the downstream discharge minus the total discharge from both the upstream measurement point and from surface-water tributaries only. This calculation quantifies the amount of groundwater entering the stream as discrete springs adjacent to the stream and diffuse or point groundwater flow directly to the stream bed. A positive net change in discharge results in the seepage flow-line reach gaining discharge (that is, "Gain") and a negative net change in discharge results in the seepage flow-line reach losing discharge (that is, "Lose"). Designations of gaining, losing, or neutral streams may vary between this dataset and the original studies because of differences in how error was calculated and other interpretations made in the seepage-run studies. Users are encouraged to refer to the source reports for further details about data collection methods, results, and interpretations of stream-aquifer dynamics. This spatial dataset is meant to provide a digital compilation of seepage studies in the Ozarks and to create a consistent dataset across studies completed over 24 years.

This dataset was compiled to summarize discharge measurements from several published groundwater and surface-water studies in the Ozarks of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. The discharge measurements were part of numerous USGS studies to assess interaction between streams and groundwater aquifers. A gaining stream is described as a surface-water stream that gains water from the groundwater aquifer and a losing stream is described as a surface-water stream that loses water to the groundwater aquifer. This product is intended to be used in surface-water and groundwater investigations assessing water quantity, quality, and availability. The product includes point data of discharge measurements digitized from previously published USGS studies.

This dataset was compiled to summarize discharge measurements from several published groundwater and surface-water studies in the Ozarks of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. The discharge measurements were part of numerous USGS studies to assess interaction between streams and groundwater aquifers. A gaining stream is described as a surface-water stream that gains water from the groundwater aquifer and a losing stream is described as a surface-water stream that loses water to the groundwater aquifer. This product is intended to be used in surface-water and groundwater investigations assessing water quantity, quality, and availability. The product includes point data of discharge measurements digitized from previously published USGS studies.

The Ozark Plateau aquifer system stretches across approximately 70,000 square miles (mi2) of Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, and is composed of many hydrogeologic units, such as the Boone aquifer and the Roubidoux aquifer. However, this data release is focused on only 11,000 mi2 in northern Arkansas, southeastern Kansas, southwestern Missouri, and northeastern Oklahoma. The Boone aquifer covers approximately 10,700 mi2 of this area, and the Roubidoux aquifer covers the 11,000 mi2 area entirely. These aquifers are mostly made of Mississippian-aged and Ordovician-aged carbonate rock, and serve as the main sources of fresh groundwater in northeastern Oklahoma (Imes and Emmett, 1994). In 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) began a hydrologic investigation to support a determination of maximum annual yields for the Boone and Roubidoux aquifers. This data release provides components of the hydrogeologic framework for that hydrologic investigation. To further characterize the hydrogeologic framework of the aquifers, contours and digital elevation models (DEMs) were created and modified on the following hydrogeologic units (listed from youngest to oldest): the Western Interior Plains confining unit, the Boone aquifer, the Ozark confining unit, and the Roubidoux aquifer. These contours and DEMs represent the altitudes of the bases of each hydrogeologic unit in feet. The hydrogeologic-unit names in this data release are consistent with those used in Oklahoma (Osborn, 2001; Czarnecki and others, 2009) and may differ from those used in regional reports describing the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (Imes and Emmett, 1994; Westerman and others, 2016).

The Ozark Plateau aquifer system stretches across approximately 70,000 square miles (mi2) of Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, and is composed of many hydrogeologic units, such as the Boone aquifer and the Roubidoux aquifer. However, this data release is focused on only 11,000 mi2 in northern Arkansas, southeastern Kansas, southwestern Missouri, and northeastern Oklahoma. The Boone aquifer covers approximately 10,700 mi2 of this area, and the Roubidoux aquifer covers the 11,000 mi2 area entirely. These aquifers are mostly made of Mississippian-aged and Ordovician-aged carbonate rock, and serve as the main sources of fresh groundwater in northeastern Oklahoma (Imes and Emmett, 1994). In 2017, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) began a hydrologic investigation to support a determination of maximum annual yields for the Boone and Roubidoux aquifers. This data release provides components of the hydrogeologic framework for that hydrologic investigation. To further characterize the hydrogeologic framework of the aquifers, contours and digital elevation models (DEMs) were created and modified on the following hydrogeologic units (listed from youngest to oldest): the Western Interior Plains confining unit, the Boone aquifer, the Ozark confining unit, and the Roubidoux aquifer. These contours and DEMs represent the altitudes of the bases of each hydrogeologic unit in feet. The hydrogeologic-unit names in this data release are consistent with those used in Oklahoma (Osborn, 2001; Czarnecki and others, 2009) and may differ from those used in regional reports describing the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system (Imes and Emmett, 1994; Westerman and others, 2016).

These ESRI shape files are of National Park Service tract and boundary data that was created by the Land Resources Division. Tracts are numbered and created by the regional cartographic staff at the Land Resources Program Centers and are associated to the Land Status Maps. This data should be used to display properties that NPS owns and properties that NPS may have some type of interest such as scenic easements or right of ways.