IDENTIFYING THE PRIMARY FACTORS THAT DETERMINE THE OCCURRENCE OF SINKHOLES IN THE OZARKS

In May 2004, resource managers and scientists from the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey met in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to identify Ozarks resource issues and to commit to a cooperative interdisciplinary Ozarks research partnership. During that meeting, representatives of the three participating agencies developed a plan that includes identifying focus areas, identifying a flagship issue, and creating an inventory of karst resources. Since that meeting, the U.S. Geological Survey has committed 5 years of funding for an interdisciplinary project focused on identifying the primary factors that determine the occurrence of sinkholes, and how they affect physical, biological, and social processes. The objective of this project is to use surface form, surface features, and selected biological, hydrological, and geological characteristics of the landscape to identify those primary factors.