Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Skip to content

Jasper, Tennessee Karst Groundwater Dye Tracing Water 2022

Metadata Updated: September 24, 2025

Karst hydrologic systems are important resources in the state of Tennessee both as drinking water resources and as centers for possible biological diversity. These systems are susceptible to contamination due to the inherent connectivity between surface water and groundwater systems in karst systems. A partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Tennessee Department of Conservation (TDEC) was formed to investigate karst spring systems across the state utilizing fluorescent groundwater tracing, particularly in areas where these resources may be used as drinking water sources. In fall 2021, USGS and TDEC staff identified possible vulnerabilities or complexities that may exist within karst spring systems based upon maturity of karst development, underlying geology, and uncertainties related to estimated recharge areas. Based upon initial research, several study areas were selected. In late winter 2021, fieldwork began in areas surrounding the Tennessee communities of Cowan, Jasper, Vanleer, and Woodbury. These communities are in three physiographic provinces; Cowan and Jasper are near the Cumberland Plateau while Vanleer and Woodbury are located on the Western and Eastern Highland Rim, respectively. These systems are in areas where the hydrology has been significantly altered by karst processes and thus the groundwater pathways are complex and unpredictable. The community of Jasper, TN is in Marion County in the southwestern Sequatchie Valley. The Sequatchie River, a tributary to the Tennessee River, flows to the east and south of town. The nearby Cumberland Plateau is capped by Pennsylvanian siliciclastic strata, followed by layers of Mississippian strata including the Pennington Formation, Bangor Limestone, the Hartselle Formation, and Monteagle and St. Louis Limestone units. The areas underlain by carbonate strata are altered by karst processes resulting in most surface water sinking underground, typically at contacts with non-carbonate strata. Springs discharge karst groundwater in the valley and “coves” like Pryor Cove. Beginning in August 2022, one dye injection was conducted. The monitoring network consisted of 12 monitoring sites where charcoal packets were deployed. Data within each child item of this data release are named with a two-letter abbreviation unique for the community where the tracing occurred and the water year the work was conducted (e.g. WD23). Abbreviations for the communities are as followed: CW = Cowan, JS = Jasper, VN = Vanleer, WD = Woodbury. This data release contains shapefiles that relate to dye injection locations, monitoring sites, and dye traces. All files were created in ArcGIS Pro and each shapefile contains associated attributes for the features contained within. Layer files are included with the datasets to match symbology found in figures in the accompanying report. All shapefiles and layers were created and modified in ArcGIS software. For a full description of the methods to create these files, see Process Steps in "JS22_metadata.xml."

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 24, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date September 13, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 24, 2025
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/usgs-6351480dd34e47431c15d9f3
Data Last Modified 2023-10-03T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id a50850f7-abbb-4ee9-81e7-317e9bfb46b0
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -87.54060, 36.20270, -87.46430, 36.24670
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 9745f9b411824e48c8942acaee5ef0f760ec1f77c8f81134d89a1d2231d1c027
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -87.54060, 36.20270, -87.54060, 36.24670, -87.46430, 36.24670, -87.46430, 36.20270, -87.54060, 36.20270}

Didn't find what you're looking for? Suggest a dataset here.