Amistad National Recreation Area: Geologic and Soil Resources Inventory Summary
Henderson T. 2025. Amistad National Recreation Area: Geologic and Soil Resources Inventory Summary. National Park Service
This document summarizes the status of National Park Service (NPS) Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) and Soil Resource Inventory (SRI) deliverables for Amistad National Recreation Area. It also provides information on current geology and soil resources management concerns, with a focus on identified inventory needs related to geologic heritage, geohazards, and related soil features and processes. This document is intended to assist park staff with prioritizing technical assistance or new inventory and assessment funding requests in the near term (roughly 1–5 years). GRI hosted a baseline scoping meeting for Amistad National Recreation Area in 2008. Baseline bedrock and surficial geologic maps were delivered to the park in 2010. SRI delivered a legacy soil database and map in 2007, and an additional Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) soil survey area encompasses the recreation area. The most up-to-date soil data is available via Web Soil Survey. Amistad National Recreation Area’s geologic heritage includes its cave and karst features, paleontological resources, Indigenous resources, water resources, historic structural remnants of the Southern Transcontinental Railroad and Pecos Viaduct, as well as former hydroelectric plants. The geology of the recreation area has been impacted by multiple tectonic episodes that formed several major structural features such as faults and folds. These features weakened the bedrock and helped develop the karst landscape that characterizes the region. The geologic and soil resources inventory needs for the recreation area include various data and/or GIS needs related to the inventory and monitoring of cultural resources, fossils, cave and karst resources, disturbed lands, and hydrological systems. Additional mapping needs have been expressed regarding the distribution of Cretaceous bedrock within and surrounding the recreation area. Geologic hazards identified in the recreation area include flooding, disturbed lands (e.g., historic ranch lands, hydrocarbon development), karst development (e.g., sinkholes, caves), mass wasting (e.g., rockfalls, slumps), shrink-swell soils, seismicity, radon, toxicological soil, and climate change. Geohazard inventory information is needed to support monitoring strategies that help predict, quantify, and mitigate the damage caused by these processes.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Henderson, Timothy
- Date of Issue
- 2025-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- AMIS , CHDN , GRI , IMR , SRI
- Keywords
- Geologic Features, Geologic Hazards, Geologic Heritage, Geologic History, Geologic Processes, GIS, GSRI, Map Units, Resource Management
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Hillslope Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Stream/River Channel Characteristics , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Lake Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Cave/Karst Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Subsurface Geologic Processes | Seismic Activity , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Soil Quality | Soil Function and Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Paleontology | Paleontology