UAS footage of geologic outcrops in Cossatot River near Wickes, AR

At low water levels, the Cossatot River in western Arkansas exposes exceptional outcrops of highly deformed Late Paleozoic rocks that record ocean basin closure and Ouachita mountain building. Geologists at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center (GECSC) are mapping a ~6 km reach of folded and faulted Stanley Group strata to better constrain sediment provenance, geochronology, stratigraphy, and structural evolution, with implications for the development of the Arkoma Basin and associated resource systems.

Because existing United States Geological Survey 3D Elevation Program data lack the resolution needed for detailed riverbed mapping, the National Uncrewed Systems Office (NUSO) collected high-resolution uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) lidar and RGB imagery. These datasets will support the USGS Western Arkansas-Eastern Oklahoma Geologic Mapping (ARKOMA) project by providing the topographic and surface characterization needed to improve geologic mapping and advance understanding of the Late Paleozoic tectonic and sedimentary evolution of the Ouachita region.

The scientific UAS flights were conducted with authorization from Cossatot River State Park.

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