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Closed depressions in 2014 lidar topography in areas of Pleistocene limestone on Anegada, British Virgin Islands

Published by U.S. Geological Survey | Department of the Interior | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2023-10-27T00:00:00Z
May sea floods contaminate Anegada groundwater by entering a freshwater aquifer through sink holes? Groundwater provides the island's main naturally available source of freshwater. Robert Schomburgk in 1832 reported natural wells provided by holes in limestone (https://library.iucn-isg.org/documents/1832/Schomburgk_1832_The_Journal_of_the_Royal_Geographical_Society_of_London.pdf). Today, sinks in the limestone are readily mapped today in lidar topography. The dataset here identifies 1,508 closed topographic depressions. Several holding water were examined during field work in 2008–2017. The water level in them was close to mean sea level, as estimated from differences between lidar elevations of rims and depths to water below the rims.

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