Barton Springs
| Barton Springs | |
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Main Barton Spring, inside Barton Springs Pool
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| Location | Austin, Texas, United States |
| Spring source | Edwards Aquifer |
| Elevation | 435 ft (133 m) above sea level |
| Type | Karst spring |
| Provides water for | Barton Creek and Colorado River |
| Magnitude | 2 |
| Discharge | 66 ft³/s (1869 L/s) |
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Barton Springs Archeological and Historical District
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| Location | Zilker Park, Austin, Texas |
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| Coordinates | 30°18′27″N 97°43′49″W / 30.30750°N 97.73028°WCoordinates: 30°18′27″N 97°43′49″W / 30.30750°N 97.73028°W |
| Area | 138.5 acres (56.0 ha) |
| Built | 1891 |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival, Bungalow/Craftsman, Queen Anne |
| MPS | HBarton Springs MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | 85003213 |
| Added to NRHP | November 27, 1985 |
Barton Springs is a set of four natural water springs located at Barton Creek on the grounds of Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, resulting from water flowing through the Edwards Aquifer. The largest spring, Main Barton Spring (also known as Parthenia, "the mother spring") supplies water to Barton Springs Pool, a popular recreational destination in Austin. The smaller springs are located nearby, two with man-made structures built to contain and direct their flow. The springs are the only known habitat of the Barton Springs Salamander, an endangered species.
The Barton Creek National Archeological and Historic District was formed in 1985.
Barton Springs is the main discharge point for the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer of Texas, a well known karst aquifer. Geologically, the aquifer is composed of limestone from the Cretaceous period, about 100 million years old. Fractures, fissures, conduits, and caves have developed in this limestone. Both physical forces, such as faulting, and chemical forces, such as dissolution of limestone by infiltrating water, have enlarged these voids. This results in a karst aquifer made up of limestone with large void spaces. Water then enters the aquifer and fills the voids.
All water discharging from Barton Springs originates as rainfall. Some of this rain falls directly onto the area of land where the aquifer limestone rock is exposed, which is known as the recharge zone. Other rainfall enters into creeks that cross the recharge zone, and infiltrates the limestone bedrock. After water enters the aquifer, it flows along the gradients created by differences in hydraulic pressure into the area of lowest hydraulic pressure. This lowest point of hydraulic pressure is Barton Springs.
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Wikipedia