Using ArcMap (ArcGIS Desktop 10.8.1) on Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit.
I collected 322 polygons in Field Maps using a GNSS unit. A polygon represents an area of a stream (pool, riffle, or run). Then I exported the polys from the hosted feature layer to a FGDB. The original coord sys was unchanged (WGS84 Web Mercator Aux Sphere). Then I created a feature dataset in the FGDB (same coord sys) using defaults and imported the polys. The polys look fine at this point. Then I created a topology on the polys in the fdataset with rule "Must Not Overlap". After validating the topology, many of the polygons are now merged with adjacent polygons. The number of polygon features did not change, but many if not all of the polygons now have multiple overlapping parts. Why did this happen?