The Ozarks

The Ozarks, often referred to as the Ozark Mountains, Ozarks Mountain Country, and the Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic and geologic highland region of the central United States, primarily in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The Ozarks cover a significant portion of southern Missouri and, in Arkansas, a large portion within the northwestern and northcentral region. Much smaller pieces of the Ozarks extend westward into northeastern Oklahoma and extreme southeastern Kansas.

While sometimes referred to as the Ozark Mountains, the region actually is a high and deeply dissected plateau. Geologically, the area is a broad dome around the Saint Francois Mountains. The Ozark Highlands area, covering nearly 47,000 square miles, is by far the most extensive mountainous region between the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains.

Karst features such as springs, losing streams, sinkholes and caves are common in the limestone of the Springfield Plateau and abundant in the dolostone bedrock of the Salem Plateau and Boston Mountains. Geographic features include limestone and dolomite glades, which are rocky, desert-like areas on hilltops. Kept open by periodic fires that limit growth of grasses and flowering plants in shallow soil, glades are home to collared lizards, tarantulas, scorpions, cacti and other species more typical of the desert southwest.

Topography is mostly gently rolling in the Springfield and Salem Plateaus, whereas the Saint Francois Mountains are more rugged. Although the Springfield formation's surface is primarily Mississippian limestone and chert, the Salem Plateau is older Ordovician dolostones, limestones, and sandstones. The Springfield Plateau drains through wide, mature streams ultimately feeding the White River.

Portions of the Ozark Plateau, the Springfield plateau of southwest Missouri, and northern Arkansas are underlain by Mississippian cherty limestones locally referred to as Boone chert, consisting of limestone and chert layers. These are eroded and form steep hills, valleys and bluffs.

ABOUT THIS EARTHCACHE:

What is a Glade?

A glade, or a "bald" as it is locally known, is a special habitat -- open, rocky and usually very dry. Generally, glades occur on south and west facing slopes where the hot, dry conditions slow natural soil building processes. Soil is eroded by rain and wind faster than it can be naturally produced. This special part of Missouri has the geologic history necessary for a glade to form.  The formation of the glades began as limestone bedrock was formed under shallow seas which were gradually uplifted. The rocks in this area are 250 - 450 million years old. Forces of nature including rain and melting snow created streams that eroded deeper and deeper into the limestone. The runoff helped shape the valleys with steep rock slopes. Frozen moisture fractured the limestone and created shallow depressions in the rock surface. Today its shallow soils and bare rock discourage the growth of trees, exposing the glades to climatic extremes year-round.  Unusual plants and animals, adapted to these harsh conditions, live here and help make the glades unique.  Because of the thin soil, glades are normally very dry, but they can become very wet in the spring.  These seasonal changes in moisture bring changes both to the geology and in the plants and animals living in this area.

The White River Valley Basin

The United States Army Corps of Engineers created lakes by damming the White River, beginning in 1911 with Lake Taneycomo. Six lakes, beginning in northwestern Arkansas and ending in north central Arkansas, while following through southern Missouri, were created by dams in the White River basin from 1911 through 1960. Table Rock Lake (1958), which you see from this bald area summit, feeds directly into Taneycomo , where the river zigzags southeasterly into Arkansas. In the end, the river flows 722 miles from a basin of 27,765 square miles with an average flow of 20,000 cubic feet per second, or 100,000 cfps during floods. The river eventually flows into the Mississippi River in Desha County, Arkansas, south of Memphis.

In order to complete this Earthcache, and log a find,

you must first send me the answers to the following questions.

Failure do to so may result in your log being deleted.

Required information:

1-     In your own words, what is a bald?

2-     Describe the texture of the land surface (off the road and parking area). Example-This might include plain old dirt, sand, pea gravel, small, medium or large rocks or any combination of these.

3-     Looking to the northwest from the bald summit what geological features do you see?

4-     Take an elevation reading at the posted coordinates for the cache on the bald summit. How high is the summit at this location?

5-     To determine the width of the river valley from the posted cache coordinates, enter these coordinates (N36 37.150 W93 16.120) to find out how far away you are from the other side of the valley. What is the width?

You will now travel down to Tablerock Lake to make some additional observations.

1-     Observe the area alongside the road on your way to the lake. Describe what you see.  Example-Trees, large boulders, rock outcropping etc.

2-     Take an elevation reading at N36 32.900 W93 17.525. Subtract this elevation reading from the one you took on top of the bald. What is the height difference? This will indicate the amount of soil and rocks eroded to form this valley over millions of years. PERMISSION GIVEN TO ENTER THIS AREA BY BIG CEDAR.

 Thank you for visiting this Earthcache.

I hope you had a good time learning about this geological scenic area.

I look forward to receiving your answers and any photographs you might include.