Arkansas: Six Major Natural Regions

Starved rock and St. Peter Sandstone are an erosional remnant of Ordovician period. These remnants contain Pennsylvanian clastics that survived the washing out of the Illinois River at the end of the Ice Age. Evidence for swift, turbulent, and deep water includes gravel bars and erosional features as high as 160 feet above the current level of the river, massive cross bedded sand, and gravel deposits along the river course.

In James Lane Allen’s Through Cumberland Gap on Horseback, the mention is made to the beauty of the land and that the climate was just the same but that traveling to the mountain region was not only difficult as they had to take a train then a wagon ride, followed by a trek on horseback, but a lengthy process. Among the experiences recorded Allen describes the meeting of several locals and this is where his responsibility for Appalachian

The beauty of Arkansas did not magically appear overnight. In the words of Albert Einstein, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better”(“Albert Einstein Quotes”). The geography of Arkansas is made of six different areas. The Ozark Mountains, Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas River Valley make up the northwestern half of the great state of Arkansas. The Mississippi Delta, West Gulf Coastal plains, and Crowley's Ridge make up the southeastern half of the state of Arkansas. Three of these areas have been chosen to compare the similarities and differences based on their creation, foliage and climate. The areas chosen are the mystical Ozark Mountains, the stunning Ouachita mountains and the breathtaking Arkansas River Valley areas.

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the state of Arkansas? Chances are, that as an Arkansan the thoughts are quite different than those of someone not born or raised here. Hillbilly, redneck, barefoot, and trailer are a just few of the common first words invoked in the minds of “foreigners” by the word Arkansas. In the non-fiction work, Arkansas/Arkansaw: How Bear Hunters, Hillbillies, and Good Ol' Boys Defined a State, author Brooks Blevins provides readers with his idea of how Arkansas's image began, and then perpetuated over time. He provides several examples of the

Appalachia Mountains are rich in natural resources, containing an abundant number of coal, timber, oil, gas, and water (Daugneaux 1981). These natural resources have historically influenced the economic characteristics of the region. The region's economy has been highly dependent on mining, forestry, agriculture, chemical industries, and heavy industry, among which coal mining appears to be the largest financial contributor to the economy (Appalachia's Economy). However, the mining practice used to extract coal in Appalachia called

The Earth's crust has been undergoing complex chemical, physical, and biological reactions over more than 4 billion years now. In this relentless tardiness of geologic instance, the convection of the Earth's mantle gave form to the planet (Cronon, 1993). The Middle Atlantic region of North American was shaped by the tectonic plate movements and climatic changes shaping the ancient oceans into lands. Water streams gave form to hills and deep valleys and rainwater broke big rocks into fine soil. It is interesting to note that while all this was taking place, Maryland's mountains were comparable to the size of the Himalayas (Flannery, 2001). Their rock gradually created the mountain that we see in Maryland in the present day. Eventually, Maryland's rock layer turned into fertile soils, mineral deposits, and composite water elements.

Arkansas’s landscape is definitely a diverse one. The Natural State it’s called, with the Ozark and the Ouachita mountains in the north and in the west standing in contrast to the gorgeous, flush, agricultural lands of the east. Almost all the state’s rivers flow from northwest to southeast and empty out thru the Arkansas and Red river into the Mississippi, which forms the main eastern boundary. Arkansas’ Geography has played an important and ongoing role in the history and culture of the great state of Arkansas. Starting from settlement outlines to the Civil War battlefields on the land, to the center of Arkansas’ economic development. This is pretty much the distinct physical and biological landscape of the state of Arkansas, each, which

Alabama is divided into four main physical regions. First, the Coastal Plain dominates the southern half of the state. It is the home of the Black Belt, which contains rich, chalky soil, and consists mostly of lowlands and low ridges. Second, the Piedmont Plateau is situated just to the north in east-central Alabama. This area is known for its rolling hills and valleys, as well as Alabama’s highest elevation point—the Cheaha Mountain. Third, ridges and valleys surround the Piedmont Plateau to the north and west. These landforms run northeast-southwest, and extend as far south as Birmingham. Finally, the Appalachian Plateau makes up most of the northeast. Part of the Highland Rim and the floodplain of the Tennessee River cut into Alabama’s extreme

Relationships of rocks and their qualities are apparent ubiquitously and are comparable between Clear Creek a nearby Valley Wall. Comparability between Clear Creek and a nearby Illinois River location also display an ever-present relationship of their discharge. Through USGS, the discharge of streams and springs correlate two water types; karst development.

The state of Alabama is home to 22 state parks, reaching from the lower Appalachian Mountains of north Alabama to the Gulf Coast of south Alabama. Within those parks are the plant and animal species that help Alabama rank 5th in the United States in biodiversity. That means that Alabama has the 5th highest number of different plant and animal species in the country. Here are the four most popular parks:

A basin, as defined by Merriam Webster 's dictionary, is "a broad area of the earth beneath which the strata dip usually from the sides toward the center" and on a simplified level, the Powder River Basin is exactly this (Merriam-Webster.com, 2014). The Powder River Basin spans from the northeast half of Wyoming into the southeast corner of Montana. A geologic map of the Powder River is shown on the following page. The basin is an assymetrical syncline with its axis lying along the western side. The coal-bearing rocks in the western part of the basin dip over 20 degrees, while the rocks at the eastern side of the basin only dip up to 5 degrees (Flores et al., 2008). As indicated by the following stratigraphic column, the coal-bearing rocks of the powder river basin were deposited from the Upper Cretaceous into the Eocene epoch. These rocks can reach a thickness of almost 8000 feet at the basin axis (Curry, 1971).

Arkansas is known for its beauty and it’s looks, Arkansas’s physical geography has so many hills mountains, it’s covered with forest and many rivers and streams and I know you absolutely LOVE that kind of stuff. Remember this is my first reason.

Compression-induced by the collision of the Iapetus rocks with North America caused a downwarp in the crust of the west Taconic mountains. Sagging crust from the downwarp was flooded by a broad shallow inland ocean and filled with sediments. This is evidenced because the Appalachian basin was formed by the downwarp in the crust of the west Taconic mountain. Sediments deposited in delta from the western side of the mountain, the Iapetus ocean, North America, Baltica, and the Gondwana plates converged. After a period of erosion, land began to subside and the water began to occupy the land.

However, the most particular one that is my favorite is the Ochoco National Forest located in Central Oregon. “The Ochoco National Forest is a much older volcanic region that has been uplifted and eroded” (Our Forest, 2015). Much of Ochoco is high desert containing 50,000 acres of lakes and lava flows,

Mountains can also form when convergent plates smash into each other. Furthermore, stream erosion made a path for the river that runs through the Rocky Mountains. I can infer that water collected on the ground and then slowly trickled down a slope, carrying rock and sediments away with it. Overtime, more and more rain/water collected in the stream which made it grow wider. Now, a long, wide, and deep river has formed. Finally, I can see where abrasion could have made the bottom of the mountains smooth and curved. I think that pieces of rock could have fallen off some of the mountains in the Rocky Mountain Range (maybe due to ice wedging). When they fall, they rub on the base of the mountains. This chips part of the rock off and smooths it