The northern boundary, the Boston Mountain Front or escarpment , marks a sharp change in topography, rocks, and soils from the country north of it. The boundary is a definite line, easily identified and traced on the ground. South of Harrison the Boston Mountain Escarpment stands more than 1, feet above the Springfield Plain, and mountain outliers comprised of sandstone and shale have been detached from the main upland during millions of years of erosion. The most prominent of these isolated mountains, the Boat Mountain group, eight miles southeast of Harrison, stands in splendid isolation 1, feet above the Springfield Plain and about eight miles away from the front.
The valleys were once more heavily settled; brush and scrub timber choke fields that formerly grew crops of corn and cotton. Agriculture has declined over the years because of isolation, poor road, long distances to markets, and the small amount of level land and fertile soils.
Many distinctive events have shaped the human geography of the Ozarks. A great deal of trial and error experimentation has been involved in the economic development of the region.
Although crop agriculture is greatly diminished from former times, the Ozark region's resources are being exploited in new ways. The combination of heavily forested mountains, cascading creeks and rivers, eighteen large reservoirs, and a reputation for bucolic, "down home," low-cost vacations has made the region an increasing popular tourist destination. The region also benefits from its strategic location in the central agricultural heartland of the United States, making it easily accessible to large numbers of people who wish to experience the Ozarks many natural and man-made attractions.
Since about , population has grown very fast. The most substantial increases have occurred in the larger towns, but the most rapid rates of growth have taken place in counties that border the large reservoirs. For many years the Ozarks was a backwater area effected only marginally by growth and development in the rest of the country. Some sections of the Ozarks have been better suited over time than others to adapt to the forces of change, but today, when scenery, water, and recreational potential are increasingly valuable resources, the Ozarks is experiencing rapid growth and development.
It is in many ways a region whose time has come. Springfield-Greene County Library. I, No. Limestone bluffs along the Buffalo River in Arkansas typify the erosion and deep entrenchment of Ozarks river valleys. Photo courtesy of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. Francois Mountains sub-region. Photo courtesy of Walker, Missouri Division of Tourism. Map 1.
The sub-regions of the Ozarks from Rafferty, The Ozarks: land and life. Map 2. The river borders and river systems of the Ozarks. Photo courtesy of St. Joe Minerals Corp. Rocky, open glades with exposed limestone or chert are extensive and common. Prairies on level plateau surfaces with thin soils were extensive, but almost all have been converted to pasture, cities, and other developed areas.
These areas have experienced considerable urban growth. With its extensive, fairly level areas, often blanketed with prairie that was easy to till, the Springfield Plateau was much easier to develop for transportation, agriculture, and urban centers than the Boston Mountains. Because it combines the scenery and quality of life of the Ozark Mountains with relatively level topography that can be readily developed, the Springfield Plateau has become a growth center, of significance not only in Arkansas but regionally and nationally as well.
That growth has occurred in spite of barriers to transportation that have now been addressed by an interstate highway and a regional airport. The abrupt change in elevation is apparent at Eureka Springs Carroll County , where its location on the boundary of the two plateaus gives it its mountainous character. Like the Springfield Plateau, the Salem Plateau, at an elevation of about 1, feet, often forms extensive plains, as at Berryville Carroll County.
Several distinct areas of hills have been cut into the plateau by rivers, most prominently along the White River and its tributaries. Other extensive hills have been cut by the Spring and Strawberry rivers. The Salem Plateau is often underlain by dolomite or dolostone, similar to limestone. Although dolostone is not dissolved by water as readily as limestone, caves are present, as well as large springs such as the one at Mammoth Spring Fulton County.
The plateau surface and level hilltops have rocky soil originally covered with oak forests, open oak woodlands, and open rocky glades. The Salem Plateau had few areas easily adapted to agriculture, such as areas of deep alluvial soil or prairie. However, beginning in the late nineteenth century and extending through the twentieth century, recreational development became increasingly important.
Bull Shoals and Norfork lakes, created by U. The same may be said for Beaver Lake in the Springfield Plateau. The once sleepy little community of Mountain Home Baxter County , located between the two reservoirs with easy access to both, has become the largest city in the region.
Cold water released from the reservoirs into rivers below the dams damaged the native aquatic ecosystem, and, as mitigation, the Corps built hatcheries to stock trout as an alternative. This has also become a major outdoor recreation attraction, and White River trout fishing has become world famous.
Hardy Sharp County and Mammoth Spring have become thriving communities in large part based on tourism associated with the Spring River and the Mammoth Spring at its source. The most extensive land use and most important agricultural endeavor in the region is beef cattle pasturage. As with the Springfield Plateau, commercial timber production is limited, although small hardwood lumber mills are common, and charcoal is produced from hardwood in Yellville Marion County.
For additional information: Blevins, Brooks. The plateau is called a mountain range because of its high peaks and ruggedness. Boston stretches from the north of Arkansas River Valley for approximately kilometers and is almost parallel to Interstate It is separated from Salem Plateau on the north by Springfield Plateau.
Some Boston Summits rise over meters above sea level, with Buffalo Lookout as the highest point, rising meters. However, Turner Ward Knob in Arkansas is the highest peak at meters above sea level. Much of the Boston Plateau is covered by forest, with a large area protected as Ozark National Forest.
Springfield Plateau is on the north of the Boston Mountains and borders the Salem Plateau on the south and west. This plateau is characterized by lower elevation, with many areas rising only up to meters above sea level.
The high areas form in places where streams and rivers like the White River cut into the plateau surface. They are immersed in a verdant forest and look out over sweeping views of Beaver Lake, and floor-to-ceiling windows allow for unobstructed views.
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