Arbuckle Mountains
| Arbuckle Mountains | |
|---|---|
 Turner Falls in Oklahoma |
|
| location | Oklahoma , USA |
| Coordinates | 34 ° 26 ′ N , 97 ° 11 ′ W |
| Type | Fold Mountains |
| rock | Granite , gneiss , limestone , dolomite , sandstone , slate |
| Age of the rock | Proterozoic |
| surface | 1,124 km² |
The Arbuckle Mountains are a mountain range in central to southern Oklahoma in the United States . It is in Murray , Carter , Pontotoc, and Johnston Counties . The granite and gneiss rocks of the Arbuckle Mountains date from the Precambrian around 1.4 billion years ago and were covered by rhyolites during the Cambrian period . The highest point is up to 450 m above sea level. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the Arbuckle Mountains contain the richest mineral and sediment deposits in Oklahoma: limestone and Oil Creek sandstone , dolomite , glass sand , granite, gneiss, sand and gravel , Woodford shale , cement , iron ore , lead , Zinc , oil sands , petroleum and natural gas . All of these minerals and sediments are or have been mined commercially.
location
The east-west extension of the Arbuckle Mountains is about 57 km with a north-south extension of up to 35 km, so they reach an area of about 1,124 km². Most of it lies between northern Carter County and southern Murray County , about 15 miles north of Ardmore and 5 miles south of Davis. The eastern flank of the ridge is about 8 km south of Sulfur .
geology
Geological structure
Geologically, the Arbuckle Mountains have an elongated anticlinal structure with a strike direction from east-southeast to west-northwest. Its core consists of extrusive and intrusive rock of Colbert rhyolite porphyry and Tishomingo granite, which dates to an age of 1.374 billion years ( Proterozoic ) and was coated and flanked by almost vertically oriented limestone and sandstone of the early Paleozoic . The conglomerates deposited during the Pennsylvania and Permian formed orogenic fractures and raised and deformed the older banks .
The westward-expanding structure of the Arbuckle Mountains and the parallel Wichita Mountains are almost at right angles to the tectonic extent of the Middle Paleozoic structure of the Ouachita Mountains south of the Marathon Uplift . It is believed that the Arbuckle Mountains were formed by an incomplete rift valley or aulacogen in the Precambrian and were raised and folded during the Ouachita Mountains orogeny.
Hydrology and karst topography
Under the Arbuckle Mountains lies the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer , which serves as the freshwater source of the Blue River and Honey Creeks , which flow south of Davis over the Turner Falls . The Washita River has washed out a narrow canyon, sometimes up to 100 m deep, right through the mountains.
Due to the predominant karst topography , standing water is hardly to be found on the Arbuckle Mountains. The water seeps through cracks and fractures in the limestone and forms a network of caves and canals through it. Organizations such as the Arbuckle Karst Conservancy and Arbuckle Mountains Grotto of the National Speleological Society actively study karst phenomena and are committed to the conservation of biological ecosystems and groundwater. They currently maintain databases of more than 1000 caves and freshwater springs in the Arbuckle Mountains. Today the Arbuckle Mountains are gradually eroding. The highest point, which is still nameless, is now 100 to 150 m above the surrounding area or 400 to 450 m above sea level.
Climatology and vegetation
The annual rainfall in the Arbuckle Mountains decrease from east (104 cm / a) to west (91 cm / a). The average temperatures vary from January with 5 ° C to July with just under 28 ° C. The annual duration of the growing season is between 215 and 225 days. Frost can occur between late March and early November.
Forest areas of the mountain landscape consist mainly of deciduous trees such as sugar maple ( Acer saccharum ), large-fruited oak ( Quercus macrocarpa ) and other evergreen oaks.
history
Between the Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains , the Arbuckle Mountains are considered the oldest mountain range in the United States. It contains a at least 1.4 billion year old (Precambrian) core of granite and gneiss , which is about 460 m thick with over 525 million years old (Cambrian) rhyolite. A 4,600 m thick layer of limestone, dolomite, sandstone and shale from shallow seas from the period from 515 to 290 million years ago ( furongian to pennsylvanian ) has been deposited.
The mountains were named after General Matthew Arbuckle jun. (1778-1851) from Virginia , who had served in Indian territory for the last 30 years of his life . Shortly before his death from cholera , he had his troops set up an outpost on Wildhorse Creek in what is now Garvin County . In his honor it was named Fort Arbuckle . The name was soon transferred to the nearby mountain range, the Arbuckle Mountains .
According to the Oklahoma Forestry Service, after a long drought, on August 16, 2016, a forest fire of around 13.4 km², the so-called Honey Creek Fire , broke out south of Turner Falls Park . The extinguishing squad consisted of many locally based fire fighters and two helicopters of the Oklahoma National Guard . The entire fire-threatened Turner Falls Park had to be evacuated on August 16.
Economic use
The Arbuckle Mountains are among Oklahoma's most important limestone, dolomite, and glass sand mining areas. The largest outcrop area is in the northeast of Johnston County. Iron ore was also mined in the past. Limestone cliffs and the ruggedness of the mountains make the Arbuckle Mountains a poor agricultural location, but the first settlers in the region tried arable farming and cattle breeding . Today there are pastures of various sizes there.
tourism
The popular recreational areas of the Arbuckle Mountains include Turner Falls Park, one of the oldest parks in Oklahoma, the Chickasaw National Recreation Area near Sulfur and south of it the Lake of the Arbuckles , the largest lake in the mountain region with a normal 950 hectare water surface. It offers relaxation for swimmers, boaters and anglers. The approximately 23.5 m high Turner Falls are located 8 km south of Davis.
There are several campsites in the area, including YMCA Camp Classen and Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma , which host around 55,000 campers each summer.
Web links
- Dale K. Splinter, RA Marston: Arbuckle Mountains. Oklahoma Historical Society, accessed April 13, 2019 .
literature
- Joseph A. Taff: Preliminary Report On The Geology Of The Arbuckle And Wichita Mountains In Indian Territory And Oklahoma (= Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey [Ed.]: Professional Paper . No. 31 ). Washington 1904 ( online [PDF]).
Individual evidence
- ^ Arbuckle Mountains. Peakbagger.com, accessed April 13, 2019 .
- ^ Marion E. Bickford, RD Lewis: U-Pb geochronology of exposed basement rocks in Oklahoma . In: Geological Society of America Bulletin . tape 90 , no. 6 , 1979, pp. 540-544 .
- ↑ a b James S. Aber: Ouachita Mountains. Emporia State University, 2014, accessed April 12, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Chickasaw. Geologic Formations. National Park Service, February 24, 2015, accessed April 15, 2019 .
- ^ Robert W. Allen, RL Neman: The Arbuckle Mountains as a Laboratory for Geological Education . November 27, 2017 ( Online [PDF]).
- ↑ a b Kevin W. Blackwood: Hypogenic Caves and Paleokarst of the Arbuckle Mountains, Oklahoma . In: Alexander Klimchouk (Ed.): Hypogene Karst Regions and Caves of the World . Springer, Cham 2017, ISBN 978-3-319-53347-6 , pp. 653-661 .
- ^ Arbuckle Mountains High Point, Oklahoma. Peakbagger.com, accessed April 13, 2019 .
- ↑ Abbie Maynard: Wildfire in Arbuckles closes Turner Falls. Gray Television, August 16, 2016, accessed April 16, 2019 .
- ↑ Rhiannon Poolaw: Arbuckle Mountains wildfire triples in size in 24 hours. KSWO, August 17, 2016, accessed April 16, 2019 .