Editing Crowley's Ridge

{{For|the former department store|Crowley's}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{short description|Geological formation in the U.S. states of Arkansas and Missouri}}
[[File:Crowleys Ridge relief v1.jpg|thumb|Crowley's Ridge runs through the [[Mississippi embayment]] in this shaded-relief map.]] 
{{Regions of Arkansas}}
'''Crowley's Ridge''' (also '''Crowleys Ridge''') is a geological formation that rises 250 to {{convert|550|ft|m}} above the  [[alluvial plain]] of the [[Mississippi embayment]] in a {{convert|150|mi|km|adj=on}} line from southeastern [[Missouri]] to the [[Mississippi River]] near [[Helena-West Helena, Arkansas|Helena, Arkansas]].  It is the most prominent feature in the [[Mississippi Alluvial Plain]] between [[Cape Girardeau, Missouri]], and the [[Gulf of Mexico]].

This narrow rolling hill region rising above the flat plain is the sixth, and smallest, natural division of the state of [[Arkansas]]. The southern part is protected within [[Ozark–St. Francis National Forest]].

Most of the major cities of the [[Arkansas Delta]] region lie along Crowley's Ridge. It was named after [[Benjamin Crowley]], known as the first American settler to reach the area, sometime around 1820. The [[American Civil War|Civil War]] [[Battle of Chalk Bluff]] was fought on Crowley's Ridge on May 1–2, 1863.

==Composition and origin==
The ridge is primarily composed of the windblown glacially derived sediment known as [[loess]]. It contrasts greatly with the flat table land around it and with the black soil that makes up the delta.  The ridge varies from half a mile to {{convert|12|mi|km}} wide and reaches an elevation of {{convert|550|ft|m}} near its northern extremity. The highest point on the ridge in Arkansas is "Legacy Mountain" at the Craighead County solid waste site south of Jonesboro.

Prevailing winds blow dust into the river fogs. The fog wetted dust tends to fall and make loess deposits on the downwind sides of rivers, such as the east and north sides of the Mississippi River, as well as the east side of the Black River.<ref name="MillerOthers1">{{cite book |last1 = Miller |first1= B.J. |first2= G.C. |last2 = Lewis |first3 = J.J. |last3 = Alford |first4 = W.J. |last4 = Day |year = 1985 |url = https://www.scribd.com/doc/18934817/1984-Louisiana-Loess-Fieldtrip-Guidebook |title = Loesses in Louisiana and at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Guidebook, Friends of the Pleistocene Field Trip, April 12, 13, and 14, 1985 |publisher = [[Louisiana Agricultural Experimental Station]], [[Louisiana State University]] |location = Baton Rouge }}</ref> These loess deposits are a classic example of periglacial [[loess]].<ref name="USGS-QSR">{{Cite journal |last = Bettis |first = E. Arthur |last2 = Muhs |first2 = Daniel R. |last3 = Roberts |first3 = Helen M. |last4 = Wintle |first4 = Ann G. |date = 2003 |title = Last Glacial loess in the conterminous USA |url = https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1179&context=usgsstaffpub |journal = Quaternary Science Reviews |volume = 22 |issue = 18-19 |pages = 1907–1946 |doi = 10.1016/s0277-3791(03)00169-0 |url-access = subscription }}</ref><ref name="USGS-GSA370">{{Cite journal |last = Muhs |first = Daniel R. |last2 = Bettis |first2 = E. Arthur |date = 2003 |title = Quaternary loess-Paleosol sequences as examples of climate-driven sedimentary extremes |url = http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/info/eolian/MuhsBettis2003GSAsp370.pdf |journal = Geological Society of America Special Paper |volume = 370 |language = en |pages = 53–74 |doi = 10.1130/0-8137-2370-1.53 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120210081127/http://esp.cr.usgs.gov/info/eolian/MuhsBettis2003GSAsp370.pdf |archive-date = February 10, 2012 }}</ref> Crowley's Ridge is a natural loess accumulation point.  A comparable example of this type of deposit is the [[Loess Hills]] in northwestern Missouri and western Iowa.

At one time, the ridge was thought to have been an island between the [[Mississippi River]] and [[Ohio River]] that was isolated as a long low hilly ridge after the rivers changed course millions of years ago.<ref>{{Cite web |url = http://www.arkansas.com/places-to-go/scenic-byways/crowleys-ridge/ |title = National Scenic Byways - Scenic Byways and Highways - Arkansas Scenic Routes |access-date = June 19, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130912152901/http://www.arkansas.com/places-to-go/scenic-byways/crowleys-ridge/ |archive-date = September 12, 2013 |url-status = dead }}</ref> Recent seismic evidence, however, questions the fluvial origin by focusing on uplift along ridge bounding faults.<ref name=Roy/>

There is evidence that the area's elevation has increased over the years, suggesting that uplift is still taking place. This alternative explanation posits a link between the ridge and the nearby [[New Madrid Seismic Zone]].<ref name=Roy>{{cite journal |first1 = Roy B. |last1 = Van Arsdale |first2 = Robert A. |last2 = Williams |first3 =  Eugene S. |last3 = Schweig |first4 = Kaye M. |last4 = Shedlock |first5 = Jack K. |last5 = Odum |first6 = Kenneth W. |last6 = King |title = The origin of Crowley's Ridge, northeastern Arkansas: Erosional remnant or tectonic uplift? |journal = Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America |date = August 1995 |volume = 85 |issue = 4 |pages = 963–985}} [http://bssa.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/4/963 Abstract]</ref>

==Soils and vegetation==
The flora and fauna of the ridge seem more closely related to the [[Tennessee]] hills to the east than to the [[Ozark Mountains]] to the west.  This unique habitat has been protected by the establishment of several state and city parks, the [[Ozark-St. Francis National Forest#St. Francis National Forest|St. Francis National Forest]], recreational lakes, and in 1997 a [[national scenic byway]], the [[Crowley's Ridge Parkway]].<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.arkansas.com/things-to-do/scenic-drives/crowleys-ridge.asp |title = Crowley's Ridge Parkway National Scenic Byway |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040313132541/http://www.arkansas.com/things-to-do/scenic-drives/crowleys-ridge.asp |archive-date = March 13, 2004 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url = http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2588/ |title = Crowley's Ridge Parkway<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date = July 31, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070608224941/http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2588/ |archive-date = June 8, 2007 |url-status = dead }}</ref>

The soils in this area are moderately fertile and sometimes rich.  The land is moderately rugged, discouraging row-crop agriculture.  These soils are easily eroded.  There is some commercial agriculture in the [[loess]]al plains area of the ridge. The ridge is surrounded by the fertile lands of the [[Mississippi Alluvial Plain|delta region]]. The vegetation is predominantly [[oak]] and [[hickory]] forests, similar to vegetation found in the [[Appalachian Mountains]]. Examples are the [[Liriodendron tulipifera|tulip tree]] (or yellow poplar) and the [[American beech]]. Ferns and flowers abound here, including the [[American bellflower]], [[Silene virginica|fire pink]], [[butterfly weed]], [[cardinal flower]], [[blue lobelia]], [[phlox]], [[verbena]], [[wild hydrangea]], [[hibiscus]], [[symphyotrichum|aster]], and [[Gelsemium sempervirens|yellow jasmine]]. The low-lying areas around the ridge were once much [[swamp]]ier, and the ridge provided a natural and more healthful place for settlers to establish homes.  The ridge became a natural north-south communications link for the region, since travel along the ridge was much easier than through the swampy lowlands.<ref name=Borne>{{cite web |url = http://www.scsc.k12.ar.us/BorneC/newpage9.htm |title =  Crowley's Ridge |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030312233828/http://www.scsc.k12.ar.us/BorneC/newpage9.htm |archive-date=March 12, 2003 }}</ref>

==Fossils==
The region adjacent to the ridge is covered with thick deltaic soils, and few [[fossil]]s are found except in gravel pits.  These pits sometimes reveal the teeth of large mastodons, mammoths and horses, which roamed the continent as recently as 10,000 years ago. Crowley's Ridge contains important exposures of fossiliferous Tertiary sediments and contains the only documented [[Miocene]] exposures in the state.  A [[Petrifaction|silicified]] conifer stump weighing several tons was unearthed near Wittsburg, and many more were found around [[Piggott, Arkansas|Piggott]].  [[Mastodon]] bones were found within the city limits of [[Helena, Arkansas|Helena]] at the southern end of the ridge.  Near [[Forrest City, Arkansas|Forrest City]], in the bed of Crow Creek, a deposit of [[oyster]] shells estimated to be nearly 7,000,000 cubic yards in size was discovered.<ref name=Borne/>

==Namesake==
[[File:Crowleys Ridge State Park Shiloh Cemetery Paragould AR 05.jpg|thumb|upright|Grave of Benjamin Crowley in Shiloh Cemetery at Crowley's Ridge State Park west of Paragould, Arkansas. The inscription reads "Benjamin Crowley - 1758-1842 - The man for whom Crowley's Ridge is named"]]
Crowley's Ridge is named after [[Benjamin Crowley]] (1758–1842), the first American settler of the Ridge near [[Paragould, Arkansas]]. Crowley is buried in the Shiloh Cemetery in [[Greene County, Arkansas]], and a monument marks the spot. The cemetery is part of [[Crowley's Ridge State Park]]. Next to Crowley's grave, other early settlers of the ridge are buried in unmarked graves.

==Crowley's Ridge Nature Center==
The Forrest L. Wood Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center in [[Jonesboro, Arkansas]] features self-guided exhibits about area's [[topography]] and natural history and wildlife of Crowley’s Ridge.<ref>{{cite web |title = Crowley's Ridge Natue Center |url = http://www.crowleysridge.org |publisher = Arkansas Fish and Game Commission |access-date = November 6, 2017 }}</ref> Operated by the Arkansas Fish and Game Commission (AGFC) and opened in 2004, the Center includes an exhibit area, discovery room, observation tower, meeting rooms, auditorium, and gift shop.<ref>{{cite web |title = Forrest L. Wood Crowley's Ridge Nature Center |url = http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=7041 |publisher = Encyclopedia of Arkansas |access-date = November 6, 2017 }}</ref> Outside there are trails through wetlands, forest and prairie, and a 1/4 mile universally accessible trail and boardwalk around a pond. The Center offers many activities and nature education programs. It is named after [[Forrest L. Wood]], a former commissioner and supporter of the AGFC.
{{Clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030830194213/http://www2.semo.edu/regionalhist/FAQ_ridge.html Semo.edu: Crowley's Ridge]
* [[USGS]] GNIS webpage—{{Gnis|66990|Crowleys Ridge}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170711091023/https://www.arkansasstateparks.com//park-finder/park.aspx?id=7  Arkansas State Parks: official Crowley's Ridge State Park website]
* [http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1218  Encyclopedia of Arkansas history and culture.net: Crowley's Ridge State Park]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20170707152533/https://www.arkansas.com/attractions/detail/st-francis-national-forest/18679  St. Francis National Forest at Crowley's Ridge] — ''at southernmost end of ridge, adjacent to Mississippi River''.
* [http://www.crowleysridge.org Crowley's Ridge Nature Center]

{{Protected Areas of Arkansas}}
{{Arkansas}}
{{Portal bar|Arkansas|Geography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|36.142|N|90.575|W|display=title}}

[[Category:Crowley's Ridge| ]]
[[Category:Ridges of Arkansas]]
[[Category:Mississippi embayment]]
[[Category:U.S. Interior Highlands]]
[[Category:Landforms of Clay County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Landforms of Craighead County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Landforms of Cross County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Landforms of Greene County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Landforms of Lee County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Landforms of Phillips County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Landforms of Poinsett County, Arkansas]]
[[Category:Ozark–St. Francis National Forest]]
[[Category:Geology of Arkansas]]
[[Category:Regions of Arkansas]]
[[Category:Geology of Missouri]]