C.M.T.— "XAVIVK TOKI-sr VKKKS OY KASIKKN AKXANSAS. 7'9 



Vin- the i)iiri)os('> (if this skclch cnstcni Arkansas may ho 

 ^•<)nsi(l('^(><l a ureal allmial plain underlain inoic or less /Iccply 

 with deposits of (piarternarv a^-e overlyijiir — tJioiii:]i the (juai-- 

 ternaiv i-s sonietiinos wantiiiii- — the heavy beds of clays and 

 sands of tertiary ai^c which constitute the chief <>eo]<><»-ic fea- 

 ture of the ari'a. 'l\\v soils are ireuerally stitV and clayey, 

 sometimes c<)ntainin<i- considerahle sand and are always cold 

 smd wet. That is, the suhsoil is a hai'd[)au, often of irroat 

 thickness, anr) utterly incapal»le of completi' drainaire liy 

 cither natural clianncds or artificial metluKis. 'l"h<' tree flora, 

 therefore responds in character to these physioiivaphic and 

 ^rooloofic conditions. A few lariro and sluiiirish streams trav- 

 rt'rse the area anion<r which ar<' the Arkansas, White, Cache, 

 Auijfuillc and St. Francis Hi vers. Jn the hottom swamps of 

 all these streams occur yreat patches, often miles in extent, 

 of vyin-Of^s-Tax^dium (UfdicliuiA Mich., while around the borders 

 of the cypress swamps are found dense growths of hardwoods, 

 among them the willow or wat<'r-oak, whitc-oak, post-oak. 

 black and sweet gum, winged elm, and several forms of ('ari/a, 

 Jiotably the shcll-l)ark hickory and pecan. 



\\'ithin this area the chief tojiographic feature (.f impor- 

 tance is Crowley's Ixidgc. a range of low hills which enters 

 the State from :\IisMiuri in the northeast part of Clay County 

 and extends southward, with varying width, to Helena, in 

 Phillips County, a distance of some one hundred and forty- 

 live miles. The geologv of the rid--e is, l>rietly. about as fol- 

 lows: Deposits of ((uatei'uary age ca|) it. the hess being the 

 chief i)etrographie fc.'ature of the southern lialf. This lacust- 

 rine or rtuviatile terrane lies directly upon a gi-avel l)ed. of 

 varvinir thickness, which is believed to be correlated piojierly 

 with the Orange Sand gravels. Following this inemiter are 

 vari-colored cross-bedded, and sometimes indurated, sand- 

 stones and <-lays of tertiaiy au'c. the lowest strata y<'t (.!)- 

 served bein-j- Focenc in a-je and beloniring to t!ie Claibornian. 



