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'KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



Sketch showing physiographic relations of Kansas, by George I. Adams, 



of Kansas, the features of which it is the purpose of this paper to- 

 discuss. 



The state of Kansas, with the exception of the extreme southeast 

 corner, which is a portion of the Ozark region, lies within the Prairie 

 Plains and the Great Plains regions. These divisions are character- 

 ized by their broader physical aspects and their simple geologic 

 structure. They are not clearly defined by topographic differences, 

 although they have a general unity of surface features and altitudes. 



THE OZARK REGION. 



The country here designated as the Ozark region has been dis- 

 cussed from various standpoints. In the following definition, it is 

 considered as structurally related to the Arkansas valley and the 

 Ouachita mountains : 



Broadly defined, the Ozark region embraces the southern half of the state of 

 Missouri, a very small corner of southeastern Kansas, the northeastern part of 

 Indian Territory, and the northern part of Arkansas. ... In a general way 

 the Mississippi and Missouri rivers bound it on the northeast and north, Spring, 

 Grand and Arkansas rivers approximately limit it on the west and south, while 

 the upper portions of the St. Francis and Black rivers mark its southeastern 

 margin. ... In its northern portion it is to a large extent a rolling plain, 

 and in its southern and more rugged part the broken character is evidently the 

 result of erosion by streams which have deeply dissected a generally even sur- 



