ADAMS: PHYSIOGRAPY OF SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS. Gl 
DRAINAGE OF THE PRAIRIE PLAINS. 
The drainage of the Prairie Plains is due primarily to the east- 
ward slope of the surface. By reference to the map it will be seen 
that with the exception of the Kansas river all the streams rise 
within the area. A secondary feature is the dip and strike of the 
rocks. In general the dip is to the west and the streams flow at 
right angles to the strike, but slight deformations of the strata have 
caused a deflection of some of the streams to the south. There is 
an anticlinal ridge which has determined the divide between the 
Neosho and Osage river systems. In Missouri this divide con- 
tinues into the Ozark region to which the anticlinal is no doubt 
structurally related. Near the eastern border of the state this 
divide is spoken of by the residents there as the Ozark Ridge, and 
they will tell you that it can be traced to the Ozark mountains, but 
many of them mistake the escarpments which cross the ridge for 
the ridge itself. Along the southern border of the state the dip 1s 
to the southwest and the streams here become more directly tribu- 
tary to the Arkansas which finds its way through the Ozark region 
in a synclinal trough. * 
Spring river, which crosses the southeast corner of the state, 
flows along the line of contact between the Sub-Carboniferous and 
Carboniferous formations and _ has literally slid down the extreme 
border of the Ozark dome, eroding the shales of the Carboniferous 
and accommodating itself to the uneven surface of the Sub-Car- 
boniferous. In the Territory the Neosho, to which Spring river 1s 
tributary, occupies a similar position and is deflected to the west 
considerably before it reaches the Arkansas. 
RESULTANT TOPOGRAPHY. 
ithe formations over which the streams flow are beds of lime- 
stome alternating with beds of sandstone and shale. The unequal 
yielding of these materials to erosive agencies has produced in gen- 
eral a terraced surface, the limestones protecting the escarpments 
while the shales and sandstones below have been carried away by 
the streams. tf 
The inclination of the strata has produced a gradual slope (back 
slope) from the top of one escarpment to the base of the next 
higher. Not infrequently a stream cuts off a portion of an escarp- 
ment producing a mound or ridge, and the ridge in turn is broken 
up into a row of mounds. Incase the more resistant strata are 
*Geo. H. Ashley. Geology of Paleozoic Region of Arkansas. Proc. Am, Phil. Soc., 
May, 1897. s 
*Vide Haworth, University Geol. Sur. of Kansas, Vol. I, Chap. 10. 
