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Natural Area Newsletter 2019 2019 NaMItuSSOURIral AreVolume 19,as Number 1 N E W S L E T T E R “…identifying, designating, managing and restoring the best remaining examples of natural communities and geological sites encompassing the full spectrum of Missouri’s natural heritage” ty’s distinctive assemblage of plant and animal Editor’s Note species, vegetation structure, and degree of moisture is tied to topography, geology, and Missouri Geology soil. Collectively, all make up definable, map- pable environments containing associations of from the Bottom Up describable native plants, animals, and micro- organisms. The Missouri Natural Areas Com- s with the rest of the world, Missouri’s mittee aims to identify our highest quality unique natural communities of the ecological natural communities (systems most present are an expression of adaptation, often linked to an intact soil profile), and Aevolution, extinction, and change in response significant geologic features such as Elephant to disturbance processes, climate, species dis- Rocks Natural Area. persal/isolation, and (in the last 20,000 years) For nearly 1.7 billion years, volcanism, plate human influence. Stepping back at any point tectonics, land uplifts, earthquakes, glaciation, in time over the past 400 million years, one inundation by oceans, and erosion have sculpt- would have experienced a vast variety of differ- ed Missouri’s rich and varied geology. Pressure ent plants and animals. A natural communi- and time solidified ocean sediments, river and Sun setting on the Elephant Rocks Natural Area, Iron County, Missouri. Photo by Andy Eckert wind-driven sands, volcanic magma, NATURAL AREAS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE ash, and lava into rock types. Most of Pawnee Prairie Missouri’s thousands of rock types are Dark Hollow sorted into some form of sandstone, lime- Spring Creek Ranch Chariton River Hills stone, dolomite, granite, rhyolite, chert, and McCormack Loess Mounds shale. These primary rock types and their Ha Ha Tonka Oak Woodland unique physical, chemical, and water-holding Quercus Flatwoods capacity are major contributors in explain- Alley Spring ing where plant species often occur. It was Royal Gorge Tower Rock not until 400 million years ago that vascular Blue Spring plants and animals evolved and adapted to fill Big Spring distinctive niches of soil, substrate, and cli- Mount Vernon Prairie mate-all important keys in defining our ter- Linden's Prairie restrial natural communities. The assemblages CONTENTS of native plants, animals, and microorganisms Missouri Geology from the Bottom Up that developed through time and occur in re- Allison J. Vaughn ..........................................................1 peatable patterns on the landscape are housed Major Geologic Divisions of Missouri on often unseen bedrock geology and soils. Larry “Boot” Pierce .....................................................3 While soils and geology do not singlehandedly The Diverse Karst Regions of Missouri define a terrestrial natural community, they Larry “Boot” Pierce .....................................................7 serve as the foundation of the broad spectrum Bedrock Geologic Mapping in Missouri of communities that exist in Missouri. Edie Starbuck ........................................................... 10 The study of geologic processes, rock forma- Seasonal Progression of Soil Health Metrics within Two tions, and soil types is complex at best. In this Prairie-Savanna Restoration Sites at Mark Twain S.P. edition of the Missouri Natural Areas News- Sam Lord .................................................................. 15 letter, we hear from various geologists and soil Enigmatic Structures along the 38th Parallel in Missouri scientists about recent research in this techni- Marissa K. Spencer & Dr. Francisca E. Oboh-Ikuenobe ....19 cal field, and efforts to classify and categorize NATURAL AREA NEWS geologic features while providing examples for Calendar of Events ......................................................18 visitors to see these places with a better under- After Decades, the Namesake of Tower Rock Natural standing of the underground forces that gave Area Actually Becomes a Part of the Natural Area rise to them. We lead off the newsletter with Mike Leahy ..............................................................24 a history of the geology mapping process in Linden’s Prairie Natural Area Designation Missouri, a story of Missouri from the bottom Mike Leahy .............................................................. 25 up, and continue on with the various catego- rizations and groupings that help us organize The Missouri Natural Areas Newsletter is an annual journal published by the Missouri Natural Areas Committee, whose mission is identifying, designating, geologic history. The story of the three distinct managing and restoring the best remaining examples of natural communities meteor impacts in the Ozarks is front and cen- and geological sites encompassing the full spectrum of Missouri’s natural her- itage. The Missouri Natural Areas Commit- ter of research, and we’ll hear about new tech- tee consists of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Missouri Depart- nological advances in dating. This edition will ment of Conservation, the U.S. Forest hopefully further one’s understanding of our Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service diverse geology and help us better appreciate and the Nature Conservancy. the state’s rich natural heritage this foundation gave rise to. — Allison J. Vaughn, editor Allison Vaughn is the Natural Areas Coordinator with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Contact: [email protected] 2 Missouri Natural Areas Newsletter • Vol. 19, No. 1, 2019 Missouri Geological Survey Fact Sheet, Pub-2515 Missouri Geological Survey Fact MARYVILLE KIRKSVILLE M I S S ILL PL I ST. JOSEPH ED T AINS HANNIBAL S CT S E I S P IS P D I I OUR LEGEND MISS R I V KANSAS E 1 CITY S ERN R COLUMBIA L OUTH LIMIT O F 2 GLACIAT oter iit S ION o aciatio 3 AIN PL SEDALIA ST. LOUIS etra Loa E JEFFERSON CITY 1 Interior Plains G Central Lowlands A iecte i Pai S Dissected Till Plains R O I Osage Plains VE R ae Pai OSCEOLA ROLLA 2 Interior Highlands ST. FRANCOIS MOUNTAINS ar PateaOzark Plateau Salem Plateau ae PateaSpringfield Plateau FREDERICKTOWN St. Francois Mountains Springfield CAPE riie Patea CARTHAGE la GIRARDEAU Plateau em P teau 3 Atlantic Plain SPRINGFIELD al JOPLIN S t racoiCoastal otai Plain in Mississippi Alluvial Plain POPLAR vial Pla iAllu oata Pai BLUFF ipp BRANSON iss iss iiii ia Pai M SCALE 0 20 40 60 80 MILES 0 20 40 60 80 KILOMETERS Figure 1. Physiographic Regions of Missouri PUB2515 The continental United States of America is Major Geologic divided into 24 major geologic or physiograph- ic regions. Missouri is included in three of those major divisions. These divisions, origi- Divisions of Missouri nally described for the country in Fenneman by Larry “Boot” Pierce (1928) and further delineated in Fennemen and Johnson (1946) break down the geology of the issouri Natural Areas are defined as nation into its broadest and most basic phys- biological communities and geolog- iographic regions. The physiographic regions ical sites that represent the natural and subdivisions for Missouri are outlined Mcharacter, diversity, and ecological processes of on the Physiographic Regions Map (Figure 1.) Missouri’s landscape. For most natural areas, Many scientists, including Thom and Wilson the ecological integrity plays a vital role in its (1980) and Nigh and Schroeder (2002), have designation, but underlying every natural area taken these broader physiographic regions and in the state is a set of factors which controls combined them with geomorphic, ecologic and that ecology. Geology and climate, which climatic data to produce maps that outline includes the resulting geomorphic processes, the ecological or natural divisions of the state. both build and destroy the natural character These maps roughly coincide with the physio- of Missouri’s landscape. graphic divisions of Missouri, however, as can Vol. 19, No. 1, 2019 • Missouri Natural Areas Newsletter 3 be expected, the ecological and natural sub-re- locally prominent. (Apple Creek Conserva- gions are more diverse and a smaller in scale. tion Area, Cape Girardeau County) At their broadest, the geologic regions locat- B. Springfield Plateau ed within Missouri include the Central Low- a. Dissected Springfield Plateau: moderately to lands subsection of the Interior Plains, Ozark intricately dissected plateau, mostly cherty Plateau subsection of the Interior Highlands Mississippian-age limestone bedrock; area and the Coastal Plain subsection of the Atlan- characterized by deep rugged valleys sepa- tic Plain. The geologic characteristics within rated by rolling upland areas; karst features each region are notably different and give each locally common. (Roaring River State Park, its unique properties. Based on these differenc- Barry County) es each of these regions are further subdivided b. Undissected Springfield Plateau: gently roll- into subregions which include: ing upland plains with undissected plateau • Interior Plains interfluves between major drainage systems. • Central Lowlands (Mount Vernon and Linden’s Prairie Natural • Dissected Till Plains Areas, Lawrence County) • Osage Plains St. Francois Mountains subsection of the • Interior Highlands Ozark Plateau (including the Precambrian out- • Ozark Plateau crop area of Shannon County) • Salem Plateau The St. Francois Mountains
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