ENVIRONMENTAL AND HYDROLOGIC SETTING OF THE OZARK PLATEAUS STUDY UNIT, ARKANSAS, KANSAS, MISSOURI, AND OKLAHOMA U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4022 NATIONAL WATER-QUALITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM ENVIRONMENTAL AND HYDROLOGIC SETTING OF THE OZARK PLATEAUS STUDY UNIT, ARKANSAS, KANSAS, MISSOURI, AND OKLAHOMA by James C. Adamski, James C. Petersen, David A. Freiwald, and Jerri V. Davis U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4022 NATIONAL WATER-QUALITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM Little Rock, Arkansas 1995 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Gordon P. Eaton, Director For additional information Copies of this report can be write to: purchased from: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey, WRD Earth Science Information Center 401 Hardin Road Open-File Reports Section Little Rock, Arkansas 72211 Box 25286, MS 517 Denver Federal Center Denver, CO 80225 CONTENTS Abstract....................................................................................................................................................................................1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................2 Purpose and scope .........................................................................................................................................................4 Location.........................................................................................................................................................................5 Previous investigations .................................................................................................................................................. 5 Environmental setting..............................................................................................................................................................7 Climate Suzanne R. Femmer ..............................................................................................................................................7 Physiography .................................................................................................................................................................7 Ozark Plateaus Province......................................................................................................................................7 Salem Plateau ..........................................................................................................................................12 Springfield Plateau ..................................................................................................................................14 Boston Mountains....................................................................................................................................14 Central Lowland and Coastal Plain Provinces...................................................................................................14 Osage Plains ............................................................................................................................................14 Mississippi Alluvial Plain........................................................................................................................14 Geologic Setting ..........................................................................................................................................................15 Stratigraphy .......................................................................................................................................................15 Precambrian units ....................................................................................................................................15 Cambrian and Ordovician units...............................................................................................................15 Silurian and Devonian units.....................................................................................................................20 Mississippian units ..................................................................................................................................20 Pennsylvanian units .................................................................................................................................21 Post-Paleozoic units.................................................................................................................................21 Structural geology..............................................................................................................................................21 Geological history..............................................................................................................................................21 Soils .............................................................................................................................................................................22 Population Richard W. Bell...................................................................................................................................................22 Land Use Suzanne R. Femmer ............................................................................................................................................25 Water use Richard W. Bell...................................................................................................................................................28 Surface water .........................................................................................................................................................................28 Major rivers, tributaries, and reservoirs.......................................................................................................................28 White River........................................................................................................................................................31 Neosho-Illinois Rivers .......................................................................................................................................31 Osage River .......................................................................................................................................................36 Gasconade River................................................................................................................................................36 Meramec River ..................................................................................................................................................36 St. Francis River ................................................................................................................................................40 Black River ........................................................................................................................................................40 Stream morphology .....................................................................................................................................................40 Runoff and streamflow ................................................................................................................................................43 Water quality................................................................................................................................................................50 Ground water .........................................................................................................................................................................51 Hydrogeology ..............................................................................................................................................................51 Western Interior Plains confining system ..........................................................................................................51 iii Contents Springfield Plateau aquifer................................................................................................................................ 55 Ozark confining unit ......................................................................................................................................... 55 Ozark aquifer..................................................................................................................................................... 56 St. Francois confining unit ................................................................................................................................ 57 St. Francois aquifer ........................................................................................................................................... 57 Basement confining unit ................................................................................................................................... 57 Water quality ............................................................................................................................................................... 57 Factors that affect water quality............................................................................................................................................ 59