The Arbuckle Mountains are an ancient

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in south-central Oklahoma in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. They lie in Murray,

Carter Carter(s), or Carter's, Tha Carter, or The Carter(s), may refer to: Geography United States * Carter, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Carter, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Carter, Montana, a census-designated place * Carter ...

, Pontotoc, and Johnston counties.Splinter, Dale K. and Richard A. Marston. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. "Arbuckle Mountains."
Retrieved October 7, 2013. The

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

rocks of the Arbuckles date back to the Precambrian Eon some 1.4 billion years ago which were overlain by rhyolites during the Cambrian Period. The range reaches a height of 1,412 feet above sea level. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS):

''The Arbuckles contain the most diverse suite of mineral resources in Oklahoma: limestone, dolomite, glass sand, granite, sand and gravel, shale, cement, iron ore, lead, zinc, tar sands, and oil and gas; all these minerals are, or have been, produced commercially.''

History

The Arbuckle Mountains are the oldest known formations in the United States between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains. They contain a core of

and

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

that date back at least 1.4 billion years. The core is overlain by a layer of Cambrian period rhyolite that is about 525 million years old. Atop the rhyolite is about of folded and faulted limestones,

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

s, sandstones, and shales deposited in shallow seas from

Late Cambrian Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

through Pennsylvanian time (515 - 290 million years ago). They were named indirectly for Gen. Matthew Arbuckle (1778–1851), a career soldier from Virginia who was active in the Indian Territory for the last thirty years of his life. Shortly before his death at

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

, from cholera, several detachments of troops under his command had established an outpost to protect the California road, on Wildhorse Creek in present-day

Garvin County, Oklahoma Garvin County is a county in south-central Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 27,576. Its county seat is Pauls Valley. In 1906, delegates to Constitution Convention formed Garvin County from part of the Chickas ...

. The post was then named Fort Arbuckle in his honor. Though the post was abandoned in 1870, the name had already transferred in common usage to the nearby hills.

Geology

Geologically the Arbuckles are an elongate

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex up in which the hinge or crest is the ...

structure with an orientation or

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

of west-northwest. The core of the structure consists of Proterozoic

extrusive Extrusive rock refers to the mode of igneous volcanic rock formation in which hot magma from inside the Earth flows out (extrudes) onto the surface as lava or explodes violently into the atmosphere to fall back as pyroclastics or tuff. In contra ...

and intrusive rocks, the Colbert rhyolite porphyry and the Tishomingo

(age dated at 1374 Ma), which are overlain by the Arbuckle Group, the Simpson Group, Viola Group, and the

Hunton Group The Hunton Megagroup also Hunton Super Group, Hunton Group, Hunton Formation and Hunton Limestone is predominantly composed of carbonate rock, deposited between the Silurian and early to mid Devonian periods. In many States it acts as a reservoir ...

. Uplift,

faulting In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

, and

folding Fold, folding or foldable may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Fold'' (album), the debut release by Australian rock band Epicure * Fold (poker), in the game of poker, to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot *Abov ...

occurred during the

Wichita Orogeny The Wichita Mountains are located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the principal relief system in the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, being the result of a failed continental rift. The mountains are a northwest-southea ...

, followed by

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is dis ...

Hydrology and karst features

Underlying the Arbuckle Mountains is the Arbuckle-Simpson

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing, permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials ( gravel, sand, or silt). Groundwater from aquifers can be extracted using a water well. Aquifers vary greatly in their characteris ...

, housing freshwater which emanates at springs to provide the base flows of the Blue River and Honey Creek, which flows over Turner Falls south of Davis. As a result of the karst

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...

, standing water is rarely found atop the Arbuckle Mountains, the water seeps through fractures and planes of separation in the limestone bedrock, dissolving the rock to produce a network of caves and solution conduits throughout the limestone formations. Organizations such as the Arbuckle Karst Conservancy and Arbuckle Mountains Grotto of the National Speleological Society actively study the karst features of the Arbuckle Mountains to preserve the biological ecosystems and groundwater resources. The organizations currently maintain databases of more than 1,000 caves and springs in the Arbuckle Mountains. The Arbuckles have gradually eroded to their present heights of 300–500 feet above the surrounding terrain or 1300–1400 feet above sea level.

Recreation and access

The range is approximately east-to-west and 10–15 miles north-to-south. The main part of the range is located in northern Carter County and southern Murray County, approximately north of Ardmore and south of Davis, Oklahoma on

Interstate 35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

. The eastern flank of the ridge is approximately south of Sulphur on U.S. Highway 177. Popular recreation areas in the Arbuckle Mountains include Turner Falls Park, the

Chickasaw National Recreation Area Chickasaw National Recreation Area is a national recreation area in the foothills of the Arbuckle Mountains in south-central Oklahoma near Sulphur in Murray County. It includes the former Platt National Park and Arbuckle Recreation Area. Part of ...

, and Lake of the Arbuckles. Turner Falls is located south of Davis, whereas Chickasaw NRA is located in the city of Sulphur. The area is also the location of several campgrounds, including the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

's Camp Classen and the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma's Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center, which hosts 55,000 campers each summer.

References

Bibliography

* James S. Aber
''Arbuckle Mountains, Oklahoma''
* Robert W. Allen, 2002

* USG

External links

Arbuckle Mountains
- Video footage of the area and a list of local activities and resources.
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Arbuckle Mountains

Oklahoma Digital Map Collection at Oklahoma State University
{{Authority control Mountain ranges of Oklahoma Landforms of Carter County, Oklahoma Landforms of Murray County, Oklahoma