The Boston Mountains is a Level III ecoregion designated by the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...

(EPA) in the U.S. states of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. Part of the Ozarks, the Boston Mountains are a deeply

dissected plateau A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded such that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding, ...

. The ecoregion is steeper than the adjacent Springfield Plateau to the north, and bordered on the south by the Arkansas Valley. The Oklahoma portion of the range is locally referred to as the

Cookson Hills The Cookson Hills are in eastern Oklahoma. They are an extension of the Boston Mountains of Arkansas to the east and the southwestern margin of the Ozark Plateau. They lie generally between Stilwell, Sallisaw and Tahlequah. The area became part o ...

. There are several theories of how the mountains were named, though apparently none are related to the Massachusetts city. The Boston Mountains ecoregion has been subdivided into two Level IV ecoregions.

Description

The ecoregion is mountainous, forested, and underlain by Pennsylvanian

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

, shale, and

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, ...

. It is one of the Ozark Plateaus; some folding and faulting has occurred but, in general, strata are much less deformed than in the Ouachita Mountains. Maximum elevations are higher, soils have a warmer temperature regime, and carbonate rocks are much less extensive than in the Ozark Highlands. Physiography is distinct from the Arkansas Valley. Upland soils are mostly

Ultisols Ultisols, commonly known as red clay soils, are one of twelve soil orders in the United States Department of Agriculture soil taxonomy. The word "Ultisol" is derived from "ultimate", because Ultisols were seen as the ultimate product of continu ...

that developed under oak-hickory and oak-hickory-pine forests. Today, forests are still widespread; northern red oak, southern red oak, white oak, and hickories usually dominate the uplands, but

shortleaf pine ''Pinus echinata'', the shortleaf pine, is a species of pine native to the southeastern United States. Description The tree is variable in form, sometimes straight, sometimes crooked, with an irregular crown. The tree reaches heights of with ...

grows on drier, south- and west-facing slopes underlain by sandstone. Pastureland or hayland occur on nearly level ridgetops, benches, and valley floors. Population density is low; recreation, logging, and livestock farming are the primary land uses. Water quality in streams is generally exceptional; biochemical, nutrient, and mineral water quality parameter concentrations all tend to be very low. Fish communities are mostly composed of sensitive species; a diverse, often darter-dominated community occurs along with nearly equal proportions of minnows and sunfishes. During low flows, streams usually run clear but, during high flow conditions, turbidity in the Boston Mountains tends to be greater than in the Ouachitas. Summer flow in many small streams is limited or non-existent but isolated, enduring pools may occur.

Geology and physiography

The Boston Mountains are a physiographic section of the larger Ozark Plateaus province, which in turn is part of the larger

Interior Highlands The U.S. Interior Highlands is a mountainous region in the Central United States spanning northern and western Arkansas, southern Missouri, eastern Oklahoma, and extreme southeastern Kansas. The name is designated by the United States Geologica ...

physiographic division. The area is underlain by Pennsylvanian sandstone, shale, and siltstone, where some folding and faulting has occurred. The sandstone beds become thinner, but more shaly in the west as the mountains decline in elevation. The range covers an area of .Gromadzki, Gregory and Richard Marston. "Boston Mountains". ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''.
Accessed September 27, 2016. The rocks of the region are essentially little disturbed, flat-lying

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

layers of the

Paleozoic The Paleozoic (or Palaeozoic) Era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. The name ''Paleozoic'' ( ;) was coined by the British geologist Adam Sedgwick in 1838 by combining the Greek words ''palaiós'' (, "old") and ...

age. The highest ridges and peaks are capped by Pennsylvanian

and shale. The deeply eroded valleys are cut into Mississippian

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

s and below that layer Ordovician

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 ...

General description

The Boston Mountains form the southwestern part of the Ozark plateau where they are the highest portion of the Ozarks. Summits can reach elevations of just over with valleys to deep. Turner Ward Knob (TWK) is the highest named peak. Located in western Newton County, Arkansas, its elevation is . Nearby, five unnamed peaks have elevations at or slightly above . Two of these highest peaks are located west of Turner Ward Knob, one being the location of the Buffalo Lookout fire tower at .''Fallsville, Arkansas,'' 7.5 Minute Topographic Quadrangle, USGS, 1967 The other three highest peaks are located south-southwest of Turner Ward Knob along Arkansas Highway 16.[NAD83 geographic coordinates for TWK are N35.8631°, W093.4544°. Coordinates for the 5 unnamed highest peaks are N35.8637°, W093.4931° (Buffalo Lookout); N35.8607°, W093.4935°; N35.8151°, W093.4968°; N35.8126°, W093.4984°; and N35.7990°, W093.5005°]

Rivers and streams

The Boston Mountains are the source of rivers and streams that flow out from the mountains in all directions. Within a radius of a point just west of the summits discussed above are located the sources of the White River, the Buffalo River, the Kings River, War Eagle Creek, and Little Mulberry Creek. Other rivers and streams having their headwaters in the Boston Mountains include the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the ...

, the Mulberry River, Lee Creek, Frog Bayou, Big Piney Creek, Illinois Bayou, and the Little Red River. To the south, the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United ...

valley separates the Boston Mountains from the Ouachita Mountains. In Arkansas, the Boston Mountains are found in the following counties: Boone, Carroll, Cleburne, Conway, Crawford, Franklin,

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, Newton,

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

, Searcy, Stone, Van Buren, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. In Oklahoma, the Boston Mountains are found in these counties: Adair,

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

, Muskogee, Sequoyah, and Wagoner.

Gallery

Landscapes

File:Near Whitaker Point - Hawksbill Crag - panoramio.jpg, Buffalo Wilderness File:Hawksbill Crag trail 006.jpg, View from Hawksbill Crag File:Boston Mountains. Looking East on Gaither Mountain.jpg, Looking east on Gaither Mountain from

AR 43 Highway 43 (AR 43, Ark. 43, and Hwy. 43) is a designation for three north–south state highways in Arkansas. One segment of runs from Highway 264 in Siloam Springs north into Delaware County, Oklahoma along Oklahoma ...

. The plateau of the Boston Mountains is clearly visible on the right. File:BuffaloRiver.jpg, Buffalo River from river trail overlook near Steel Creek in the Boston Mountains File:Low Gap, Arkansas 002.jpg, Low Gap community in the Boston Mountains File:Scenic Lookout on White Rock Mountain.jpg, White Rock Mountain

References

External links