The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portion of northern Arkansas and most of the southern half of Missouri, extending from Interstate 40 in central Arkansas to Interstate 70 in central Missouri.
A spring is a natural exit point at which groundwater emerges out of the aquifer and flows onto the top of the Earth's crust (pedosphere) to become surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere, as well as a part of the water cycle. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fresh water, especially in arid regions which have relatively little annual rainfall.
The Spring River is a 57-mile (92 km) long river which flows through the U.S. states of Missouri and Arkansas. It consists of two branches, the South Fork of the Spring River and the Spring River proper. The South Fork of the Spring River starts in Howell County, Missouri and flows south through Fulton and Sharp counties in Arkansas. The South Fork of the Spring River joins the Spring River proper near the town of Hardy, Arkansas. The South Fork is a quiet stream with gravelly bars that are ideal for camping.
Mammoth Spring is a large, first magnitude karst spring that arises in the Ozark Plateau within the state of Arkansas. It is the largest spring in Arkansas and the third-largest spring within the Ozark Plateau region behind Big Spring and Greer Spring. Mammoth Spring is the seventh-largest natural spring in the world.
The Current River forms in the southeastern portion of the Ozarks of Missouri and becomes a 7th order stream as it flows southeasterly out of the Ozarks into northeastern Arkansas where it becomes a tributary of the Black River, which is a tributary of the White River, a tributary of the Mississippi River. The Current River is approximately 184 miles (296 km) long and drains about 2,641 square miles (6,840 km2) of land mostly in Missouri and a small portion of land in northeastern Arkansas. The headwaters of the Current River are nearly 900 feet (270 m) above sea level, while the mouth of the river lies around 280 feet (85 m) above sea level. The basin drains a rural area that is dominated by karst topography, underlain by dolomite and sandstone bedrock with a small area of igneous rock southeast of Eminence, Missouri. The annual daily mean discharge of the river near Doniphan, Missouri is 2,815 cubic feet (79.7 m3) per second. In 1964, over 134 mi (160 km) of the upper course of the river and its tributaries were federally protected as the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, the first national park in America to protect a river system.
The Floridan aquifer system, composed of the Upper and Lower Floridan aquifers, is a sequence of Paleogene carbonate rock which spans an area of about 100,000 square miles (260,000 km2) in the southeastern United States. It underlies the entire state of Florida and parts of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
Rockbridge is an unincorporated community in northern Ozark County, Missouri, United States. It is the site of an old mill on spring fed Spring Creek, a tributary of Bryant Creek, which still houses the post office. It lies twelve miles north of Gainesville on Missouri Route N, approximately one and one-half miles north of Route 95. The narrow valley floor is only about 650 feet (200 m) wide and at an elevation of 770 feet (230 m) and the Ozark ridges on either side are 200 to 250 feet higher.
The Gasconade River is about 280 miles (450 km) long and is located in central and south-central Missouri.
The Spring River is a 129-mile-long (208 km) waterway located in southwestern Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma.
The Ozark National Scenic Riverways is a recreational unit of the National Park Service in the Ozarks of southern Missouri in the U.S.
Roubidoux Creek is a tributary to the Gasconade River in the Ozarks of south central Missouri named after French-Canadian fur trader Joseph Robidoux. It is 57.4 miles (92.4 km) long. Due to its colder water temperatures, it is listed as a trout stream. Roubidoux Spring is a landmark that is nestled just south of downtown Waynesville. The creek cuts north through Fort Leonard Wood before crossing underneath Interstate 44 and into the city limits of Waynesville.
Jacks Fork is one of two rivers in Missouri that are part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverways system.
The Lost River is a river that rises in Vernon Township, Washington County, Indiana, and discharges into the East Fork of the White River in Lost River Township, Martin County, Indiana. The river's unusual hydrology has led to two of its features being named as National Natural Landmarks.
The Ozark Highlands is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in four U.S. states. Most of the region is within Missouri, with a part in Arkansas and small sections in Oklahoma and Kansas. It is the largest subdivision of the region known as the Ozark Mountains, less rugged in comparison to the Boston Mountains in Arkansas, the highest part of the Ozarks.
Big Spring is one of the largest springs in the United States and the world. An enormous first magnitude spring, it rises at the base of a bluff on the west side of the Current River valley in the Missouri Ozarks.
Greer Spring is a first magnitude spring located in the southeast portion of the Ozark Plateau, in Oregon County in south-central Missouri within the boundaries of the Mark Twain National Forest. The spring is the second largest spring in the Ozarks, with an average discharge of 360 cubic feet (10 m3) of water per second. Greer Spring was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1980.
A karst spring or karstic spring is a spring that is part of a karst hydrological system.
The Roubidoux Formation is a geologic formation in the Ozarks of Missouri and in Virginia. It preserves fossils dating back to the Ordovician period.
