South Arkansas

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South Arkansas
Texarkana April 2016 038 (United States Post Office and Courthouse).jpg
Texarkana
Map of Arkansas highlighting South Arkansas.svg
South Arkansas' 15 counties highlighted in red.
CountryUnited States
State Arkansas
Largest city Texarkana

South Arkansas lies within the southernmost portions of Arkansas Gulf Coastal Plain and Delta regions. [1] It encompasses the lower 15 counties of the state.

Contents

History

In the 1920s, nationwide attention focused on South Arkansas when the Smackover Field [2] was ranked first among the nation's oil fields. For five months in 1925, the 40-square-mile (100 km2) Smackover Field was the focal point of one of the wildest mineral booms in North America. Today, south Arkansas's oil fields produce petroleum throughout a 10-county area. [3]

Columbia and Union counties also stretch over one of the largest Brine reserves in the world. Bromine is derived from brine, or saltwater, and local companies play an international role in the commercialization of bromine and its many applications.

Counties

Important cities and towns

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union County, Arkansas</span> County in Arkansas, United States

Union County is a county located on the central southern border of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,054. The county seat is El Dorado. The county was formed on November 2, 1829, and named in recognition of the citizens' petition for a new county, which said that they were petitioning "in the spirit of Union and Unity." The county is directly adjacent to the south to Union Parish in the state of Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouachita County, Arkansas</span> County in Arkansas, United States

Ouachita County is a county located in the south central part of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,650.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia County, Arkansas</span> County in Arkansas, United States

Columbia County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,801. The county seat is Magnolia. The county was formed on December 17, 1852, and was named for Christopher Columbus. The Magnolia, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Columbia County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleveland County, Arkansas</span> County in Arkansas, United States

Cleveland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Its population was 7,550 at the 2020 U.S. census. The county seat and largest city is Rison. Cleveland County is included in the Pine Bluff, AR Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Little Rock-North Little Rock, AR Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnolia, Arkansas</span> City in Arkansas, United States

Magnolia is a city in Columbia County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 11,577. The city is the county seat of Columbia County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calion, Arkansas</span> City in Arkansas, United States

Calion is a second-class city in Union County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 494 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Dorado, Arkansas</span> City in Arkansas, United States

El Dorado is a city in and the county seat of Union County, on the southern border of Arkansas, United States. According to the 2020 census, the population of the city is 17,755.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norphlet, Arkansas</span> City in Arkansas, United States

Norphlet is a city in Union County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census the population stood at 844.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ouachita River</span> River in Arkansas and Louisiana, United States

The Ouachita River is a 605-mile-long (974 km) river that runs south and east through the U.S. states of Arkansas and Louisiana, joining the Tensas River to form the Black River near Jonesville, Louisiana. It is the 25th-longest river in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mid-Continent oil province</span> Oil-rich area in the United States

The Mid-continent oil field is a broad area containing hundreds of oil fields in the U.S. states of Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The area, which consists of various geological strata and diverse trap types, was discovered and exploited during the first half of the 20th century. Most of the crude oil found in the onshore Mid-continent oil field is considered to be of the mixed base or intermediate type.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas Highway 7</span> Highway in Arkansas

Arkansas Highway 7 is a north–south state highway in Arkansas. As Arkansas's longest state highway, the route runs 297.27 miles (478.41 km) from the Louisiana state line north to Diamond City. With the exception of the segment north of Harrison, Highway 7 has been designated as an Arkansas Scenic Byway and a National Forest Scenic Byway. The road passes through the heart of both the Ozark Mountains and the Ouachita Mountains, and features scenic views. It's the route favored by motorcycle riders touring the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas Timberlands</span> Region of U.S. state of Arkansas

The Arkansas Timberlands is a region of the U.S. state of Arkansas generally encompassing the area south of the Ouachita Mountains, south of Central Arkansas and west of the Arkansas Delta. With several different definitions in use by various state agencies, the Arkansas Timberlands is essentially a region known for dense pine and cypress forests covering hilly terrain and lining numerous rivers. Modern settlement created a significant logging industry and subsequent clearance agriculture which provided the basis of the local economy until the discovery of petroleum. Local tourism is largely based on the popularity of deer hunting and bass fishing. Attractions there include Marks' Mills Battleground Historical Monument, Jenkins' Ferry Battleground Historical Monument, Overflow National Wildlife Refuge, Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge, South Arkansas Arboretum, Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources, White Oak Lake State Park, Poison Springs Battleground State Park, Millwood State Park, and Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge. The Arkansas Timberlands is the birthplace of former President of the United States Bill Clinton.

Great Lakes Chemical Corporation was a chemical research, production, sales and distribution company that produced specialty chemicals used for polymers, fire suppressants and retardants, pool and spa water purification systems and various other applications. In 2005, Great Lakes merged with Crompton Corporation to become Chemtura. In 2017, Chemtura was purchased by LANXESS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkansas Highway 160</span> State highway in Arkansas, United States

Highway 160 is a designation for four state highways in South Arkansas. The northernmost segment of 51.55 miles (82.96 km) runs from Farm to Market Road 249 at the Texas state line near Bloomburg, Texas east to Highway 19 at Macedonia. A second segment of 14.73 miles (23.71 km) runs east from Highway 57 east to Highway 7 Business in Smackover. In southern Calhoun County, Highway 160 begins at US Route 278 (US 278) and runs east to US 425 in Fountain Hill. A fourth segment begins at US 82 and runs 22.73 miles (36.58 km) east to US 65 at Chicot Junction.

Smackover-Norphlet School District No. 39 (SNSD), formerly Smackover School District 39, is a school district based in Smackover, Arkansas. It has territory in Union County, Ouachita County, and Columbia County.

Smackover High School (SHS) is a comprehensive public high school located in Smackover, Arkansas, United States. The school provides secondary education for more than 280 students in grades 9 through 12. It is one of five public high schools in Union County. It is the sole high school administered by the Smackover-Norphlet School District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smackover Formation</span> Geological formation in southeastern U.S.

The Smackover Formation is a geologic formation that extends under parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. It preserves fossils dating back to the Jurassic period. The formation is a relic of an ancient sea that left an extensive, porous, and permeable limestone geologic unit.

Bromine production in the United States of 225,000 tonnes in 2013 made that country the second-largest producer of bromine, after Israel. The US supplied 29 percent of world production. Since 2007, all US bromine has been produced by two companies in southern Arkansas, which extract bromine from brine pumped from the Smackover Formation. At an advertised price of US$3.50 to US$3.90 per kg, the US 2013 US production would have a value of roughly US$800 million.

The geology of Arkansas includes deep 1.4 billion year old igneous crystalline basement rock from the Proterozoic known only from boreholes, overlain by extensive sedimentary rocks and some volcanic rocks. The region was a shallow marine, riverine and coastal environment for much of the early Paleozoic as multi-cellular life became commonplace. At the end of the Paleozoic in the Permian the region experienced coal formation and extensive faulting and uplift related to the Ouachita orogeny mountain building event. Extensive erosion of new highlands created a mixture of continental and marine sediments and much of the state remained flooded even into the last 66 million years of the Cenozoic. In recent Pleistocene and Holocene time, glacial sediments poured into the region from the north, down major rivers, forming dunes and sedimentary ridges. Today, Arkansas has an active oil and gas industry, although hydraulic fracturing related earthquake swarms have limited extraction. Mining industries in the state also produce brines, sand, gravel and other industrial minerals.

References

  1. "Arkansas Regions". Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
  2. "Smackover | Arkansas.com". www.arkansas.com. Retrieved 2024-12-23.
  3. "Encyclopedia of Arkansas".

33°12′N92°42′W / 33.2°N 92.7°W / 33.2; -92.7