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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Arkansas Ouachita Mountains!


Top of the World!
The Ouachita Mountains are fold mountains like the Appalachian Mountains to the east, and were originally part of that range. During the Pennsylvanian part of the Carboniferous period, about 300 million years ago, the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico ran through the central parts of Arkansas. As the South American plate drifted northward, a subduction zone was created in this region. The South American oceanic crust was forced underneath the less-dense North American continental crust. Geologists call this collision the Ouachita orogeny. The collision buckled the continental crust, producing the fold mountains we call the Ouachitas. At one time the Ouachita Mountains were very similar in height to the current elevations of the Rocky Mountains. Due to the Ouachitas' age, the craggy tops have eroded away leaving the low formations that used to be the heart of the mountains. From Wikipedia

32 comments:

  1. What awesome picture! It looks so beautiful and so peaceful.

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  2. That's stunning. I would love to see this for myself. Thanks for this experience of it.

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  3. What a wonderful view! The distance is stunning. Great catchl.

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  4. Beautiful! Wish I had a view like that!

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  5. What a fabulous view! I also love your header picture. I could spend a lifetime studying the sky and clouds......unfortunately it doesn't pay, well that's not strictly true but it's not quite the job description I am imagining!

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  6. Beautiful picture with interesting information, well done.

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  7. That´s really nice. A wonderful view and depth
    Well done

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  8. Great photo and nice info on the post.

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  9. A stunning view.. I bet the air is so fresh there.

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  10. WHAT a weew.... Think if you could wake up every morning and see something like this...

    Nice weekend to you from Norway.

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  11. Well, I can see this might actually be your own picture for a change, but then again, it might actually belong to someone named Smith or Jones.

    Beautiful picture.

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  12. Hey! I am so gla ou took us so high in the mountain to watch this sky!Great sky..

    Greetings from JoAnn (Holland)
    Watch my friday's ABSTRACT sky

    Have a wonderfull week end:)

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  13. Ah, geology, that was my favorite science in school. Thinking about plate tectonics theory and rocks keep me happily contemplating the life process of the earth.

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  14. Really does seem like you can see forever .. top of the world indeed

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  15. Like the Appalachian Mountains, then they have to be gorgeous. Great picture

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  16. Beautiful and very interesting background story.

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  17. Very pretty, and thanks for the information on the mountain!

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  18. Very pretty, and thanks for the geography lesson. It makes the picture even better.

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  19. There is a lot of sky on the top of the world!!!
    Beautiful shot!

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  20. What a gorgeous view and wonderful colors!

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  21. Fascinating. Especially that the mountains are called by the same name as the geological word. Beautiful photograph. My SWF is here. Thank you.

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