Ouachita Mountains

Ouachita Mountains
Ouachita Mountains
	The Ouachita Mountains near Caney Creek, Arkansas
Highest point
Peak	Mount Magazine
Elevation	2,753 ft (839 m)
Coordinates	35°10′01″N 93°38′41″W / 35.167016203°N 93.644725919°W
Naming
Etymology	Choctaw for "large bison" or "big hunt", or Caddo
Geography
	Level III ecoregions in the region, with the Ouachita Mountains ecoregion marked as (36) (full map)
Country	United States
State	Arkansas and Oklahoma
Parent range	U.S. Interior Highlands
Borders on	Arkansas Valley (37), Mississippi Alluvial Plain (73), South Central Plains (35)

The Ouachita Mountains (/ˈwɒʃɪtɔː/), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. They are formed by a thick succession of highly deformed Paleozoic strata constituting the Ouachita Fold and Thrust Belt, one of the important orogenic belts of North America.^[3] The Ouachitas continue in the subsurface to the northeast, where they make a poorly understood connection with the Appalachians and to the southwest, where they join with the Marathon uplift area of West Texas.^[3] Together with the Ozark Plateaus, the Ouachitas form the U.S. Interior Highlands.^[4] The highest natural point is Mount Magazine at 2,753 feet (839 m).^[2]^[5]

The Ouachita Mountains is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The region has been subdivided into six Level IV ecoregions.^[6]^[7]

^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference ety2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Cole, S.R.; Marston, R.A. (2009). Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Oklahoma Historical Society. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ ^a ^b Morris, R.C. (1974). "Sedimentary and Tectonic History of the Ouachita Mountains". Special Publications of SEPM. 22: 120–142.
^ "A Tapestry of Time and Terrain". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved October 13, 2007.
^ "MAG". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
^ This article incorporates public domain material from Woods, A.J.; Foti, T.L.; Chapman, S.S.; Omernik, J.M.; et al. Ecoregions of Arkansas (PDF). United States Geological Survey. (color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs).
^ This article incorporates public domain material from Woods, A.J.; Omernik, J.M.; Butler, D.R.; Ford, J.G.; et al. Ecoregions of Oklahoma (PDF). United States Geological Survey. Retrieved October 14, 2020. (color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs).