Everything about Saint Francois Mountain Range totally explained
The
Saint Francois Mountains, a range located in southeast
Missouri, is an outcrop of
Precambrian igneous rock mountains rising over the
Ozark Plateau. This range is one of the oldest exposures of igneous rock in North America. The range is often misspelled as St. Francis to match the local pronunciation.
Formed through
volcanic and
intrusive activity over 1.4 billion (1.4 x 10
9) years ago, nothing is left of these mountains but the roots. By comparison, the
Appalachians started forming about 460 million years ago, and the
Rockies a mere 70 million years ago. When the Appalachians started forming, the St. Francois range was already twice as old as the Appalachians are today.
Unlike the rest of the mountainous areas in the Ozarks, the Saint Francois Mountains were formed by true volcanic activity. The localized vertical relief observed in most of the Ozarks, a
dissected plateau, was caused by erosion. The volcanic activity that formed this mountain range is also thought to be the geological cause of the uplift of the Ozark Plateau. Geologists talk of the "Ozark dome" wherein elevations and
stratigraphic inclines generally radiate down from the Saint Francois mountains. These elevations may be the only area in the American
Midwest never to have been submerged, existing as an island
archipelago in the
Paleozoic seas.
Fossilized coral, the remains of ancient
reefs, can be found among the
rocks around the flanks of the mountains. These ancient reef complexes formed the localizing structures for the mineralizing fluids that resulted in the rich
ore deposits of the area.
The St. Francois Mountains are the center of the Missouri
mining region yielding;
iron,
lead,
barite,
zinc,
silver,
manganese,
cobalt, and
nickel ores as well as
granite and
limestone quarries. Historic Mine La Motte near
Fredericktown was the site of lead mining activity by the
French as early as
1720. An old granite quarry lies on the edge of
Elephant Rocks State Park which is a spectacular outcropping of huge weathered granite boulders.
Mountains in this range include;
Taum Sauk Mountain,
Bell Mountain, Proffit Mountain, Pilot Knob Mountain, Hughes Mountain, Goggin Mountain, and Lead Hill Mountain. The elevations range from 500 feet to 1,772 feet (167 to 540 meters). Taum Sauk Mountain is the highest peak in the range, and the highest point in the state, with an elevation of 1772 ft. (540 m).
Hughes Mountain contains a good example of columnar jointing in igneous
rhyolite, the same process that formed
Devils Tower. The columnar jointing in this area is called the Devil's Honeycomb.
A part of the
Ozark Trail winds through parts of the St. Francois Mountains, including a popular section that crosses Taum Sauk and Proffit mountains.
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