National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Natural Resource Stewardship and Science

Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Geologic Resources Inventory Report

Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2015/1008
ON THIS PAGE

Sunset over Lake of the Arbuckles in Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

National Park Service photograph.

ON THE COVER 

A collage of features at Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Clockwise from upper left: waterfall on Travertine 

Creek; Lincoln Bridge (built in 1909 to connect the town of Sulphur to mineral springs south of Travertine Creek); 

Vendome Well (the largest artesian well in Oklahoma when drilled in 1922); Buffalo Spring (freshwater from the 

spring flows into Travertine Creek).

National Park Service photographs.
Chickasaw National Recreation Area

Geologic Resources Inventory Report

Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2015/1008

John P. Graham 

Colorado State University Research Associate

National Park Service Geologic Resources Division

Geologic Resources Inventory

PO Box 25287

Denver, CO 80225

August 2015

U.S. Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 

Fort Collins, Colorado
ii

The National Park Service, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science office in Fort Collins, Colorado, publishes a 

range of reports that address natural resource topics. These reports are of interest and applicability to a broad audience 

in the National Park Service and others in natural resource management, including scientists, conservation and 

environmental constituencies, and the public. 

The Natural Resource Report Series is used to disseminate comprehensive information and analysis about natural 

resources and related topics concerning lands managed by the National Park Service. The series supports the 

advancement of science, informed decision-making, and the achievement of the National Park Service mission. The 

series also provides a forum for presenting more lengthy results that may not be accepted by publications with page 

limitations.

All manuscripts in the series receive the appropriate level of peer review to ensure that the information is scientifically 

credible, technically accurate, appropriately written for the intended audience, and designed and published in a 

professional manner. This report received informal peer review by subject-matter experts who were not directly 

involved in the collection, analysis, or reporting of the data.

Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report do not necessarily reflect views and 

policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products 

does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U.S. Government. 

This report is available from the Geologic Resources Inventory website (http://go.nps.gov/gripubs), and the Natural 

Resource Publications Management website (http://www.nature.nps.gov/publications/nrpm/). To receive this report in 

a format optimized for screen readers, please email irma@nps.gov.

Please cite this publication as:

Graham, J. P. 2015. Chickasaw National Recreation Area: Geologic resources inventory report. Natural Resource 

Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2015/1008. National Park Service, Fort Collins, Colorado.

NPS 107/129559, August 2015
iii

Contents

Page

Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Products and Acknowledgments . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

GRI Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Geologic Setting and Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Park Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Geologic Significance and Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Establishment of Chickasaw National Recreation Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Geologic Features and Processes . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Freshwater and Mineral Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Vendome Artesian Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Travertine Creek and Travertine Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Paleontological Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Sedimentary Features in the Vanoss Formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Folds and Faults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Cave and Karst Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Rock Creek Drainage Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Bromide Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Geologic Resource Management Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Groundwater Use and Spring Discharge Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Water Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Flooding and Debris Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Rockfall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Lakeshore Erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Paleontological Resource Inventory, Monitoring, and Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

External Mineral Exploration and Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Abandoned Mineral Lands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Geologic History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Phase 1. Rifting of the Craton: Early through Middle Cambrian Period, 541 Million to 500 Million Years Ago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Phase 2. Shallow Seas Flood the Craton: Late Cambrian through Middle Mississippian Periods, 500 Million to 330 Million Years Ago . . . . . . 39

Phase 3. Uplift and Deformation: Late Mississippian through Pennsylvanian Periods, 331 Million to 299 Million Years Ago . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Phase 4. Erosion Shapes the Modern Landscape: Permian through Quaternary Periods, the Past 299 Million Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Geologic Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Source Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

GRI GIS Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Geologic Map Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

GRI Map Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Map Unit Properties Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

 Use Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Literature Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Additional References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Geology of National Park Service Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

NPS Resource Management Guidance and Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Climate Change Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
iv

Contents (continued)

Page

Geological Surveys and Societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

US Geological Survey Reference Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Appendix A: Scoping Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

2007 Scoping Meeting Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

2014 Conference Call Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Appendix B: Geologic Resource Laws, Regulations, and Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Geologic Map Poster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .in pocket

Map Unit Properties Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .in pocket
v

Figures

Page

Plate 1. Map of Chickasaw National Recreation Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in pocket

Plate 2. Geologic map cross-sections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in pocket

Figure 1. Location map of Chickasaw National Recreation Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Figure 2. Buffalo Spring in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Figure 3. Lake of the Arbuckles in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Figure 4. Geologic provinces of Oklahoma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Figure 5. Geologic time scale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Figure 6. Schematic stratigraphic column for Chickasaw National Recreation Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Figure 7. Schematic of an aquifer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Figure 8. Regional extent of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer outcrop in south-central Oklahoma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Figure 9. Schematic of an artesian well. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Figure 10. Structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Figure 11. Vendome Well and Flower Park in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Figure 12. Travertine Creek flows over Little Niagara Falls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Figure 13. Travertine cliffs on Travertine Island. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Figure 14. Picnic table on Travertine Island. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Figure 15. Common Paleozoic marine invertebrate fossils found in Oklahoma. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Figure 16. The Vanoss conglomerate facies in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Figure 17. Sketch of the Vanoss Formation near the top of Bromide Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Figure 18. Schematic illustrations of three general fault types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Figure 19. Map showing the structural features and related Pennsylvanian angular unconformities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Figure 20. Tishomingo anticline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Figure 21. Maps of surface (left) and subsurface watersheds (right) of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Figure 22. Circular hill east of Chickasaw National Recreation Area.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Figure 23. Bromide Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Figure 24. Schematic of the features common to a meandering river. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Figure 25. Veterans Lake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Figure 26. Flood waters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Figure 27. Rockfall from Bromide Cliff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Figure 28. Schematic of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Figure 29. Oklahoma earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 and greater, 1978 to April 15, 2015. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Figure 30. Paleogeographic maps of North America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Figure 31. Pangaea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Tables

Page

Table 1. Chemical analysis for the springs and Vendome Well in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Table 2. Fossils documented in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Table 3. Stratigraphic features and depositional processes in the Vanoss Formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Table 4. Folds and faults in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area vicinity. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Table 5. Water monitoring program for Chickasaw National Recreation Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Table 6. Monthly average surface elevations for Lake of the Arbuckles, January 2004 to June 2015. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Table 7. Summary of the geologic history of southern Oklahoma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Table 8. Geology data layers in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area GIS data. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

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Executive Summary

The Geologic Resources Inventory (GRI) is one of 12 inventories funded by the National Park Service 

(NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program. The Geologic Resources Division of the NPS Natural 

Resource Stewardship and Science Directorate administers the GRI. This report synthesizes discussions 

from a scoping meeting for Chickasaw National Recreation Area (Oklahoma) on 17-18 October 2007 

and a follow-up conference call on 12 March 2014, which were held by the Geologic Resources Division 

to determine geologic resources, the status of geologic mapping, and geologic resource management 

issues and needs. It is a companion document to previously completed GRI digital geologic map data.

Chickasaw National Recreation Area preserves 

historic freshwater and mineral springs, extensive 

park infrastructure constructed by the Civilian 

Conservation Corps in the 1930s, and the entire Lake 

of the Arbuckles. Believed to have healing properties, 

the mineral springs near Sulphur, Oklahoma became 

a popular destination in the late 1890s. To protect 

the springs along Travertine and Rock Creeks from 

uncontrolled use, the Chickasaw and Choctaw 

Nations ceded all of the springs and 260 ha (640 ac) 

to the Department of the Interior in 1902, and the 

area became the Sulphur Springs Reservation. In 

1906, Congress re-designated the reservation as Platt 

National Park, named for the Connecticut senator 

who introduced the 1902 legislation that preserved 

the springs. Under President Roosevelt’s New Deal, 

work by the Civilian Conservation Corps in Platt 

National Park became one of the most cohesive and 

intensive programs of master planning and landscape 

conservation carried out in the national parks. In 1976, 

Platt National Park was combined with the Arbuckle 

National Recreation Area and re-designated the 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area in honor of the 

Chickasaw Nation.

Groundwater discharging from the springs flows 

from the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. This aquifer 

provides water for public supply, farms, mining, wildlife 

conservation, recreation, and the scenic beauty of 

springs, streams, and waterfalls. East of the recreation 

area, the Cambrian–Ordovician carbonate rocks of 

the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer are 910 m (3,000 ft) 

to as much as 1,200 m (4,000 ft) thick. The aquifer is 

exposed on the surface east of the recreation area but 

confined beneath the conglomerate and shale of the 

Pennsylvanian Period Vanoss Formation in Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area. The springs in the recreation 

area mark the transition between fresh water and saline 

sections of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. 

In Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Travertine 

Creek flows into Rock Creek, which empties into 

Lake of the Arbuckles. Lake of the Arbuckles includes 

58 km (36 mi) of shoreline and is the principal water 

supply reservoir for the cities of Ardmore and Davis, 

Oklahoma. The recreation area also contains the smaller 

Veterans Lake.

At the 2007 GRI scoping meeting and 2014 conference 

call, participants identified the following geologic 

features and processes in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area:

● Freshwater and Mineral Springs. Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area contains five named 

springs and spring groups. These include two 

freshwater springs (Buffalo and Antelope springs) 

and three mineral springs and groups (Black 

Sulphur springs group, Hillside spring, and Pavilion 

springs group). Buffalo and Antelope springs are 

the main water sources for Travertine Creek, the 

principal tributary to Rock Creek. The mineral 

springs discharge into Rock Creek, the largest 

stream entering the recreation area.

● Vendome Artesian Well. Mineral-rich groundwater 

flowed from Vendome artesian well at an estimated 

9,500 liters (2,500 gallons) per minute when the 

well was drilled in 1922. In 1935, the Civilian 

Conservation Corps connected this popular tourist 

site to Travertine Creek via an artificial waterway 

that included two wading pools and a waterfall. In 

1998, a new Vendome Well was drilled about 6 m 

(20 ft) west of the original well.

● Travertine Creek and Travertine Island. 

Groundwater flowing from Antelope and Buffalo 

springs contains dissolved calcium carbonate, 

which precipitates out of solution to form the 
viii

porous limestone known as travertine. Impressive into the dense, erosion-resistant Vanoss Formation, 

travertine deposits are exposed along Travertine but over the years, the valley has widened laterally 

Creek and on Travertine Island. In 1934, the as less-resistant layers of sandstone and shale have 

Civilian Conservation Corps used local blocks of been eroded at a faster rate than the underlying, 

Vanoss Conglomerate to build a rock picnic table resistant conglomerate layers. Features associated 

and rock benches on Travertine Island. with the meandering Rock Creek include point bars 

and cutbanks. ● Paleontological Resources. Fossils of marine 

invertebrates are found primarily in the Ordovician ● Bromide Hill. This steep cliff composed of Vanoss 

(485 million to 444 million years ago) and Devonian conglomerate rises 43 m (140 ft) above Rock Creek. 

(419 million to 359 million years ago) rocks in Bromide Hill is the most recognizable topographic 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area. They record feature in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. 

a vibrant ecosystem and extent of an inland sea that Its summit offers panoramic views of the Arbuckle 

covered present-day southern Oklahoma during Mountains and the Washita River Valley.

the Paleozoic Era. The following two issues were identified as the primary 

● Sedimentary Features in the Vanoss Formation. geologic resource management issues at the 2007 GRI 

Features in the Vanoss conglomerate (PNvc) and scoping meeting:

overlying Vanoss shale (PNvs) provide evidence 

of Late Paleozoic tectonics, as well as regional ● The Need for a Geologic Map of the Recreation 

depositional environments. These features Area. Since the meeting, a geologic map of the area 

include upward-fining cycles of sediment, parallel has been completed, and it was used as the source 

laminations, trough cross-bedding, ripple marks, map for the GRI GIS data.

fenestrae, mud cracks, rip-up clasts, and varves. ● Groundwater Use and Spring Discharge 

● Folds and Faults. During the Pennsylvanian Period, Monitoring. Because of growing demand for water, 

tectonic forces compressed, folded, faulted, and increased groundwater pumping, and unregulated 

uplifted the strata of southern Oklahoma. Paleozoic discharge outside of the recreation area, a 

rocks in and adjacent to Chickasaw National systematic monitoring program for the springs was 

Recreation Area document this deformation. From needed. Chickasaw National Recreation Area staff 

north to south, regional folds include the broad members developed a systematic, comprehensive 

Hunton anticline (A-shaped fold), Sulphur syncline monitoring program. 

(U-shaped fold), Belton anticline, Mill Creek A follow-up conference call in 2014 identified the 

syncline, Tishomingo anticline, and the Dougherty following geologic resource management issues:

anticline. The folds are bordered by high-angle 

normal, reverse, and strike-slip faults. ● Water Quality. Springs in the recreation area flow 

water from the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer and thus ● Cave and Karst Features. The Arbuckle-Simpson are susceptible to contamination from activities aquifer is a massive karst feature mapped east, outside the recreation area. Surface water quality south, and west of the recreation area. Small is monitored in Chickasaw National Recreation dissolution caves are found in the exposed Area and park staff members work closely with the travertine banks of Travertine Island, and caves city of Sulphur to monitor and repair occasional created by fractures in the Vanoss Formation manhole overflows and sewer-line blockages. occur on the cliff at Bromide Hill. However, no Natural asphalt seeps may occur in Veterans Lake significant caves or karst features are documented and Lake of the Arbuckles. The seeps are most in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Poorly notable when lake levels are low. understood circular hills that occur as distinct 

knobs just outside the borders of the recreation ● Flooding and Debris Flows. During wet years, 

area have been interpreted as collapse features campgrounds, parking lots, and other nearshore 

associated with ancient karst topography. infrastructure may be flooded. Floods may also 

cause sewage spills and other pollution, transport ● Rock Creek Drainage Basin. Part of Chickasaw silt to the upper end of Lake of the Arbuckles, and National Recreation Area is in the Rock Creek cause debris to accumulate behind bridges. Flash drainage basin. Rock Creek cut a V-shaped valley floods may impact the Travertine Nature Center, 
ix

which is built on a floodplain. Climate change The rock units, fossils, unconsolidated sediments, and 

may increase intense rainfall events in southern subdued topography in Chickasaw National Recreation 

Oklahoma resulting in higher risks of flooding. Area reflect a dynamic evolution of the Arbuckle 

● Rockfall. Large portions of the cliff at Bromide Hill Mountains and southern Oklahoma that involves four 

have fallen into Rock Creek although no accidents major geological events:

or injuries from falling rock have been reported in ● Rifting of the Craton. Tectonic rifting, the oldest Chickasaw National Recreation Area. event, pulled apart the crust of present-day 

● Lakeshore Erosion. Fluctuations of the shoreline southern Oklahoma in the Early and Middle 

of Lake of the Arbuckles are minor, but these Cambrian (541 million to 500 million years ago).

fluctuations may cause erosion. Dense vegetation ● Shallows Seas Flood the Craton. Sea level rise helps stabilize the banks, but erosion may threaten spread shallow seas over most of the continent, archeology sites along the shoreline. including present-day Oklahoma, from the Late 

● Paleontological Resource Inventory, Monitoring, Cambrian to the Pennsylvanian Periods (500 

and Protection. Paleozoic rocks in Chickasaw million to 323 million years ago).

National Recreation Area contain abundant ● Uplift and Deformation. Intense folding and exposures of marine invertebrate fossils. Park staff faulting caused by the collision of ancestral members are developing a paleontological research North America with South America during plan that will address a paleontological inventory the Pennsylvanian Period (323 million to 299 and assessment of fossils in the recreation area, as million years ago) led to the rise of the Arbuckle well as methods to prevent illegal collecting. Mountains.

● External Mineral Exploration and Development. ● Erosion Shapes the Modern Landscape. Subtle Although no mining is allowed in the park, uplift, regional tilting, and erosion over millions of extraction of hydrocarbons occurs in the years resulted in the modern landscape. surrounding area by means of modern horizontal 

drilling techniques and hydraulic fracturing This GRI report was written for resource managers 

(fracking). Fluid injection wells associated with to support science-informed decision making. It 

the production of hydrocarbons have triggered may also be useful for interpretation. The report was 

earthquakes in Oklahoma, the largest of which prepared using available geologic information, and the 

occurred approximately 110 km (70 mi) north NPS Geologic Resources Division conducted no new 

of Chickasaw National Recreation Area in 2011. fieldwork in association with its preparation. Sections 

East of the recreation area, quarries mining of the report discuss distinctive geologic features and 

construction aggregate have been developed in the processes within Chickasaw National Recreation Area, 

aquifer outcrop, and groundwater that fills deep highlight geologic issues facing resource managers, 

pits in these quarries must be removed. Such large describe the geologic history leading to the presentwithdrawals of water from the aquifer threaten day landscape, and provide information about the stream and spring flow in Chickasaw National GRI geologic map data. A poster (in pocket) illustrates Recreation Area. these data. The Map Unit Properties Table (in pocket) 

● Abandoned Mineral Lands. Chickasaw National summarizes report content for each geologic map unit. 

Recreation Area contains two surface mines that 

may require action to mitigate hazards. 

xi

Products and Acknowledgments

The NPS Geologic Resources Division partners with institutions such as Colorado State University, 

the US Geological Survey, state geological surveys, local museums, and universities to develop GRI 

products. This section describes those products and acknowledges contributors to this report.

GRI Products

The objective of the Geologic Resources Inventory is 

to provide geologic map data and pertinent geologic 

information to support resource management and 

science-informed decision making in more than 

270 natural resource parks throughout the National 

Park System. To realize this objective, the GRI team 

undertakes three tasks for each natural resource park: 

(1) conduct a scoping meeting and provide a summary 

document, (2) provide digital geologic map data in a 

geographic information system (GIS) format, and (3) 

provide a GRI report (this document). These products 

are designed and written for nongeoscientists.

Scoping meetings bring together park staff and geologic 

experts to review and assess available geologic maps, 

develop a geologic mapping plan, and discuss geologic 

features, processes, and resource management issues 

that should be addressed in the GRI report. Following 

the scoping meeting, the GRI map team converts the 

geologic maps identified in the mapping plan to digital 

geologic map data in accordance with the GRI data 

model. After the map is completed, the GRI report team 

uses these data, as well as the scoping summary and 

additional research, to prepare the GRI report. 

The compilation and use of natural resource 

information by park managers is called for in the 1998 

National Parks Omnibus Management Act (section 

204), 2006 National Park Service Management Policies, 

and the Natural Resources Inventory and Monitoring 

Guideline (NPS-75). The “Additional References” 

section and Appendix B provide links to these and other 

resource management documents and information.

Additional information regarding the GRI, including 

contact information, is available at http://go.nps.gov/gri. 

The current status and projected completion dates of 

products are available at http://go.nps.gov/gri_status.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Noel Osborn (Chief of Resource 

Management, Chickasaw National Recreation Area) for 

valuable references and critical information regarding 

the hydrology and water quality of the freshwater and 

mineral springs, and to Trista Thornberry-Ehrlich 

(Colorado State University) and Jason Kenworthy (NPS 

Geologic Resources Division) for their graphics. GRI 

provided funds to US Geological Survey to support 

mapping efforts that were published as Blome et al. 

(2013).

Author

John P. Graham (Colorado State University)

Review

David Lidke (US Geological Survey)

Noel Osborn (Chickasaw National Recreation Area)

Neil Suneson (Oklahoma Geological Survey)

Jason Kenworthy (NPS Geologic Resources Division)

Dale Pate (NPS Geologic Resources Division)

Editing

Rebecca Port (NPS Geologic Resources Division)

Source Maps

Charles D. Blome (US Geological Survey)

David J. Lidke (US Geological Survey)

Ronald R. Wahl (US Geological Survey)

James A. Golab (US Geological Survey)

GRI Digital Geologic Data Production

Derek Witt (Colorado State University)

Jim Chappell (Colorado State University)

GRI Map Poster Design

Kari Lanphier (Colorado State University)

Georgia Hybels (Colorado State University)

GRI Map Poster Review

Georgia Hybels (Colorado State University)

Rebecca Port (NPS Geologic Resources Division)

Jason Kenworthy (NPS Geologic Resources Division)

1

Geologic Setting and Significance

This chapter describes the regional geologic setting of Chickasaw National Recreation Area, 

summarizes connections among geologic resources and other park resources, and discusses the 

establishment of the recreation area.

Park Setting

Chickasaw National Recreation Area is south of 

Sulphur, Oklahoma, about midway between Oklahoma 

City and Dallas, Texas (fig. 1). The recreation area’s 

4,005.83 ha (9,898.63 ac) preserve historic freshwater 

and mineral springs that discharge into Rock Creek 

and its principal tributary, Travertine Creek (plate 1). 

Rock Creek is the largest stream entering Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area and receives mineral-rich 

water from Black Sulphur, Pavilion, and Hillside springs 

and Vendome Well (Hanson and Cates 1994). Travertine 

Creek depends on fresh groundwater flowing primarily 

from Buffalo and Antelope springs (fig. 2). Calcium 

carbonate precipitates out of the water and forms the 

sedimentary rock, travertine, for which the creek is 

named. Travertine Creek flows into Rock Creek near 

Lincoln Bridge, a stone bridge built in 1909 to connect 

Sulphur to the mineral springs south of the creek (see 

cover). 

The recreation area also includes Veterans Lake, fed 

by Wilson Creek, and Lake of the Arbuckles (fig. 

3). Following a drought in the 1950s that seriously 

depleted water supplies in the area, the US Bureau of 

Reclamation designed and built the Arbuckle Dam, 

which was completed in 1966. The 950 ha (2,350 

ac) Lake of the Arbuckles includes 58 km (36 mi) of 

shoreline and is the primary water supply reservoir 

for the cities of Ardmore and Davis, Oklahoma. In 

addition to supplying municipal and industrial water 

to surrounding communities, the lake supports 

recreational activities and provides flood control (US 

Bureau of Reclamation 2012). The smaller, 27 ha (67 ac) 

Veterans Lake filled in 1933 and offers 5 km (3 mi) of 

shoreline.

The gently rolling hills and stream-cut ravines of 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area are erosional 

remnants of the Arbuckle Mountains. The elevation 

ranges from about 378 m (1,240 ft) above sea level 

southeast of the park to 259 m (850 ft) above sea level 

in Rock Creek at the southwest corner of the recreation 

area (Hanson and Cates 1994). Bromide Hill, a vertical 

bluff that rises 43 m (140 ft) above Rock Creek, is a 

dominant physical feature within the recreation area, 

offering panoramic views from its summit.

The recreation area is within the Arbuckle Uplift 

Chickasaw National

Recreation Area

ADA

ARDMORE

Pauls Valley

Davis

Stratford

Sulphur

Tishomingo

Chickasaw

Turnpike

To Oklahoma

 City

To Dallas

35

70

377

177

19

7

7

1

1

199

0

0

10 Km

10 Mi

Figure 1. Location map of Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area. See plate 1 (in pocket) for detailed 

park map. National Park Service map, available at http://

www.nps.gov/hfc/cfm/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=CHIC

(accessed 15 June 2015).

Figure 2. Buffalo Spring in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area. Freshwater from Buffalo Spring flows 

into Travertine Creek. The CCC built the stonework in 

the 1930s. National Park Service photograph, available 

at http://www.nps.gov/chic/learn/photosmultimedia/

photogallery.htm (accessed 15 June 2015).
2

Figure 3. Lake of the Arbuckles in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. The lake is the primary water supply for 

Ardmore, Oklahoma, and a popular recreation spot for park visitors. This photo is looking to the north and includes 

only one arm of the lake. It was taken during a time of relatively high water. The Buckhorn boat ramp is in the 

lower right. The conglomerate facies of the Vanoss Formation (PNvc) underlies the forested hills that border the lake. 

National Park Service photograph, available at http://www.nps.gov/chic/learn/photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm. 

North

0

0

80 Kilometers

80 Miles

Anadarko 

Basin

Cherokee 

Platform

Ozark 

Uplift

Dalhart

Basin

Ouachita

Mountain

Uplift

Arkoma

Basin

Arbuckle

Uplift

Anadarko

Shelf

Cimarron

Arch

Wichita

Uplift

Marietta

Basin

Hollis Basin

Ardmore Basin

Gulf Coastal Plain

Nemaha

Uplift

OKLAHOMA

TEXAS

KANSAS

MISSOURI ARKANSAS

COLORADO

NEW MEXICO

Oklahoma City

Tulsa

Basement-rooted uplifts

Deep basins

Detachment uplift

Shelves/shallow basins

Coastal Plain sediments

Criner

Uplift

Waurika-Muenster

Uplift

Figure 4. Geologic provinces of Oklahoma. Chickasaw National Recreation Area (green star) lies within the Arbuckle 

Uplift, which contains some of the thickest accumulations of Paleozoic sedimentary rock in the central United 

States. Map by Trista Thornberry-Ehrlich (Colorado State University) after an Oklahoma Geological Survey diagram, 

available at http://www.ogs.ou.edu/MapsBasic/Provinces.jpg (accessed 4 March 2014) and comments from Neil Suneson 

(Oklahoma Geological Survey, written communication, 24 November 2014). Basemap by Tom Patterson (National Park 

Service), available at http://www.shadedrelief.com/physical/index.html (accessed 15 October 2014).
3

physiographic province (fig. 4). The uplift is just south 

of the Cherokee Platform, which is part of the vast 

interior plains of North America. The geographic 

location, underlying geologic formations, hot and 

humid summers, and relatively mild winters support 

both prairie and forest ecosystems. 

Geologic Significance and Connections

In the 1940s and 1950s, William E. Ham and his 

colleagues began mapping the geology of the Arbuckle 

Mountains, and in 1954, Ham and McKinley produced 

a 1:72,000-scale geologic map of the Arbuckle 

Mountains that is considered by many to be the most 

accurate geologic map of the Arbuckle region (Ham and 

McKinley 1954; Blome et al. 2013). Ham (1955) later 

published this map in an Oklahoma Geological Survey 

guidebook, and Ken S. Johnson (1990) later revised the 

Ham and McKinley map. A 1990 Oklahoma Geological 

Survey Circular on the hydrology of the Arbuckle 

Mountains contains both the Johnson (1990) map and 

the original Ham and McKinley (1954) map (Fairchild 

et al. 1990).

The evolution of the Arbuckle Mountains involves four 

major geological events: (1) rifting, (2) deposition in 

shallow seas, (3) uplift and deformation, and (4) major 

erosion (see “Geologic History” chapter; Donovan and 

Butaud 1993; Tapp 1995; Blome et al. 2013). During 

the Early and Middle Cambrian (fig. 5), tectonic rifting 

pulled apart the crust along the southern margin of 

the ancestral North American continent, forming 

enormous rift valleys, similar to those in eastern Africa 

today. This rifting phase was followed by a long period 

of Late Cambrian through Middle Mississippian (fig. 

5) deposition, subsidence, and sea level rise. Shallow 

marine sediments, primarily limestone and dolomite, 

accumulated in the rift basins as shallow seas inundated 

the continental margin, which included present-day 

south-central Oklahoma. 

Intense folding and faulting occurred during the 

Pennsylvanian and Permian periods (fig. 5) when all the 

major land masses on the globe were coming together to 

form the supercontinent Pangaea. Tectonic compression 

resulted in the Arbuckle, Ouachita, and Wichita 

mountains of southern Oklahoma. From north to south, 

significant folds in the Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area include the Hunton anticline, Sulphur syncline, 

Belton anticline, Mill Creek syncline, Tishomingo 

anticline, and the Dougherty anticline. Anticlines are 

convex, A-shaped folds that resemble upside-down 

canoes. Synclines are just the opposite. They are 

concave, U-shaped folds. Faults in the region include 

the Sulphur fault, South Sulphur fault, Mill Creek fault 

zone, and the Reagan fault (Blome et al. 2013). The axes 

of the folds and faults are oriented northwest–southeast, 

and are described in more detail in the “Geologic 

Features and Processes” chapter of the report.

The folded and faulted rocks in the Arbuckle Uplift 

represent some of the thickest accumulations of 

Paleozoic rocks in the central United States. Rock 

units in Chickasaw National Recreation Area span the 

Ordovician to Pennsylvanian periods (figs. 5 and 6; see 

the Map Unit Properties Table). The Pennsylvanian 

Vanoss Formation (geologic map units PNvs and PNvc) 

is the primary rock unit exposed in the recreation area 

(Hanson and Cates 1994; Scheirer and Scheirer 2006; 

Blome et al. 2013). It consists of two major “facies,” 

which are lithologically distinct, sedimentary units 

deposited in different places at the same time: the shale 

facies (PNvs) and the conglomerate facies (PNvc) (Blome 

et al. 2013). The Vanoss Formation thickens from east 

to west and is approximately 100 m (330 ft) thick in 

Vendome Well. 

Significantly, the tightly cemented limestone, 

conglomerate, shale, and sandstone of the Vanoss 

Formation act as a confining layer over the underlying 

Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer (fig. 6). An aquifer may be 

thought of as an underground reservoir of water. Water 

percolating from the surface fills any open spaces in 

subsurface rock units. If the pore spaces in the rock are 

connected and sufficient groundwater moves through 

the pore spaces (known as “permeability”), the rock 

unit becomes an aquifer (fig. 7).

The outcrop portion of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer 

in south-central Oklahoma is about 1,300 km2

 (520 

mi2), but the aquifer also extends into the subsurface 

in some areas, such as under Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area. The eastern Arbuckle-Simpson 

aquifer was designated a “Sole Source Aquifer” by the 

US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1989 

in order to protect drinking water supplies in this area 

with limited water supply alternatives (Oklahoma Water 

Resources Board 2003; Christenson et al. 2011). The 

aquifer consists of rocks of the Cambrian–Ordovician 

Arbuckle (Owk and Ow) and Simpson (Obm and Ooj) 

groups (fig. 8). The Simpson Group is as much as 700 
4

Formation of the Earth

Eon Era Period Epoch MYA Phanerozoic Proterozoic Archean Hadean Cenozoic (CZ) Mesozoic (MZ) Paleozoic (PZ)

Quaternary

(Q)

Neogene

(N)

Cretaceous (K)

Jurassic (J)

Triassic (TR)

Permian (P)

Pennsylvanian (PN)

Mississippian (M)

Devonian (D)

Silurian (S)

Ordovician (O)

Cambrian (C)

Precambrian (PC, X, Y, Z)

Holocene (H)

Pleistocene (PE)

Pliocene (PL)

Miocene (MI)

Oligocene (OL)

Eocene (E)

Paleocene (EP)

2.6

5.3

23.0

33.9

56.0

145.0

201.3

298.9

323.2

358.9

419.2

443.8

485.4

2500

4000

4600

66.0

541.0

Age of Mammals Age of Reptiles Age of Amphibians Fishes Marine Invertebrates

Modern humans 

Spread of grassy

 ecosystems

Extinction of large

 mammals and birds 

Early primates 

Placental mammals 

Early flowering plants 

Dinosaurs diverse and

 abundant

First dinosaurs; first mammals

Flying reptiles

Sharks abundant

First reptiles

Mass extinction

First amphibians

First forests (evergreens)

First land plants

Mass extinction

Primitive fish

Trilobite maximum

Rise of corals

Complex multicelled organisms 

Simple multicelled organisms 

Early bacteria and algae

 (stromatolites)

Origin of life

0.01

Mass extinction

Paleogene

(PG)

Tertiary (T)

Basin and Range extension (W)

Elko Orogeny (W)

Breakup of Pangaea begins

Sonoma Orogeny (W)

Supercontinent Pangaea intact

Antler Orogeny (W)

Acadian Orogeny (E-NE)

Avalonian Orogeny (NE)

Taconic Orogeny (E-NE)

Extensive oceans cover most of 

 proto-North America (Laurentia)

First iron deposits

Abundant carbonate rocks

Formation of early supercontinent

Grenville Orogeny (E)

Cascade volcanoes (W)

Ice age glaciations;

 glacial outburst floods

Columbia River Basalt eruptions (NW)

Linking of North and South 

 America (Isthmus of Panama)

Laramide Orogeny ends (W)

Nevadan Orogeny (W)

Sevier Orogeny (W)

Laramide Orogeny (W)

Arbuckle and Wichita orogenies (S)

Ouachita Orogeny (S)

Alleghany (Appalachian) Orogeny (E)

Supercontinent rifted apart

Western Interior Seaway (W)

Early shelled organisms

252.2 Mass extinction

 Life Forms North American Events 

Mass extinction

Coal-forming swamps

Ages of rocks in Chickasaw NRA

Ancestral Rocky Mountains (W)

Figure 5. Geologic time scale. The divisions of the geologic time scale are organized stratigraphically, with the oldest 

divisions at the bottom and the youngest at the top. Exposures in Chickasaw National Recreation Area include 

Ordovician through Pennsylvanian rocks (green bar in “Era” column). GRI map abbreviations for each time division are 

in parentheses. Compass directions in parentheses indicate the regional locations of events. Boundary ages are millions 

of years ago (MYA). National Park Service graphic using 2015 ages from the International Commission on Stratigraphy. 

(http://www.stratigraphy.org/index.php/ics-chart-timescale; accessed 7 May 2015).
5

Age Stratigraphic Unit (map symbol) Aquifer Unit Rock Description

Quaternary

Artificial fill (af) Unconsolidated 

sediment

Fill for dams and other projects.

Alluvium (Qal) Unconsolidated sand, silt, clay and 

gravel.

Permian 

(lower)

Pontotoc Group

Stratford Formation (Ps)

Upper confining unit 

(“post-Simpson” unit)

Shale and sandstone

Pennsylvanian 

(Upper) Vanoss Formation

Shale facies (PNvs) Primarily green, gray, and red shale 

and silty shale.

Conglomerate facies 

(PNvc)

Limestone boulders, cobbles, and 

pebbles in a calcareous matrix.

Pennsylvanian 

(Middle)

Deese Group 

(PNd)

Sandstone, shale, limestone 

conglomerate, limestone.

Atoka and Wapanucka Formations (PNaw) Unfossiliferous sandstone and 

brown to gray shale. Pennsylvanian 

(Lower)

Springer Formation (PNMs) Black, fissile shale separated by thin 

beds of sandstone and limestone. Mississippian 

(Upper)

Mississippian 

(Middle)

Caney Shale (Mc) Black, fissile shale with phosphatic 

concretions.

Sycamore Limestone, Welden Limestone, Woodford Shale (MDsw) Shale, cherty to silty limestone, 

black bituminous shale.

Mississippian 

(Lower)

Devonian 

(Upper)

Devonian 

(Lower) Hunton Group 

(DSOh)

Upper part (Dhu) Blue to white shale and 

argillaceous limestone.

Silurian

Lower part (SOhl) Fossiliferous to massive to 

argillaceous limestone.

Ordovician 

(Upper) Sylvan Shale and 

Viola Group (Osv)

Sylvan Shale (Os) Soft, green to gray, fissile shale.

Viola Group (Ov) Fossiliferous and cherty limestone.

Ordovician 

(Middle) Simpson Group

Bromide, Tulip Creek, McLish Formations (Obm)

Arbuckle-Simpson 

aquifer

Sandstone, shale, and limestone.

Oil Creek and Joins Formations (Ooj) Basal conglomerate layer overlain 

by sandstone, limestone, and shale.

Ordovician 

(Lower)

Arbuckle Group 

(upper part)

West Spring Creek and Kindblade Formations 

(Owk)

Mostly limestone that grades 

eastward into dolomite with 

sandstone and shale.

West Spring Creek Formation (Ow)

Limestone that grades eastward 

into dolomite with sandstone and 

shale.

Figure 6. Schematic stratigraphic column for Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Age colors are standard colors 

approved by the US Geological Survey to indicate different time periods on geologic maps; they also correspond to the 

colors on the Map Unit Properties Table. Gray rows indicate units not mapped within the recreation area. Modified 

from Blome et al. (2013).
6

m (2,300 ft) thick in the western Arbuckle-Simpson 

aquifer, but generally thins to less than 300 m (1,000 ft) 

thick in the eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer (Barthel 

1985; Hanson and Cates 1994; Christenson et al. 2011). 

Because the upper part of the Arbuckle Group has been 

eroded, its thickness varies. Regionally, the unit is as 

much as 1,200 m (4,000 ft) thick, but its total thickness 

beneath Chickasaw National Recreation Area is 

unknown (Barthel 1985; Hanson and Cates 1994).

The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer can be divided into 

three distinct outcrop regions (fig. 8). The largest and 

most significant region is the eastern Arbuckle-Simpson 

aquifer, which is exposed east of Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area. West of the eastern outcrop region, the 

rock units dip below the surface, and the groundwater 

becomes more saline. The mineral springs in Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area are evidence of this transition 

from fresh to saline groundwater (Christenson et al. 

2011).

Beneath Chickasaw National Recreation Area, the 

confined groundwater in the Arbuckle-Simpson 

aquifer is under a great amount of pressure. Where 

that pressure is released, groundwater rises naturally 

to a level of hydrostatic equilibrium in what is known 

as “artesian flow” (fig. 9). If that equilibrium level is 

higher than the ground surface, the water will flow 

onto the surface. Artesian flow is responsible for many 

freshwater and mineral springs in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area. 

Where a well, such as Vendome Well, penetrates 

through the confining layer, groundwater flows upward 

naturally, without pumping, and the well is known as an 

“artesian well.” Artesian wells can produce an abundant 

amount of groundwater. When Vendome Well was 

drilled in 1922, it produced an estimated 9,500 liters 

(2,500 gallons) of water per minute and was the largest 

artesian well in Oklahoma (Gould and Schoff 1939; 

Hanson and Cates 1994).

Most of the Paleozoic rocks older than the Vanoss 

Formation in Chickasaw National Recreation Area 

are exposed south of Lake of the Arbuckles in the 

Tishomingo anticline (Blome et al. 2013). The anticline 

is cored by the limestones of the Viola Group (Ov). 

Younger rocks are exposed on the flanks of the fold and 

include the Ordovician Sylvan Shale (Os), the Silurian 

and Upper Ordovician Lower Hunton Group (SOhl), 

Lower Devonian Upper Hunton Group (Dhu), and 

the Devonian–Lower Mississippian undifferentiated 

Sycamore Limestone, Welden Limestone, and 

Woodford Shale (MDsw) (fig. 6; Blome et al. 2013).

Since the end of the Paleozoic Era, approximately 

252 million years ago, erosion has removed any postPaleozoic strata that once occurred in the region. 

Erosion smoothed the mountainous landscape, and 

regional tilting resulted in southeast flowing streams 

(Christenson et al. 2011). The topography of Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area reflects the diversity of rock 

types and their susceptibility to erosion. Erosionresistant limestone conglomerate of the Vanoss 

Formation forms the high points in the recreation area, 

such as the Bromide Hill Overlook. Valleys have been 

carved into finer-grained, less-resistant shales and 

siltstones. 

Water plays the major role in shaping the landscape of 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Surface runoff 

and spring water formed Rock Creek that today cuts 

Figure 7. Schematic of an aquifer. Water percolating 

through the unsaturated zone of unconsolidated 

sediments or porous rock forms an unconfined aquifer. 

If a rock layer does not have sufficient porosity or 

permeability, it forms a barrier to groundwater flow. 

Groundwater below this confining layer becomes 

part of a confined aquifer. The Arbuckle-Simpson 

aquifer has properties resembling both a confined and 

unconfined aquifer. Hydraulic conductivity is a measure 

of how easily groundwater flows through pore spaces 

in the rock unit. Diagram by Hans Hillewaert (Creative 

Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license), 

available online at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquifer

(accessed 6 May 2014). 
7

across the Vanoss Formation and continues to cut 

a V-shaped valley. Lateral erosion by Rock Creek 

continues to undercut Bromide Hill, eroding lessresistant sandstone and shale layers. Undercutting 

results in rock overhangs that may collapse into the 

creek. 

Groundwater also plays a role in shaping the landscape. 

The slightly acidic groundwater dissolves carbonate 

rock, and if dissolution takes place near the surface, 

the surface collapses, creating a sinkhole. Although 

not present in Chickasaw National Recreation Area, 

several sinkholes are mapped east of the park (Blome 

et al. 2013). These sinkholes now stand as circular 

hills above the surrounding topography. When the 

sinkholes formed, circulating fluids tightly cemented 

the carbonate rock fragments that had collapsed into 

the openings. Subsequent erosion removed the lessresistant limestone that surrounded the sinkhole and 

left the more-resistant carbonate breccia. The result of 

this differential erosion is today’s inverse topography 

wherein those features that were once low areas now 

appear elevated. 

Establishment of Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area

Groundwater in Chickasaw National Recreation Area 

contains abundant calcium and magnesium dissolved 

Figure 8. Regional extent of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer outcrop in south-central Oklahoma. The aquifer is the main 

water source for approximately 39,000 people that currently live in the region. Chickasaw National Recreation Area 

is part of the Eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. US Geological Survey figure extracted from Christenson et al. (2011, 

figure 2), available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2011/5029/ (accessed 4 March 2014). 
8

from the limestone and dolomite through which 

it flows. A number of the springs, such as Hillside, 

Pavilion, Black Sulphur, and Bromide springs also 

contain abundant sulphur, bromide, and other minerals. 

In the late 1890s, thousands of visitors flocked to 

Sulphur, Oklahoma, because of the therapeutic and 

medicinal properties that were attributed to these 

springs. 

Fearing the region would suffer due to the uncontrolled 

use of the springs, the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations 

ceded all of the springs and 260 ha (640 ac) to the 

Department of the Interior in 1902 to create the Sulphur 

Springs Reservation. In 1906, it was renamed Platt 

National Park for Senator Orville Platt of Connecticut, 

who backed the park’s legislation. 

In 1976, Platt National Park and Arbuckle National 

Recreation Area were combined and, in honor of 

the Chickasaw Nation, Congress re-designated the 

area as Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Prior to 

the re-designation, Platt National Park experienced 

a remarkable transformation. During the Great 

Depression of the 1930s, President Franklin D. 

Roosevelt inaugurated the Civilian Conservation Corps 

(CCC) to put men back to work. Between 1933 and 

1942, more than three million men built structures, 

planted trees, prevented soil erosion, and conserved 

natural resources in America’s national parks and 

forests. In the Platt Historic District, the CCC used 

natural limestone from the area to build a number of 

landscape features, which included a new cistern and 

basin for Hillside Spring, the Bromide Pavilion, an 

artificial creek and two wading pools from Vendome 

Well to Flower Park, and a waterfall on Travertine 

Creek (cover and fig. 10). They also planted 800,000 

trees (National Park Service 2014a). This collaboration 

between the National Park Service (NPS) and the 

CCC during the New Deal era reflects one of the most 

cohesive and intensive programs of master planning 

and landscape conservation carried out in the national 

parks. To honor this accomplishment, Platt National 

Park Historic District was designated a National 

Historic Landmark in 2011.

Figure 9. Schematic of an artesian well. Hydraulic 

pressure in a confined aquifer causes groundwater to 

rise to a point where hydrostatic equilibrium is reached. 

An artesian well or artesian flowing spring results if 

that equilibrium point is above the ground surface. 

Graphic by Trista Thornberry-Ehrlich (Colorado State 

University) after a public domain image created by 

Pearson Scott Foresman and available at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artesian_aquifer (accessed 6 

May 2014).

Figure 10. Structures built by the Civilian Conservation 

Corps in the 1930s. Top: Bromide Pavilion. Spring water 

was piped across Rock Creek to the pavilion. Bottom: 

Antelope Spring waterfall. National Park Service 

photographs, available at http://www.nps.gov/chic/learn/

photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm (accessed 15 June 

2015).
9

Geologic Features and Processes

This section describes noteworthy geologic features and processes in Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area.

During the 2007 scoping meeting (see Graham 2008) 

and 2014 conference call, participants (see Appendix A) 

identified the following geologic features and processes 

in Chickasaw National Recreation Area:

● Freshwater and Mineral Springs

● Vendome Artesian Well

● Travertine Creek and Travertine Island

● Paleontological Resources

● Sedimentary Features in the Vanoss Formation

● Folds and Faults

● Cave and Karst Features

● Rock Creek Drainage Basin

● Bromide Hill

Freshwater and Mineral Springs

Protection of the freshwater and mineral springs 

was the primary reason that the Sulphur Springs 

Reservation was established in 1902. Over the years, 

several of the springs have been modified, and many 

of the springs and seeps do not carry official names. 

Today, Chickasaw National Recreation Area contains 

five named springs and spring groups (plate 1, and 

poster, in pocket). Antelope and Buffalo springs are 

considered to be freshwater springs, and Black Sulphur, 

Hillside, and Pavilion are considered mineral springs. 

The Pavilion Springs group consists of seven springs, 

and the Black Sulphur Springs group (originally known 

as Beach Springs) consists of three springs (Gould and 

Schoff 1939). All of these springs were among the 33 

original springs identified by Charles Gould of the US 

Geological Survey prior to the establishment of Sulphur 

Springs Reservation (Gould 1906; Water Resources 

Division 1997; Muncrief 2006). The mineralized springs 

contain high concentrations of sodium and chloride, 

which gives the water a salty taste, and hydrogen 

sulfide, which imparts a sulfuric, rotten-egg odor. In 

the early years of the 20th century, the spring water 

was considered to have medicinal qualities and many 

thousands of visitors and local residents came annually 

to drink the salty water, especially the Bromide Springs 

water (see below) (Gould 1906).

Spring Geochemistry

Chemical analyses of Antelope, Hillside, Pavilion, and 

Black Sulphur springs (Buffalo Spring did not have a 

comparable suite of analyses) indicate that groundwater 

flowing from these springs contains similar 

concentrations of the same major elements except 

for sodium, chloride, sulphur, and hydrogen sulfide 

(table 1; Water Resources Division 1997; Christenson 

et al. 2009). Concentrations of sodium and chloride 

in Bromide and Medicine springs are significantly 

higher than in any of the other springs or Vendome 

Well, and Bromide Spring contains the highest sulfate 

concentration (table 1). Specific conductance, a 

measure of the ionic content in the groundwater, is 

only slightly higher in the mineral springs. Hillside, 

Pavillion, and Black Sulphur springs also contain higher 

concentrations of the trace elements boron, lithium, 

and strontium than does Antelope Spring. 

Hydrogen sulfide, which is also present at Vendome 

Well (see below), is a by-product of reducing 

environments, which are common in the presence of 

petroleum. The hydrogen sulfide in the groundwater 

emerging from the springs in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area may have migrated from the oil and gas 

accumulations west of the park (Christenson et al. 2009; 

Bob Schulz, Chevron Corporation, chemical engineerretired, personal communication, 29 July 2014; see 

“External Mineral Exploration and Development” 

section). Several oil and gas wells have been drilled in 

northwestern Murray County, and groundwater from 

one producing oil well near the northwestern boundary 

of the recreation area was sampled in 2009 as part of a 

US Geological Survey Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer study 

(Christenson et al. 2009, sample 31). The oil well sample 

was typical of a concentrated brine solution derived 

from the evaporation of seawater, but hydrogen sulfide 

was not part of the sampling criteria.

The Springs and the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer

Although the springs in Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area are west of the mapped area of the ArbuckleSimpson aquifer (fig. 8), they are supplied by water 

from the aquifer. As described by Christenson et al. 

(2011), water that recharges the aquifer flows west 
10

Table 1. Chemical analysis for the springs and Vendome Well in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. See notes on facing 

page.

Element

Mineral Springs Freshwater Spring

Vendome 

Well (2) Hillside 

Spring (1)

Pavilion 

Spring (1)

Black 

Sulphur 

Spring (1)

Bromide 

Spring (3)

Medicine 

Spring (3)

Antelope Spring

(1) (2)

Specific conductance 676.333 734.24 893.182 Not analyzed 568.207 635 2,100

Average Concentrations Measured in milligrams/liter (MG/L). These are the major ions.

Alkalinity (as CaCO3) 296.9 303.5 308.778

Not analyzed

324.21 315 278

Bicarbonate (as HCO3) 363 371 385 418 384 339

Bromide 0.25* 0.25* 0.25* 1.56 0.04 2.08

Calcium 111 68.4 64.5 50 68 68.3 79.1 86.6

Chloride 74 93 152 2,000 2,370 3 3.35 558

Magnesium 49.2 31 29.6 30 36 30.6 35.4 37.4

Nitrogen, ammonia 0.125 0.176 16

Not analyzed

0.03 <0.04 0.43

Phosphorus 0.025* 0.025* 0.025* 0.025* <0.02 <0.02

Potassium 9.4 3.9 5.2 3.8 1.48 9.60

Sodium 333 78.6 121 1,300 1,490 76 3.37 316

Sulphur (as sulfate) 22.7 19.4 25 48 14 17.7 16.9 35.1

Sulphur as H2S 0.54 0.935 1.075 0 Not analyzed

Average Concentrations Measured in micrograms/liter (UG/L). These are considered to be trace elements.

Antimony 11* 11* 11*

Not analyzed

25 <0.20 <0.20

Aluminum 191 104 28.5* 83 <2

Arsenic 11* 11* 11* 11* E.1 0.5

Barium 133 162 156 162 171 202

Beryllium 0.45* 0.25* 0.25* 0.25* <0.06 <0.06

Boron 319 98 181 82 18 496

Cadium 4 2 7 2 E.03 <0.04

Chromium 3 2 3 2 <0.8 <0.8

Cobalt 2* 2* 2* 2* 0.177 0.310

Copper 17* 17* 17* 17* 0.4 1.2

Germanium 23* 22.5* 22.5* 22.5* Not analyzed

Lead 7.5* 7.5* 7.5* 19 0.93 <0.08

Lithium 60 16 22 18 1.4 66.2

Manganese 57.5 8.5 6 40.4 E.2 2.2

Mercury 24.5* 24* 24* 24.5* Not analyzed

Molybdenum 3 4 2 4 2.9 <0.4

Nickel 8* 5* 2* 14 1.85 1.57

Selenium 16 6.5 14 40 0.8 2.5

Silver 8.9* 2.6* 2.6* 8.7 <0.2 <0.2

Strontium 6850 1960 3090 1900 84.0 6,860

Tellurium 16.5* 16.5* 16.5* 44 Not analyzed

Thallium 5.5* 17 5.5* 5.5* 0.09 <0.04

Titanium 7* 7* 7* 7* Not analyzed

Uranium Not analyzed 1.67 <0.04

Vanadium 13 5.5* 5.5*

Not analyzed

14 0.2 <0.1

Zinc 10 11 4.5* 39 6.4 0.6
11

Notes for Table 1 (facing page):

(1) Average concentrations are from WRD baseline water quality report for Chickasaw National Recreation Area (1997). Asterisks (*) mark 

concentrations that were “Computed with 50% or more of the total observations as values that were half the detection limit,” thus, their values 

should be used with caution (WRD 1997, p. 12). See the WRD report for a more complete analysis.

(2) Values from the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer study by Christenson et al. (2009, their Appendix 1). E: estimated. See Christenson et al. (2009) for a 

more complete analysis.

(3) Values from water samples analyzed in 1987 from Andrews and Burrough (2000, their table 1).

under the “post-Simpson” unit (fig. 6) and then up 

through the “post-Simpson.” The chemistry of the 

groundwater indicates that the freshwater and mineral 

springs at Chickasaw National Recreation Area mark 

the freshwater/saline transition zone at the edge of the 

Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer’s freshwater flow system 

(Christenson et al. 2009, 2011). In general, the eastern 

Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer, exposed east of the park, 

is unconfined and is recharged by precipitation. Rock 

units in this unconfined portion of the ArbuckleSimpson aquifer are fractured and highly permeable. 

Groundwater flows relatively rapidly through an 

extensive fresh groundwater zone (Christenson et al. 

2011). At least 100 springs discharge fresh water from 

the aquifer, including Antelope and Buffalo springs in 

the recreation area and Byrd Mill Spring, the largest 

spring and primary source of drinking water for Ada 

(Oklahoma Water Resources Board 2003).

The water-bearing units (fig. 6) thicken from east-towest, and where they are buried beneath Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area, they are confined by the 

overlying conglomerate facies (geologic map unit 

PNvc) and shale facies (PNvs) of the Vanoss Formation 

(Christenson et al. 2011). Groundwater emerging from 

the freshwater springs is relatively young (post-1950s), 

indicating that groundwater moves quickly from 

recharge areas to stream and spring discharge areas 

(Christenson et al. 2009). Groundwater collected from 

Antelope Spring had an apparent age of calendar year 

1962 (Christenson et al. 2009). 

The higher concentrations of sodium, chloride, and 

sulfate in groundwater emerging from the mineral 

springs of Chickasaw National Recreation Area suggest 

a mixture of fresh water from the Arbuckle-Simpson 

aquifer and saline water from a deeper, regional source 

(Christenson et al. 2009). Groundwater age analyses 

were not conducted for Hillside, Pavilion, and Black 

Sulphur springs, but groundwater sampled from 

Vendome Well was approximately 10,500 years old (see 

“Vendome Artesian Well” section; Christenson et al. 

2009).

Freshwater Springs

Buffalo Springs and Antelope Springs, in the eastern end 

of the Platt Historic District, are the primary freshwater 

springs in Chickasaw National Recreation Area (fig. 2 

and plate 1). They are the principal source of water for 

Travertine Creek, and in average years, the two springs 

have a combined flow of about 19 million liters (5 

million gallons) of water a day (National Park Service 

2014b). Droughts and pumping of groundwater may 

lower the water level in the aquifer, which, in turn, will 

reduce the flow from the springs (see “Groundwater 

Use and Spring Discharge Monitoring” section). 

Water from Buffalo and Antelope springs contains 

an abundant amount of dissolved calcium carbonate 

(Water Resources Division 1997). Calcium carbonate 

precipitates, forming the buff-colored, porous travertine 

deposits. Travertine terraces have formed along the 

length of Travertine Creek (see “Travertine Creek and 

Travertine Island” section). 

The landscape surrounding Antelope and Buffalo 

springs was modified in the 1930s by the CCC 

(National Park Service 2014a). Antelope Spring, which 

emerges from the Vanoss Formation (PNvs and PNvc), 

was uncovered when some soil and rock were removed. 

In other areas, the CCC modified slopes in order to 

expose boulders and rock outcrops. At Buffalo Spring, 

the CCC used native stone to enclose the pool that 

visitors see today (fig. 2).

Mineral Springs

The CCC also used native stone to construct features 

such as pavilions and enclosures around the mineral 

springs in Chickasaw National Recreation Area (fig. 

10). The main sulphur-rich springs are Hillside Spring, 

Pavilion Springs, Black Sulphur Springs, Bromide 

Spring, and Medicine Spring (plate 1; National Park 

Service 2014c). Bromide and Medicine springs are 

not mapped on plate 1 but are located at the base of 

Bromide Hill. Sulphur water also flows from Vendome 

Well (fig. 11). 
12

Before the CCC built a new cistern and basin for communication, 6 August 2014). The water coming 

Hillside Spring, the spring flowed from a rock wall directly from the springs is not safe to drink (National 

below the present-day Platt District Ranger Station Park Service 2014c).

(Leeper House). In 1935, the CCC removed the old Sulphur, Medicine, and Bromide springs trickle from pavilion structure at Hillside Spring and built a retaining the base of Bromide Hill about 1.6 km (1 mi) southwest wall into the hillside (Hohmann and Grala 2004). The of Pavilion Springs. Medicine and Bromide springs are sulphur-rich water flows at a rate of about 300 liters the main bromide-containing springs and the most (80 gallons) per minute (National Park Service 2014c). mineralized springs in Chickasaw National Recreation Believed to brighten eyes and improve complexions, Area. Water from both springs was piped across Rock Hillside Spring was also known as “Beauty Spring.” Creek to the Bromide Pavilion (fig. 10). Flow from Currently, high bacteria counts make the water unsafe these springs has always been marginal (Andrews to drink (Water Resources Division 1997; National Park and Burrough 2000). Gould (1906) initially recorded Service 2014c). A warning has been posted over the a flow of 4 liters (1 gallon) per minute for Bromide Hillside Spring fountain for many years (Noel Osborn, Spring and 2 liters (0.5 gallon) per minute for Medicine NPS Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief of Spring. At some time before 1939, the spring water was Resource Management, written communication, 6 routed into underground vaults before being piped to August 2014). the pavilion (Gould and Schoff 1939). National Park 

Named for the number of pavilion structures built over Service officials discontinued piping spring water to the 

the springs beginning in the 1890s, Pavilion Springs pavilion in the 1970s due to low water yields from the 

received a permanent structure in the 1930s. In the early springs, periodic detection of fecal coliform bacteria 

days of the recreation area, the best known of the seven in the water, inundation of the vaults by Rock Creek, 

Pavilion Springs was “Big Tom,” which flowed at 150 perceived liability of providing spring water to the 

liters (40 gallons) per minute (National Park Service public, costs and labor associated with chlorinating the 

2014c). As of 1997, the main fountain in the pavilion water, or a combination of these factors (Andrews and 

was still the main source of water for many local Burrough 2000; Noel Osborn, NPS Chickasaw National 

residents, even though samples from the main fountain Recreation Area, Chief of Resource Management, 

showed thallium concentrations of 17 micrograms per written communication, 6 August 2014).

liter, which was in excess of the EPA drinking water The loss of Bromide Spring has been considered the criterion of 2 micrograms per liter (Water Resources greatest resource loss at Chickasaw National Recreation Division 1997). Area (National Park Service 2014c). Bromide Spring 

Black Sulphur Springs consists of a group of four was arguably the most popular spring at the turn of 

sulphur-rich springs (plate 1). The original Black the 20th century. Bromide water had the reputation of 

Sulphur Spring, which cannot be found today, was on being able to cure every disease known to mankind, 

the old trail that went up the side of the cliff (National especially stomach diseases (Muncrief 2006). The 

Park Service 2014c). These springs were originally crowd at the spring with their water jugs would often 

known as “Beach Springs” because they bubbled up consist of at least 700 visitors. They would wait in line 

from the sandy beach along Rock Creek just upstream for hours to get their water. The superintendent of 

from its confluence with Travertine Creek. Up until at Sulphur Springs Reservation had to hire a watchman 

least 1997, water from the springs collected in a basin, because the water from Bromide Spring was stolen at 

and upon demand, the water was pumped through a night and sold in area saloons. In December 1907, 8,050 

chlorinator and piped to a spigot in the Black Sulphur visitors took away 17,730 liters (4,683 gallons) of water. 

Pavilion (Water Resources Division 1997). The pavilion The following month, 7,017 visitors collected 16,010 

was built in 1929, and the original neoclassical structure liters (4,230 gallons) of Bromide water. In 1908, the 

still stands (National Park Service 2014c). Water no Oklahoma Legislature requested a daily shipment of 

longer flows from the fountain in the pavilion because water from the park to include 40 liters (10 gallons) of 

mineralization has plugged the chlorination equipment Antelope Spring water, 40 liters (10 gallons) of Sulphur 

(Noel Osborn, NPS Chickasaw National Recreation water, and 20 liters (5 gallons) of Bromide water 

Area, Chief of Resource Management, written (Muncrief 2006). 
13

In 1907, a springhouse was built over Bromide Spring, 

and in 1908, a swinging bridge over Rock Creek allowed 

easier access to Bromide and Medicine springs. This 

bridge was washed away by a flood in 1916 and was 

replaced by a steel structure known as “Rainbow 

Bridge.” In 1933, the CCC replaced the springhouse 

with the Bromide Pavilion (fig. 10). The new pavilion 

eliminated the need for Rainbow Bridge, which was 

dismantled in 1942. 

In the 1990s, park officials expressed interest in 

resuming piping mineralized spring water to Bromide 

Pavilion and in restoring the pavilion as a visitor 

attraction. A hydrology and water quality study in 2000, 

however, showed that water flowed into the Bromide 

Spring vault at a rate of less than 0.40–0.79 liters 

(0.1–0.21 gallons) per minute and into Medicine Spring 

vault at a rate of less than 0.04–0.91 liters (0.01–0.24 

gallons) per minute, so providing a sufficient amount 

of potable water would be difficult (Andrews and 

Burrough 2000). In addition, Escherichia coli (E. coli), 

fecal coliform, and fecal streptococcal bacteria were 

detected in some samples from the springs. Intermittent 

inundation of the springs by Rock Creek and seepage 

of surface water into the vaults was also found to pose 

a threat of contamination. Potential contamination, 

low flow, and the added physical hazard of an unstable 

cliff overhanging the vaults made re-establishing spring 

flow to Bromide Pavilion problematic (Andrews and 

Burrough 2000). Currently, city water is piped to the 

Bromide Pavilion (National Park Service 2014c). 

Vendome Artesian Well

Vendome Well is an artesian well drilled at the 

boundary of the freshwater and saline water zones in 

the confined part of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer 

(Christenson et al. 2009). When drilled in 1922, 

Vendome Well produced 9,500 liters (2,500 gallons) of 

water per minute from the aquifer, making it the largest 

artesian well in Oklahoma (fig. 11; Gould and Schoff 

1939; National Park Service 2014d). 

Located only a block away from the railroad depot 

and about 2.4 m (8 ft) outside the main entrance to 

what was then Platt National Park, Vendome Well 

soon became the icon of the city of Sulphur, featured 

on post cards and souvenirs. Vendome Well water was 

available for drinking and was also channeled into a 

heated medicinal pool for visitors hoping to cure a 

variety of ailments. Visitors would also take mud baths 

in the outflow stream from the well (Noel Osborn, NPS 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief of Resource 

Management, written communication, 6 August 2014). 

In 1935, the CCC redesigned the channel into an 

artificial creek that included two wading pools and 

a waterfall, which emptied into Travertine Creek 

(National Park Service 2014d). Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area acquired the well property in 1979, 

and in 1998, a new Vendome Well with a steel casing to 

resist corrosion was drilled about 6 m (20 ft) west of the 

original well. Today, water from the new Vendome Well 

is piped to the historic enclosure (National Park Service 

2014d).

Sodium and chloride are the major ions in the water 

discharging from Vendome Well (table 1). Water 

samples in 2009 had a dissolved solids concentration 

of 1,250 milligrams/liter (mg/l) and a chloride 

concentration of 558 mg/l (Christenson et al. 2009). 

These concentrations exceeded the secondary 

maximum contaminant levels (SMCLs) for dissolved 

solids (500 mg/l) and chloride (250 mg/l). Because 

SMCLs are associated with aesthetic considerations 

(taste, color, and odor) and are not considered a hazard 

to human health, visitors may safely drink from the well. 

Figure 11. Vendome Well and Flower Park in Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area. When drilled in 1922, 

Vendome Well became the largest artesian well in 

Oklahoma, producing 9,500 liters (2,500 gallons) 

of water per minute. The water is 99% fresh and 

1% brine. Note the drinking fountain that allows 

visitors to drink from the well. National Park Service 

photograph, available at http://www.nps.gov/chic/learn/

photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm (accessed 15 June 

2015).
14

The well water has a brine component of about 1%. 

Samples from the well have the highest concentrations 

of specific conductance, dissolved solids, potassium, 

chloride, fluoride, bromide, iodide, ammonia, arsenic, 

boron, lithium, and strontium of the two deep wells 

sampled in the 2009 Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer study 

(table 1; Christenson et al. 2009; National Park Service 

2014d). The chloride-to-bromide mass ratio suggests 

that the brine is a product of evaporated seawater, 

which suggests an origin quite different from the 

freshwater recharged wells on the aquifer outcrop to the 

east (Christenson et al. 2009). Vendome Well water also 

has the distinct aroma of hydrogen sulfide.

In addition to water chemistry, the age, recharge 

temperature, and the presence of terrigenic (landbased) helium in Vendome Well water also distinguish 

it from the aquifer’s freshwater. Carbon-14 dating 

indicates that groundwater flowing from Vendome Well 

is about 10,500 years old, which is much older than 

the relatively recent age of the freshwater flowing from 

springs and wells on the unconfined outcrop portion of 

the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer (Christenson et al. 2009, 

2011).

Christenson et al. (2009) also measured the 

concentrations of dissolved argon, neon, and xenon 

in water samples to determine the temperature of 

the water when it recharged to the aquifer. Typically, 

recharge temperatures reflect the air temperature at 

the time of recharge. The mean annual temperature at 

Ada, Oklahoma, is 16°C (61°F). Recharge temperatures 

of most freshwater samples averaged 14.2°C (57.6°F), 

which suggests that recharge occurred during the cooler 

months of the year (Christenson et al. 2009). However, 

recharge temperatures from Vendome Well samples 

were 6.6°C (44°F), indicating that recharge took place 

during an earlier, cooler time period. 

The presence of abundant helium in Vendome Well 

water provides further evidence of old age. The helium 

in the well water represents a terrigenic source rather 

than atmospheric helium. Terrigenic helium derives 

from internal production in the aquifer, external 

input of helium to the aquifer, mixing with water 

that is enriched in helium (e.g., oilfield brine), or a 

combination of these. Regardless of how it formed, 

terrigenic helium suggests that groundwater flowed 

deep into the aquifer to pick up crustal helium before 

discharging from the well (Christenson et al. 2009).

Travertine Creek and Travertine Island

Spring water in the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is 

saturated with calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and 

supersaturated in carbon dioxide (CO2) with respect 

to the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is released to the 

atmosphere when water discharges from the springs, 

and calcium carbonate precipitates onto streambed 

materials to become the porous, freshwater limestone 

known as travertine (Chafetz and Folk 1984). In 

addition to Travertine Creek in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area, many other spring-fed streams in the 

region contain travertine deposits, including Turner 

Falls on Honey Creek, Price Falls at Fall Creek, Blue 

River, Pennington Creek, and Delaware Creek (Osborn 

et al. 2006). 

The most spectacular travertine deposits in the area 

occur at Turner Falls, the 23 m (77 ft) high waterfall 

on Honey Creek, located on the Arbuckle anticline in 

the western portion of the aquifer (Emig 1971; Love 

1985; Utech 1998). Turbulence may be the primary 

factor contributing to the precipitation of travertine at 

Turner Falls (Love 1985). Turbulence aerates the water, 

which promotes the growth of algae and mosses. Algae 

and mosses provide an absorbent, porous substrate 

upon which travertine accumulates. Precipitation of 

travertine builds up waterfalls and increases turbulence, 

and the cycle continues (Love 1985). 

Turbulence, temperature, and the nature of the 

substrate are three factors that influence the rate of 

travertine precipitation. Precipitation of travertine 

increases during the summer months when temperature 

and photosynthesis increase. In 1985, the average 

summer rate of precipitation of travertine at waterfalls 

in Honey Creek was 2 mm/month (0.08 in/month) 

(Love 1985).

Travertine Creek receives its water primarily from 

Antelope and Buffalo springs. Travertine Creek flows 

over 75 natural rock falls and 6 CCC-constructed dams 

on its 4.0 km (2.5 mi) course from Travertine Nature 

Center to Pavilion Springs (fig. 12). The water in the 

creek averages 18°C (65°F) year round. Travertine 

Island, within Travertine Creek, is one of the more 

exceptional geologic features in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area. Reached by the Travertine Creek Trail, 

the island contains impressive deposits of travertine 

(fig. 13). In 1934, the CCC used native blocks of Vanoss 

Formation to build a long, slab rock picnic table and 
15

rock benches on the island (fig. 14). Travertine deposits 

were identified as a geologic resource for assessment 

via the Natural Resource Condition Assessment (see 

“Geologic Resource Management Issues” chapter; Noel 

Osborn, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief of 

Resource Management, email, 8 June 2015).

Paleontological Resources

Paleontological resources (fossils) are any evidence 

of life preserved in a geologic context (Santucci et al. 

2009). All fossils are non-renewable. Body fossils are 

any remains of the actual organism such as bones, 

teeth, shells, or leaves. Trace fossils are evidence of 

biological activity; examples include burrows, tracks, 

or coprolites (fossil dung). Fossils in NPS areas 

occur in rocks or unconsolidated deposits, museum 

collections, and cultural contexts such as building 

stones or archeological resources. As of July 2015, 

260 parks, including Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area had documented paleontological resources in 

at least one of these contexts. The NPS Geologic 

Resources Division Paleontology website provides more 

information (National Park Service 2014e). While this 

report was in production, an updated paleontological 

resource summary was published as Tweet et al. (2015). 

Recreation area staff should consult that report for 

updated paleontological resource information.

Most of the fossils found in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area come from Ordovician and Devonian 

strata (table 2; Koch and Santucci 2003; Blome et al. 

2013). These fossils include brachiopods, echinoderms, 

trilobites, pelecypods, bryozoans, graptolites, and 

ostracodes (fig. 15). Fossils provide information 

regarding the depositional environment, age, water 

depth, submarine structure, and shoreline geometry at 

a time when present-day Oklahoma was covered by an 

extensive inland sea. For example, Ordovician trilobites 

from the Viola Group (Ov) were restricted 

Figure 12. Travertine Creek flows over Little Niagara 

Falls, located in the northeastern portion of the Platt 

Historic District of Chickasaw National Recreation Area. 

National Park Service photograph, available at

http://www.nps.gov/cultural_landscapes/snp/850145.html

(accessed 1 May 2014). 

Figure 13. Travertine cliffs on Travertine Island. 

Travertine forms the foundation of Travertine Island. 

Note the vugs (holes) and small caves that have formed 

due to dissolution of the limestone. Photograph by the 

author.

Figure 14. Picnic table on Travertine Island. The table 

was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s 

using blocks of the Vanoss Formation conglomerate. 

Photograph by the author.
16

to relatively cool marine water on continental shelves 

that were approximately 30 m (100 ft) deep (Shaw 

1991). Mixing of two previously distinct genera in 

Oklahoma suggest that sea level rose, causing a marine 

transgression and the elimination of the biogeographic 

boundary separating the two genera. Reefs constructed 

from Ordovician bryozoans have been discovered just 

south of the recreation area and southeast of the city of 

Sulphur (Cuffey and Cuffey 1994). 

Fossils from the Bromide Formation (Obm) have been 

well-studied. In addition to the discovery of bryozoan 

reefs, researchers have discovered new genera and 

species of ostracod; documented eight different species 

of the bivalve genus Conocardium; discovered a new 

genera of tubular bryozoan; and reported on many 

trilobite genera, including Calliops, Dolichoharpesi, 

Encrinuroides, Homotelus, Lonchodomas, and 

Pandaspinapyga (Sutherland and Amsden 1959; 

Levinson 1961; Esker 1964; Frederickson 1964; Branson 

1966; Farmer 1975; Cuffey and Cuffey 1994).

Deep-marine fauna are found in the Upper Ordovician 

Sylvan Shale (Os) and Viola Group (Ov). Shale beds 

in both units contain graptolites, an extinct group of 

organisms that flourished in the Ordovician Period, 

and the Viola Group contains the deep-water trilobite 

Crytolithus trilos (Koch and Santucci 2003; Blome et al. 

2013).

The upper part of the Hunton Group (Dhu) consists of 

two formations: (1) the Haragan Formation, which is 

very fossiliferous and crops out in the Goddard Youth 

Camp, and (2) the Bois d’Arc Formation, which is not 

exposed in Chickasaw National Recreation Area (Blome 

et al. 2013). The thin-bedded argillaceous limestone and 

mudstone of the Haragan Formation have produced 

numerous trilobites, brachiopods, corals, gastropods, 

and bivalves. A new trilobite species has been described 

from the Haragan Formation, and graptolites have been 

found at a site near Dougherty, Oklahoma (Koch and 

Santucci 2003). In addition to the invertebrate fossils 

listed in table 2, shark teeth and gastroliths (stomach 

stones) have also been recovered from Devonian strata. 

Table 2. Fossils documented in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area.

Age Rock Unit 

(map symbol)

Invertebrate 

Fossils

Upper Mississippian–

Lower Pennsylvanian

Springer 

Formation (PNMs)

brachiopods, 

bryozoans, bivalves

Middle Pennsylvanian Deese Group 

(PNd)

crinoids, endothyrids, 

brachiopods, mollusks

Lower Mississippian Caney Shale

(Mc)

Conodonts, pelecypods, 

gastropods, ostracodes,

goniatites, cephalopods

Lower Devonian

Upper part 

Hunton Group 

(DSOh, Dhu)

Haragan Formation: 

brachiopods, trilobites, 

corals, gastropods, 

bivalves, sponges, 

anthozoans, straight 

cephalopods 

(Rhinoceras sp.), 

goniatites (ammonites), 

crinoids

Silurian

Lower part 

Hunton Group 

(SOhl)

anthozoans, conodonts, 

crinoids, brachiopods, 

gastropods, 

crustaceans, 

foraminifers, ostracodes

Upper Ordovician Sylvan Shale (Os) graptolites, chitinozoans

Viola Group (Ov)

trilobites (Crytolithus

trilos, Isotelus), 

graptolites

Middle Ordovician

Bromide 

Formation 

(Simpson Group) 

(Obm)

brachiopods, trilobites, 

bryozoans, graptolites, 

pelecypods, ostracodes, 

echinoderms

Fossil lists from Koch and Santucci (2003) and Blome et al. (2013). 

See updated information in Tweet et al. (2015).

Figure 15. Common Paleozoic marine invertebrate 

fossils found in Oklahoma. The black bar is 1 cm (0.4 in) 

long. Sketches by Trista Thornberry-Ehrlich (Colorado 

State University) after specimens from the Sam Noble 

Museum (2015), available at:

http://commonfossilsofoklahoma.snomnh.ou.edu/

(accessed 24 April 2014).
17

See “Paleontological Resource Inventory, Monitoring, 

and Protection” section and Tweet et al. (2015) for 

information on managing the paleontological resources 

of the recreation area.

A variety of marine invertebrates are found in the 

Lower Mississippian Caney Shale, which is mapped 

south of the Reagan Fault in the southeastern part of 

the recreation area. The fauna reflect the advance of 

open-marine environments into the region during a 

continent-wide marine transgression (rise of sea level).

Although not found in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area, fossil logs of the Late Devonian 

plant, Archaeopteris, have been discovered in the 

Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Woodford 

Shale (MDsw) of southern Oklahoma (Cardott 2001). 

Archaeopteris grew more than 20 m (66 ft) tall with 

trunks measuring several feet in diameter (Sam Noble 

Museum 2015). Because there are no Devonian 

terrestrial sedimentary rocks in Oklahoma, the source 

of these logs that floated out to sea to be petrified in the 

anoxic black marine shale of the Woodford Shale has 

not been identified. 

Basins in southern Oklahoma subsided in the Late 

Mississippian and Early Pennsylvanian Periods 

(Johnson 2008). Fauna in the Upper MississippianLower Pennsylvanian Springer Formation (PNMs) 

lived in open marine environments that existed in the 

subsiding basins, which began receiving sediments 

eroded from emerging highlands. 

The Middle Pennsylvanian Deese Group crops out 

along the northern shore of Lake of the Arbuckles 

in southeastern Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area. Fossiliferous gray to white limestone beds in 

the unit contain crinoids, endothyrids, brachiopods, 

and mollusks. These invertebrates lived in a marine 

environment which occurred in the structural basin that 

formed between the Tishomingo and Hunton anticlines 

(Blome et al. 2013).

Sedimentary Features in the Vanoss 

Formation

The Pennsylvanian Vanoss Formation is the most 

extensive rock unit in Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area. Features in the Vanoss conglomerate (PNvc) and 

overlying Vanoss shale (PNvs) provide evidence of Late 

Paleozoic tectonics, as well as the regional depositional 

environments. Exceptional exposures of the Vanoss 

Formation occur along Travertine Creek and near Rock 

Creek Campground (fig. 16). 

In general, coarse-grained conglomerate is the 

dominant rock in the Vanoss Formation. The Vanoss 

conglomerate consists of rock sequences that begin 

with conglomerates and transition upward into beds 

(layers) of finer-grained sandstones and siltstones 

(Donovan and Butaud 1993). These upward-fining 

sequences reflect a cyclic decrease in stream energy 

(table 3). When energy was high, the stream was able 

to transport and deposit the coarser-grained pebbles, 

Figure 16. The Vanoss conglomerate facies in Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area. The upper photo illustrates 

the outcrop pattern of the unit with ledges of 

sandstone and conglomerate and slopes of shale. 

Physical weathering may cause blocks of conglomerate 

to break away and cascade down the slope. The lower 

photo illustrates the size and roundness of the clasts in 

the conglomerate. Pencil is 14 cm (5.5 in) long for scale. 

The roadcut is opposite the turn into the Rock Creek 

Campground. Photographs by the author.
18

cobbles, and boulders resulting in the conglomerate; 

when energy was low, primarily finer-grained sand and 

silt particles were deposited resulting in the sandstone 

and siltstone.

Individual conglomerate beds in the Vanoss Formation 

range from 3 cm (1 in) to 3 m (10 ft) thick (Donovan 

and Butaud 1993). Clasts (individual grains or fragments 

of rock) in the conglomerate are well-rounded, which 

is a feature characteristic of fluvial processes (fig. 16). 

Originally, clasts weathered out of strata have sharp, 

angular edges. As they rolled and tumbled along a 

stream bed, the edges became rounded.

Sandstone beds composed of fine-grained quartz are 

thinner, ranging from 1 cm (0.4 in) to 1 m (3 ft) thick, 

and are interbedded with siltstone, shale, and thin 

limestone beds (fig. 17). Features in the sandstones 

include parallel laminations, small-scale trough crossbedding, symmetrical ripple marks, and erosive bases 

above limestone beds (table 3; Donovan and Heilen 

1988; Donovan and Butaud 1993).

The Vanoss Formation represents deposition in an 

alluvial-fan system (Ham 1973; Donovan and Heilen 

1988; Donovan and Butaud 1993). Alluvial fans 

commonly form when stream gradients abruptly 

decreases. For example, when a stream flows from 

the mouth of a steep canyon and onto a relatively flat 

valley floor, its channel velocity decreases, as does its 

capacity to transport boulders, cobbles, and other 

coarse sediment. At this point the coarse material is 

deposited, filling the stream channel and causing it 

to migrate laterally. As the stream migrates back-andforth, it eventually forms the typical fan-shaped feature 

known as an alluvial fan. The conglomerate unit in the 

0 m (ft)

1 (3)

2 (6)

3 (10)

4 (13)

5 (16)

6 (20)

Soft sediment 

deformation?

Maximum pebble

size cm (in)

20.0 (7.9)

10.0 (3.9)

5.0 (2.0)

7.0 (2.8)

Siltstone and calcrete nodules

Stacked 

pebble

bars

Siltstone 

and 

calcrete

Carla

1

Carla

2

Figure 17. Sketch of the Vanoss Formation near the top of Bromide Hill. The vertical scale is exaggerated 

approximately three times. The cross-section illustrates the complex relationship between rock type and process. The 

“Carla” is a lacustrine limestone. The “stacked pebble bars” unit is younger than the limestone, siltstone, and calcrete 

into which it has incised. Diagram redrafted by Trista Thornberry-Ehrlich (Colorado State University) after Donovan and 

Butaud (1993, figure 10).

Table 3. Stratigraphic features and depositional processes 

in the Vanoss Formation

Stratigraphic Feature Associated Process

Upward-fining (coarse- to finegrained) cyclesDecrease in stream velocity

Parallel laminations High energy, consistent stream 

flow

Trough cross-bedding Channel filling

Symmetrical ripple marks Lower energy, bi-directional flow 

(e.g., lake shoreline)

Mudstone (shale) Low energy environment

Limestone Carbonate sedimentation

Fenestrae (holes) Escape of gas from partly lithified 

sediment

Mud cracks Desiccation of sediment

Rip-up clasts High energy flow

Varves Seasonal or cyclic deposition

Nodular limestone Ancient soil development 

(calcrete)
19

Vanoss Formation (PNvc) was deposited near the mouth 

of a canyon where the gradient of the stream abruptly 

decreased and the alluvial fan formed.

Conglomerate beds in the Vanoss Formation that 

contain mostly pebbles may represent periods of sheetlike flooding across the alluvial fan. These sheet floods 

may have also been responsible for the sandstone beds 

in Chickasaw National Recreation Area, especially 

those exposed at Bromide Hill. The sandstones are 

laterally persistent, and the parallel laminations suggest 

a high-energy flow regime common to flooding. The 

absence of coarser sediment suggests that the sandsized sediment was deposited farther out on the alluvial 

fan than the conglomerates. The siltstone and shale 

beds also suggest deposition on the distal (far) end 

of an alluvial fan where silt and clay filled abandoned 

channels on the fan surface (Donovan and Butaud 

1993).

The thinly-bedded sandstone and limestone beds near 

the top of Bromide Hill suggest a low-energy lacustrine 

depositional environment. Symmetrical ripple marks 

in the fine-grained sandstone formed from the bidirectional influence of waves on a shoreline. During 

storms, partly lithified sandstone was ripped up and 

re-deposited to form the rip-up clasts found in the 

sandstone beds. As lake levels rose, algal photosynthesis 

led to carbonate precipitation, and as lake levels fell 

and the limestone dried, mud cracks formed. Escaping 

gas from decaying algae created fenestrae (holes) in the 

limestone. Carbon- and oxygen-isotope data indicate 

that the limestone formed in a freshwater environment 

(Donovan and Butaud 1993). 

Varves (genetically related paired sedimentary layers) in 

the thinly-bedded limestone may record annual cyclic 

deposition. These sedimentary couplets are commonly 

deposited in still water. If this is the case, the number 

of varves suggests that the lake system at the top of the 

Vanoss Formation existed for approximately 1,000 years 

(Donovan and Heinlen 1988; Donovan and Butaud 

1993). 

Limestone nodules in the upper part of the Vanoss shale 

suggest near-surface formation of calcrete (Donovan 

and Butaud 1993). Modern calcretes form as a result 

of the accumulation of calcite in soil horizons, usually 

under evaporative, semi-arid conditions. Calcretes in 

the Vanoss Formation have similar paleogeographic and 

paleoclimatic implications. They record the increased 

aridity on the midcontinent as the Pennsylvanian 

transitioned into the Permian Period.

These sedimentary features offer clues to the evolving 

Pennsylvanian landscape of south-central Oklahoma. 

Alluvial-fan environments developed at the base of the 

newly-formed Arbuckle Mountains. Braided streams 

emerging from the mountains deposited 3–4 m (3–13 ft) 

thick cycles of conglomerates and sandstones. As stream 

discharge decreased and channels migrated across the 

alluvial fans, finer-grained silts and clays capped the 

coarser-grained deposits. Calcrete soil horizons attest 

to semi-arid conditions in the region, although the 

presence of lake deposits suggests that higher water 

tables may have occurred from time to time (Donovan 

and Butaud 1993). 

In addition, the contact between the Vanoss Formation 

and the underlying strata provide critical evidence for 

the timing of the Arbuckle Orogeny, a major mountainbuilding episode in the Pennsylvanian Period (fig. 5). 

The Arbuckle Orogeny (the term ‘orogeny’ means 

‘mountain-building event’) deformed the older strata 

beneath the Vanoss Formation, tilting the beds at high 

angles to the topographic surface. In contrast, the 

Vanoss Formation strata are relatively undeformed 

(Ham and McKinley 1954; Ham 1973; Blome et al. 

2013). Post-Pennsylvanian regional uplift tilted the 

Vanoss Formation, but the beds dip less steeply than the 

older strata. This type of contact where the dip angles 

of the overlying and underlying beds are in contrast to 

one another is known as an “angular unconformity.” 

The angular unconformity at the base of the Vanoss 

Formation indicates that the Arbuckle Orogeny had 

ended by the Late Pennsylvanian Period (Blome et al. 

2013). The strike and dip angles included in the GRI 

GIS data illustrate the different orientations of the rock 

layers, which resulted primarily from deformation 

caused by the Arbuckle Orogeny.

Folds and Faults

During an orogeny, rock layers are typically folded and 

faulted. The two common types of fold are anticlines, 

which are convex A-shaped folds, and synclines, 

concave U-shaped folds, and both are mapped within 

the GRI GIS data for Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area (plate 2). Both types of folds can be overturned—

tilted past vertical—by continued or future tectonic 

forces. Folds frequently “plunge” meaning the fold axis 

tilts. A fault is a fracture along which rocks have moved. 
20

The three primary types of faults are normal faults, 

reverse faults, and strike-slip faults (fig. 18). All three are 

mapped within the recreation area (Blome et al. 2013). 

During the Pennsylvanian Period, the strata of 

southern Oklahoma were compressed, folded, faulted, 

and uplifted as a result of the Wichita and Arbuckle 

orogenies (fig. 5). In general, strata were folded into 

regional, northwest–southeast oriented anticlines and 

synclines separated by high-angle normal, reverse, and 

strike-slip faults (fig. 18; Christenson et al. 2011; Blome 

et al. 2013).

These structural features are mapped primarily in the 

Paleozoic rocks to the east and along the southern 

border of Chickasaw National Recreation Area (fig. 

19). From northeast-to-southwest, the folds include 

the broad Hunton anticline, Sulphur syncline, Belton 

anticline, Mill Creek syncline, Tishomingo anticline, 

and the Dougherty anticline (table 4; Christenson et 

al. 2011; Blome et al. 2013). The faults listed in table 

4 separate these folds. In some cases, such as the Mill 

Creek syncline and the Belton anticline, the folds 

appear to be part of extensive fault blocks rather than 

individual folds and faults (Blome et al. 2013). Some 

of these structural features extend into the subsurface 

beneath the Vanoss Group in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area (Scheirer and Scheirer 2006).

The broad Hunton anticline formed during the Wichita 

Orogeny and was further deformed during the younger, 

more intense Arbuckle Orogeny (Cardott and Chaplin 

1993; Allen 2000; Blome et al. 2013). Strata of the 

Arbuckle and Simpson groups are exposed in the core 

of the anticline. The Clarita and Franks fault zones cut 

the Hunton anticline on the east and northeast, and the 

Sulphur fault zone truncates the southern flank of the 

anticline (Christenson et al. 2011). 

The Sulphur syncline is between the steeply-dipping 

Sulphur fault and the South Sulphur fault and contains 

primarily Simpson Group strata (plate 2). Subsurface 

gravity data suggest that the Sulphur syncline does 

These rocks slide

laterally relative to 

rocks across the fault

Fault trace

Right-lateral 

fault plane

Strike-Slip Faulting

Hanging 

Footwall wall

Compression

Fault

These rocks raise

up relative to 

rocks across

the fault

Reverse and Thrust Faulting

These rocks drop

down relative to 

rocks across

the fault

Hanging 

wall

Footwall

Extension

Fault scarp

Fault

Alluvial fan

Normal Faulting

Chickasaw NRA Examples

Sulphur fault

Chickasaw NRA Examples

Mill Creek fault

portions of the Reagan fault

Chickasaw NRA Examples

portions of the Reagan fault

Figure 18. Schematic illustrations of three general fault types. In a fault, movement occurs along a fault plane. 

“Footwalls” are below the fault plane and “hanging walls” are above it. In a normal fault, crustal extension (pulling 

apart) moves the hanging wall down relative to the footwall. In a reverse fault, crustal compression moves the 

hanging wall up relative to the footwall. A thrust fault is similar to a reverse fault, but has a dip angle of less than 

45 degrees. In a strike-slip fault, the relative direction of movement of the opposing plate is lateral. When movement 

across the fault is to the right, it is a right-lateral (dextral) fault, as illustrated above. When movement is to the left, 

it is a left-lateral (sinistral) fault. All three types are present in the Arbuckle Mountains; the Sulphur fault is a normal 

fault, Mill Creek fault is a reverse fault and movement along the Reagan fault incorporates both reverse and strike-slip 

motion. Graphic by Trista Thornberry-Ehrlich (Colorado State University). 

Table 4. Folds and faults in the Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area vicinity.

List of Folds List of Faults (fault type)

Hunton anticline Sulphur (normal)

Sulphur syncline South Sulphur (normal)

Belton anticline Mill Creek (reverse/thrust)

Mill Creek syncline Reagan (thrust, strike-slip)

Tishomingo anticline

Dougherty anticline

Folds and faults are listed from north to south. Locations are 

indicated on figure 19 and the geologic map poster (in pocket). See 

plate 2 for cross-section illustration of these features.
21

Figure 19. Map showing the structural features and related Pennsylvanian angular unconformities in and near 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Graphic by Trista Thornberry-Ehrlich (Colorado State University) after Blome et al. 

(2013, figure 6), using GRI GIS data.
22

not extend beneath Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area (Scheirer and Scheirer 2006). The Sulphur fault 

bends to the southwest and terminates into the South 

Sulphur fault about 2 km (1.2 mi) east of Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area (Scheirer and Scheirer 2006; 

Christenson et al. 2011; Blome et al. 2013). 

The Belton anticline is bracketed by the South Sulphur 

fault and the Mill Creek fault zone, a series of thrust 

faults that form the northern border of the Mill Creek 

syncline (plate 2; Christenson et al. 2011; Blome et al. 

2013). The anticline appears to be an up-thrown fault 

block rather than a simple fold, and because of this 

structural complexity, it is not possible to define a fold 

axis (Blome et al. 2013).

The narrow Mill Creek syncline consists of more than 

2,400 m (8,000 ft) of folded and faulted Paleozoic 

strata (plate 2; Blome et al. 2013). The syncline is a 

graben (down-thrown fault block), but unlike typical 

grabens that are bounded by normal faults, the Mill 

Creek syncline is bounded by reverse and thrust (lowangle reverse) faults and contains a series of anticlines 

and synclines. The fault block is also a remnant of 

a Pennsylvanian basin that formed between the 

Tishomingo and Hunton uplifts during the Wichita 

Orogeny (Cardott and Chaplin 1993; Blome et al. 2013). 

Sediments eroded from these uplifts became the Deese 

Group (PNd).

During the Arbuckle Orogeny, the Deese Group, along 

with older strata, was folded and faulted, and the entire 

basin was displaced as a single fault block. In some 

exposures east of Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area, the Mill Creek fault zone juxtaposes Ordovician 

Arbuckle strata (Owk and Ow) of the Belton Anticline 

against Pennsylvanian Deese Group (PNd) in the Mill 

Creek syncline, a displacement of approximately 1,500 

m (5,000 ft) (Ham 1945; Christenson et al. 2011; Blome 

et al. 2013). 

Two significant unconformities in the Mill Creek 

Syncline put time constraints on each orogeny. 

The Wichita unconformity separates the Middle 

Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian stage, about 309 million 

to 305 million years old) Deese Group (PNd) from more 

steeply dipping older rocks. The older strata had been 

folded and tilted to the southwest during the Wichita 

Orogeny. After the Deese Group was deposited, the 

strata were intensely deformed during the Arbuckle 

Orogeny. The Arbuckle unconformity separates 

deformed Deese Group (PNd) and older rock units from 

the overlying and relatively undeformed conglomerate 

facies of the Vanoss Group (PNvc), and it marks the end 

of the Arbuckle Orogeny (plate 2; Blome et al. 2013).

The Reagan fault, which contains both reverse and 

thrust (low-angle reverse) faults and strike-slip 

movement, separates the Mill Creek syncline from 

the Tishomingo and Dougherty anticlines (fig. 19). In 

Figure 20. Tishomingo anticline. The beds of the Hunton Group (DSOh) dip gently on either side of the crest of the 

anticline. View is to the east-southeast. Photograph is from Blome et al. (2013).
23

contrast to the Mill Creek syncline and Belton anticline, 

the Tishomingo and Dougherty anticlines are relatively 

simple folds so their fold axes can be shown on a 

geologic map (fig. 19; poster [in pocket]; Blome et al. 

2013). The oldest rocks of the Tishomingo anticline in 

the recreation area are along its axis, and belong to the 

Ordovician Viola Group (Ov). Farther to the southeast, 

the anticline is cored by the entire sequence of Arbuckle 

Group units and Middle Proterozoic granitic rocks 

(Ham and McKinley 1954; Johnson 1990; Blome et al. 

2013). Near Mill Creek, southeast of the recreation area, 

stratigraphic displacement along the Reagan fault is at 

least 2,300 m (7,500 ft) (Christenson et al. 2011). 

Part of the relatively tightly-folded Tishomingo anticline 

forms the southern border of Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area (Blome et al. 2013). The fold of the 

Tishomingo anticline is exposed in an abandoned 

quarry just south of the recreation area boundary 

(fig. 20). Algal laminations, snail fragments, and small 

brachiopod shells are exposed on bedding surfaces of 

the folded carbonate strata in this quarry.

Smaller faults and folds throughout the region terminate 

into these major northwest–southeast oriented faults. 

The smaller faults have more diverse orientations, 

smaller displacements, and shorter lengths (Scheirer 

and Scheirer 2006; Christenson et al. 2011; Blome et 

al. 2013). The major and minor faults and fractures 

contribute significantly to the permeability of the 

Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer (Blome et al. 2013). In 

contrast, the relative lack of faults and fractures in the 

overlying Vanoss Formation contributes to its ability to 

seal the underlying Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer beneath 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

Cave and Karst Features

Karst is a landscape that forms through the dissolution 

of soluble rock, most commonly carbonates such 

as limestone or dolomite (Toomey 2009). Caves, 

sinkholes, streams whose channels lie above the water 

table (“losing streams”), springs, and internal drainage 

are characteristic features of karst landscapes. As of 

February 2015, cave or karst resources are documented 

in 153 NPS parks including Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area. The NPS Geologic Resources Division 

Cave and Karst Resources website provides more 

information (National Park Service 2014f).

Chickasaw National Recreation Area contains 9% 

karst (Land et al. 2013; Weary and Doctor 2014). 

However the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer is a massive 

karst feature more than 80 km (50 mi) across that is 

mapped east, south, and west of the recreation area 

(fig. 8). The eastern Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is of 

particular importance to the recreation area as flow 

from the aquifer supplies the springs of Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area (Christenson et al. 2011). The 

Eastern portion of the aquifer encompasses four surface 

watersheds and seven subsurface watersheds (fig. 21). 

Those watersheds are primarily outside the recreation 

area. Therefore development or contamination (e.g., oil 

or other hazardous material spills) in the Rock Creek 

surface and subsurface watersheds (Dale Pate, NPS 

Geologic Resources Division, Cave and Karst Program 

Lead, email, 15 June 2015; see “Water Quality” section). 

Note that the Rock Creek subsurface watershed extends 

east of Rock Creek and underlies Mill Creek north of 

Travertine Creek (fig. 21).

Weathering of the carbonates in the Arbuckle Group 

(Owk and Ow) produced features indicative of karst 

development, such as dissolution cavities in limestone, 

collapse breccias, dissolution-enlarged fractures, and 

vuggy porosity (Christenson et al. 2011). Fracturing 

and brecciation create additional voids in the rock, 

increasing the natural permeability in the Arbuckle 

Group.

Because the Arbuckle-Simpson limestones are buried 

under the Vanoss Formation and other post-Simpson 

formations, Chickasaw National Recreation Area does 

not contain any documented caves or sinkholes, and 

no significant caves (Noel Osborn, NPS Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area, Chief of Resource 

Management, written communication, 13 August 

2014). Most of the caves and sinkholes occur where the 

Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is mapped on the surface 

to the west and south of the recreation area on the 

Arbuckle and Tishomingo anticlines. 

Small dissolution caves have formed in the travertine 

that lines the banks of Travertine Island (fig. 13), and 

small caves associated with fractures in the Vanoss 

conglomerate (PNvc) have formed in the cliff at Bromide 

Hill.

The poorly-understood, circular hills that occur as 

distinct knobs just outside the borders of Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area and in other parts of the 

Arbuckle Mountains have been interpreted as collapse 
24

features associated with ancient karst topography (fig. 

22; see map poster [in pocket]; Blome et al. 2013). 

The knobs range from about 60–250 m (200–800 ft) in 

diameter and from 15–75 m (50–250 ft) high. They are 

composed of undifferentiated Sylvan Shale and Viola 

Group units (Osv) or undifferentiated Bromide, Tulip 

Creek, and McLish formations (Obm ). The beds of 

these units are chaotic and deformed, but generally 

dip inward toward the center of the knobs (Lidke and 

Blome 2010; Blome et al. 2013).

The knobs were originally interpreted as structural, 

deformation features rather than dissolution features. 

They were interpreted as “klippen,” which are isolated 

erosional, hanging-wall remnants of a large thrust 

sheet (Ham and McKinley 1954). The circular shape 

and inward dip of the strata, however, suggest that the 

knobs initially formed as large sinkholes in a Paleozoic 

carbonate landscape (Lidke and Blome 2010; Blome 

et al. 2013). Post-collapse fluids altered and cemented 

the strata that had collapsed into the sinkhole, making 

the collapsed strata more resistant to erosion than the 

surrounding units. Over time, erosion stripped away 

the less-resistant rock, inverting the topography so that 

the sinkholes became the circular-shaped knobs on 

the current landscape (fig. 22; Lidke and Blome 2010; 

Blome et al. 2013).

Figure 21. Maps of surface (left) and subsurface watersheds (right) of the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. The national 

recreation area is at the far left of the maps (Lake of the Arbuckles). US Geological Survey maps extracted from 

Christenson et al. (2011, figures 21 and 22).

Figure 22. Circular hill east of Chickasaw National Recreation Area. These hills may represent ancient karst topography. 

US Geological Survey photograph from Blome et al. (2013, figure 7).
25

Rock Creek Drainage Basin

Chickasaw National Recreation Area is in that part of 

the Rock Creek drainage basin that includes Travertine 

Creek and drains a surface watershed of approximately 

114 km2 (44.1 mi2). Wilson Creek flows into Veterans 

Lake while Rock, Buckhorn, and Guy Sandy creeks flow 

into Lake of the Arbuckles (plate 1).

Runoff from higher elevations north and east of 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area and groundwater 

flow from springs combined to form Rock Creek. The 

creek cut a V-shaped valley into the dense, erosionresistant Vanoss Formation (Pnvs and Pnvc). The 

layers of sandstone and shale in the Vanoss Formation 

are less resistant to erosion than the conglomerate 

layers, so they erode at a faster rate. When Rock Creek 

encountered these less-resistant layers, it eroded 

laterally rather than vertically through the harder 

Vanoss conglomerate, and the valley widened in a 

southward direction (National Park Service 2014g). 

Rock Creek, and to a lesser extent Guy Sandy 

Creek, develop and modify fluvial features, such as 

point bars and cut banks, as they meander through 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area (Blome et al. 

2013). Meandering rivers tend to erode laterally, rather 

than vertically, as their thalwegs (the deepest part of a 

stream’s current) migrate from bank to bank. Cutbanks 

form on the outside of a meander loop where Rock 

Creek cuts into rock units or unconsolidated sediments. 

Eroded sediment is deposited down-stream to form a 

point bar on the inside of a meander loop where the 

channel’s energy decreases (fig. 24 [next page]).

The Arbuckle Dam blocked the flow of Rock Creek, 

and as a result, the creek’s gradient and sinuosity 

changed. Although the dam was completed in 1966, 

Rock Creek continues to adjust to changes in slope, 

groundwater discharge, and surface flow.

Bromide Hill

Erosion and weathering processes have gradually 

changed the landscape of Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area since the Arbuckle Orogeny. Bromide 

Hill, the steep vertical cliff that rises 43 m (140 ft) above 

Rock Creek, is the most recognizable topographic 

feature in Chickasaw National Recreation Area (fig. 

23). The cliff is composed of Vanoss conglomerate 

(PNvc). The summit offers panoramic views of the 

Arbuckle Mountains and the Washita River valley to the 

southwest. Blocks of Vanoss Formation that fall from 

the cliff are a potential hazard in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area (see “Geologic Resource Management 

Issues” chapter). Vanoss Formation exposure was 

identified as a geologic resource for assessment via the 

Natural Resource Condition Assessment (see “Geologic 

Resource Management Issues” chapter; Noel Osborn, 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief of Resource 

Management, email, 8 June 2015).

Figure 23. Bromide Hill. Left photo is a view towards Sulphur, Oklahoma (note the water tower in the distance). Right 

photograph is the Vanoss Formation conglomerate facies (PNvc) that caps the cliff. Pencil is 14 cm (5.5 in) for scale. 

Photographs by the author.
26

Eros oi n

Erosion

De

posit

oi n

Deposition

Channel

migration

Channel

migration

Meander 

neck

Future oxbo

w lake

Oxbow la ke

Deposition

Path of least resistance

Thalweg

Point bars Cutbank

Fine-grained

sediments

Infilling 

sediments

Ridge-and-swale

topography

Natural 

levee

Back 

swamp

Scarp

Meandering 

channel

Upland

Coarse

sediments

Figure 24. Schematic of the features common to a meandering river. Point bars are areas of deposition. Lateral erosion 

takes place at cutbanks. The thalweg is the path of greatest current velocity, represented by blue arrows within the 

stream. When a meander neck is cut off, an oxbow lake forms. Time progression is from upper graphic to lower 

graphic. Graphic by Trista Thornberry-Ehrlich (Colorado State University).
27

Geologic Resource Management Issues

This section describes geologic features, processes, or human activities that may require management 

for visitor safety, protection of infrastructure, and preservation of natural and cultural resources in 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area. The NPS Geologic Resources Division provides technical and 

policy assistance for these issues.

Participants at the 2007 scoping meeting (see Graham 

2008) identified the following two primary resource 

management issues affecting Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area: 

● The Need for a Geologic Map of the Recreation 

Area

● Groundwater Use and Spring Discharge 

Monitoring

Since the meeting, a geologic map of the area has been 

completed (Blome et al. 2013) and was used as the GRI 

GIS source map. Chickasaw National Recreation Area 

has also developed a systematic monitoring program to 

address spring discharge. A follow-up conference call 

in 2014 identified the following additional issues:

● Water Quality

■ Sewage

■ Natural Asphalt Deposits

● Flooding and Debris Flows

● Rockfall

● Lakeshore Erosion

● Paleontological Resource Inventory, Monitoring, 

and Protection

● External Mineral Exploration and Development

■ Hydrocarbon Exploration and Induced 

Seismicity

■ Aggregate Quarries

● Abandoned Mineral Lands

Resource managers may find Geological Monitoring

(Young and Norby 2009; http://go.nps.gov/

geomonitoring) useful for addressing some of these 

geologic resource management issues. The manual 

provides guidance for monitoring vital signs—

measurable parameters of the overall resource 

condition. Each chapter covers a different resource 

and includes detailed recommendations for resource 

managers and suggested methods of monitoring.

Park staff are currently (July 2015) working on a 

Natural Resource Condition Assessment for Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area. Such assessments provide 

park managers an assessment and report on current 

conditions, critical data gaps, and selected condition 

influences for a subset of their park’s important 

natural resources. A draft of that assessment incudes 

five geologic indicators, travertine deposits, Vanoss 

Formation exposure, paleontological resources, 

seismic risk, and disturbed lands (abandoned mineral 

lands). Hydrogeology of the springs will be covered 

in a separate portion of the report (Noel Osborn, 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief of Resource 

Management, email, 8 June 2015). 

Groundwater Use and Spring Discharge 

Monitoring

From 1964 through 2008, the average annual reported 

groundwater use from the eastern Arbuckle-Simpson 

aquifer was 4,299 acre-feet (Christenson et al. 2011). 

In general, water managers plan for an annual rate of 

one acre-foot of water per suburban family household. 

The water was primarily used for water supply systems 

(63%). Other uses included mining (15%), power 

generation (14%), irrigation (7%), and recreation (1%). 

Power generation ceased in 1988 when use of the power 

plant near Sulphur was discontinued (Christenson et al. 

2011). 

In 2002, water managers in Canadian County, 

Oklahoma, which is approximately 145 km (90 mi) 

northwest of the recreation area, wanted to purchase 

water rights for the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. Their 

proposal raised concerns that large-scale withdrawals 

would decrease groundwater flow to rivers and springs 

and result in decreased water supplies, recreational 

opportunities, and aquatic habitat (Christenson et 

al. 2011). In response to these concerns, in 2003 

the Oklahoma Senate imposed a moratorium on 

groundwater permits for municipal or public watersupply use outside of any county that overlies a 

“sensitive sole source groundwater basin” until a 
28

hydrological study could be completed (Oklahoma 

Water Resources Board 2003, p. 1; Christenson et al. 

2011). 

A previous groundwater study of the Arbuckle-Simpson 

sole source aquifer in 1994 failed to show a direct 

relationship between groundwater pumping and water 

level declines in Buffalo and Antelope springs, but it did 

demonstrate the need for more detailed research on 

the aquifer (Hanson and Cates 1994). Christenson et al. 

(2011) completed a comprehensive Arbuckle-Simpson 

aquifer study that demonstrated how increased 

groundwater withdrawal would result in decreased 

stream and spring flow. Furthermore, the study showed 

that increased withdrawal would result in fewer 

locations where groundwater would flow to streams 

and springs. The methodology and detailed analysis of 

the aquifer study is available in Christenson et al. (2011).

Chickasaw National Recreation Area developed a 

systematic water monitoring plan to monitor changes 

to spring discharge and groundwater flow. The plan 

includes measuring the water level at five springs 

(including spring groups) and Vendome Well on a 

weekly basis, monitoring quarterly discharge at twelve 

sites, and collecting water quality samples from several 

sites (table 5). Since 2000, water quality samples have 

been periodically collected from twelve sites and 

monitored for temperature, dissolved solids, specific 

conductance, and pH. Since 2005, water quality 

samples from ten sites have been collected every 

week in the summer and every month in the winter 

and tested for E. coli. Real-time discharge and water 

levels are currently recorded at five US Geological 

Survey sites, which include three stream sites and two 

groundwater monitoring wells (table 5; Noel Osborn, 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief of Resource 

Management, written communication, 8 December 

2014).

In 2013, a US Geological Survey stream gage near 

Antelope Spring was moved a little farther downstream 

to avoid the increased traffic that had been disturbing 

the original site. The gage had been periodically 

operational since 1985. The US Geological Survey 

also installed a stream gage on Travertine Creek, 

upstream from its confluence with Rock Creek in the 

park. Once sufficient field discharge data have been 

collected to develop a rating curve, both discharge and 

stage measurements will be collected (Noel Osborn, 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief of Resource 

Management, written communication, 8 December 

2014). 

The study also showed that if groundwater withdrawals 

were to equal or exceed recharge to the aquifer, 

groundwater flow to springs and streams would 

eventually cease. The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer 

is recharged primarily from precipitation in the 

outcrop areas (fig. 8). Recharge tends to be highest 

in January–June and lowest during July–September 

(Christenson et al. 2011). Because recharge is primarily 

from precipitation, any change in precipitation trends, 

such as those predicted by global climate change, may 

impact the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer and the springs in 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area. 

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 

Change (IPCC), an increase in global temperature has 

already increased the evaporation rate and moistureholding capacity in the atmosphere, which alters 

the hydrological cycle and changes precipitation 

patterns (IPCC 2007, 2013, 2014). These changes 

alter streamflow, groundwater recharge, and extreme 

weather events. In 2011, some areas of southcentral Oklahoma experienced more than 70 days 

of temperatures more than 38°C (100°F), and the 

incidence of extreme temperatures is projected to rise 

(Melillo et al. 2014). In 2012, severe drought (lasting 

more than six months) impacted southern Oklahoma. 

Increased temperatures will increase evaporation and 

the potential for drought. In southern Oklahoma, 

a warming trend of 1.4°C–1.9°C (2.5°F–3.4°F) is 

expected to begin in 2040 and by the end of the century, 

temperatures are projected to have increased by 

2.3°C–4.5°C (4.1°F–8.1°F) (Karl et al. 2009; Hong 2012). 

On average, evapotranspiration is expected to increase 

by as much as 8% and runoff is projected to decrease 

by more than 10% by the end of the 21st century (Hong 

2012).

Predicting changes in precipitation patterns is not as 

clear as temperature. Southeastern Oklahoma may 

experience decreasing wet conditions from 2011 to 

2050 and more severe and frequent drought after 2050 

(Hong 2012). Over the last 100 years, Antelope Spring 

has been dry or flowed intermittently for 22 extended 

periods of time, especially during the 1910s, 1930s, and 

1950s (Hanson and Cates 1994; National Park Service 

2014b). The most recent dry period for 
29

Antelope Spring was from September 2012 to May 

2015. Extended periods of no flow within that time 

frame include from September 20 to December 27, 

2013, and from February 13, 2014 to May 3, 2015 (Noel 

Osborn, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief 

of Resource Management, written communication, 15 

December 2014; US Geological Survey 2015). More 

severe and frequent drought may decrease the amount 

of groundwater in the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer and 

prolong these periods of no spring flow.

As this report was being finalized, approximately 58 

cm (23 in) of rain fell in late spring 2015 and Antelope 

Spring discharge went from dry in May to 0.3 m3

/s 

(12 ft3/s) in June and July (Noel Osborn, Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area, Chief of Resource 

Management, email, 8 June 2015; US Geological Survey 

2015). For reference, mean July 8 discharge at Antelope 

Spring over the past 16 years is 0.068 m3/s (2.4 ft3/s) (US 

Geological Survey 2015).

Water Quality

The surface and subsurface watersheds that supply 

surface and spring water to the recreation area are 

primarily outside the recreation area (fig. 21). Therefore 

activities that are detrimental to water quality outside 

the recreation area (e.g., oil or hazardous material spills, 

other contamination, development) could affect water 

quality within the recreation area (Dale Pate, NPS 

Geologic Resources Division, Cave and Karst Program 

Lead, email, 15 June 2015). The Water Resources 

Division of the National Park Service evaluates the 

water quality in the National Park units and performed 

a baseline inventory of the surface water and spring 

discharge water quality in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area in 1997 (Water Resources Division 

1997). 

Currently, Chickasaw National Recreation Area has 

a systematic monitoring program that monitors both 

water quality and water quantity as follows (Noel 

Osborn, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief 

of Resource Management, written communication, 13 

August 2014):

Table 5. Water monitoring program for Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

Monitoring 

Procedure

Parameters 

Measured Site(s)

Weekly

(since 2006) Water level 1. Buffalo Spring; 2. Antelope Spring;3. Pavilion Springs (underpass)

4. Hillside Spring; 5. Black Sulphur Springs;

6. Vendome Well outflow

Quarterly

(since 2004) Discharge

1. Buffalo Spring;

2. Antelope Spring;

3. Pavilion Springs (Big Tom);

4. Pavilion Springs (underpass);

5. Hillside Spring;

6. Black Sulphur Springs

7. Travertine Creek site 1;

8. Travertine Creek site 1.5;

9. Travertine Creek site 2;

10. Travertine Creek site 4;

11. Buckhorn Creek;

12. Rock Creek at Black Sulphur Bridge

Water Quality (since 2005)

Periodically

(since 2000)

Temperature, 

pH, dissolved 

solids, specific 

conductance

1. Rock Creek (40 ft Hole); 2. Upper Guy Sandy 

Creek (State Ramp); 3. Travertine Creek (Cold 

Springs); 4. Buckhorn Creek (Hatchery);

5. Buckhorn Creek (Powerlines);

6. Rock Creek (Ballfield, discontinued in 2008);

7. Lake of the Arbuckles (Guy Sandy Arm)

8. Lake of the Arbuckles (Arbuckle Dam);

9. Lake of the Arbuckles (Buckhorn Arm);

10. Lake of the Arbuckles (Rock Creek Arm);

11. Veterans Lake;

12. Antelope Spring;

13. Buffalo Spring

Summer: weekly 

Winter: monthly E. coli

1. Travertine Creek (Little Niagara Falls); 

2. Travertine Creek (Bear Falls);

3. Travertine Creek (Panther Falls);

4. Rock Creek (Black Sulphur swimming area);

5. Rock Creek (40-ft hole)

6. Veterans Lake;

7. Lake of the Arbuckles (Buckhorn D Loop);

8. Lake of the Arbuckles (Buckhorn Pavilion);

9. Lake of the Arbuckles (Buckhorn Arm);

10. Lake of the Arbuckles (Point Turnaround)

Real-time measurements 

(US Geological Survey 

sites)

Discharge Rock Creek at Sulphur (ID 07329852): 1989–present

Discharge Travertine Creek north of US 177 at Sulphur (ID 073298507): 10/2013–present

Discharge Antelope Spring at Sulphur (ID 07329849): 1985–present (discontinuous)

Water level Park groundwater well 1 (West) (ID 343022096): 1972–present (discontinuous)

Water level Park groundwater well 2 (East) (ID 343017096): 1972–present (discontinuous)

Information provided by Noel Osborn, Chief of Resource Management, Chickasaw National Recreation Area (written communication, 8 December 

2014). Note that the real-time measurements of the two park wells and Antelope Spring provide a discontinuous record.
30

● Collecting monthly stage measurements at five 

springs and Vendome Well,

● Collecting periodic discharge measurements at 

five springs, Vendome Well, and seven sites on 

Travertine and Rock Creeks, 

● Quarterly, monitoring water quality (temperature, 

dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, and pH) 

at six stream sites, five lake sites, and two springs 

(Antelope and Buffalo),

● Monitoring E. coli at nine swimming areas in 

Travertine and Rock Creeks, Lake of the Arbuckles, 

and Veterans Lake,

● Monitoring real-time streamflow at US Geological 

Survey gages at Antelope Spring, Travertine Creek, 

Rock Creek,

● Monitoring real-time water-level at two observation 

wells.

The monitoring program addresses the two water 

quality issues that were discussed during the scoping 

meeting and conference call, sewage and natural asphalt 

deposits.

Sewage

Prior to the construction of the Arbuckle Dam in the 

mid 1960s, effluent from the Sulphur sewage disposal 

plant drained into Rock Creek watershed (US Bureau 

of Reclamation 2012). As part of the dam project, the 

Sulphur sewage effluent pumping plant and pipeline 

were constructed to collect all effluent and convey it 

about 6 km (4 mi) to the Guy Sandy Creek watershed. 

The maximum capacity of the plant was 15 million liters 

(4 million gallons) per day. Nevertheless, Sulphur’s 

sewage treatment holding pond would occasionally 

overflow into Rock Creek. 

In 2007, the city installed a new, larger sewage 

lagoon to reduce the potential overflow problem. In 

2011, Sulphur replaced an old 18-inch main pipe, 

constructed a new wastewater treatment system, 

and extended the discharge point on Guy Sandy 

Creek to a location farther from the recreation area. 

The upgrades significantly reduced sewer leaks and 

overflows, but problems still occasionally occur. Park 

staff members work closely with the city to monitor 

and repair occasional manhole overflows and sewerline blockages (Noel Osborn, Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area, Chief of Resource Management, 

written communication, 13 August 2014). Rock Creek 

is currently sampled for E. coli bacteria on a monthly 

basis. 

The city of Sulphur’s water supply comes from a well 

field drilled into the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer north 

of Chickasaw National Recreation Area, near Antelope 

and Buffalo springs. Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area staff members use data from US Geological Survey 

gages on Antelope Spring and two observation wells to 

evaluate effects of city well withdrawals on the springs. 

Sulphur city managers also provide daily withdrawal 

amounts from the well field to park staff. During times 

of high water levels in the past, unregulated discharge 

from some older wells flowed into a creek, which 

flowed into the park. The city of Sulphur plugged these 

old wells and drilled a deeper, higher capacity well, 

which does not flow into the tributary stream (Noel 

Osborn, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief 

of Resource Management, written communication, 13 

August 2014).

Natural Asphalt Deposits

Naturally-occurring asphalt seeps are found in the 

Rock Creek arm of Lake of the Arbuckles, especially 

when lake levels are low, and they may occur in 

Veterans Lake (fig. 25). Because of their small size and 

intermittent occurrences, these asphalt seeps do not 

require mitigation (Noel Osborn, Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area, Chief of Resource Management, 

written communication, 13 August 2014). Lake of the 

Arbuckles covers portions of the Vanoss Formation 

(geologic map units PNvs and PNvc), Deese Group 

(PNd), Caney Shale (Mc), undifferentiated Mississippian 

and Devonian rocks (MDsw), and possibly the Hunton 

Group (DSOh), while Veterans Lake has filled a 

depression in the Vanoss conglomerate (PNvc). The 

asphalt seeps have an undetermined source and appear 

to be random. 

Natural asphalt is found in quarries south of the 

Arbuckle Dam in the Viola Group (Ov) and in quarries 

east of the park in sandstones within the Simpson 

Group (Obm and Ooj) (Noel Osborn, Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area, Chief of Resource 

Management, conference call 11 March 2014). 

Sandstones in the Oil Creek Formation of the Simpson 

Group contain about 8% asphalt and were mined for 

road-surfacing material from 1890 to 1962 (Ham 1973; 

Christenson et al. 2009).
31

Flooding and Debris Flows

Flash flooding and debris flows present a potential 

hazard in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Rock 

Creek drains an area of 114 km2 (44.1 mi2), and intense 

rainfall events can rapidly fill the creek (Tortorelli and 

McCabe 2001; US Geological Survey 2014). Since a 

streamflow gaging station was installed at Rock Creek 

near Sulphur, Oklahoma, in 1989, the US Geological 

Survey, in cooperation with Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area, has kept a detailed record of Rock 

Creek discharge (Andrews and Burrough 2000; US 

Geological Survey 2014). The mean daily discharge on 

Rock Creek has been 0.31 m3/s (11 ft3/s). This average 

is skewed, however, by extreme discharge events that 

usually occur in the spring and early summer. From July 

to November, daily discharge in Rock Creek is often 

less than 0.1 m3/s (5 ft3/s). Following a rain event, for 

example, daily discharge went from 0.074 m3/s (2.6 ft3/s) 

on July 29, 2014, to 0.40 m3/s (14 ft3/s) on July 30, 2014. 

The highest documented extreme peak discharge of 

294 m3/s (10,400 ft3/s) was recorded on April 26, 1990 

(Tortorelli and McCabe 2001; US Geological Survey 

2014). The estimated recurrence interval of a flood 

this size is once every 25 years (Tortorelli and McCabe 

2001). As this GRI report was in final review—almost 25 

years to the month—record discharges occurred from 

May through July 2015. 

In 2007, several flooding events inundated 

campgrounds and parking lots in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area (fig. 26; US Geological Survey 2014). 

Rehabilitation of the campsites cost approximately 

$72,000 (Graham 2008). As mentioned in the “Geologic 

Features and Processes” chapter, high waters of Rock 

Creek pose a threat of contamination for Bromide and 

Medicine springs, but high precipitation and flooding 

may also contaminate other springs in the recreation 

area. A warning sign has been posted over the Hillside 

Spring fountain for many years due to intermittent 

bacterial contamination. In a 1968 study, bacterial 

counts increased at Hillside and Black Sulphur springs 

after significant precipitation. Contamination consisted 

of soil bacteria and fecal coliform and streptococci from 

birds and mammals native to the area (Noel Osborn, 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief of Resource 

Management, written communication, 13 August 2014). 

Black Sulphur Spring usually does not have bacteria 

contamination during dry periods. In the 1968 study, no 

bacterial pollution was found at Pavilion Springs.

Floods transport silt from Upper Guy Sandy Creek 

to the upper end of the Lake of the Arbuckles. The 

accumulation of silt in the reservoir decreases its 

holding capacity. Buckhorn and Rock Creek, the other 

two streams that flow through the recreation area and 

into the lake, have rocky channels, so they are not 

as silty as Upper Guy Sandy Creek. Debris carried 

by the floodwaters accumulates behind bridges and 

must be cleared. Flash floods may also impact the 

Figure 25. Veterans Lake. Natural asphalt may seep into 

Lake of the Arbuckles and Veterans Lake (shown here) 

from subsurface formations. The seeps are not visible 

on the surface. As petroleum migrates to the surface, 

it may degrade into asphalt. “No wake” buoys, like the 

one in this photo, are also in Lake of the Arbuckles. 

National Park Service photograph, available at http://

www.nps.gov/chic/photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm

(accessed 8 August 2014).

Figure 26. Flood waters. A paddler kayaks through 

a parking lot in Chickasaw National Recreation Area 

following the 2007 flood. National Park Service 

photograph, available at http://www.nps.gov/chic/

photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm (accessed 23 April 

2014).
32

Travertine Nature Center, the campgrounds, and other 

infrastructure that are built on the floodplain. Neither 

a warning system nor a response plan existed for 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area at the time of the 

GRI scoping meeting (Graham 2008).

In 2015, NPS Water Resources Division staff members 

completed the Riparian System Condition Assessment 

Report for Chickasaw National Recreation Area. 

Riparian areas for both Rock Creek and Guy Sandy 

Creek received “Proper Functioning Condition” 

ratings, the highest of three possible ratings. This rating 

indicates that both creeks have adequate vegetation and 

landforms to dissipate flood energy and absorb high 

flows without significant changes in vegetation, erosion, 

or channel and floodplain geomorphology (Martin 

et al. 2015). However, extreme flood events such as 

those in May through July 2015 are outside the typical 

flood regime and riparian conditions discussed in the 

Martin et al. (2015) report (Joel Wagner, NPS Water 

Resources Division, Wetlands Program Lead, personal 

communication, 8 July 2015).

Flooding and intense rainfall events may also raise 

the water level in Lake of the Arbuckles. During wet 

years, water held behind the dam may rise and flood 

campgrounds, boat ramps, parking lots, and other 

facilities along the shoreline in Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area, including the Buckhorn Ranger 

Station.

With increasing temperature and evaporation rates, 

the moisture-holding capacity of the atmosphere and 

thus, the potential for severe storms, has also increased 

(IPCC 2013, 2014). In southern Oklahoma, climate 

change may result in more intense rainfall patterns and a 

potentially higher risk of flooding (Hong 2012).

Figure 27. Rockfall from Bromide Cliff. This block of Vanoss conglomerate rests in Rock Creek about 30 m (100 ft) 

downstream from Bromide Spring. Photograph by the author.
33

Rockfall

Slope movements, which are any downslope transfer of 

soil, regolith, and/or rock under the influence of gravity. 

Soil creep, rockfalls, debris flows, and avalanches are 

common types of slope movements. These processes 

and the resultant deposits are also known as “mass 

wasting” and commonly grouped as “landslides.” 

Slope movements, particularly rockfall, affect parts of 

Bromide Hill (National Park Service 2014g). However, 

no accidents or injuries from falling rock have been 

reported in Chickasaw National Recreation Area 

(Graham 2008). Rock Creek undercuts the vertical cliff 

of Vanoss conglomerate (PNvc) at Bromide Hill, and 

the unsupported overhanging rock may eventually fall 

into the creek. One block about the size of a one-car 

garage (about 28 m3 [1,000 ft3]) has fallen 30 m (100 ft) 

downstream from the Bromide and Medicine spring 

vaults (fig. 27). Rockfall potential also exists along the 

road leading to the summit of Bromide Hill. Physical 

weathering may cause portions of the conglomerate 

benches to break away and cascade down the steep 

slope. Small rockfalls also occur along other sections of 

Rock Creek. 

Wieczorek and Snyder (2009), Highland and 

Bobrowsky (2008), the US Geological Survey 

landslides website (http://landslides.usgs.gov/), and 

the NPS Geologic Resources Division Geohazards 

(http://go.nps.gov/geohazards) and Slope Movement 

Monitoring (http://go.nps.gov/monitor_slopes) 

websites provide detailed information regarding slope 

movements, monitoring, and mitigation options. In the 

Geological Monitoring chapter about slope movements, 

Wieczorek and Snyder (2009) described five vital signs 

for understanding and monitoring slope movements: 

(1) types of landslide, (2) landslide causes and triggers, 

(3) geologic materials in landslides, (4) measurement 

of landslide movement, and (5) assessment of landslide 

hazards and risks.

Lakeshore Erosion

Participants at the 2007 scoping meeting expressed 

minor concern that fluctuation of the shoreline around

the Lake of the Arbuckles may cause shoreline erosion,

which may subsequently threaten some archeology site

(Graham 2008). An archeological survey was complete

in 1965 prior to the construction of the Arbuckle 

Dam. At that time, extensive archeological excavations 

uncovered artifacts at sites below the confluence of 

Buckhorn, Guy Sandy, and Rock creeks on an alluvial 

terrace system that bordered Rock Creek (Barr 1965; 

Osborn and Hartley 2008). Additional archeological 

surveys, usually associated with construction projects, 

have occurred in the recreation area since then. For 

example, an archeological survey in 2008 evaluated 

auger test holes for new toilet facilities at the Buckhorn

Loops E and F, The Point, Blackjack Road Point Area, 

Upper Loop Point Campground, Guy Sandy Boat 

s 

d 

Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

2015 862 863 863 864 876 885

2014 867 867 867 867 866 867 866 866 866 864 863 863

2013 867 866 866 866 866 870 869 869 868 868 867 867

2012 867 868 870 872 872 872 871 869 868 868 867 867

2011 871 871 871 871 871 870 869 868 866 866 867 868

2010 873 872 873 873 873 873 873 872 872 872 871 871

2009 868 868 867 867 875 874 872 872 872 874 873 873

2008 871 871 873 873 872 872 872 871 870 870 869 868

2007 869 871 872 874 874 875 877 873 872 872 871 871

2006 870 870 870 871 873 872 871 870 869 868 868 868

2005 874 873 873 873 873 873 872 872 872 872 871 871

2004 870 869 871 871 871 871 873 873 872 872 874 873

Table 6. Monthly average surface elevations for Lake of the Arbuckles, January 2004 to June 2015.

Elevations are in feet above mean sea level based on the National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) and rounded to the nearest foot. Months with an 

average elevation change of greater than 0.6 m (2 ft) are colored yellow. In January, 2015, (orange) the lake level reached a record low. Five months 

later, in June 2015, the average elevation was near record highs and the actual maximum elevation was 891.52 ft. Data are from the US Army Corps 

of Engineers (http://www.swt-wc.usace.army.mil/ARBUcharts.html, accessed 17 July 2015).
34

Launch, and at Guy Sandy Campground (plate 1; 

Osborn and Hartley 2008). Except for chert fragments 

found in one Buckhorn Loop E auger hole, no artifacts 

were found in the test holes. Six other test holes drilled 

near the chert-containing hole also failed to recover any 

artifacts (Osborn and Hartley 2008). 

In 1968, the US Bureau of Reclamation turned over 

the maintenance and operation of the lake to the 

Arbuckle Master Conservancy District and the dam and 

reservoir are currently managed by the US Army Corps 

of Engineers, which charts the daily surface elevations 

of the lake (US Army Corps of Engineers 2014). Table 

6 summarizes the average monthly lake levels since 

January 2004, but for the curious, lake levels beginning 

in January 1994 can be accessed on the US Army 

Corps of Engineers website, http://www.swt-wc.usace.

army.mil/ARBUcharts.html. Since January 2004, the 

average monthly change in lake level has been relatively 

constant, rarely fluctuating any more than 0.6 m (2 ft). 

During the wet summer months of July to August 2007, 

lake elevations fluctuated 1.2 m (4 ft). Since January 

2004, a record average monthly low of 263 m (862 ft) 

was reached in January 2015. This condition rapidly 

changed during the extremely wet months of May and 

June 2015. By June 18, 2015, the reservoir was at 271.74 

m (891.52 ft) above the top of the “flood pool” elevation 

of 270 m (885 ft).

Roots of trees, shrubs, and other vegetation help 

stabilize the Lake of the Arbuckles shoreline. The 

abundant vegetation and minor lake-level fluctuations 

contribute to reducing lakeshore erosion. Nevertheless, 

high water and flooding may disaggregate and erode the 

soil near the shoreline.

Wake from motor boats may splash against the shore, 

potentially generating minor erosion, but the lake 

includes wakeless and no boat areas. Wakeless areas 

include anywhere where “No Wake” buoys are present, 

within Guy Sandy Harbor, and within 46 m (150 ft) of 

all docks, launch ramps, boats at anchor, boats from 

which people are fishing, and shoreline areas near 

campgrounds. Boating is excluded from the area around 

the Point Picnic Area, west of the Buckbrush Trail West, 

south of Buckhorn Campground’s Loop D, and the 

Goddard Youth Camp cove (Noble 2013).

Paleontological Resource Inventory, 

Monitoring, and Protection

All paleontological resources are non-renewable and 

subject to science-informed inventory, monitoring, 

protection, and interpretation as outlined by the 

2009 Paleontological Resources Preservation Act 

(see Appendix B). As of July 2015, Department of the 

Interior regulations associated with the Act were still 

being developed.

Abundant Paleozoic marine invertebrate fossils are 

exposed in road cuts and other outcrops south of Lake 

of the Arbuckles. See the “Paleontological Resources” 

section for additional information about the types of 

fossils present in the area. The Goddard Youth Camp in 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area maintains fossils 

collected from nearby Paleozoic rocks, and the Hunton 

Group, exposed south of Lake of the Arbuckles, is 

well known for trilobites and brachiopods (Noel 

Osborn, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Chief 

of Resource Management, written communication, 

13 August 2014). Although, at the time of the writing 

of this report, fossil theft has not been documented 

in Chickasaw National Recreation Area, it may occur. 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area management is 

in the process of developing a plan that will address a 

paleontological inventory and assessment of fossils in 

the recreation area, as well as methods to prevent illegal 

collecting (National Park Service 2008). In addition 

paleontological resources were identified as a geologic 

resource for assessment via the Natural Resource 

Condition Assessment.

As part of the paleontological resource management 

plan, fossil localities and associated geologic data 

will be documented, and the conditions of the fossil 

resources will be evaluated using resource stability 

indicators, such as rates of erosion and human activity. 

Various methods will be used to protect the fossils, 

such as stabilizing fossils in the field or placing them 

in a museum collection. Shelters may be constructed 

over specimens to protect them from erosion or other 

ground-disturbing activity. A qualified paleontologist 

will survey new construction sites for potential fossil 

resources and will evaluate the significance of any 

newly discovered fossils (National Park Service 2008). 

Important sites will be patrolled and monitored to 

prevent theft and damage from erosion. Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area staff members will also work 

with Goddard Youth Camp staff members to conduct 

programs emphasizing paleontological resource 

protection and stewardship. 
35

In the Geological Monitoring chapter about 

paleontological resources, Santucci et al. (2009) 

described five methods and vital signs for monitoring 

in situ paleontological resources: (1) erosion (geologic 

factors), (2) erosion (climatic factors), (3) catastrophic 

geohazards, (4) hydrology/bathymetry, and (5) human 

access/public use. The Geologic Resources Division can 

provide useful information to facilitate paleontological 

resource management.

External Mineral Exploration and 

Development

The National Park Service works with adjacent land 

managers and other permitting entities to help ensure 

that National Park System resources and values are not 

adversely impacted by external mineral exploration and 

development. Potential impacts include groundwater 

and surface water contamination, erosion and siltation, 

introduction of exotic plant species, reduction of 

wildlife habitat, impairment of viewsheds and night 

skies, excessive noise, and diminished air quality. Visitor 

safety and overall degradation of the visitor experience 

are particular concerns. The NPS Geologic Resources 

Division Energy and Minerals program provides 

additional information (National Park Service 2013a).

Hydrocarbon Exploration and Induced Seismicity

Oklahoma’s primary hydrocarbon producing region 

is west of Chickasaw National Recreation Area. 

Hydrocarbon exploration may contribute brine to 

the mineralized springs in the recreation area, but 

this hypothesis remains untested. Increased hydraulic 

fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling has raised 

concerns about aquifer depletion and contamination 

(fig. 28). Well casings in hydrocarbon exploration 

and production wells may extend to 60 m (200 ft) or 

deeper if needed to isolate the well bore from fresh 

groundwater. Although freshwater is known to exist 

as deep as 555 m (1,820 ft) in the Arbuckle-Simpson 

aquifer, most water wells in the aquifer are generally 

less than 30 m (100 ft) deep (Christenson et al. 2009; 

Oklahoma Water Resources Board 2014). In the 

subsurface west of Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area, the Lower Mississippian–Upper Devonian 

Woodford Shale (MDsw) is one potential candidate for 

horizontal drilling and fracking. 

Hydraulic fracturing and the underground disposal 

of salty water produced by the fracking process may 

also trigger earthquakes, a process termed “induced 

seismicity” or “triggered seismicity” (Holland 2011; 

US Geological Survey 2011; Darold and Holland 2014; 

Oklahoma Geological Survey 2014). The “produced 

Figure 28. Schematic of 

hydraulic fracturing (fracking). 

Horizontal blue line represents 

an aquifer, which is isolated 

from the well bore by steel 

casing and cement. The drill 

pipe becomes horizontal at 

approximately 460 m (1,500 

ft). Environmental Protection 

Agency graphic, available at: 

http://www2.epa.gov/hfstudy/

hydraulic-fracturing-watercycle (accessed 24 April 2015). 
36

water” is salty (also known as “brine”) and is primarily 

naturally occurring water that exists with the oil and 

gas beneath the surface (Oklahoma Geological Survey 

2015). As the oil and gas is extracted, so is the water. 

That water is separated from the oil and gas and reinjected into disposal wells Fracking fluid is a minor 

percentage of this “produced water” (Oklahoma 

Geological Survey). Fracking itself does not appear to 

generate large numbers of earthquakes or earthquakes 

with a magnitude of more than 3 on the Richter scale 

(Darold and Holland 2014). As much as 10% of 

observed earthquakes may be due to fracking, but this 

estimate is probably high. The Oklahoma Geological 

Survey investigates any allegation of a fracking-triggered 

earthquake and seriously assesses the cause of any 

Oklahoma earthquake (Holland 2011; Oklahoma 

Geological Survey 2015).

Disposal of water injected into wells is more likely to 

trigger earthquakes than fracking itself. For many years, 

“produced water” in Oklahoma has been injected 

into Underground Injection Control (UIC) Class II 

wells. According to the Oklahoma Geological Survey 

(2015, p. 1), “it [is] very likely that the majority of 

recent earthquakes, particularly those in central and 

north-central Oklahoma, are triggered by the injection 

of produced water in disposal wells.” These wells are 

regulated by the EPA to protect drinking water sources 

and are all deep wells well out of reach of groundwater 

aquifers. The Arbuckle Group is one of the most used 

geologic units for wastewater injection in Oklahoma 

(Noel Osborn, Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area, Chief of Resource Management, written 

communication, 3 December 2014). 

Figure 29. Oklahoma earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 and greater, 1978 to April 14, 2015. Since October 2013, 

earthquakes in Oklahoma have increased significantly. Wastewater from hydrocarbon production that is injected into 

the subsurface contributes to these earthquakes. Graph from US Geological Survey, available at http://earthquake.usgs.

gov/earthquakes/states/?region=Oklahoma (accessed 31 July 2015).
37

Injection wells, however, are not designed with 

earthquakes in mind (US Geological Survey 2011; 

Darold and Holland 2014). Wastewater injected 

into areas with faults may increase the underground 

pore pressure and lubricate a fault plane, which may 

cause the fault to slip. From 1978 to 2008, the longterm average earthquake rate in Oklahoma was about 

1.5 magnitude 3.0 or larger earthquakes per year 

(Oklahoma Geological Survey 2015). During 2013, the 

rate had increased to two magnitude 3.0 earthquakes 

per week and in 2015 the rate is about 2.5 magnitude 

3.0 earthquakes per day (fig. 29; Oklahoma Geological 

Survey 2015). Earthquake analyses by the US Geological 

Survey and Oklahoma Geological Survey indicate that 

wastewater injected into deep geological formations 

is a contributing factor to the heightened earthquake 

activity since 2009, which includes 20 magnitude 4.0 to 

4.8 earthquakes (US Geological Survey and Oklahoma 

Geological Survey 2014). Fluid injection may have 

triggered the largest earthquake in Oklahoma history 

that occurred on November 5, 2011, when a magnitude 

5.6 earthquake shook the ground near Prague, 

Oklahoma, approximately 110 km (70 mi) northnortheast of Chickasaw National Recreation Area. The 

Prague earthquake damaged several homes and the 

historic Benedictine Hall at St. Gregory’s University in 

Shawnee.

Injection-induced seismicity has been documented 

for almost 50 years. Collaborative research by the 

US Geological Survey and the Oklahoma Geological 

Survey continues to quantify the changes in earthquake 

rate, assess the implications of small and moderate 

earthquake activity for large earthquakes, and evaluate 

possible links between earthquakes and wastewater 

disposal from oil and gas production activities. In 

addition, the Oklahoma Geological Survey has 

increased the number of its seismic monitoring 

stations. Data from the Oklahoma seismic network 

(also viewable online http://www.okgeosurvey1.gov/, 

accessed 17 July 2015) are shared in real-time with the 

US Geological Survey National Earthquake Information 

Center in Golden, Colorado. For more information, 

also refer to the Oklahoma Geological Survey Induced 

Seismicity website: http://www.okgeosurvey1.gov/

pages/earthquakes/induced-seismicity.php (accessed 

17 July 2015) or the Earthquakes in Oklahoma website: 

http://earthquakes.ok.gov/ (accessed 31 July 2015). 

Seismic risk was identified as a geologic resource 

for assessment via the Natural Resource Condition 

Assessment (Noel Osborn, Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area, Chief of Resource Management, 

email, 8 June 2015).

Aggregate Quarries

Quarries that mine aggregate material from the aquifer 

outcrop east of the park are associated with potential 

hazards that may affect the springs in Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area. Several abandoned waterfilled gravel pits in Vanoss Formation (PNvc) and 

Simpson Group (Obm and Ooj) rocks are mapped 

within a kilometer of the recreation area’s eastern 

border (Blome et al. 2013). The large North Troy Quarry 

is approximately 13 km (8 mi) east of the recreation 

area and mines coarse and fine aggregate for concrete 

and other uses. Active quarries must dewater deep pits, 

and these large withdrawals of water from the aquifer 

threaten groundwater flow to springs and streams in 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

Abandoned Mineral Lands

According to the NPS Abandoned Mineral Lands 

(AML) database, Chickasaw National Recreation Area 

contains two surface mines identified as “high priority” 

for hazard and impact mitigation (Burghardt et al. 

2014). Suggested recommendations for mitigation are 

included in the AML database.

As with all AML sites, these features at Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area present a variety of resource 

management issues such as visitor and staff safety and 

environmental quality of air, water, and soil. Abandoned 

mineral lands were identified as a geologic resource 

for assessment via the Natural Resource Condition 

Assessment (Noel Osborn, Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area, Chief of Resource Management, 

email, 8 June 2015). Burghardt et al. (2014) and the NPS 

AML Program website provides further information 

(National Park Service 2013b).
38

Table 7. Summary of the geologic history of southern Oklahoma

Major 

Phase

Time Frame

(age span) Period Tectonic Events Depositional Events

4 Permian to Present-Day

(from 299 million years ago)

Quaternary

Midcontinent remains relatively 

tectonically stable except for 

the New Madrid Earthquakes 

(1811-1812 CE). A new surge of 

earthquakes in Oklahoma may be 

due to fluid injection wells.

Major erosion and deposition in 

floodplains of gravel, sand, silt, and 

clay.

Neogene Shoreline of the ancestral Gulf 

of Mexico, which had almost 

reached the corner of southeastern 

Oklahoma, retreats southward.

No deposits in the region of 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Paleogene

Cretaceous

Uplift of Rocky Mountains causes 

regional eastward tilting and eastflowing river systems. Shallow inland 

sea spreads from the Gulf to Arctic 

Ocean and includes western and 

southern Oklahoma.

Marine limestone and non-marine 

sandstone and clay are deposited in 

southeastern Oklahoma.

Jurassic Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean 

continue to open. Major erosion removes deposits from 

southern Oklahoma.

Triassic Pangaea begins to break apart.

Permian Major land masses come together to 

form Pangaea.

Western basins fill with red shales, 

sandstones, and evaporates.

3

Late Mississippian through 

Pennsylvanian

(331 million–299 million 

years ago)

Pennsylvanian (Late)

Arbuckle anticline forms from 

continued compression. Beds are 

overturned. Reverse and thrust faults 

displace strata. Conglomerates are deposited in 

alluvial fans as uplifted areas are 

Pennsylvanian eroded.

(Early and Middle)

Slow uplift and faulting of the 

Hunton and Tishomingo anticlines 

Mississippian (Late) on the continental margin.

2

Late Cambrian through 

Middle Mississippian

(500 million–331 million 

years ago)

Mississippian

Subsidence of present-day southern 

Oklahoma and accompanying sea 

level rise.

Incursion of a shallow sea. 

Carbonate rocks deposited on a 

broad marine platform.

Devonian

Silurian

Ordovician

Cambrian (Late)

1

Early to Middle Cambrian

(541 million–500 million 

years ago)

Cambrian Rifting of present-day southern 

Oklahoma.

Igneous rocks were intruded and 

extruded. 

Adapted from Christenson et al. (2011, table 1) with additional information from Blome et al. (2013) and Johnson (2008). Age colors are standard 

colors approved by the US Geological Survey to indicate different time periods on geologic maps; they also correspond to the colors on the Map Unit 

Properties Table.
39

Geologic History

This section describes the chronology of geologic events that formed the present landscape of 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

The geologic history of southern Oklahoma involves 

four major geologic phases (table 7). The initial phase 

began with rifting of the North American craton near 

present-day southern Oklahoma. Paleozoic strata 

exposed in the Chickasaw National Recreation Area 

represent the second and third major geological events 

in the history of the Arbuckle Mountains. Toward 

the end of the Cambrian Period through the Middle 

Mississippian Period, shallow marine sediments were 

deposited in present-day southern Oklahoma. In the 

Pennsylvanian Period, sea level fell as the southern 

margin of proto-North America was compressed, 

uplifted and deformed by folding and faulting 

(Donovan and Butaud 1993; Tapp 1995; Christenson 

et al. 2011; Blome et al. 2013). The final phase in the 

evolution of the Arbuckle Mountains involved millions 

of years of erosion as the mountainous landscape was 

worn down to today’s rolling hills. The region was 

tilted, resulting in southeast-flowing streams. Deposits 

of gravel, sand, silt, and clay mark old stream channels, 

as well as current river and floodplain environments.

Phase 1. Rifting of the Craton: Early through 

Middle Cambrian Period, 541 Million to 500 

Million Years Ago

During the Early and Middle Cambrian Period (541 

million to 500 million years ago), extensional forces 

pulled apart Earth’s crust in the area of present-day 

southern Oklahoma, and a rift zone developed that 

consisted of deep basins separated by steep normal 

faults (table 7). Fractures and faults in the crust 

provided conduits for magma that either solidified 

beneath the surface as an intrusive igneous rock or 

erupted into the rift zone and cooled to form an 

extrusive igneous rock. These Cambrian rocks, along 

with older Precambrian igneous and metamorphic 

units, became the basement rocks of Oklahoma upon 

which the younger sedimentary rocks were deposited 

(Johnson 2008; Christenson et al. 2011; Blome et al. 

2013).

As the igneous rocks cooled and became denser, the 

rift basins began to subside. In present-day southern 

Oklahoma, depth to these basement rocks ranges from 

9,000–12,000 m (30,000–40,000 ft) (Johnson 2008). 

Sediments filled the basins, forming a thick trough that 

is referred to as the Southern Oklahoma “Aulacogen.” 

An aulacogen is a sediment-filled continental rift basin 

that is bounded by steep normal faults. The northwest–

southeast-trending Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen 

extends about 400 km (250 mi) from southeastern 

Oklahoma into the Texas Panhandle (Johnson et 

al. 1988; Christenson et al. 2011). More than 5,000 

m (17,000 ft) of Cambrian and Early Ordovician 

sedimentary rock filled the aulacogen. By comparison, 

the Cambrian–Ordovician continental shelf that formed 

north of the aulacogen accumulated approximately 

2,000 m (6,500 ft) of sedimentary rock (Ham 1973). 

Phase 2. Shallow Seas Flood the Craton: 

Late Cambrian through Middle Mississippian 

Periods, 500 Million to 330 Million Years Ago

Late Cambrian through Ordovician Periods

During the Late Cambrian (500 million to 485 million 

years ago) and Early Ordovician (485 million to 470 

million years ago), shallow seas advanced onto the 

continent, flooding most of proto-North America from 

Mexico to Canada (fig. 30). A narrow highland, known 

as the Transcontinental Arch, extended from northern 

Minnesota southwestward into Arizona and New 

Mexico. Devoid of all vegetation (land plants had yet to 

evolve), the Transcontinental Arch was a stark landscape 

of blowing sand, silt, and clay. Eroded sediment from 

the highland helped fill the rift basins and spread across 

the broad, submarine ramp that tilted gently to the 

south in present-day southern Oklahoma.

In the Arbuckle anticline area, as much as 2,000 m 

(6,700 ft) of Arbuckle Group rocks formed on the 

carbonate ramp (Ham 1973; Johnson 1991; Christenson 

et al. 2011; Blome et al. 2013). The widespread marine 

limestones, shales, and sandstones of the Simpson 

Group (Obm and Ooj) were deposited above the 

Arbuckle Group. In the Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area, the Simpson Group is about 550–610 m 

(1,800–2,000 ft) thick (Blome et al. 2013). The Upper 

Ordovician, limestone-rich lower part of the Viola 

Group (Ov) and deeper-marine Sylvan Shale (Os) were 

deposited above the Simpson Group. Well-oxygenated 

marine conditions supported an abundant population 
40
41

Figure 30. Paleogeographic maps of North America. The star represents the relative location of Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area. By the Late Cambrian (500 million years ago [mya]), southern Oklahoma was south of the Equator 

(white line) and covered by a shallow sea. By 400 mya, sea level fell and the shoreline retreated from Oklahoma 

and the Transcontinental Arch (TA) in the Silurian and Early Devonian periods. Tectonic plate collisions around the 

margins of proto-North America caused another sea level rise in the Late Devonian–Early Mississippian periods 

about 345 mya, inundating much of the continent. Deep marine water filled the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen 

(SOA). As South America and Africa continued to suture onto North America in the Pennsylvanian Period (about 

300 mya), the Arbuckle Mountains formed in southern Oklahoma and the Ancestral Rocky Mountains rose in 

Colorado. Approximately 85 mya, the Western Interior Seaway spread from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, 

which encroached into southeastern Oklahoma. Western Oklahoma lay on the eastern margin of the interior sea. 

Yellow arrows indicate the general direction of plate movement. During the Pleistocene Epoch, continental glaciers 

flowed south into the midcontinent but not as far as Oklahoma. Alpine glaciers in the Rocky Mountains contributed 

meltwater to major streams that flowed from northwest to southeast through Oklahoma. Maps compiled by Trista 

Thornberry-Ehrlich (Colorado State University) with annotations by the author. Base paleogeographic maps created by 

Ron Blakey (Colorado Plateau Geosystems, Inc.), available at http://cpgeosystems.com/index.html (accessed 7 May 2014).

of marine invertebrates, such as trilobites, brachiopods, 

graptolites, and bryozoans. 

The incursion of shallow seas onto the ancestral North 

American continent coincided with the Avalonian 

and Taconic orogenies (mountain-building episodes) 

that were transforming the eastern margin of protoNorth America into an active subduction zone 

and constructing mountains that would eventually 

become the Appalachians. Periodically throughout 

the Paleozoic Era, proto-North America converged 

with other tectonic plates, initiating orogenic episodes 

along the margins of the continent and causing sea 

level to rise and transgress onto the continent. During 

times of tectonic quiescence, the seas slowly retreated 

(regressed) from the midcontinent and exposed 

sediments to erosion, which stripped away rock and 

sediment. 

Silurian through Middle Mississippian Periods

The Silurian Period (443 million to 419 million years 

ago) through Early Devonian Period (419 million to 393 

million years ago) was a time of tectonic quiescence. 

Sea level fell and the shoreline regressed from all 

but the southeastern-most corner of present-day 

Oklahoma and the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen (fig. 

30). The argillaceous limestones, oolitic limestones, 

chert concretions, marly shale, and open marine fauna 

(brachiopods, trilobites and crinoids) of the Hunton 

Group (Dhu and SOhl) represent fluctuating sea levels 

and near-shore marine environments that formed 

during this overall marine regression (Johnson et al. 

1988). 

Beginning in the Middle Devonian Period (393 million 

to 323 million years ago) and continuing into the 

Middle Mississippian Period (347 million to 331 million 

years ago), plate collisions generated subduction zones 

along the western and southern margins of proto-North 

America (fig. 30). The sea once again advanced onto 

the continent, depositing the dark, fissile shale of the 

Woodford Shale (MDsw) over the old erosion surface. 

The lack of benthic (bottom-dwelling) organisms in 

the Woodford Shale suggests that deposition occurred 

under anaerobic conditions, which are commonly 

found in deeper marine environments (Johnson et al. 

1988). Similar Upper Devonian–Early Mississippian 

deep-marine shales were deposited along the western 

and eastern margins of proto-North America. In the 

map area, the Woodford Shale ranges from 61 to 213 

m (200–700 ft) thick, thickening to the south in the 

Arbuckle Mountains (Johnson 2008; Blome et al. 2013). 

The Middle–Upper Mississippian Caney Shale (Mc) 

contains invertebrate fossils such as conodonts, 

goniatites, and cephalopods that suggest wellcirculated, open marine environments (Blome et al. 

2013). The Caney Shale is correlative with the Stanley 

Group, mapped in the Arkoma Basin and the central 

Ouachita Mountains of eastern Oklahoma and Arkansas 

(Johnson et al. 1988; Shaulis et al. 2012). The Stanley 

Group is composed of deep-marine fan deposits, 

turbidites, and volcanic tuffs, and it signals the influx of 

clastic sediments derived from the Alleghenian Orogeny 

to the east and a volcanic island arc terrane approaching 

from the south (Johnson et al. 1988; Shaulis et al. 2012). 
42

Phase 3. Uplift and Deformation: Late 

Mississippian through Pennsylvanian Periods, 

331 Million to 299 Million Years Ago

A series of tectonic plate collisions in the Late 

Mississippian (331 million to 323 million years ago) 

and Pennsylvanian (323 million to 299 million years 

ago) along the margins of the continent formed the 

Appalachian Mountains to the east, the Ouachita 

Mountains in Arkansas and Oklahoma, and initiated the 

uplift of the ancestral Rocky Mountains in Colorado. 

At the time, proto-North America was near the 

equator, surrounded by tropical seas, which spread 

into the interior of the continent (Bunker et al. 1988). 

In present-day southern Oklahoma and in the region 

of the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, folding and 

thrusting generated regional uplifts and deep basins 

(Johnson et al. 1988). Pennsylvanian strata in the 

deepest basins, such as the Anadarko Basin, are at least 

5,000 m (16,000 ft) thick. 

The Late Mississippian–Early Pennsylvanian Wichita 

Orogeny uplifted the Arbuckle Mountains and 

produced the broad northwest–southeast-trending 

Hunton and Tishomingo anticlines (Johnson et al. 1988; 

Cardott and Chaplin 1993; Allen 2000; Blome et al. 

2013). The Mill Creek syncline formed between these 

two uplifts and was filled by the sandstone, gray and 

red shale, limestone conglomerate, and fossiliferous 

limestone of the Deese Group (PNd). Basins rapidly 

subsided in southern Oklahoma, filling with shale, 

sandstone, and limestone of the Springer Formation 

(PNMs), and Atoka and Wapanucka formations (PNaw) 

(Johnson 2008). 

The Arbuckle Orogeny followed the Wichita Orogeny 

and produced almost all of the intense folding and 

major northwest-southwest oriented faulting that 

is currently preserved in the Arbuckle Mountains 

(Cardott and Chaplin 1993; Allen 2000; Blome et al. 

2013). The surface of the Deese Group was eroded 

prior to deposition of the Upper Pennsylvanian Vanoss 

Formation (PNvs and PNvc). By the Late Pennsylvanian, 

present-day south-central Oklahoma had been uplifted. 

Erosion of the exposed carbonate rocks produced the 

limestone conglomerate that formed the alluvial fans of 

the Vanoss Formation (fig. 30; Ham 1973; Donovan and 

Heilen 1988; Donovan and Butaud 1993). 

Pennsylvanian rocks contain more reservoirs of oil 

and gas in Oklahoma than any other geologic period 

(Boyd 2002). They also contain coal deposits in eastern 

Oklahoma. Fossil collectors target Pennsylvanian 

rocks for their exceptional variety and preservation 

of invertebrate marine fauna, such as brachiopods, 

crinoids, and bryozoans, as well as shark teeth, petrified 

wood, and fossil leaves (Johnson 2008).

Phase 4. Erosion Shapes the Modern 

Landscape: Permian through Quaternary 

Periods, the Past 299 Million Years.

Permian Period

The Pennsylvanian mountains remained high in the 

Early Permian, contributing sediment to a shallow 

sea that spread from west Texas and southeastern 

New Mexico into western Oklahoma and Nebraska 

(Johnson 2008). In the Arbuckle Mountains, sediments 

accumulated and solidified into the shale and sandstone 

of the Stratford Formation (Ps), the youngest Paleozoic 

formation mapped in the vicinity of Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area (Blome et al. 2013).

In the later part of the Paleozoic Era, the global 

landmasses were coming together and would eventually 

form the supercontinent Pangaea (fig. 31). In the 

Pennsylvanian and Permian periods, a large portion 

of the growing supercontinent was centered on the 

south polar ice cap. The growth and shrinkage of 

glaciers on the polar ice cap caused world-wide sea 

level fluctuations. As sea level rose and fell, distinctive 

stratigraphic cycles developed that consisted of 

layered marine limestone (representing high sea 

level), evaporites (representing falling sea level), and 

terrigenous clastic sediments (representing low sea 

level). These cycles characterize the Pennsylvanian 

(323 million to 299 million years ago) and Permian 

(299 million to 252 million years ago) strata of the 

midcontinent. The end of the Paleozoic Era (252 million 

years ago) is marked by the most severe mass extinction 

event ever to occur on Earth (fig. 5).

Triassic and Jurassic Periods

By the Early Triassic Period, the major landmasses had 

come together to form Pangaea (fig. 31). Pangaea began 

to break apart later in the Triassic Period (252 million 

to 201 million years ago). Rifting along the eastern 

and southern margins of North America initiated the 

opening of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. 

Erosion stripped any Triassic and Jurassic deposits from 

present-day southern Oklahoma. An active tectonic 

margin and subduction zone formed along the western 
43

margin of North America in the Jurassic Period (201 

million to 145 million years ago), producing abundant 

volcanic activity as plate convergence continued. 

Triassic and Jurassic fossils in Oklahoma include 

dinosaur bones, crocodiles, turtles, and fish. 

Cretaceous through Quaternary Periods

Millions of years of erosion transformed southeastern 

Oklahoma into an area of low mountains and hills 

(Johnson 2008). In the Cretaceous Period (145 to 

66 million years ago), plate convergence caused 

sedimentary strata to be folded and thrust eastward 

over Precambrian basement rocks, forming mountains 

along the western margin of North America. These 

mountains were separated from the midcontinent by 

the Western Interior Seaway (fig. 30). 

Seawater spread northward from the Gulf of Mexico 

and southward from the Arctic until the seaway 

extended from today’s Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic 

Ocean, a distance of about 5,000 km (3,000 mi) 

(Kauffman 1977). A portion of the Gulf of Mexico 

encroached into southeastern Oklahoma, but did not 

reach as far north as Chickasaw National Recreation 

Area (fig. 30; Johnson et al. 1988; Johnson 2008). 

Cretaceous rocks in southeastern Oklahoma contain 

shark teeth and marine invertebrate fossils (Johnson 

2008).

The shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico continued to 

retreat southward in the Paleogene (66 million to 

23 million years ago) and Neogene (23 million to 

2.6 million years ago) periods. As sea level fell, the 

highlands in south-central and southeastern Oklahoma 

eroded, providing fine-grained silt and clay to 

northeastern Texas (Johnson 2008).

The Quaternary Period, the past 2.6 million years 

of Earth history, is divided into two epochs: (1) the 

glacial ice ages of the Pleistocene Epoch, and (2) the 

interglacial Holocene Epoch. All but the most recent 

11,700 years is included in the Pleistocene Epoch, which 

is characterized by massive continental glaciations 

(ice ages) (fig. 30). Glaciers advanced no farther south 

than northeastern Kansas, but meltwater from Rocky 

Mountain alpine glaciers fed major rivers in Oklahoma. 

Glacial meltwater and increased precipitation in the 

Pleistocene Epoch created an Oklahoma landscape of 

southeast-trending rivers and abandoned river terraces 

(Johnson 2008). The unconsolidated sand, silt, clay, and 

gravel (Qal) deposited along the creeks in Chickasaw 

National Recreation Area are more recent, Holocene 

deposits (Blome et al. 2013).

equator P A N G A E A

240 million years ago

PANTHALASSA

TETHYS

OCEAN

subduction zone trench

Figure 31. Pangaea. By the Early Triassic Period, all major landmasses had come together to form the supercontinent 

Pangaea. The C-shaped landmass stretched from pole to pole and surrounded much of the Tethys Ocean. The spine 

of the “C” was adjacent to a long subduction zone. Much of Earth’s surface was covered by a large ocean called 

Panthalassa. The green star marks the approximate location of Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Annotated by the 

author. Base paleogeographic map created by Ron Blakey (Colorado Plateau Geosystems, Inc.), available at

http://cpgeosystems.com/index.html (accessed 7 May 2014).

45

Geologic Map Data

This chapter summarizes the geologic map data available for Chickasaw National Recreation Area. A 

poster (in pocket) displays the map data draped over imagery of the park and surrounding area. The 

Map Unit Properties Table (in pocket) summarizes this report’s content for each geologic map unit. 

Complete GIS data are available at the GRI publications website: http://go.nps.gov/gripubs.

Geologic Maps

Geologic maps facilitate an understanding of an area’s 

geologic framework and the evolution of its present 

landscape. Using designated colors and symbols, 

these maps portray the spatial distribution and 

temporal relationships of rocks and unconsolidated 

deposits. Geologic maps can be divided into two 

primary types: surficial and bedrock. Surficial 

geologic maps typically encompass deposits that are 

unconsolidated and formed during the past 2.6 million 

years (the Quaternary Period). Surficial map units 

are differentiated by geologic process or depositional 

environment. Bedrock geologic maps encompass 

older, typically more consolidated sedimentary, 

metamorphic, and/or igneous rocks. Bedrock map units 

are differentiated based on age and/or rock type.

Geologic maps often depict geomorphic features, 

structural interpretations (such as faults or folds), 

and locations of past geologic hazards that may be 

susceptible to future activity. Anthropogenic features 

such as mines or quarries, as well as observation or 

collection locations, may be indicated on geologic 

maps. The American Geosciences Institute website, 

http://www.americangeosciences.org/environment/

publications/mapping, provides more information 

about geologic maps and their uses.

Source Maps

The GRI team digitizes paper maps and converts digital 

data to conform to the GRI GIS data model. The GRI 

GIS data set includes essential elements of the source 

maps such as map unit descriptions, a correlation 

chart of units, a map legend, map notes, cross sections, 

figures, and references. The GRI team used the 

following sources to produce the GRI GIS data set for 

Chickasaw National Recreation Area. These sources 

also provided information for this report.

Blome, C. D., D. J. Lidke, R. R. Wahl, and J. A. Golab. 

2013. Geologic map of Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area, Murray County, Oklahoma 

(scale 1:24,000). U. S. Geological Survey Scientific 

Investigations Map 3258 and pamphlet, Reston, 

Virginia. http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3258/

GRI GIS Data

The GRI team implements a GIS data model that 

standardizes map deliverables. The data model is 

available at http://go.nps.gov/gridatamodel. This data 

model dictates GIS data structure, including layer 

architecture, feature attribution, and relationships 

within ESRI ArcGIS software. The GRI team digitized 

the data for Chickasaw National Recreation Area 

using data model version 2.1. The GRI Geologic Maps 

website,

http://go.nps.gov/geomaps, provides more information 

about GRI map products. 

GRI GIS data are also available through the NPS 

Integrated Resource Management Applications (IRMA) 

portal (https://irma.nps.gov/App/Portal/Home). Enter 

“GRI” as the search text and select a park from the unit 

list.

The following components are part of the data set:

● A GIS readme file (chic_gis_readme.pdf) 

that describes the GRI data formats, naming 

conventions, extraction instructions, use 

constraints, and contact information;

● Data in ESRI geodatabase GIS format;

● Layer files with feature symbology (table 8);

● Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)-

compliant metadata;

● An ancillary map information document (chic_

geology.pdf) that contains information captured 

from source maps such as map unit descriptions, 

geologic unit correlation tables, legends, crosssections, and figures;
46

● An ESRI map document (chic_geology.mxd) that 

displays the GRI GIS data; and

● A KML/KMZ version of the data viewable in 

Google Earth (table 8).

Table 8. Geology data layers in the Chickasaw National 

Recreation Area GIS data.

Data Layer On 

Poster?

Google 

Earth 

Layer?

Geologic Cross Section Lines Yes Yes

Geologic Attitude Observation Localities 

(strike and dip)

No No

Mine Point Features (wells) No No

Map Symbology No No

Folds Yes Yes

Faults Yes Yes

Collapsed and Mega-Brecciated Strata 

Boundaries

Yes Yes

Collapsed and Mega-Brecciated Strata Yes Yes

Geologic Contacts Yes Yes

Geologic Units Yes Yes

GRI Map Poster

A poster of the GRI digital geologic data draped 

over a shaded relief image of the recreation area and 

surrounding area is included with this report. Not all 

GIS feature classes (data layers) of the digital geologic 

data are included on the poster (table 8). Geographic 

information and selected park features have been 

added to the graphic. Digital elevation data and added 

geographic information are not included in the GRI 

GIS data set, but are available online from a variety of 

sources. Contact GRI for assistance locating these data.

Map Unit Properties Table

The Map Unit Properties Table lists the geologic 

time division, symbol, and a simplified description 

for each of the geologic map units in the GRI GIS 

data. Following the structure of the report, the table 

summarizes the geologic features, processes, resource 

management issues, and history associated with each 

map unit. 

 Use Constraints

Graphic and written information provided in this 

report is not a substitute for site-specific investigations. 

Ground-disturbing activities should neither be 

permitted nor denied based upon the information 

provided here. Please contact GRI with any questions.

Minor inaccuracies may exist regarding the locations 

of geologic features relative to other geologic or 

geographic features on the poster. Based on the source 

map scale (1:24,000) and US National Map Accuracy 

Standards, geologic features represented in the geologic 

map data are horizontally within 12 m (40 ft) of their 

true locations.
47

Glossary

These are brief definitions of selected geologic terms relevant to this report. Definitions are based on 

those in the American Geosciences Institute Glossary of Geology (5th edition; 2005). Additional terms 

are defined at http://geomaps.wr.usgs.gov/parks/misc/glossarya.html.

alluvial fan. A low, relatively flat to gently sloping, fanshaped mass of loose rock material deposited by a stream, 

especially in a semiarid region, where a stream issues from 

a canyon onto a plain or broad valley floor.

alluvium. Stream-deposited sediment.

anaerobic. Said of an organism (esp. a bacterium) that can 

live in the absence of free oxygen; said of conditions that 

exist only in the absence of free oxygen.

angular unconformity. An unconformity between two 

groups of rocks whose bedding planes are not parallel 

or in which the older, underlying rocks dip at a different 

angle (usually steeper) than the younger, overlying strata.

anticline. A fold, generally convex upward (“A”-shaped) 

whose core contains the stratigraphically older rocks. 

Compare with “syncline.”

antidune. An ephemeral or transient bed form formed on 

a stream bed (rarely preserved in sediments), similar 

to a dune but traveling upstream as the individual sand 

particles move downcurrent, and characterized by erosion 

on the downstream slope and deposition on the upstream 

slope. Syn: regressive sand wave.

aquifer. A rock or sedimentary unit that is sufficiently 

porous to hold water, sufficiently permeable to allow 

water to move through it, and saturated to some level.

arkose. A commonly coarse-grained, pink or reddish 

sandstone consisting of abundant feldspar minerals.

artesian. Describes groundwater confined under hydrostatic 

pressure.

artesian pressure. Hydrostatic pressure of artesian water, 

often expressed in terms of pounds per square inch at the 

land surface; or height, in feet above the land surface, of a 

column of water that would be supported by the pressure.

artesian spring. A spring from which water flows under 

artesian pressure, usually through a fissure or other 

opening in the confining bed above the aquifer.

artesian system. Any system incorporating the following: 

a water source, a body of permeable rock bounded by 

bodies of distinctly less permeable rock, and a structure 

enabling water to percolate into and become confined in 

the permeable rock under pressure distinctly greater than 

atmospheric.

artesian well. A well that taps confined groundwater. Water 

in the well rises above the level of the top of the aquifer 

under artesian pressure.

aulacogen. A sediment-filled continental rift that trends at a 

high angle to the adjacent continental margin or orogeny. 

A narrow, elongate basin that extends into the craton 

either from a passive-margin basin or from a mountain 

belt that formed from a passive-margin basin.

axis. A straight-line approximation of the trend of a fold 

along the boundary between its two limbs. “Hinge line” is 

a preferred term.

base flow. That part of stream discharge that is not 

attributable to direct runoff from precipitation or melting 

snow. It is sustained by groundwater discharge.

basement. The undifferentiated rocks, commonly igneous 

and metamorphic, that underlie rocks exposed at the 

surface, commonly sedimentary. In many regions the 

basement is of Precambrian age, but it may be much 

younger. Also, Earth’s crust below sedimentary deposits 

that extends down to the Mohorovicic discontinuity.

basin (structural). A doubly plunging syncline in which 

rocks dip inward from all sides.

basin (sedimentary). Any depression, from continental to 

local scale, into which sediments are deposited.

bed. The smallest sedimentary stratigraphic unit, commonly 

ranging in thickness from about 1 cm (0.4 in) to 1 to 2 m 

(40 to 80 in) and distinguishable from beds above and 

below.

bed form. A bedding surface feature that is an individual 

element of the morphology of a mobile granular or 

cohesive bed that develops due to local deposition and/or 

erosion in response to the interaction of a flowing current 

of air or water.

bedding. Depositional layering or stratification of 

sediments.

bedrock. Solid rock that underlies unconsolidated, 

superficial material and soil.

benthic. Pertaining to the ocean bottom or organisms living 

on or in the substrate; also, referring to that environment.

block. A pyroclast ejected in a solid state with a diameter 

greater than 64 mm (2.5 in).

block (fault). A crustal unit bounded completely or partially 

by faults.

bioturbation. The reworking of sediment by organisms.

bivalve. Having a shell composed of two distinct, but equal 

or nearly equal, movable valves, which open and shut.

brachiopod. Any marine invertebrate belonging to the 

phylum Brachiopoda, characterized by two bilaterally 

symmetrical valves that are commonly attached to a 

substratum but may also be free. Range: Lower Cambrian 

to Holocene.

breccia. A coarse-grained, generally unsorted sedimentary 

rock consisting of cemented angular clasts more than 2 

mm (0.08 in) across.

bryozoan. Any invertebrate belonging to the phylum 

Bryozoa; characterized by colonial growth and a 

calcareous skeleton. Range: Ordovician (and possibly 

Upper Cambrian) to Holocene.

calcareous. Describes a substance that contains calcium 

carbonate. When applied to a rock name it implies that as 
48

much as 50% of the rock is calcium carbonate. surface is the bottom of a confining bed.

calcium carbonate. A solid, CaCO3, occurring in nature as confining bed. A body of relatively impermeable or distinctly 

primarily calcite and aragonite. less permeable material stratigraphically adjacent to one 

or more aquifers. Replaced the term “aquiclude.” calcite. A carbonate (carbon + oxygen) mineral of calcium, 

CaCO3

; calcium carbonate. It is the most abundant cave conglomerate. A coarse-grained, generally unsorted, 

mineral. sedimentary rock consisting of cemented, rounded clasts 

larger than 2 mm (0.08 in) in diameter. calcrete. A term for a pedogenic calcareous soil, e.g., 

limestone consisting of surficial sand and gravel cemented convergent plate boundary. A boundary between two 

into a hard mass by calcium carbonate precipitated plates that are moving toward each other. Essentially 

from solution and redeposited through the agency of synonymous with “subduction zone” but used in different 

infiltrating waters, or deposited by the escape of carbon contexts.

dioxide from vadose water. craton. The relatively old and geologically stable interior of 

carbonate. A mineral group composed of carbon and a continent.

oxygen plus an element or elements; for example calcite, crinoid. A marine invertebrate (echinoderm) that uses a CaCO3

; and dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. stalk to attach itself to a substrate; “arms” are used to 

carbonate rock. A rock, for example, limestone, calcite, and capture food. Range: Paleozoic to Holocene, though very 

dolomite, that consist primarily of carbonate minerals. common in the Paleozoic and rare today.

cement (sedimentary). Mineral material, usually chemically cross-bed. A single bed, inclined at an angle to the main 

precipitated, that occurs in the spaces among the planes of stratification; the term is commonly restricted to 

individual grains of sedimentary rocks, thus binding the a bed that is more than 1 cm (0.4 in) thick.

grains together. cross-bedding. Uniform to highly varied sets of inclined 

cementation. The process by which clastic sediments beds deposited by wind or water that indicate flow 

become lithified or consolidated into hard, compact conditions such as direction and depth. 

rocks, usually through deposition or precipitation of cross section. A graphic interpretation of geology, structure, minerals in the spaces among the individual grains of the or stratigraphy based on mapped and measured geologic sediment; may occur simultaneously with sedimentation extents and attitudes, depicted in a vertical plane (i.e., a or at a later time. cut or profile view).

cephalopod. A marine mollusk of the class Cephalopoda, differential erosion. Erosion that occurs at irregular or characterized by a head surrounded by tentacles and, varying rates due to differences in the resistance and in most fossil forms, by a straight, curved, or coiled hardness of surface material: softer and weaker rocks are calcareous shell divided into chambers. Range: Cambrian rapidly worn away, whereas harder and more resistant to Holocene. rocks remain to form ridges, hills, or mountains.

chemical weathering. Chemical breakdown of minerals at distal. Said of a sedimentary deposit consisting of fine Earth’s surface via reaction with water, air, or dissolved clastics and formed farthest from the source area. substances; commonly results in a change in chemical 

composition providing more stablity in the current dolomite (mineral). A carbonate (carbon and oxygen) 

environment. mineral of calcium and magnesium, CaMg(CO3

)2. 

clast. An individual constituent, grain, or fragment of a rock dolomite (rock). A carbonate sedimentary rock containing 

or unconsolidated deposit, produced by the mechanical more than 50% of the mineral dolomite.

or chemical disintegration of a larger rock mass. drainage basin. The total area from which a stream system 

clastic. Describes rocks or sediments made of fragments of receives or drains precipitation runoff.

preexisting rocks. echinoderm. Any solitary marine benthic (rarely pelagic) 

coarse-grained. Describes a crystalline rock and texture invertebrate characterized by radial symmetry, an 

in which the individual minerals are relatively large, endoskeleton formed of plates or ossicles composed of 

specifically an igneous rock whose particles have an crystalline calcite, and a water-vascular system.

average diameter greater than 5 mm (0.2 in). Also, erosion. The general process or group of processes that describes sediment or sedimentary rock and texture in loosen, dissolve, wear away, and simultaneously move which the individual constituents are easily seen with the from one place to another, the materials of Earth’s crust; unaided eye, specifically sediment or rock whose particles includes weathering, solution, abrasive actions, and have an average diameter greater than 2 mm (0.08 in). transportation, but usually excludes slope movements.

colluvium. A loose, heterogeneous, and incoherent mass evaporite. A sedimentary rock composed primarily of of rock fragments and soil material deposited via surface minerals produced from a saline solution as a result of runoff or slow continuous downslope creep; usually extensive or total evaporation of the solvent (usually collects at the base of a slope or hillside, but includes water). loose material covering hillsides. evapotranspiration. Loss of water from a land area through confined aquifer. An aquifer bounded above and below transpiration (passage of water vapor from a living body by confining beds. An aquifer containing confined through a membrane) of plants and evaporation from the groundwater. soil and surface-water bodies. Also, the volume of water 

confined groundwater. Groundwater under pressure lost through evapotranspiration.

significantly greater than that of the atmosphere. Its upper 
49

extension. A type of deformation where Earth’s crust is 

pulled apart. 

extrusion. The emission of lava onto Earth’s surface; also, 

the rock so formed.

extrusive. Describes igneous rock that has been erupted 

onto the surface of the Earth.

facies (sedimentary). The depositional or environmental 

conditions reflected in the sedimentary structures, 

textures, mineralogy, fossils, and other components of a 

sedimentary rock.

fault. A break in rock characterized by displacement of one 

side relative to the other.

fine-grained. Describes a crystalline or glassy rock and 

texture in which the individual minerals are relatively 

small, specifically an igneous rock whose particles have an 

average diameter less than 1 mm (0.04 in). Also, describes 

sediment or sedimentary rock and texture in which the 

individual constituents are too small to distinguish with 

the unaided eye, specifically sediment or rock whose 

particles have an average diameter less than 1/16 mm 

(0.002 in), that is, silt-size particles and smaller.

fissile. Capable of being easily split along closely spaced 

planes.

flow regime. A condition of stream flow defined on the 

basis of mode of sediment transport, bed form, and 

flow resistance. Lower flow regime is a flow regime 

characterized by relatively low sediment transport rates 

(largely as bed load) and bed forms that are out of phase 

with the water surface, including ripple, dune, and 

lower plane bed. Upper flow regime is a flow regime 

of a unidirectional current that is characterized by 

relatively high sediment transport rates (with considerable 

suspended load), bed forms that are in phase with the 

water surface, including upper plane bed, in-phase waves, 

and antidunes.

fluvial. Of or pertaining to a river or rivers.

fold. A curve or bend in an originally flat structure, such 

as a rock stratum, bedding plane, or foliation; usually a 

product of deformation.

footwall. The lower wall of a fault. Compare to “hanging 

wall.”

formation. Fundamental rock-stratigraphic unit that is 

mappable, lithologically distinct from adjoining strata, 

and has definable upper and lower contacts.

fossil. A remain, trace, or imprint of a plant or animal that 

has been preserved in the Earth’s crust since some past 

geologic time; loosely, any evidence of past life.

fracture. The breaking of a mineral other than along planes 

of cleavage. Also, any break in a rock such as a crack, joint, 

or fault.

gastropod. Any mollusk belonging to the class Gastropoda, 

characterized by a distinct head with eyes and tentacles 

and, in most, by a single calcareous shell that is closed 

at the apex, sometimes spiraled, not chambered, and 

generally asymmetrical (e.g., a snail). Range: Upper 

Cambrian to Holocene.

graben. An elongated, downdropped trough or basin, 

bounded on both sides by high-angle normal faults that 

dip toward one another.

graptolite. An extinct colonial marine organism belonging 

to the class Graptolithina, characterized by a cup- or 

tube-shaped, highly resistant exoskeleton of organic 

composition, arranged with other individuals along one or 

more branches (stipes) to form a colony. Commonly occur 

in black shales.

groundwater. That part of subsurface water that is in the 

zone of saturation, including underground streams.

groundwater basin. An area of bedrock in a karst spring 

that collects drainage from all the sinkholes and sinking 

streams in its drainage area.

hanging wall. The upper wall of a fault. Compare to 

“footwall.”

hydraulic conductivity. The ease with which water moves 

through spaces or pores in soil or rock.

hydrostatic pressure. The pressure exerted by the water at 

any given point in a body of water at rest. The hydrostatic 

pressure of groundwater is generally due to the weight of 

water at higher levels in the saturated zone.

hydrogeology. The science that deals with subsurface waters 

and related geologic aspects of surface waters, including 

the movement of groundwater; the mechanical, chemical, 

and thermal interaction of groundwater with the porous 

medium; and the transport of energy and chemical 

constituents by the flow of groundwater. Synonymous 

with “geohydrology.”

hydrology. The study of liquid and solid water properties, 

circulation, and distribution, on and under the Earth’s 

surface and in the atmosphere.

igneous. Describes a rock or mineral that solidified from 

molten or partly molten material; also, describes processes 

leading to, related to, or resulting from the formation of 

such rocks.

intrusion. The process of emplacement of magma into 

preexisting rock. Also, the igneous rock mass formed. 

intrusive. Pertaining to intrusion, both the process and the 

rock body.

ion. An atom or molecule in which the total number of 

electrons is not equal to the total number of protons, 

giving the atom or molecule a net positive or negative 

electrical charge.

isotope. One of two or more species of the same chemical 

element having the same number of protons in the 

nucleus, but differing from one another by having a 

different number of neutrons.

karst. Topography characterized by abundant sinkholes and 

caverns formed by the dissolution of calcareous rocks.

klippe. An erosional remnant of a thrust sheet that is 

completely surrounded by exposure of the footwall. 

Plural: klippen.

lacustrine. Describes a process, feature, or organism 

pertaining to, produced by, or inhabiting a lake.

lamination. The finest stratification or bedding in a 

sedimentary rock, typically exhibited by shales and finegrained sandstones.

lentil. A minor rock-stratigraphic unit of limited geographic 

extent that thins out in all directions.

limb. One side of a structural fold.
50

limestone. A carbonate sedimentary rock consisting of more 

than 95% calcite and less than 5% dolomite.

losing stream. A stream or reach of a stream that contributes 

water to the zone of saturation; its channel lies above the 

water table. Also called an “influent stream.”

lower plane bed. A bed configuration of the lower flow 

regime that is characterized by a flat, almost featureless 

surface and very low rates of sediment transport.

marl. A term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of 

which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting primarily 

of a mixture of clay and calcium carbonate; specifically an 

earthy substance containing 35%–65% clay and 65%–

35% carbonate.

marlstone. A sedimentary rock composed of marl.

mass wasting. Dislodgement and downslope transport of 

a mass of rock and/or unconsolidated material under 

the direct influence of gravity. In contrast to “erosion,” 

the debris removed is not carried within, on, or under 

another medium. Synonymous with “slope movement.”

meander. One of a series of sinuous curves, bends, loops, 

turns, or windings in the course of a stream, produced 

by a mature stream swinging from side to side as it flows 

across its floodplain or shifts its course laterally toward 

the convex side of an original curve.

mechanical weathering. The physical breakup of rocks 

without change in composition. 

medium-grained. Describes an igneous rock and texture in 

which the individual crystals have an average diameter 

in the range of 1 to 5 mm (0.04 to 0.2 in.). Also, describes 

sediment or sedimentary rock and texture in which the 

individual particles have an average diameter in the range 

of 1/16 to 2 mm (0.002 to 0.08 in), that is, sand size.

member. A lithostratigraphic unit with definable contacts; a 

subdivision of a formation.

micrite. The semiopaque crystalline matrix in limestones, 

consisting of chemically precipitated carbonate mud with 

crystals less than 4 microns in diameter.

mineral. A naturally occurring inorganic crystalline solid 

with a definite chemical composition or compositional 

range.

nodule. A small, irregularly rounded knot, mass, or lump of 

a mineral or mineral aggregate, normally having a warty 

or knobby surface and no internal structure, and usually 

exhibiting a contrasting composition from the enclosing 

sediment or rock matrix in which it is embedded.

normal fault. A fault in which the hanging wall appears to 

have moved downward relative to the footwall; the angle 

of dip is usually 45°–90°.

ooid. One of the small round or ovate accretionary bodies in 

a sedimentary rock, resembling the roe of fish, formed by 

accretion around a nucleus such as a shell fragment, algal 

pellet, or sand grain; laminated grains may reach 2 mm 

(0.08 in) across, but are commonly 0.5–1 mm (0.02–0.04 

in) across. Synonymous and preferred to “oolith” (to 

avoid confusion with “oolite”).

oolite. A sedimentary rock, usually limestone, composed of 

ooids.

orogeny. A mountain-building event.

ostracode. Any aquatic crustacean belonging to the subclass 

Ostracoda, characterized by a two-valved (shelled), 

generally calcified carapace with a hinge along the dorsal 

margin. Range: Lower Cambrian to Holocene.

outcrop. Any part of a rock mass or formation that is 

exposed or “crops out” at Earth’s surface.

pelecypod. Any benthic aquatic mollusk belonging to 

the class Pelecypoda, characterized by a bilaterally 

symmetrical bivalve shell, a hatchet-shaped foot, and 

sheetlike gills. Range: Ordovician to Holocene.

permeability. A measure of the relative ease with which 

a fluid moves through the pore spaces of a rock or 

unconsolidated deposit.

plane bed. A flat, almost featureless surface that is produced 

by the interaction of a unidirectional current flowing over 

a mobile sediment bed (see upper plane bed; lower plane 

bed).

plate tectonics. A theory of global tectonics in which the 

lithosphere is divided into about 20 rigid plates that 

interact with one another at their boundaries, causing 

seismic and tectonic activity along these boundaries.

porosity. The percentage of total void space in a volume of 

rock or unconsolidated deposit.

recharge. The addition of water to the saturated zone below 

the water table.

regression. Long-term seaward retreat of the shoreline or 

relative fall of sea level.

reverse fault. A contractional high-angle (greater than 45°) 

dip-slip fault in which the hanging wall moves up relative 

to the footwall.

rift. A region of Earth’s crust where extension results in 

formation of many related normal faults, commonly 

associated with volcanic activity.

ripple marks. The undulating, approximately parallel and 

usually small-scale pattern of ridges formed in sediment 

by the flow of wind or water.

rip-up clast. A mud clast that has been “ripped up” by 

currents from a semiconsolidated mud deposit and 

transported to a new depositional site.

rockfall. The most rapid type of slope movement in which a 

newly detached fragment of bedrock of any size falls from 

a cliff or other very steep slope, traveling straight down or 

in a series of leaps and bounds down a slope.

saturated. Being a solution that is unable to absorb or 

dissolve any more of a solute (e.g., calcium carbonate).

saturated zone. A subsurface zone in which all the 

interstices are filled with water under pressure greater 

than that of the atmosphere; separated from the 

unsaturated zone (above) by the water table.

sediment. An eroded and deposited, unconsolidated 

accumulation of rock and mineral fragments.

sedimentary. Pertaining to or containing sediment. 

sedimentary rock. A rock resulting from the consolidation 

of loose sediment that has accumulated in layers; it may 

be “clastic,” consisting of mechanically formed fragments 

of older rock; “chemical,” formed by precipitation from 

solution; or “organic,” consisting of the remains of plants 

and animals. One of the three main classes of rock—

igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary. 
51

sedimentation. The process of forming or accumulating 

sediment into layers, including the separation of rock 

particles from parent rock, the transportation of these 

particles to the site of deposition, the actual deposition or 

settling of the particles, the chemical and other changes 

occurring in the sediment, and the ultimate consolidation 

of the sediment into solid rock.

sinkhole. A circular, commonly funnel-shaped depression in 

a karst area with subterranean drainage.

slope movement. The gradual or rapid downslope 

movement of soil or rock under gravitational stress. 

Synonymous with “mass wasting.”

solute. A dissolved substance, e.g., calcium carbonate.

spring. A place where groundwater flows naturally from 

a rock or the soil onto the land surface or into a body 

of surface water. Its occurrence depends on the nature 

and relationship of rocks, especially permeable and 

impermeable strata; the position of the water table; and 

topography.

strata. Tabular or sheetlike layers of sedimentary rock; 

layers are visually distinctive from other layers above and 

below. The singular form of the term is stratum, but is less 

commonly used.

stratification. The accumulation, or layering, of sedimentary 

rocks as strata. Tabular, or planar, stratification refers to 

essentially parallel surfaces. Cross-stratification refers to 

strata inclined at an angle to the main stratification.

stratigraphy. The geologic study of the origin, occurrence, 

distribution, classification, correlation, and age of rock 

layers, especially sedimentary rocks.

stream channel. A long, narrow depression shaped by the 

concentrated flow of a stream and covered continuously 

or periodically by water.

stream terrace. A planar surface along the sides of a stream 

valley representing the remnants of an abandoned 

floodplain, stream bed, or valley floor produced during a 

former stage of erosion or deposition.

structure. The attitudes and relative positions of the rock 

masses of an area resulting from such processes as 

faulting, folding, and igneous intrusion.

subduction. The process of one lithospheric plate 

descending beneath another.

subduction zone. A long, narrow belt in which subduction 

takes place.

subsidence. The sudden sinking or gradual downward 

settling of part of Earth’s surface.

supersaturated. A solution that contains more of the solute 

(e.g., calcium carbonate) than is normally present when 

equilibrium is established between the saturated solution 

and undissolved solute.

syncline. A generally concave upward fold of which the core 

contains the stratigraphically younger rocks. Compare 

with “anticline.”

tectonic. Describes a feature or process related to large-scale 

movement and deformation of Earth’s crust.

terrestrial. Describes a feature, process, or organism related 

to land, Earth, or its inhabitants.

terrigenous. Describes material or a feature derived from 

the land or a continent.

thalweg. The line connecting the lowest/deepest points 

along a stream bed; the line of maximum depth.

thrust fault. A dip-slip fault with a shallowly dipping (less 

than 45°) fault surface where the hanging wall moves up 

and over relative to the footwall.

thrust sheet. The body of rock above a large-scale thrust 

fault whose surface is horizontal or very gently dipping.

transgression. Landward migration of the sea as a result of a 

relative rise in sea level.

transmissivity. A measure of the amount of water that can 

be transmitted horizontally through a unit width by the 

full saturated thickness of the aquifer under a hydraulic 

gradient of 1.

travertine. A chemical sedimentary rock—the spongy or 

less compact variety is tufa—composed of precipitated 

calcium carbonate (predominantly calcite and aragonite) 

from spring-fed, heated and/or ambient-temperature 

waters.

trilobite. Any marine arthropod belonging to the class 

Trilobita, characterized by a three-lobed ovoid outer 

skeleton, divided lengthwise into axial and side regions 

and transversely into cephalon (“head”), thorax (middle), 

and pygidium (“tail”). Range: Lower Cambrian to 

Permian.

trough cross-bedding. Cross-bedding in which the lower 

bounding surfaces are curved surfaces or erosion; it 

results from local scour and subsequent deposition.

unconfined groundwater. Groundwater that has a water 

table; that is, water not confined under pressure beneath a 

confining bed.

unconformity. A substantial break or gap in the geologic 

record where a rock unit is overlain by another that is not 

next in stratigraphic succession, resulting from either a 

change that caused deposition to cease for a considerable 

span of time or erosion with loss of the previously formed 

record.

undercutting. The removal of material at the base of a steep 

slope by the erosive action of water (such as a meandering 

stream), sand-laden wind in a desert, or waves along the 

coast.

unsaturated zone. A subsurface zone between the land 

surface and the water table that includes air, gases, and 

water held by capillary action. 

upper plane bed. A bed configuration under a unidirectional 

current that is characterized by a flat, almost featureless 

surface over which sediment transport is intense, both in 

suspension and on the bed.

varve. Any cyclic sedimentary couplet, as in certain shales 

and evaporates. Commonly deposited in a body of still 

water.

vug. A small cavity in rock, commonly lined with crystals of 

a different mineral composition from the enclosing rock.

water table. The surface between the saturated zone and the 

unsaturated zone. Synonymous with “groundwater table” 

and “water level.”

53

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59

Additional References

These additional references, resources, and websites may be of use to resource managers. Web addresses 

are valid as of July 2015. Refer to Appendix B for laws, regulations, and policies that apply to NPS 

geologic resources.

Geology of National Park Service Areas

● NPS Geologic Resources Division (Lakewood, 

Colorado) Energy and Minerals; Active Processes 

and Hazards; Geologic Heritage:

http://nature.nps.gov/geology/

● NPS Geologic Resources Inventory: http://www.

nature.nps.gov/geology/inventory/index.cfm.

● NPS Geoscientist-In-the-Parks (GIP) internship 

and guest scientist program:

http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/gip/index.cfm

● NPS Views program (geology-themed modules are 

available for Geologic Time, Paleontology, Glaciers, 

Caves and Karst, Coastal Geology, Volcanoes, and a 

variety of geologic parks):

http://www.nature.nps.gov/views/

NPS Resource Management Guidance and 

Documents

● 1998 National parks omnibus management act: 

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-105publ391/

pdf/PLAW-105publ391.pdf

● Management Policies 2006 (Chapter 4: Natural 

resource management):

http://www.nps.gov/policy/mp/policies.html

● NPS-75: Natural resource inventory and 

monitoring guideline:

http://www.nature.nps.gov/nps75/nps75.pdf

● NPS Natural resource management reference 

manual #77: http://www.nature.nps.gov/Rm77/

● Geologic monitoring manual (Young, R., and 

L. Norby, editors. 2009. Geological monitoring. 

Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado): 

http://nature.nps.gov/geology/monitoring/index.

cfm

● NPS Technical Information Center (TIC) (Denver, 

Colorado; repository for technical documents): 

http://www.nps.gov/dsc/technicalinfocenter.htm

Climate Change Resources

● NPS Climate Change Response Program Resources: 

http://www.nps.gov/subjects/climatechange/

resources.htm

● US Global Change Research Program:

http://globalchange.gov/home

● Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:

http://www.ipcc.ch/

Geological Surveys and Societies

● Oklahoma Geological Survey:

http://www.ogs.ou.edu/homepage.php

● US Geological Survey: http://www.usgs.gov/

● Geological Society of America:

http://www.geosociety.org/

● American Geophysical Union: http://sites.agu.org/

● American Geosciences Institute:

http://www.americangeosciences.org/

● Association of American State Geologists:

http://www.stategeologists.org/

US Geological Survey Reference Tools

● National geologic map database (NGMDB):

http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/

● Geologic names lexicon (GEOLEX; geologic unit 

nomenclature and summary):

http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Geolex/geolex_home.html

● Geographic names information system (GNIS; 

official listing of place names and geographic 

features): http://gnis.usgs.gov/

● GeoPDFs (download searchable PDFs of any 

topographic map in the United States):

http://store.usgs.gov (click on “Map Locator”)

● Publications warehouse (many publications 

available online): http://pubs.er.usgs.gov

● Tapestry of time and terrain (descriptions of 

physiographic provinces):

http://tapestry.usgs.gov/Default.html

61

Appendix A: Scoping Participants

The following people attended the GRI scoping meeting for Chickasaw National Recreation Area, 

held on17-18 October 2007, or the follow-up report writing conference call, held on 11 March 2014. 

Discussions during these meetings supplied a foundation for this GRI report. The scoping summary 

document is available on the GRI publications website: http://go.nps.gov/gripubs.

2007 Scoping Meeting Participants

Name Affiliation Position

Back, Jennifer NPS WRD Water Rights Branch Hydrologist

Blome, Charles USGS Geologist

Burrough, Steve NPS Chickasaw National Recreation Area Chief, Resource Management

Carter, Darryl NPS Chickasaw National Recreation Area Geologist/bio-tech

Covington, Sid NPS Geologic Resources Division Geologist

Faith, Jason USGS, Oklahoma State University Geologist

Graham, John Colorado State University Geologist, GRI Report Writer

Jarrell, Tim NPS Chickasaw National Recreation Area Facility Manager

McCurry, Gail NPS Chickasaw National Recreation Area Chief, Administration

Noble, Bruce NPS Chickasaw National Recreation Area Superintendent

Osborn, Noel Oklahoma Water Resources Board Geologist

Parker, Ron NPS Chickasaw National Recreation Area Chief, Interpretation

Peoples, Precious NPS Chickasaw National Recreation Area Biologist

Ransmeier, Melanie NPS Geologic Resources Division GIS Specialist

Smith, David V. USGS Geophysicist

Staples, Susie NPS Chickasaw National Recreation Area Secretary

Suneson, Neil Oklahoma Geological Survey Geologist

2014 Conference Call Participants

Name Affiliation Position

Blome, Charles US Geological Survey Geologist, science center director

Graham, John Colorado State University Geologist. GRI report writer

Kenworthy, Jason NPS Geologic Resources Division Geologist, GRI reports coordinator

Osborn, Noel Chickasaw National Recreation Area Chief of Resource Management

Parker, Ron Chickasaw National Recreation Area Chief of Interpretation

63

Appendix B: Geologic Resource Laws, Regulations, and Policies

The NPS Geologic Resources Division developed this table to summarize laws, regulations, and policies 

that specifically apply to National Park Service minerals and geologic resources. The table does not 

include laws of general application (e.g., Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, Wilderness Act, 

National Environmental Policy Act, or National Historic Preservation Act). The table does include the 

NPS Organic Act when it serves as the main authority for protection of a particular resource or when 

other, more specific laws are not available. Information is current as of July 2015. Contact the NPS 

Geologic Resources Division for detailed guidance.

Resource Resource-specific Laws Resource-specific Regulations 2006 Management Policies Caves and Karst Systems

Federal Cave Resources Protection Act 

of 1988, 16 USC §§ 4301 – 4309 requires 

Interior/Agriculture to identify “significant 

caves” on Federal lands, regulate/

restrict use of those caves as appropriate, 

and include significant caves in land 

management planning efforts. Imposes 

civil and criminal penalties for harming 

a cave or cave resources. Authorizes 

Secretaries to withhold information about 

specific location of a significant cave from 

a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

requester.

National Parks Omnibus Management 

Act of 1998, 16 USC § 5937 protects the 

confidentiality of the nature and specific 

location of cave and karst resources.

36 CFR § 2.1 prohibits possessing/ 

destroying/disturbing...cave resources...

in park units. 43 CFR Part 37 states that 

all NPS caves are “significant” and sets 

forth procedures for determining/releasing 

confidential information about specific cave 

locations to a FOIA requester.

Section 4.8.1.2 requires NPS to maintain 

karst integrity, minimize impacts.

Section 4.8.2 requires NPS to protect 

geologic features from adverse effects of 

human activity.

Section 4.8.2.2 requires NPS to protect 

caves, allow new development in or on 

caves if it will not impact cave environment, 

and to remove existing developments if 

they impair caves.

Section 6.3.11.2 explains how to manage 

caves in/adjacent to wilderness.

Paleontology

National Parks Omnibus Management 

Act of 1998, 16 USC § 5937 protects the 

confidentiality of the nature and specific 

location of paleontological resources and 

objects.

Paleontological Resources Preservation 

Act of 2009, 16 USC § 470aaa et 

seq. provides for the management and 

protection of paleontological resources on 

federal lands.

36 CFR § 2.1(a)(1)(iii) prohibits destroying, 

injuring, defacing, removing, digging or 

disturbing paleontological specimens or 

parts thereof.

Prohibition in 36 CFR § 13.35 applies 

even in Alaska parks, where the surface 

collection of other geologic resources is 

permitted.

Regulations in association with 2009 PRPA 

are being finalized (July 2015).

Section 4.8.2 requires NPS to protect 

geologic features from adverse effects of 

human activity.

Section 4.8.2.1 emphasizes Inventory and 

Monitoring, encourages scientific research, 

directs parks to maintain confidentiality of 

paleontological information, and allows 

parks to buy fossils only in accordance with 

certain criteria.

Rocks and 

Minerals

NPS Organic Act, 16 USC § 1 et seq.

directs the NPS to conserve all resources 

in parks (including rock and mineral 

resources), unless otherwise authorized by 

law.

36 CFR § 2.1 prohibits possessing, 

destroying, disturbing mineral resources...

in park units.

Section 4.8.2 requires NPS to protect 

geologic features from adverse effects of 

human activity.
64

Resource Resource-specific Laws Resource-specific Regulations 2006 Management Policies Park Use of Sand and Gravel

Materials Act of 1947, 30 USC § 601

does not authorize the NPS to dispose of 

mineral materials outside of park units.

None applicable.

Section 9.1.3.3 clarifies that only the 

NPS or its agent can extract park-owned 

common variety minerals (e.g., sand and 

gravel), and:

-only for park administrative uses;

-after compliance with NEPA and other 

federal, state, and local laws, and a 

finding of non-impairment;

-after finding the use is park’s most 

reasonable alternative based on 

environment and economics;

-parks should use existing pits and create 

new pits only in accordance with parkwide borrow management plan;

-spoil areas must comply with Part 6 

standards; and

-NPS must evaluate use of external 

quarries.

Any deviation from this policy requires a 

written waiver from the Secretary, Assistant 

Secretary, or Director.

Upland and Fluvial Processes

Rivers and Harbors Appropriation 

Act of 1899, 33 USC § 403 prohibits the 

construction of any obstruction on the 

waters of the United States not authorized 

by congress or approved by the USACE.

Clean Water Act 33 USC § 1342 requires 

a permit from the USACE prior to any 

discharge of dredged or fill material 

into navigable waters (waters of the US 

[including streams]). 

Executive Order 11988 requires federal 

agencies to avoid adverse impacts to 

floodplains. (see also D.O. 77-2)

Executive Order 11990 requires plans for 

potentially affected wetlands (including 

riparian wetlands). (see also D.O. 77-1)

None applicable.

Section 4.1 requires NPS to manage 

natural resources to preserve fundamental 

physical and biological processes, as well 

as individual species, features, and plant 

and animal communities; maintain all 

components and processes of naturally 

evolving park ecosystems.

Section 4.1.5 directs the NPS to reestablish natural functions and processes 

in human-disturbed components of natural 

systems in parks, unless directed otherwise 

by Congress.

Section 4.4.2.4 directs the NPS to allow 

natural recovery of landscapes disturbed by 

natural phenomena, unless manipulation of 

the landscape is necessary to protect park 

development or human safety. 

Section 4.6.4 directs the NPS to (1) 

manage for the preservation of floodplain 

values; [and] (2) minimize potentially 

hazardous conditions associated with 

flooding.

Section 4.6.6 directs the NPS to manage 

watersheds as complete hydrologic systems 

and minimize human-caused disturbance 

to the natural upland processes that deliver 

water, sediment, and woody debris to 

streams.

Section 4.8.1 directs the NPS to allow 

natural geologic processes to proceed 

unimpeded. Geologic processes...include...

erosion and sedimentation...processes. 

Section 4.8.2 directs the NPS to protect 

geologic features from the unacceptable 

impacts of human activity while allowing 

natural processes to continue.
The Department of the Interior protects and manages the nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and 

other information about those resources; and honors its special responsibilities to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated 

Island Communities.

NPS 107/129559, August 2015
National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Natural Resource Stewardship and Science 

1201 Oak Ridge Drive, Suite 150 

Fort Collins, Colorado 80525

www.nature.nps.gov

EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICATM
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buildings 

freshwater spring 

mine ral water spring 

:~~~g!a~~~s0di~~t~·;f~~~nge 

syncline, known or certain, dotted w here concealed 

thrust fault, known or certain, dash where inferred. Sawteeth on upper plate 

~~~J,t;~rn~~~:'d,d~~;;:~here concealed. Bar and ball on downthrown block 

~~~':,we:; ~::r..~ir;:::;Inferred 

Geol09lcC..,tAlcts 

--- known or certain, dashed where inferred 

---water or shoreline 

Geol09k Cross Section line 

--- cross section line (see Plate 2) 

Collapnd and M--8N«lllt.d Bound..i.. 

Geologic Units 

water 

Qaf Artificial fill (Quaternary) 

Qac Alluvium and colluvium, undifferentiated (Quaternary) 

Stratford Formation (lower Permian) 

Vanoss Formation, upper shale facles (Upper Pennsylvanian, Virglll anJ 

PNvc Vanoss Formation, lower limestone conglomeratefacles (Upper Pennsylvanian, Vlrgl llanJ 

PNd Deese Group, undifferentiated (Middle Pennsylvan ian, middle Desmoinesian) 

PNaw Atoka and Wapanucka Formations. undifferentiated (Lower to Middle Pennsyh1anian, Morrowan to Atokan) 

PNMs Springer Formation (Upper Mi ssissippi an to Lov.<er Pennsylvanian. Chesterian to Morrowan) 

Caney Shale (Middle to Upper Mississippian, Merameclan to Chesterlan) 

Sycamore limestone, Welden Limestone and Woodford Shale, undifferentiated (De\lOnian to Mississippian) 

Hunton Group, undifferentiated (Upper Ordovician [Cincinnatian) to Lower Devonian) 

Dhu Upper part of Hunton Group, undifferentiated (Lower Devonian) 

Lower part of Hunton Group, undifferentiated (Upper Ordovician to Siiurian) 

Osv Sylvan Shale and Viola Group, undifferentiated (Upper Ordovician, Cincinnati an) 

Os Sylvan Shale (Upper Ordovician, Cincinnatian) 

Ov Viola Group (Upper Ordovician, Clnclnnatlan) 

Bromide, Tulip Creek and Melish Formations, undi fferentiated (Middle Ordovician) 

Oil Creek and Joins Formations. undifferentiated (Middle Ordovician) 

TEXAS 

..... 100 

This map was produced by Kari Lanphier and Georgia Hybe~ (Colorado Stall! University) in July 2015. tt isan overview of 

compiled geologic data prepared as part of the NPS Geologic Resources Inventory. This map is not a substitute for 

site-spedfieinvestigations. 

- The source map used in creation of the digital geologic data was: 

Blome, C.O.. O.J. Lidke. R.R. Wah\ and J.A. Golab. 2013. Geologic Map of Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Munay 

~ County, Oklahoma (scale 1 :24,000). Scientific lrn1estigationsMap SIM·3258. U.S. Geological SUrvEY. 

As per source map scale and U.S. National Map k.curacy Standards, geologic featixes represented here are within 12 m 

(40 ft) of their true locatioo. 

Ow West Spring Creek Formation (Lower Ordovician) 


Owl< West Spring Creek and Kindblade Formations (Lower Ordovician) 

 Chickasaw National Recreation Area Map Unit Properties Table, Page 1 of 3

Map Unit Properties Table: Chickasaw National Recreation Area 

Gray-shaded map units are not mapped within Chickasaw National Recreation Area. 

Age Map Unit

(Symbol) Geologic Description Geologic Features and Processes Resource Management Issues Geologic History

QUATERNARY 

(Holocene)

Artificial fill

(Qaf) 

Unconsolidated sand, silt, clay, and gravel used as artificial fill 

at Lake of the Arbuckles dam site. None reported. Abandoned Mineral Lands

Two abandoned surface mine sites may require mitigation.

Phase 4. Erosion Shapes the Modern Landscape: 

Permian through Quaternary Periods, the Past 299 

Million Years

Millions of years of erosion transformed southeastern 

Oklahoma into today’s low mountains and hills. 

Alluvium and 

colluvium, 

undifferentiated 

(Qac) 

Unconsolidated sand, silt, clay, and gravel along rivers and 

streams; includes small areas of terrace deposits and small 

alluvial fan and colluvial deposits along the flanks of major 

valleys. Thickness: 1–15 m (3–50 ft). 

Travertine is not mapped separately, but it occurs along 

streams mapped as Qac. 

Travertine Creek and Travertine Island

Porous travertine precipitates from groundwater along 

Travertine Creek and Travertine Island. 

Cave and Karst Features

Dissolution caves in the travertine along the banks of 

Travertine Island.

Rock Creek Drainage Basin

Alluvium is deposited by Rock, Travertine, Guy Sandy, 

Buckhorn, and Wilson creeks. V-shaped river valley. Creeks 

contain fluvial features, such as point bars and cutbanks.

Water Quality

A systematic monitoring program now monitors both 

water quality and quantity of springs and streams. Natural 

asphalt seeps occur in Veterans Lake and Lake of the 

Arbuckles. 

Flooding and Debris Flows

Flash floods may cause flooding on Rock and Travertine 

creeks. 

Rockfall

Colluvium is a result of slope movement, including rockfall.

Lakeshore Erosion

Erosion of Lake of the Arbuckles shoreline may expose 

and/or destroy archeology sites.

PERMIAN

(Lower) 

Pontotoc Group

Stratford 

Formation 

(Ps)

Red shale and sandstone containing the Hart Limestone 

Member at its base in the Sulphur area. Grades into 

limestone conglomerate and arkose towards the mountains 

west of Sulphur.

None reported. None reported.

Phase 4. Erosion Shapes the Modern Landscape: 

Permian through Quaternary Periods, the Past 299 

Million Years

Erosion of the Arbuckle Mountains led to the shale and 

sandstone of Ps.

PENNSYLVANIAN (Upper)

Vanoss 

Formation, 

upper shale 

facies

(PNvs)

Green, gray, locally red shale and silty shale with some tan to 

reddish-brown, poorly sorted, fine- to coarse-grained arkosic

(feldspar-rich) sandstone interbeds. Thin beds of gray 

limestone conglomerate occur locally. Grades into limestone 

conglomerate and arkose towards the mountains west of 

Sulphur. Contact with PNvc is gradational. Thickness: 9–24 

m (30–80 ft).

Freshwater and Mineralized Springs

Groundwater flows from the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer

through the Vanoss Formation to the surface. Freshwater 

springs include Antelope and Buffalo springs. Mineralized 

springs include Hillside, the Pavilion group, Black Sulphur, 

Bromide, and Medicine springs.

Vendome Artesian Well

Mineralized water flows from the Vendome Well, an 

artesian well drilled through the confining layers of the 

Vanoss Formation.

Sedimentary Features in the Vanoss Formation

Upward-fining cycles of conglomerate to clay, parallel 

laminations, trough cross-bedding, ripple marks, fenestrae, 

mud cracks, rip-up clasts, varves, and nodular limestone.

Cave and Karst Features

Small caves in the cliff at Bromide Hill. 

Bromide Hill

Steep cliff adjacent to Rock Creek.

Groundwater Use and Spring Discharge Monitoring

A systematic monitoring program now monitors both 

spring discharge and groundwater flow to streams. 

Because the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is recharged 

outside the recreation area, contamination external to the 

park could affect springs in the park.

Water Quality

Natural asphalt seeps through PNvc and into Veterans 

Lake. The asphalt migrates upward from a subsurface unit 

that contains petroleum and may seep into the lake 

through fractures or other permeability conduits. 

Flooding and Debris Flows

During wet years, water in Lake of the Arbuckles may rise 

and flood shoreline facilities in the recreation area. Flash 

floods may inundate the Rock Creek floodplain and impact 

campgrounds and infrastructure. Flood water may flow 

into springs, especially the vaults of Medicine and Bromide 

springs. Surface water resources may become 

contaminated.

Rockfall

Potential cliff collapse and rockfall at Bromide Hill.

External Mineral Exploration and Development

Dewatering pits in aggregate quarries east of the park may 

threaten groundwater flow to springs and streams.

Phase 3. Uplift and Deformation: Late Mississippian 

through Pennsylvanian Periods, 331 Million to 299 

Million Years Ago

Tectonic plate collisions resulted in folding and faulting of 

older strata to form the Arbuckle Mountains during the 

Wichita and Arbuckle Orogenies. The anticlines and 

synclines that are currently exposed east of the recreation 

area formed at this time. The Vanoss Formation was 

deposited following the deformation of PNd. 

Vanoss 

Formation, 

lower limestone 

conglomerate 

facies

(PNvc)

Lower limestone conglomerate facies consisting of limestone 

boulders, cobbles and pebbles in a calcareous matrix with 

finely-dispersed clay.
Gray-shaded map units are not mapped within Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

Chickasaw National Recreation Area Map Unit Properties Table, Page 2 of 3

Age Map Unit

(Symbol) Geologic Description Geologic Features and Processes Resource Management Issues Geologic History

PENNSYLVANIAN (Middle)

Deese Group, 

undifferentiated

(PNd)

Massive sandstone, gray and red shale, conglomerate, and 

fossiliferous limestone. Exposed in the Mill Creek syncline 

along the banks of Lake of the Arbuckles and the northern 

parts of the Arbuckle anticline southwest of the recreation 

area. Includes the Devils Kitchen Conglomerate, Milsap Lake 

Formation, and West Arm Formation.

Paleontological Resources

Crinoids, endothyrids, brachiopods, and mollusks. 

Folds and Faults

Deformed during the Arbuckle Orogeny. Part of the Mill 

Creek syncline fault block and Mill Creek fault zone.

Water Quality

Natural asphalt seeps through PNd and into Lake of the 

Arbuckles. The asphalt migrates upward from a subsurface 

unit that contains petroleum.

Flooding and Debris Flows

During wet years, water in the Lake of the Arbuckles may 

rise and flood shoreline facilities in the recreation area.

Phase 3. Uplift and Deformation: Late Mississippian 

through Pennsylvanian Periods, 331 Million to 299 

Million Years Ago

Tectonic plate collisions resulted in folding and faulting of 

older strata to form the Arbuckle Mountains. The 

anticlines and synclines that are currently exposed east of 

the recreation area formed at this time. PNd was 

deposited on the erosion surface that formed following

the Wichita Orogeny, and was then deformed during the 

younger Arbuckle Orogeny. 

Atoka and 

Wapanucka 

Formations, 

undifferentiated

(PNaw)

Atoka Formation: unfossiliferous sandstone and shale. 

Wapanucka Formation: massive limestone with 

interbedded shale and siltstone. A massive white limestone 

at the base is overlain by shale and sandstone in the Mill 

Creek syncline. Unit thins to the west.

Paleontological Resources

Wapanucka Formation: sponges, corals, brachiopods, 

foraminifers, and ostracodes.

Folds and Faults

Deformed during the Arbuckle and Wichita orogenies. 

None reported. 

Phase 3. Uplift and Deformation: Late Mississippian 

through Pennsylvanian Periods, 331 Million to 299 

Million Years Ago

PNaw formed in the deep basins that subsided in 

southern Oklahoma. 

PENN. (Lower)

Springer Formation

(PNMs)

Dark (black to blue) fissile, bituminous shale separated by 

thin beds of sandstone and limestone, with iron-rich and 

calcareous concretions. Some of the sandstone beds can vary 

from a few feet to tens of feet thick. Maximum thickness is 

1,829 m (6,000 ft). Exposures are most abundant in the 

Criner Hills area, a mountain range which climbs to 298 m 

(978 ft) above sea level in Carter County, Oklahoma, 

southwest of the recreation area.

Paleontological Resources

Various species of brachiopods, bryozoans, and bivalves.

Folds and Faults

Deformed during the Arbuckle and Wichita orogenies. Part 

of the Tishomingo anticline, Mill Creek syncline fault block,

and Mill Creek fault zone.

None reported.

Phase 3. Uplift and Deformation: Late Mississippian 

through Pennsylvanian Periods, 331 Million to 299 

Million Years Ago

Tectonic plate collisions resulted in folding and faulting of 

older strata as major land masses sutured together to form 

the supercontinent Pangaea. Deep basins subsided in 

southern Oklahoma and filled with shale, sandstone, and 

limestone.

MISS.

(Upper) MISSISSIPPIAN (Lower)

Caney Shale

(Mc)

Dark gray to black, laminated, fissile and friable shale 

containing septarian (roughly spheroidal) and phosphatic 

concretions with diameters that may be 1 m (3 ft) or larger. 

Because it is so friable, individual outcrops are rarely 

exposed. Underlies lush, grassy fields and slopes.

Paleontological Resources

Conodonts, pelecypods, gastropods, ostracodes, 

goniatites, and cephalopods.

Folds and Faults

Deformed during the Arbuckle and Wichita orogenies. Part 

of the Tishomingo anticline, Mill Creek syncline fault block, 

and Mill Creek fault zone.

Water Quality

Natural asphalt seeps through Mc and into Lake of the 

Arbuckles. The asphalt migrates upward from a subsurface 

unit that contains petroleum.

Phase 2. Shallow Seas Flood the Craton: Late 

Cambrian through Middle Mississippian Periods, 500 

Million to 330 Million Years Ago

Active subduction zones form along the western and 

southern margins of proto-North America causing sea level 

to rise. Deeper marine environments covered southern 

Oklahoma. Dark, fissile shale (MDsw) was deposited over 

the old erosion surface and under anaerobic conditions. 

Sycamore Limestone, 

Welden Limestone, 

and Woodford Shale, 

undifferentiated

(MDsw)

Mapped together over the coverage area. Thickness ranges 

from 101 m (330 ft) to over 305 m (1,000 ft) in the Hunton 

anticline area.

Sycamore Limestone: shale and argillaceous cherty to silty 

limestone overlain by shale and marly (mixture of clay and 

calcium carbonate) limestone. Varies from 40–107 m (130–

350 ft) thick.

Welden Limestone: generally not exposed, or thinly 

exposed, in the Arbuckle Mountains. 

Woodford Shale: dark, fissile shale, siliceous shale, bedded 

chert and black bituminous shale. Thickness varies from 61 m 

(200 ft) to 213 m (700 ft).

Folds and Faults

Deformed during the Arbuckle and Wichita orogenies. Part 

of the Tishomingo anticline, Mill Creek syncline fault block, 

and Mill Creek fault zone.

Water Quality

Natural asphalt seeps through MDsw and into Lake of the 

Arbuckles. The asphalt migrates upward from a subsurface 

unit that contains petroleum.

External Mineral Exploration and Development

Potential for hydrocarbon production from the Woodford 

DEVONIAN

Shale.

DEVONIAN

(Lower)

Hunton Group

(DSOh)

Upper part of 

Hunton Group, 

undifferentiated

(Dhu)

Alternating blue to white shale and thin-bedded, argillaceous 

limestone that weathers to yellowish to tan mudstone. 

Overlain by thin-bedded limestones with rare cherty and 

marly lentils and intercalated, yellowish shale. Thickness 

varies from 0 to 78 m (256 ft). Average thickness is 49 m 

(160 ft).

Paleontological Resources

Brachiopods, trilobites, corals, gastropods, bivalves, 

straight cephalopods (Rhinoceras sp.), gastroliths (stomach 

stones), and goniatites (ammonites).

Folds and Faults

Deformed during the Arbuckle and Wichita orogenies. Part 

of the Tishomingo anticline, Mill Creek syncline fault block, 

and Mill Creek fault zone.

Water Quality

Natural asphalt seeps through DSOh and into Lake of the 

Arbuckles. The asphalt migrates upward from a subsurface 

unit that contains petroleum.

Paleontological Resource Inventory, Monitoring, and 

Protection

Potential fossil theft. Management is preparing a 

paleontological resources plan that will address a 

paleontological inventory and assessment of fossils in the 

recreation area.

Phase 2. Shallow Seas Flood the Craton: Late 

Cambrian through Middle Mississippian Periods, 500 

Million to 330 Million Years Ago

Sea level fell. The Hunton Group (Dhu, SOhl) represents

fluctuating sea levels and near-shore marine environments 

that formed in southern Oklahoma during an overall 

marine regression that began in the Late Ordovician. Areas 

exposed above sea level were eroded.

ORDOVICIANSILURIAN

Lower part of 

Hunton Group, 

undifferentiated

(SOhl)

Fossiliferous, oolitic limestone and micritic (fine-grained)

limestone overlain by massive limestone and thin-to thickbedded, crystalline to argillaceous (clay-rich) limestone with 

interbedded shale in the upper part of the unit. Thickness 

varies. Average thickness is 38 m (125 ft). Maximum 

thickness is 90 m (295 ft).
Gray-shaded map units are not mapped within Chickasaw National Recreation Area.

Chickasaw National Recreation Area Map Unit Properties Table, Page 3 of 3

Age Map Unit

(Symbol) Geologic Description Geologic Features and Processes Resource Management Issues Geologic History

ORDOVICIAN

(Upper)

Sylvan Shale and Viola Group

(Osv)

Sylvan Shale

(Os)

Green to gray or tan, fissile, calcareous and dolomitic shale 

that weathers easily and forms rolling hills between the 

resistant limestone formations. Rarely exposed. Thickness 

varies from 15–91 m (50–300 ft).

Paleontological Resources

Os: Graptolites and chitinozoans. 

Ov: Trilobites (Crytolithus trilos, Isotelus) and graptolites.

Folds and Faults

Deformed during the Arbuckle and Wichita orogenies. Part 

of the Tishomingo anticline, Mill Creek syncline fault block, 

Mill Creek fault zone, Belton anticline fault block, and the 

Sulphur syncline.

Cave and Karst Features

Erosional knobs outside the park may be remnants of 

strata that collapsed into Paleozoic sinkholes.

Water Quality

Ov. Natural asphalt seeps occur in quarries south of the 

Arbuckle Dam.

Paleontological Resource Inventory, Monitoring, and 

Protection

Potential fossil theft. Management is preparing a 

paleontological resources plan that will address a 

paleontological inventory and assessment of fossils in the 

recreation area.

Phase 2. Shallow Seas Flood the Craton: Late 

Cambrian through Middle Mississippian Periods, 500 

Million to 330 Million Years Ago

Shallow seas covered southern Oklahoma. Carbonates 

were deposited on a submarine ramp that extended 

offshore from the Transcontinental Arch and tilted gently 

seaward. Marine invertebrates populated open marine, 

well-circulated environments.

Viola Group

(Ov)

Limestones of the Welling and Viola Springs Formations. Up 

to 213 m (700 ft) thick.

Welling Formation (previously Fernvale Limestone): gray, 

coarse-grained, fossiliferous limestone.

Viola Springs Formation: white to bluish-gray, cherty, fineto medium-grained, locally very fossiliferous limestone. Thin 

interbeds of fissile shale. Limestone may contain chert 

nodules in its lower and middle parts. 

ORDOVICIAN

(Middle)

Simpson Group

Bromide, Tulip 

Creek, and 

McLish 

Formations

(Obm)

Alternating brown to white sandstone, green shale, and 

buff-colored limestone. 

Bromide Formation: interbedded fossiliferous (brachiopods, 

ostracodes) limestone and shale. Sandstone at base varies in 

thickness up to 91 m (300 ft). Overall thickness varies from 

96 m (315 ft) to over 183 m (600 ft).

Tulip Creek Formation: shale (upper part) and sandstone 

(lower part) with minor limestone and a basal sandstone bed. 

Grades upward into basal sandstone of Bromide Formation. 

Ranges from 91–122 m (300–400 ft) thick.

McLish Formation: interbedded limestone and shale with a 

sandstone at its base. Locally contains small blebs of calcite 

known as “birdseye” limestone. Maximum thickness is 137 

m (450 ft) in the eastern parts of the Arbuckle Mountains.

Fresh Water and Mineralized Springs and Vendome 

Artesian Well

Groundwater flows from the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer. 

Paleontological Resources

Obm. Brachiopods, trilobites, bryozoans, graptolites, 

pelycopods, ostracodes, and echinoderms.

Folds and Faults

Deformed during the Arbuckle and Wichita orogenies. Part 

of the Tishomingo anticline, Mill Creek syncline fault block, 

Mill Creek fault zone, Belton anticline fault block, and the 

Sulphur syncline.

Cave and Karst Features

Obm. Erosional knobs outside the park may be remnants 

of collapsed strata in Paleozoic sinkholes.

Water Quality

Asphalt seeps occur in the Simpson Group in quarries 

directly east of the recreation area. Asphalt in Ooj

sandstones was mined for road-surfacing material from 

1890 to 1962. Because the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer is 

recharged outside the recreation area, contamination 

external to the park could affect springs in the park.

Paleontological Resource Inventory, Monitoring, and 

Protection

Potential fossil theft. Management is preparing a 

paleontological resources plan that will address a 

paleontological inventory and assessment of fossils in the 

recreation area.

External Mineral Exploration and Development

Dewatering pits in aggregate quarries east of the park may 

threaten groundwater flow to springs and streams.

Phase 2. Shallow Seas Flood the Craton: Late 

Cambrian through Middle Mississippian Periods, 500 

Million to 330 Million Years Ago

Shallow seas covered southern Oklahoma. Carbonates 

were deposited on a submarine ramp that extended 

offshore from the Transcontinental Arch and tilted gently 

seaward. Marine invertebrates populated open marine, 

well-circulated environments.

Oil Creek and 

Joins Formations

(Ooj)

Gray to tan, granular, limestone with greenish-gray shale and 

brown, fine- to medium-grained sandstone. 

Oil Creek Formation: basal quartz sandstone overlain by 

limestone and shale. Locally argillaceous or calcareous and 

petroliferous (tar sand was mined in the east of the 

recreation area). Averages 229 m (750 ft) thick. 

Joins Formation: Thin-bedded limestone and shale with a 

persistent thin conglomerate layer at the base of the unit.

May be as much as 91 m (300 ft) thick on the south side of 

the Arbuckle Mountians.

ORDOVICIAN

(Lower)

Arbuckle Group

(Upper part)

West Spring 

Creek and 

Kindblade 

Formations

(Owk)

Predominately fine-grained limestone that grades westward 

into greenish to tan dolomite with minor sandstone and 

shale lentils. Primarily limestone in the western part of the 

Arbuckles Mountains and dolomite in the eastern part. 

Sandstone is generally thicker and more abundant to the 

east.

Fresh Water and Mineralized Springs and Vendome 

Artesian Well

Groundwater flows from the Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer.

Folds and Faults

Deformed during the Arbuckle and Wichita orogenies. Part 

of the Tishomingo anticline, Mill Creek syncline fault block, 

Mill Creek fault zone, Belton anticline fault block, Sulphur 

syncline, and Hunton anticline.

Cave and Karst Features

Dissolution of limestone formed cavities, collapse breccias, 

dissolution-enhanced fractures, and vuggy porosity.

None reported.

Phase 2. Shallow Seas Flood the Craton: Late 

Cambrian through Middle Mississippian Periods, 500 

Million to 330 Million Years Ago

Shallow seas covered southern Oklahoma. Carbonates 

were deposited on a submarine ramp that extended 

offshore from the Transcontinental Arch and tilted gently 

seaward. Marine invertebrates populated open marine, 

well-circulated environments.

West Spring 

Creek Formation

(Ow)

Gray to tan, fine-grained, thick- to thin-bedded, laminated 

dolomitic limestone with some sandstone and shale. 

Differentiated from the Kindblade Formation only in some 

parts of the Hunton anticline.

MISS. = Mississippian; PENN. = Pennsylvanian.

Source map: Blome, C. D., D. J. Lidke, R. R. Wahl, and J. A. Golab. 2013. Geologic map of Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Murray County, Oklahoma (scale 1:24,000). US Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia. Scientific Investigations Map 3258.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3258/ (accessed 3 March 2014).
Plate 1. Map of Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Refer to figure 1 (in report) for a regional location map.

National Park Service map, available at: http://www.nps.gov/hfc/cfm/carto-detail.cfm?Alpha=CHIC (accessed 15 June 2015).
Cross section A–A’ from Blome et al. (2013)

Cross section B–B’ from Blome et al. (2013)

Plate 2. Geologic map cross sections A–A’ and B–B’. Cross section locations are indicated on the GRI geologic map poster (in pocket). Cross sections show the inferred subsurface structure of geologic units. 

Faults (fractures along which rocks have moved) and folds (deformed rock layers) are visible. Arrows indicate motion along faults. “T” indicates motion along fault toward the reader; “A” indicates motion 

along fault away from the reader. “AU” and “WU” indicate the location of the Arbuckle and Wichita unconformities, respectively. Refer to the report for detailed discussion of the types of faults and folds 

indicated on the cross sections. API numbers refer to wells; “TD” is total depth. Unit colors may not match the GRI geologic map poster. Cross sections from Blome et al. (2013).