Geomorphic Evidence of Deformation 

in the Northern Part of the 

New Madrid Seismic Zone

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1538-R
Cover. Gray, shaded-relief map of magnetic anomaly data. Map area includes parts of 

Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Illumination is from the 

west. Figure is from Geophysical setting of the Reelfoot rift and relations between rift 

structures and the New Madrid seismic zone, by Thomas G. Hildenbrand and John D. 

Hendricks (chapter E in this series).
Geomorphic Evidence of Deformation 

in the Northern Part of the 

New Madrid Seismic Zone

By Karin Fischer Boyd and Stanley A. Schumm

INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE 

Edited by Kaye M. Shedlock and Arch C. Johnston

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1538-R

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1995
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

BRUCE BABBITT, Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Gordon P. Eaton, Director

For Sale by U.S. Geological Survey, Map Distribution

Box 25286, MS 306, Federal Center

Denver, CO 80225

Any use of trade, product, or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and 

does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Boyd, Karin Fischer.

Geomorphic evidence of deformation in the northern part of the New Madrid seismic 

zone / by Karin Fischer Boyd and Stanley A. Schumm.

p. cm.—(U.S. Geological Survey professional paper ; 1538-R)| 

(Investigations of the New Madrid seismic zone ; 1538-R)

Includes bibliographical references.

Supt.ofDocs.no. ; I 19.16: P1538R

1. Geomorphology—Missouri—New Madrid Region. 2. Seismology— 

Missouri—New Madrid Region. I. Schumm, Stanley Alfred, 1927- 

II. Title. III. Series.

IV. Series: Investigations of the New Madrid seismic zone ; R. 

QE535.2.U6I59 1995vol. R 

[GB428.M8]

551.2'2'09778895 s—dc20

[551.4'1'09778985] 94-43480

CIP
CONTENTS

Abstract........................................................................................................................... Rl

Introduction.................................................................................................................... 1

Background..................................................................................................................... 3

Seismicity............................................................................................................... 3

Surface Deformation............................................................................................... 6

The 1811-12 New Madrid Earthquakes and Their Effects.................................... 6

Procedure................................................................................................................ 8

Geomorphology of the Mississippi River....................................................................... 9

River Reaches and Channel Planform.................................................................... 9

Channel Dimensions............................................................................................... 12

Water-Surface Profiles ........................................................................................... 14

Levee Boring Logs ................................................................................................. 16

Summary................................................................................................................. 18

Geomorphology of the Western Alluvial Valley............................................................ 19

Ridges..................................................................................................................... 20

Black River Anomalies........................................................................................... 22

St. Francis River Anomalies................................................................................... 23

Little River Anomalies ........................................................................................... 23

Summary................................................................................................................. 28

Summary and Conclusions............................................................................................. 28

Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................... 33

References Cited............................................................................................................. 34

FIGURES

1. Index map of alluvial valley of Mississippi River between Cairo, 111., and Helena, Ark.......................................... R2

2. Regional tectonic features of the New Madrid seismic zone showing plutons, the 

Blytheville arch, the Pascola arch, the Bootheel lineament, and epicenters of 

microearthquakes in the upper Mississippi Embayment........................................................................................... 4

3. Map showing proposed faults in New Madrid area................................................................................................... 5

4. Map of New Madrid region showing geographic and geomorphic features including relationship

of Mississippi River planform to the Lake County uplift.......................................................................................... 7

5. Mississippi River reaches 1-8.................................................................................................................................... 10

6. Sinuosity of 24 Mississippi River reaches................................................................................................................. 11

7. Projected-channel profile consisting of 1880 bankfull-water-surface elevation plotted against valley miles........... 11

8. Bankfull channel depth plotted against river mile for 1880 and 1903 surveys.......................................................... 13

9. Bankfull channel width plotted against river mile for 1880 and 1903 surveys.......................................................... 14

10. Channel width-to-depth ratio plotted against river mile for 1880 and 1903 surveys................................................. 15

11. Bankfull and medium stages of Mississippi River showing Lake County uplift....................................................... 16

12. Surveyed low-water profiles of Mississippi River..................................................................................................... 17

13. Slope of surveyed low-water profiles of Mississippi River....................................................................................... 18

14. Elevation of top of Tertiary sediments from borings on right bank and left bank in relation to

1962 and 1990 Mississippi River thalweg profiles.................................................................................................... 19

15. Index map of northern part of Crowleys Ridge from Castor River to Jonesboro showing general

drainage patterns and location of numbered topographic profiles............................................................................. 20

16. Topographic profiles 1-11, Crowleys Ridge.............................................................................................................. 21

17. Map showing anomalous courses of Black and St. Francis Rivers............................................................................ 22

III
IV CONTENTS

18. Map showing anomalous patterns of Black and Dan Rivers...................................................................................... 22

19. Map showing present course and old abandoned courses of St. Francis River.......................................................... 23

20. Map showing course of Little River and meander belt width as mapped in the 1870's............................................. 23

21. Location map showing drainage ditches, topographic anomalies, and braided-stream deposits in

	Catron area of Little River Drainage District............................................................................................................. 24

22. North-south surveyed profile of District 19, Ditch 1 North showing convexity in vicinity of Catron....................... 25

23. Surveyed profiles and linear best-fit lines of four north-south-trending ditches near Charter Oak and Canalou ...... 25

24. Topographic plot of northern Catron area, showing topographic depressions between Canalou and Charter Oak... 26

25. Physiography of Pemiscot County, Missouri.............................................................................................................. 27

26. Location map of geomorphic features and available ditch surveys, Wardell-Pascola area........................................ 29

27. Topographic plot of Wardell-Pascola area showing geomorphic features and course of Little River........................ 30

28. Profile of Ditch 251 and constructed parallel profiles to east, showing regional convexity....................................... 30

29. Map showing previously identified structures and anomalous geomorphic conditions along Mississippi River...... 31

30. Map showing probable structural trends in study area............................................................................................... 32
GEOMORPHIC EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION

IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE

NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

By Karin Fischer Boyd1 and Stanley A. Schumm1

ABSTRACT

In a geomorphic evaluation of the northern portion of 

the New Madrid seismic zone between Hickman, Ky., and 

Osceola, Ark., we have identified several locations where 

anomalous geomorphic conditions indicate possible surface 

deformation. For example, the slope, course, sinuosity, and 

dimensions of the Mississippi River have been affected by 

the Lake County uplift, and Tertiary-age sediments are 

exposed in its channel. Also, anomalous channel behavior 

near Caruthersville, Mo., and Barfield, Ark., suggests that 

these two reaches of the Mississippi River are structurally 

controlled. The Black River, northeast of Pocahontas, Ark., 

follows a peculiar angular course that suggests fracture control, and course changes of the Black, St. Francis, and Little 

Rivers may be tectonically controlled. The topography of 

Crowleys Ridge suggests that, between Jonesboro and Castor River, it is composed of at least three structural blocks 

that are bounded by northeast-trending faults.

By means of the geomorphic evaluation, we have identified anomalous surface features in the New Madrid seismic 

zone. Some can be directly linked to mapped structures in the 

region, whereas others may result from previously unidentified areas of surface deformation. The identification of these 

anomalies should provide direction for scientists who are 

employing subsurface techniques in order to locate tectonic 

deformation in the area.

INTRODUCTION

The New Madrid seismic zone is a region of great 

national concern due to the historic occurrence of severe 

earthquakes in the region. The identification of areas of 

active tectonism in the seismic zone primarily by 

geophysical techniques is ongoing. This study uses

Ayres Associates, P.O. Box 270460, Fort Collins, CO 80527.

geomorphic techniques in an attempt to identify areas of 

possible surface deformation. Other geomorphic studies 

related to the New Madrid seismic zone include identification of deformed river features near New Madrid (Russ, 

1982) and deformed terraces of streams in western Tennessee (Saucier, 1987).

The use of drainage patterns to identify geologic structures has been a common procedure utilized by geomorphologists and photogeologists. For example, a trellis pattern is 

characteristic of folded sedimentary rocks, and an angular 

pattern reflects joints or fault sets (Zernitz, 1932; Howard, 

1967). More recently, variations of single-channel sinuosity 

patterns have been used to identify variations of valley slope 

that can be attributed to deformation (Schumm, 1986; 

Schumm and others, 1987, p. 251-278). Hence, it appears 

likely that areas of deformation in and near the New Madrid 

seismic zone can be identified using channel and drainage-pattern criteria. Therefore, the primary objectives of this 

investigation are: (1) to identify anomalous reaches of the 

Mississippi River between Hickman, Ky., and Osceola, 

Ark., by comparison of river pattern, dimensions, gradient, 

bed profiles, and water-surface profiles through time, (2) to 

identify anomalous channel patterns on the alluvial plain of 

the Mississippi Embayment, (3) to identify topographic 

anomalies along surveyed drainage ditches and channels on 

the alluvial plain, (4) to relate anomalous reaches of the Mississippi River, alluvial-plain channels, drainage networks, 

and drainage ditches to either known geologic structures, 

previously unidentified geologic structures, or other factors, 

and (5) to determine if structural controls have influenced 

the topography of high areas such as Crowleys Ridge and 

Sikeston Ridge.

The area investigated is that portion of the Mississippi 

Embayment between Hickman, Ky., and Osceola, Ark., that 

lies west of the Mississippi River and includes the Mississippi River itself. Therefore, this investigation will include 

portions of the Mississippi River and its meander belt, the 

northern part of the St. Francis Basin, Crowleys Ridge, and 

the Western Lowlands (fig. 1). With the exception of

Rl
R2 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

Figure 1. Index map of alluvial valley of Mississippi River between Cairo, 111., and Helena, Ark. Numbers indicate Mississippi River reaches that have been identified between Cairo and Helena. Reaches 3-7 

are discussed in this report.
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R3

Crowleys Ridge and Sikeston Ridge, these areas are characterized by low relief and poor drainage, and, as a result, much 

of the area is drained by ditches.

BACKGROUND

The New Madrid seismic zone has been studied by 

numerous workers since the early 1970's, and, although the 

information presented here is well known, it is important to 

describe the major structural features of the study area so that 

subsequent geomorphic analyses can be related to known 

structural trends.

The major subsurface feature in the region is the Reelfoot rift (fig. 2), a prominent southwest-trending graben that 

extends at least from New Madrid, Mo., to southwest of the 

Tennessee-Mississippi border. The northeastern end of the 

rift is poorly defined because it merges with the Rough Creek 

graben and other basement structures in southern Illinois. 

Aeromagnetic data indicate that the rift is approximately 70 

km wide and more than 200 km long. Structural relief on the 

rift is about 1.6 to 2.6 km (Hildenbrand and others, 1982), 

and lower Paleozoic rocks are vertically offset about 1,000 m 

along the rift margins (Zoback and others, 1980).

The Pascola arch (fig. 2), a large, northwest-trending 

late Paleozoic and Mesozoic uplift, extends from the junction 

of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to northern Mississippi. 

Uplift began in late Paleozoic time and probably continued 

until Late Cretaceous time (McKeown, 1982). Schwalb 

(1982) shows the axis of the uplift crossing the Mississippi 

River in the central Missouri Bootheel. Recent studies 

(McKeown and others, 1990) show that the Pascola arch is 

part of a complex set of Paleozoic-age uplifts that are spatially associated with the Reelfoot rift.

McKeown and others (1990) conclude that a northeast-trending seismic belt is associated with the Blytheville 

arch, which follows the axis of the Reelfoot rift (fig. 2). They 

also indicate that the Blytheville and Pascola arches merge 

and that the resulting arch may be the result of diapirism that 

was initiated by tensional stress normal to the Reelfoot rift 

during the late Paleozoic. An isopach map of post-Tertiary 

alluvial deposits shows a marked thinning of alluvium of as 

much as 21 ft along the trend of the Blytheville arch (Obermeier, 1989, plate 7). However, there are no obvious soil patterns (Ferguson and Gray, 1971; Brown, 1971) that reflect a 

topographic high corresponding to the arch. This is either 

because a surface expression of the arch does not exist or 

younger Mississippi River deposits have obscured it.

Numerous small faults have been mapped within the rift 

(fig. 3). The rift axis is associated with a zone of northeast-trending faults that parallel the rift trend. The Cottonwood Grove fault, with a vertical displacement of 80 m, is 

one of several subparallel faults that follow this northeast 

trend (Zoback and others, 1980). O'Connell and others 

(1982) mapped the Ridgely fault, which is subparallel to the

Cottonwood Grove fault on the southeast side of a topographic high called Ridgely ridge. Ridgely ridge may reflect 

vertical offset on both the Cottonwood Grove and Ridgely 

faults (O'Connell, and others, 1982).

Because the Mississippi Embayment is presently under 

regional compressional stress and experiencing earthquakes, 

faults within the ancient Reelfoot rift are being activated 

(Zoback and others, 1980; Kolata and Nelson, 1991, p. 290; 

Heigold, 1991, p. 255). If the floor of the Reelfoot rift is at 

all comparable to the East African rift valley in Kenya, it is a 

very complexly faulted surface that could respond in different ways at different locations to stress (Walsh, 1966).

The U.S. Geological Survey has collected 240 km of 

high-resolution seismic reflection data from a boat in the 

Mississippi River through much of the New Madrid seismic 

zone (Crone and others, 1986). The seismic data for the river 

between river miles (RM) RM 850 and RM 839 are presented as three profiles that encompass the downstream limb 

of the Caruthersville Bend (fig. 3). The analysis of the data 

reveals many faults; however, none of the faults reach the 

surface. An obvious upwarp is present at about RM 842, on 

strike with the southwesterly projection of the Cottonwood 

Grove fault (fig. 3), which probably crossed the Mississippi 

River (Shedlock and Harding, 1982). The profiles indicate 

several faults with vertical offsets of 33 to 50 ft, which are 

associated with a broad arch with about 180 ft of relief on the 

Cretaceous reflector. At the apex of the bend upstream of 

Caruthersville, where the flow is to the south, the seismic 

reflections show a broad, complex, channel-like trough with 

about 30 ft of structural relief. It is in this area that subsidence occurred in 1811-12 (Penick, 1981, p. 39).

Hildenbrand and others (1982, 1992) utilized aeromagnetic data to delineate intrusive bodies in the region (fig. 2). 

The intrusions are located along rift-border and rift-axial 

faults, and they are thought to be composed of mafic rocks 

that were intruded hundreds of millions of years after the formation of the rift. The most recent period of intrusion was 

during Mesozoic time; no geophysical evidence exists that 

links the magmatic intrusions to surface deformation in the 

study area.

SEISMICITY

Seismicity trends in the New Madrid seismic zone delineate major fault trends and, locally, areas of surface deformation. Based upon the location of 741 earthquakes recorded 

between 1974 and 1978, Stauder (1982) defined the following pattern: (1) a major linear seismic trend about 120 km 

long extending northeastward from northeastern Arkansas 

past Caruthersville, Mo., (2) a seismic trend extending northeastward from just west of New Madrid, Mo., which is close 

to the western rift margin, and (3) between these two trends, 

a northwest trend of intense seismicity extending southeast 

from New Madrid, Mo. (fig. 2). This cross-rift seismic trend
R4 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

90°

37

35

25

I

50 KILOMETERS

Figure 2. Regional tectonic features of the New Madrid seismic zone showing plutons, the Blytheville arch, the Pascola 

arch, the Bootheel lineament, and epicenters of microearthquakes (crosses) in the upper Mississippi Embayment (modified 

from Luzietti and others, 1992).

crosses the Mississippi River about 7 mi downstream of the array for numerical data acquisition) and found planar contown of New Madrid. Zoback (1979) mapped numerous ver- centrations of earthquake hypocenters that suggest the prestical faults in this cross-rift trend. Chiu and others (1992) ana- ence of active faults in the seismic zone. The results indicate 

lyzed seismicity recorded by the PANDA array (portable vertical strike-slip faults on the northeast-treading seismic
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R5

Figure 3. Map showing proposed faults in New Madrid area. Dashed lines represent faults U, upthrown side; D, 

downthrown side. Arrows indicate relative motion. A short dash perpendicular to the line indicates the direction of dip 

(from O'Connell and others, 1982).
R6 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

trends and a southwest-dipping fault plane on the cross-rift 

seismic trend. The distribution of seismicity in the New 

Madrid region indicates the presence of two northeast-trending fault zones that are separated by a northwest-southeast-trending cross-rift zone (fig. 2).

SURFACE DEFORMATION

An understanding of the location, extent, and cause of 

tectonic deformation of the modern land surface in the New 

Madrid seismic zone is helpful to subsequent analyses of the 

geomorphic response of the Mississippi River and its tributaries to such features. The most comprehensive study of surface deformation in the New Madrid seismic zone was 

conducted by Russ (1982).

The Lake County uplift is the most prominent surficial 

expression of modern deformation in the New Madrid seismic zone (fig. 4). Russ (1982) constructed topographic profiles of natural levees and abandoned channels of the 

Mississippi River, as well as profiles across the Reelfoot 

scarp, and demonstrated that the uplift is of tectonic origin. 

The uplift forms an elongate topographic high that rises as 

much as 30 ft above the surrounding Mississippi River flood 

plain between Ridgely, Tenn., and just north of New Madrid, 

Mo., and it consists of two main centers, Tiptonville dome 

and Ridgely ridge (fig. 4).

Tiptonville dome is located near Tiptonville, Tenn., and 

it trends northwest-southeast. It is strongly asymmetric to the 

east, where its border coincides with the Reelfoot scarp (fig. 

4). The most significant surface deformation associated with 

faulting in the area is the Reelfoot scarp. Structures identified in exploratory trenches that cross the Reelfoot scarp 

indicate that it represents a monoclinal flexure formed by 

uplift of the adjacent Tiptonville dome (Russ, 1982; Zoback, 

1979; Kelson and others, 1992). These results are consistent 

with seismic reflection profiling, which display arched 

reflectors beneath the uplift (Hamilton and Zoback, 1982). 

Russ (1982) concluded that most of the deformation on the 

Tiptonville dome took place during the last 2,000 years. Furthermore, the uplift occurred primarily during at least three 

distinct earthquakes (two pre-1800, one during 1811-12). 

Kelson and others (1992) examined stratigraphic relations 

exposed in a trench across the Reelfoot scarp and, based 

upon radiocarbon dates of scarp-derived colluvial deposits, 

concluded that the penultimate event occurred between 1310 

and 1540 A.D., and a possible earlier event occurred prior to 

about 900 A.D.

Ridgely ridge, located near Ridgely, Tenn., trends 

northeast-southwest (fig. 4). It is bounded on its eastern and 

western margins by subparallel faults that have been 

mapped by seismic reflection (fig. 3). Although the relatively subdued topographic nature of Ridgely ridge suggests

that it is considerably older than the Tiptonville dome (Russ, 

1982), Chiu and others (1992) concluded that faulting in this 

area is active.

The Mississippi River flows along the eastern margin of 

the Lake County uplift from Island 8 to Island 10, at which 

point it flows onto the uplift and turns north toward New 

Madrid (fig. 4). The river flows off of the uplift at approximately Island 13. Levee profiles have an anomalously low 

slope where the river flows along the uplift margin (Russ, 

1982). Downstream of Island 11, both the flood-plain and 

levee profiles steepen sharply. Russ (1982) showed that a 

maximum of 2 m of uplift is recorded by the warped profiles. 

The post-1820 flood-plain profile steepens between Island 

11 and Tiptonville. This steepening of the recent landform 

may reflect recent, or perhaps ongoing, flood-plain deformation in that reach (Russ, 1982).

Little data have been collected that document surface 

faulting in the region. The most significant surface deformation associated with faulting in the area is the Reelfoot scarp, 

which displays more than 3 m of offset in Holocene alluvium 

on the eastern margin of the Lake County uplift. However, 

Schweig, Shen, and others (1992) and Schweig, Marple, and 

Li (1992) have identified a major lineament extending 135 

km from east of Marked Tree, Ark., to west of New Madrid, 

Mo. This feature, the Bootheel lineament, bisects the Missouri Bootheel and crosses both the northeast-trending seismic zone and the western margin of the Reelfoot rift (fig. 2). 

Although at some locations there is no topographic expression of the lineament, elsewhere it is a linear depression.

THE 1811-12 NEW MADRID EARTHQUAKES 

AND THEIR EFFECTS

Between December 16, 1811, and March 15, 1812, a 

total of 203 damaging earthquakes occurred in the New 

Madrid seismic zone. Between December 1811 and February 

1812, three earthquakes exceeded magnitude 8. The three 

major shocks occurred on December 16, 1811, January 23, 

1812, and February 7, 1812 (Fuller, 1912). Johnston (1982) 

estimated the magnitude of the first quake at 8.6. The damage from the first event extended over a radius of approximately 700 km from the epicenter. The epicenter of the first 

shock was probably located near Blytheville, Ark. (fig. 1) 

(Nuttli, 1982). A series of aftershocks, some damaging, followed the first event. The second major earthquake occurred 

on January 23, 1812. The magnitude of this event is estimated to be 8.4 (Johnston, 1982). The epicenter was probably located between Tiptonville, Tenn., and Portageville, 

Mo. (Nuttli, 1982, fig. 4). The last shock was the largest, 

occurring on February 7, 1812. Johnston (1982) assigned the 

earthquake a magnitude of 8.7. The epicentral location was 

near New Madrid, Mo., which was completely destroyed.
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R7

REELFOOT SCARP 

„ ., Ov >

§ t Reel foot 

Lake

EXPLANATION

Braided-stream surfaces 

Uplands

O Island

Topographic scarp

Limit of Lake County uplift

Physiographic boundary

Figure 4. Map of New Madrid region showing geographic and geomorphic features including relationship of Mississippi River planform to the Lake County uplift (from Russ, 1982).
R8 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

The effects of the New Madrid earthquakes on the Mississippi River have been described by several eyewitnesses 

because boat traffic on the river was heavy during the winter 

of 1811-12. Summaries of these accounts are contained in 

published documents by Fuller (1912) and Penick (1981). 

For example, in a letter dated February 18, 1812, J. Smith 

described how the river had "wholly changed" between New 

Madrid and Memphis. In this reach, the development of bars 

and lodging of snags created severe hazards to navigation 

(Penick, 1981).

There is a recurring description of two distinct "rapids" 

in the Mississippi River near New Madrid. Penick (1981) 

concludes that they formed during the February 7, 1812, 

quake with its epicenter near New Madrid. Fuller (1912, p. 

58) wrote, "Faulting, at least in the surficial deposits, was not 

a common nor a characteristic feature of the New Madrid 

earthquake, although it occurred at a number of points. Some 

of the faults crossed the Mississippi, causing rapids and even 

waterfalls." William Shaler, states that, a few miles above 

New Madrid, "he came to a most terrific fall, which, he 

thinks, was at least 6 ft perpendicular, extending across the 

river... Another fall was formed about 8 miles below the 

town, similar to the one above, the roaring of which he could 

distinctly hear at New Madrid. He waited five days for the 

fall to wear away" (Fuller, 1912, p. 58). Approximately 7 mi 

downstream of New Madrid, Russ (1982) demonstrated an 

oversteepening of the natural levee profile that indicates 

approximately 2 m (7 ft) of relative uplift.

Another consistently described effect of the earthquakes on the Mississippi River is extensive bank failure. 

Fuller (1912, p. 89) recorded the observations of the English 

naturalist Bradbury, who stated "immediately the perpendicular surfaces (banks) both above and below us, began to fall 

into the river in such vast masses as nearly to sink our boat 

by the swell they occasioned." Bank erosion was also 

described by Lloyd (Fuller, 1912, p. 89): "At times the 

waters of the Mississippi were seen to rise up like a wall in 

the middle of the stream and suddenly rolling back would 

beat against either bank with terrific force...during the various shocks the banks of the Mississippi caved in by whole 

acres at a time."

Eyewitness accounts of the event commonly include 

references to the river "running backward" during the first 

series of shocks. Penick (1981) attributed this phenomena to 

catastrophic bank failure and consequent generation of huge 

swells in the river. A rapid rise and fall of the river stage of 

between 1 and 4 m (3 and 14 ft) was described as well. Flow 

velocities of 5 to 8 mi/h (7 to 12 ft/s) were reported to have 

accompanied this change in stage (Penick, 1981). Fuller 

(1912, p. 90) quotes a statement that describes the heaving of 

the bottom of the Mississippi as "sufficient to turn back the 

waters." "A bursting of the earth just below the village of 

New Madrid arrested the mighty stream in its course." Large 

whirlpools, or "sucks," were reported in the vicinity of New 

Madrid on February 7, 1812. These features were probably

generated by sand blows in the bed of the river. As the bed 

was disturbed, tremendous numbers of trees that were buried 

by sand were dislodged and floated to the surface.

Numerous islands within the channel were repbrted to 

have sunk during the earthquakes. Fuller (1912, p. 10) writes 

of the December 16, 1811, earthquake in the following manner: "On the Mississippi, great waves were created, which 

overwhelmed many boats and washed others high upon the 

shore, the return current breaking off thousands of trees and 

carrying them out into the river. High banks caved and were 

precipitated into the river, sand bars and points of islands 

gave way, and whole islands disappeared."

Both uplift and relative subsidence occurred on the Mississippi River flood plain during the New Madrid earthquakes. Prior to the earthquakes, keelboats would access the 

Little River at Portageville, Mo. (fig. 4), from the Mississippi 

River through Portage Bayou. Passage through the bayou 

was impossible following the earthquakes due to extensive 

shallowing of the channel that was probably caused by massive bank failure or uplift on the western margin of the Lake 

County uplift. Russ (1982) suggested that this uplift may be 

associated with the development of a waterfall on the Mississippi River downstream of New Madrid.

One of the most striking effects of the 1811 and 1812 

earthquakes was the blockage of Reelfoot Creek and formation of Reelfoot Lake. The lake is located just east of the Tiptonville dome and Reelfoot scarp in northwestern Tennessee, 

and it occupies several abandoned channels of the Mississippi River, which were probably oxbow lakes at the time of 

the earthquakes (Russ, 1982). The formation of the lake suggests that Tiptonville dome was uplifted, blocking Reelfoot 

Creek, or the area where the lake presently exists subsided or 

was compacted during the event. A detailed tree-ring analysis of bald cypress trees in Reelfoot Lake show a major 

increase of growth rate between 1812 and 1819, suggesting 

that the Reelfoot basin was inundated during the winter of 

1811 and 1812 (VanArsdale and others, 1991; Stable and 

others, 1992).

Reelfoot Lake is the most well-known of the "sunklands" of the lower Mississippi Valley. Several other sunklands are present on the west side of the river along the St. 

Francis and Little Rivers. Although, in recently published literature, there is a general consensus on the origin of Reelfoot 

Lake, there is no such agreement as to the origin of the sunklands to the west. Development of Big Lake on the Right 

Hand chute of the Little River has been attributed to alluvial 

drowning over 1,000 years ago (Saucier, 1970) as well as to 

the earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 (King, 1978; Guccione, 

and others, 1988).

PROCEDURE

The data in this report represent a compilation of existing geologic and topographic information obtained from
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R9

various published and unpublished documents. Survey data, 

boring logs, channel and flood-plain cross sections, and 

dredge records, were obtained from the Memphis District 

Corps of Engineers. The Mississippi River Commission 

provided specific-gage plots, water-surface profiles, and 

historic channel-morphology data. River maps dated 1765, 

1820 to 1830, 1881 to 1893, and 1930 to 1932, and hydrographic surveys for 1880 and 1915 were used in the study. 

Early maps of the area were obtained from the National 

Archives in Washington, D.C., and the Little River Drainage District office in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Field observations of the study reach include those made by the authors in 

September 1991, as well as during a river trip made by 

Schumm in 1989, when bed sediments were sampled. 

Flood-plain maps of the study area were obtained directly 

from the Federal Emergency Management Agency 

(FEMA). Surveyed profiles of drainage ditches were 

obtained from the Little River Drainage District in Cape 

Girardeau, Mo., under the guidance of Mr. Larry Dowdy, 

Chief Engineer.

Aspects of Mississippi River geomorphology that are 

evaluated in this study include bankfull channel width, 

depth, area; bed and water-surface profiles; and 

specific-gage plots. These data were provided by the Mississippi River Commission, Vicksburg, Miss. Morphologic 

data from 1821 and 1874 were retrieved from a report by 

Major Suter (1878). The 1821 data have been checked on 

original surveys and are found to be consistent. The 1874 

survey was found to be less consistent, and it was not used in 

the analysis. The 1880 data are derived from a complete 

channel survey of the Memphis and Vicksburg Districts of 

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers carried out in 1877-83. 

The source of the 1913-15 data are hydrographic-survey 

compilation books produced by the Vicksburg and Memphis 

Districts. The 1949 data were obtained from published maps 

of the hydrographic survey.

More recent surveys were obtained from the Mississippi River Commission. Morphometric data were derived 

from these surveys where possible, but these surveys do not 

extend to the top of the river bank, so calculation of the bankfull morphology is impossible. During 13 years after 1929 a 

program of meander cutoffs was undertaken in order to 

reduce flood peaks. As a result, 16 cutoffs reduced river 

length by 152 mi. The data that reflect post-cutoff program 

river conditions (post-1930) were only utilized for 

water-surface and thalweg profiles. Data on dredging and 

repeat surveys of benchmarks were obtained from the Memphis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Maps of the Little River Drainage District prepared in 

1924 that contain surveyed profiles of planned and existing 

drainage ditch routes were provided by the Little River Drainage District, and they were subsequently utilized to search for 

possible surface deformation on the Little River flood plain. 

These data were compiled into an X, Y, Z database so that 

detailed topographic plots and profiles could be generated.

The geomorphic analysis consisted primarily of a compilation of existing data and a search for trends and anomalies on aerial photographs, topographic maps, and soil maps. 

The majority of data obtained from external sources were 

compiled and plotted by river mile or valley mile to determine lateral trends and anomalies. River miles (RM) are 

measured along the course of the river, which includes all of 

the meanders. Valley miles are measured in a straight line 

that parallels the course of the river. The geomorphic analysis of the Mississippi River is based primarily upon data provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in English units, 

which is the common usage for navigation and flood-control 

purposes, and these units of feet and miles have been used in 

this report. Additional field work, which would be required 

to determine if the anomalies identified using existing data 

were caused by surface deformation or other natural or 

human factors, was prevented by available time (1-year 

project) and funding.

GEOMORPHOLOGY OF THE 

MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Alluvial rivers, even great rivers such as the Mississippi, respond to hydrologic and geologic controls. Experimental studies have demonstrated that variations of valley 

gradient can significantly alter channel morphology 

(Schumm and others, 1987). For example, field investigations of the effect of active uplift on streams show that, as the 

stream approaches the axis of uplift, the valley-floor slope 

decreases, but once over the axis, the valley-floor slope 

steepens. In order to adjust to these slope changes, the river 

can alter its sinuosity. Hence, a moderately sinuous river will 

straighten on the reduced valley slope and become more sinuous on the steeper valley slope. In this way, the river 

attempts to maintain a constant gradient on a surface that 

changes slope (Schumm 1986; Schumm and others, 1987). 

Therefore, changes of river pattern can be the first clue that 

active or past tectonics has affected the area of pattern 

change. Of course, if more resistant rocks or coarser sediment appears in the channel on the crest of a structure, the 

river will also show the effects of these non-alluvial materials as it would to variations of flood-plain materials, such as 

clay plugs in cutoff meanders.

RIVER REACHES AND 

CHANNEL PLANFORM

Based upon the evaluation of early (pre-cutoff program) maps and profiles of the Mississippi River between 

Cairo, 111. and Old River, La., Schumm and others (1994) 

divided the river into 24 reaches, of which 5, Reaches 3-7, 

are located within the area of this investigation (fig. 5A, 55).
RIO INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

RM877 

South boundary 

Lake County uplift

RM870

89~°30' 36°15' 

RM 860 \/

Figure 5 (above and facing column). Mississippi River reaches 

(from Schumm and others, 1994). RM, river mile (see text). A, 

Reaches 1-4. B, Reaches 5-8.

These reach descriptions and divisions are based upon 

pre-cutoff program (pre-1930) channel morphology. Individual reaches are characterized by different morphological 

characteristics and behavior, including channel-pattern differences, magnitude of pattern change through time (fig. 6), 

and changes of projected-channel slope, which in this case is 

the water-surface elevation plotted against valley distance 

(fig. 7).

Reach 3 extends from Hickman, Ky., to river mile (RM) 

890, just upstream of New Madrid, Mo. (fig. 5A). Historically, this has been a sinuous and active reach, in which the 

river flows in a southwestward direction, away from the eastern bluff line of the valley. The Island 10 bend (RM 902 to 

897) is cutting into the Tiptonville dome (fig. 4); the left 

bank is high as a result. The bend is presently revetted and is 

consequently unlikely to cut off in the near future. The New 

Madrid bend is effectively wedged between Tiptonville 

dome to the south and Sikeston Ridge to the north (fig. 4).

MISSOURI RM 830

89°45'

Sinuosity of the reach has been relatively high since 1765, 

and it has been increasing (fig. 6). The projected-channel 

profile is relatively steep (fig. 7) as compared to upstream 

Reaches 1 and 2.

Tertiary-age sediments are evidently exposed within the 

bed of Reach 3 under certain flow conditions; these units 

probably retard degradation. For example, clay was sampled 

from the bed of the channel near RM 919 in 1932, and, in 

1989, clay was sampled from the bed at RM 896.7, close to 

the location of a possible fault crossing (figs. 3 and 5A). A 

gravel dredge encountered "tight clay" at New Madrid.
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

4-0 1 — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — I — i — i — i — i — | — i — i — i — i — I — i — i — i — | — | — i — i — i — i — I — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — I — i — i — i

R 1 1

3.5

3.0

2.5

CO

O 2.0

13

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

19

EXPLANATION

--A---A-- 1765 Survey

-*—+— 1821 Survey

-0--0— 1880 Survey 

....Q......Q. 1915 Survey

23

i i i i i i

100 200 300 

VALLEY MILES BELOW CAIRO, ILLINOIS

400 500

Figure 6. Sinuosity of 24 numbered Mississippi River reaches (from Schumm and others, 1994). Reaches 3 through 7 were included 

in this study. Sinuosity is defined as the ratio of channel length to valley length. When sinuosity equals 1, the channel is straight. See text 

for definition of valley miles.

350

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

50 100 150 200 250 300 

VALLEY MILES FROM CAIRO, ILLINOIS

350 400 450 500

Figure 7.

and others,

Projected-channel profile, consisting of 1880 bankfull-water-surface elevation plotted against valley miles (from Schumm 

1994). Reaches 3 through 7 (numbers on profile) were included in this study. See text for definition of valley miles.
R12 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

Reach 4 extends from New Madrid, Mo., to just downstream of Caruthersville, Mo. (fig. 5A). The projected-channel slope of Reach 4 is relatively steep, as a result of being 

located on the down-valley side of the Lake County uplift. It 

is striking, however, that Reaches 3 and 4 of the projected-channel profile do not depict the shape of the Lake 

County uplift because Russ (1982) showed a distinct upward 

convexity of the natural levees and flood plain. The convexity is not observed on figure 7 because the reach boundary at 

New Madrid coincides with a relatively low water-surface 

elevation on the margin of the Lake County uplift (see fig. 

11). This reach has historically been actively meandering, 

and meanders increase in amplitude in a downstream direction. At the upstream end of this reach, near New Madrid, the 

river is eroding into Pleistocene-age alluvium of Sikeston 

Ridge. A fault has been mapped just downstream, at approximately RM 882 (O'Connell and others, 1982, fig. 3). Farther downstream, the Caruthersville bend appears 

compressed. That is, the downstream limb apparently is stable and fixed in position, or Caruthersville could not have 

persisted at its present location. This suggests that the bend 

is affected by a geologic control. The southwest-trending 

Cottonwood Grove and Ridgely faults may cross the river 

below Caruthersville, and Crone and Brockman (1982) suggest that the graben to the west of Ridgely ridge crosses the 

river at Caruthersville (fig. 3). A dredge operator reported 

that "large rocks" were being dredged at about RM 844, 

which may reflect exposure of Pleistocene-age gravels in the 

bed at that location.

Reach 5 extends from Caruthersville, Mo., to Island 21 

at RM 826 (fig. 55). It has remained remarkably straight 

through time (fig. 6). The projected-channel slope is relatively low (fig. 7). This reach may have been aggradational, 

as reflected by the presence of numerous islands and bars on 

the 1880 map (Schumm and others, 1994).

Reach 6 consists primarily of the Barfield bends (fig. 

55). The projected-channel slope is steep. Sinuosity has varied greatly through time (fig. 6). Heyl and McKeown (1978) 

suggest that a fault crosses the river just below the boundary 

between Reach 5 and Reach 6. This may be the cause of the 

flatness of Reach 5 and the steepness of Reach 6. Reach 7 

extends from Island 25 to the downstream study limit at 

Osceola, Ark. (fig. 55). This reach has been straight and stable. The projected-channel profile is relatively flat (fig. 7).

In summary, the pattern and slope of the Mississippi 

River between Hickman, Ky., and Osceola, Ark., is highly 

variable. The projected-channel slope data suggest that the 

river is affected by the Lake County uplift and perhaps by 

other faults and lithologic controls.

CHANNEL DIMENSIONS

The sinuosity and projected-channel profile reveal 

marked differences in Mississippi River reach characteristics

(figs. 6 and 7), and it is logical to assume that similar variations in channel width, depth, and shape (width-depth ratio) 

occur. Abundant channel-dimension data exist because the 

Corps of Engineers hydrographic surveys include cross sections that are surveyed every one-fifth of a mile. In order to 

evaluate both spatial and temporal trends of Mississippi 

River channel morphology, cross-section dimensions 

(width, depth, and area) were retrieved from available survey 

documents, and the data were plotted against river mile. 

Channel-dimension data are presented in English units, 

which is the unit system utilized by the Corps of Engineers.

Bankfull channel depth approximates the elevation difference between the top of bank and the deepest point in the 

channel (thalweg) at a given river cross section (fig. 8). 

Between Hickman, Ky., and Osceola, Ark. (fig. 1), bankfull 

depth is quite variable, which probably reflects natural 

changes in bed elevation. However, between RM 870 and 

RM 900, the bankfull depth is generally low relative to the 

remainder of the study reach. This reach of river roughly 

coincides with the Lake County uplift, as delineated by Russ 

(1982), who identified convexities in natural-levee and 

flood-plain profiles over the uplift. His profiles suggest 

relatively recent deformation of the channel margin. The 

presence of relatively low bankfull depths directly over the 

uplift suggests that they are related to that deformation. If the 

depth reduction was caused by aggradation that caused pool 

infilling, the conveyance losses through the reach would 

make the area prone to flooding. The New Madrid County 

flood insurance rate map (Federal Emergency Management 

Agency, 1990) shows that the area is not especially flood 

prone, suggesting that the river has maintained overall flow 

conveyance over the uplift. Additional channel responses 

that would maintain conveyance with a reduction in channel 

depth include an increase of flow velocity over the structure 

or an increase of channel width. The hydraulic models of the 

Mississippi River obtained for this study did not contain sufficient detail to determine variations in average flow velocity 

over the structure. However, bankfull width appears to have 

increased (fig. 9).

Measurements of bankfull width approximate the maximum channel width within the bounding flood plain. Figure 

9 shows a reach of anomalously large bankfull width 

between RM 870 and RM 900, which roughly coincides with 

the previously discussed reach of relatively low channel 

depth (fig. 8). This change in overall channel shape between 

RM 870 and RM 890 is apparent on the width-to-depth ratio 

plot (fig. 10). Thus, channel conveyance has been maintained over the uplift by channel widening. Within this 

reach, near RM 880, a fault has been postulated that crosses 

the river (fig. 3), and a "rapid" was described following the 

1812 earthquakes (Penick, 1981). This fault, proposed by 

O'Connell and others (1982), has not been confirmed by any 

subsequent studies. A second reach of wide channel, located 

near Island 21 (RM 830), may be associated with a proposed 

fault (Heyl and McKeown, 1978) that crosses the river just
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R13

60

50

S 40

30

20

EXPLANATION

————— 1880 Survey

------ 1903 Survey

780 800 820 840 860 

RIVER MILE

880 900

Figure 8. Bankfull channel depth plotted against river mile for 1880 and 1903 surveys. See text for definition of river mile.

920

below the boundary between Reach 5 and Reach 6. A third 

wide reach between Osceola, Ark., and Barfield, Mo., is not 

related to any presently known structure.

O'Connell and others (1982) identified an 

east-west-trending fault that passes beneath the channel at 

approximately RM 882, where an anomalously wide channel segment occurs. This fault, which was identified using 

limited subsurface seismic data, has not been demonstrated 

to extend to the ground surface, and subsequent studies 

have not confirmed the presence of a surface fault at this 

location. However, Chiu and others (1992) described a 

southwest-dipping thrust fault in the cross-rift seismic trend 

that passes beneath the river at this location. Although the 

fault is considered to be active, its point of emergence on 

the land surface is unknown. In 1812, eyewitnesses identified a "waterfall" in this same area, suggesting that there 

was vertical bed displacement. Fissuring and bank failure 

associated with the February 7, 1812, earthquake was 

probably intense at this location.

Destabilization of sandy bank strata by the seismic 

activity probably caused locally rapid channel migration at 

this location in 1812. This is supported by the presence of 

"sinks" in the vicinity of New Madrid, Mo. Fuller (1912) 

wrote "where the semifluid quicksand out-cropped in a

near-by riverbank, as is the case at New Madrid, there is a 

possibility of undermining through the flowage of the quicksand toward the stream." Because this area of wide channel 

is located in the vicinity of one of the waterfalls described 

following the earthquake, it is also possible that the turbulence associated with bed offset may have resulted in extensive local bank failure and channel widening at the time of 

the earthquakes, which was followed by continued erosion 

due to the relative incompetence of the bank strata. Planform 

maps indicate that the area has been characterized by relatively rapid channel migration. The exposure of resistant 

sediments in the channel bed due to uplift at this location 

may also account for an anomalously wide and shallow 

channel; however, there are no known dredging accounts to 

support this assertion.

Although it is not possible to confirm a link between the 

1811-12 earthquakes and channel morphology near New 

Madrid, Mo., the Mississippi River channel-dimension data 

indicate that locations of intense seismic activity during 

1812, as well as recent seismicity in the cross-rift seismic 

trend, are associated with reaches of anomalous channel 

morphology that are expressed by shallower depths and 

greater widths and width-to-depth ratios.
R14 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

10,000 _

8,000 -

5 6,000

4,000

2,000

780 800 820 840 860 

RIVER MILE

880 900 920

Figure 9. Bankfull channel width plotted against river mile for 1880 and 1903 surveys. See text for definition of river mile.

WATER-SURFACE PROFILES

The attempt to relate channel-bed profiles to structural 

elements on a large river such as the Mississippi can be 

extremely difficult due to large natural variations in pool and 

crossing elevations both spatially and through time. In contrast, water-surface profiles provide relatively smooth reference planes that broadly reflect both channel geometry and 

slope during a given time frame. However, water-surface 

profiles tend to obscure the effects of minor features in the 

channel bed and of channel geometry, and, therefore, they 

provide information only on larger scale features.

In order to maintain a database regarding low flow conditions for navigation purposes, the U.S. Army Corps of 

Engineers surveys the water surface every few years. Bankfull and medium stages were obtained from surveys dated 

1880 and 1915 from Columbus, Ky., to Caruthersville, Mo. 

(fig. 11). The profiles show a distinct profile convexity at 

both bankfull and medium stage relative to linear best-fit 

lines in 1880 and 1915. This convexity extends from approximately RM 870 to RM 910, which coincides with the Lake 

County uplift. As noted previously, the projected-channel 

profile (fig. 7) does not show convexity over the Lake 

County uplift in Reaches 3 and 4 at bankfull flow conditions.

The bankfull water-surface profile of figure 11 explains the 

lack of a convexity on figure 7; the boundary between Reach 

3 and Reach 4 is located at New Madrid, Mo., which is on 

the uplift margin and displays a relatively low bankfull water 

surface elevation (fig. 11). Consequently, bankfull 

water-surface elevations taken at Hickman, Ky., New 

Madrid, Mo., and Caruthersville, Mo., yield a relatively linear projected-channel profile over the uplift.

Surveyed low-water profiles for 1880, 1976, and 1988, 

which reflect average bed configuration, reveal that the more 

recent low-water profiles are below the 1880 profile, which 

suggests that the river has degraded (fig. 12). River degradation has occurred due to several factors, including the reduction of sediment loads by dam construction, the 

emplacement of dike fields, dredging, and the effects of 

downstream cutoffs; however, the profiles were all surveyed 

under different flow conditions, which are unknown. It is, 

therefore, impossible to quantify river degradation through 

time from these profiles.

The broad low water convexity between Hickman, Ky., 

(RM 920) and Caruthersville, Mo., which is present in the 

1880 profile, is not present on the 1976 and 1988 profiles, 

which, in contrast, have a distinct stepped appearance (fig. 

12). The steepest section of the recent water-surface profiles
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R15

500

400

300

200 —

100 —

i i i

0

780

7 i r \ i r i i r i r \

EXPLANATION

————— 1880 Survey

- - - - 1903 Survey

Lake County 

uplift

800 820 840 860 

RIVER MILE

880 900 920

Figure 10. Channel width-to-depth ratio plotted against river mile for 1880 and 1903 surveys. See text for definition of river mile.

(1976 and 1988) is located just downstream of New Madrid, 

Mo., at about RM 888 (figs. 12 and 13). At this location, the 

1988 profile shows a water-surface drop of approximately 4 

ft over approximately 2 mi. This very steep water surface 

may reflect the exhumation of a fault scarp in the Mississippi River channel. The steep channel section is located 

approximately 5 mi upstream of a fault mapped by O'Connell and others (1982) (fig. 3), where a waterfall formed following the February 7, 1812, earthquake according to 

eyewitness accounts (Johnston, 1982). It is also located in 

the vicinity of the active cross-rift thrust fault described by 

Chiu and others (1992).

Any vertical offset of the channel bed during the earthquake would have generated turbulence and bank erosion, 

but the fault scarp would have been eroded rapidly, and eyewitness accounts indicate that the rapids were short-lived. 

The eroded scarp probably persisted as an anomalously steep 

channel section that lengthened and flattened through time. 

Subsequent erosion of the bed would cause upstream migration of the steep channel section. Although the vertical exaggeration of figure 12 produces abrupt scarp-like features, the 

steep sections extend over several miles of channel.

The water-surf ace profiles and the historical accounts 

suggest that, during the 1812 event, vertical offset on the

cross-rift trend resulted in uplift of the New Madrid bend on 

the northern portion of the Lake County uplift. This uplift 

produced convex water-surface profiles over the structure. 

Since the earthquake, the river has eroded its bed upstream 

from the original location of the fault (RM 883) to approximately RM 888, and, consequently, it has reduced the convexity. As the nickpoint continues to migrate upstream, bed 

erosion will continue. The most serious erosion will take 

place on the uplift itself. Upstream of the uplift, the net 

amount of erosion should decrease as incision crosses the 

crest of the uplift. It is unlikely that any degradation will 

occur upstream of RM 910 as a direct result of the tectonic 

activity in the region.

A second point of slight water-surface steepening near 

RM 870 (figs. 12 and 13) occurs where the Mississippi flows 

off of the Lake County uplift (Russ, 1982). No fault has been 

mapped at this location to date; however, the water-surface 

profiles suggest that the western margin of the Lake County 

uplift may be bound by a fault or monoclinal fold. A large 

clay plug intersects the channel at this location (the Tiptonville meander; Russ, 1982); therefore, the steep water surface may be due to resistant clay, which limits bed 

degradation and constitutes a local high in the channel at that 

location. It is also quite possible that Tertiary-age sediments
R16 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i—i

EXPLANATION

1880 Survey 

1915 Survey

Lake County 

uplift

840 860 880 900 

RIVER MILE

920 940

Figure 11. Bankfull and medium stages of Mississippi River and location of Lake County uplift as defined by Russ (1982). See text for 

definition of river mile.

are exposed in the channel at this location. Relatively high 

water-surface slopes at Caruthersville, Mo., (RM 848) are 

probably also the result of lithologic controls by a clay plug 

and possibly by the presence of Tertiary-age sediments. 

Other localities of steep water-surface slopes include RM 

820, on the upstream end of the Barfield bends, and at RM 

79, near Osceola.

In summary, the water-surface profiles suggest that the 

river is responding to 1811-12 uplift at the New Madrid 

bend by eroding its bed over the uplift. Bankfull channel 

morphology reflects the pattern of the entire Lake County 

uplift, but low-flow morphology appears to be more affected 

by local structures. Steep low-water profiles are due either to 

fault rupture of the channel bed or lithologic controls. Where 

lithologic controls are Tertiary-age sediments, they may 

reflect underlying structures, such as at Caruthersville, Mo., 

where the axes of the Pascola arch and the Cottonwood 

Grove fault cross the river.

LEVEE BORING LOGS

To evaluate the potential for bedrock controls on channel morphology within the study reach, levee boring logs 

were obtained from the Memphis District, Corps of Engineers. The boring logs were of holes drilled to the contact 

between the base of Quaternary alluvium and the top of Tertiary-age sediments. This contact marks a dramatic change 

because the Tertiary units are partially lithified and dense, as 

compared to the relatively unconsolidated overlying alluvial 

deposits. These Tertiary-age units are consequently capable 

of affecting the river where they intersect the channel 

because they are more difficult to erode.

At most locations, the upper surface of Tertiary-age 

sediments is located well below the thalweg elevation of the 

Mississippi River, although there are a few notable exceptions (fig. 14). Downstream of Caruthersville, Mo., the 

Tertiary units are generally well below the bed of the
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R17

300

275

-„ 250

225

200

n i i i i r

EXPLANATION

— 1976 Low-water profile 

1988 Low-water profile

780 800 820 840 860 

RIVER MILE

880 900 920

Figure 12. Surveyed low-water profiles of Mississippi River. See text for definition of river mile.

channel. Near Caruthersville and Hickman, Ky., the Tertiary 

units are very close to, and probably intersect, the channel 

bed. Because the borings were obtained for levee seepage 

studies, they do not represent mid-channel conditions; at 

best, they are located at topbank, but commonly the levees 

are set back from the channel and so are the borings. Therefore, the river-bed profile and the boring sites are offset. 

Where the levee closely borders the channel, the information 

is the most reliable—the elevation of the top of the Tertiary 

units may vary by as much as 12 ft/mi.

One such case where the levee closely borders the channel is on the right (west) bank at Caruthersville, Mo. Just 

upstream of Caruthersville at RM 849, Tertiary units appear 

to have been exposed in the bed of the channel in 1962 (fig. 

14). This bend has remained extremely stable through time 

relative to the rest of the study reach; it is likely that the presence of a clay plug in the channel bank and Tertiary rocks in 

the channel bed have limited rates of lateral adjustment of

the channel at this location. The exposure of Tertiary units in 

the bed of the Mississippi River near Caruthersville occurs 

on the crest of the Pascola arch, which trends northwest near 

Caruthersville (fig. 2). The correspondence between the relatively shallow Tertiary units and the axis of the Pascola arch 

implies that the structure was active during Quaternary time. 

No structural evidence has been documented to indicate Tertiary deformation of the Pascola arch. Caruthersville also lies 

on the western margin of the Blytheville arch and the northeast-trending axial seismic trend (fig. 2).

Few borings were available between Caruthersville and 

New Madrid, Mo. (fig. 14). Where available, however, the 

top of the Tertiary sediments is relatively close to the channel bed. A distinct high is present on the Tertiary surface 

near RM 870. This reach is characterized by an anomalously 

steep section in the water surface profiles (figs. 12 and 13), 

where the river flows off of the Lake County uplift. This 

location marks the approximate intersection between the
R18 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

4.00

3.00

O 2.00

1.00

0.00

\ i r \\ i i i i

EXPLANATION

----- 1976 Survey

———— 1988 Survey

i i i

780 800 820 840 860 880 900 920

RIVER MILE

Figure 13. Slope of surveyed low-water profiles of Mississippi River. See text for definition of river mile.

northeast-trending axial seismic trend and the northwesttrending cross-rift seismic trend (fig. 2). With the available 

data, it is impossible to pinpoint exact locations of Tertiary 

sediments in the river; it is likely, however, that they provide 

some element of vertical control to the bed around RM 870. 

A third location of possible geologic control by Tertiary 

units is near Hickman, Ky. (fig. 14). At this location, the top 

of the Tertiary slopes from right bank to left bank (approximately north-south). This may affect the river planform in 

the Hickman area, and the southward migration of the river 

near Hickman toward the bluff line may be in part due to the 

local configuration of the Tertiary erosional surface. In addition, water-surface profiles upstream of Hickman have 

remained relatively constant through time; this consistency 

may be related to vertical stabilization of the bed by exposure of relatively resistant Tertiary units during high flows, 

when the bed is generally scoured.

SUMMARY

Locations within the Mississippi River study reach that 

display anomalous geomorphic features should be considered as potentially affected by tectonism. The first and most

prominent of these locations is the New Madrid bend. Within 

this reach, the river flows over the Lake County uplift. The 

downstream limb of the New Madrid bend near RM 880 is 

anomalously wide and shallow and has migrated eastward at 

a relatively rapid rate. Eyewitnesses described a rapid near 

RM 880 in 1812 (Johnston, 1982); other researchers have 

mapped an active east-west-trending fault beneath the river 

in this vicinity based on seismic data (O'Connell and others, 

1982; Chiu and others, 1992), although the surface location 

of any such fault has not been decisively determined. The 

anomalous channel behavior in this reach may be related to 

displacement of the channel bed during the 1812 event. A 

steep water-surface profile a few miles upstream may reflect 

the upstream migration of the nick point following bed displacement (fig. 12). The upper contact of the more resistant 

Tertiary-age units is relatively close to the channel bed in 

this area, and this may play a role in controlling channel 

dynamics in the reach (fig. 14). Farther downstream, near 

RM 870 on the downstream margin of the Lake County 

uplift, additional faulting or folding is suggested by a steep 

low-water profile (figs. 12 and 13).

The Caruthersville bend is strongly affected by the 

presence of a clay plug on the western channel margin, and
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R19

400

300

2

200

100

EXPLANATION

——— 1990 Thalweg 

1962Thalweg 

Top Tertiary TRB 

Top Tertiary TLB

O

D D

DDQ

i i i

800 820 840 860 880 

RIVER MILE

900 920 940

Figure 14. Elevation of top of Tertiary sediments from borings on right bank (TRB) and left bank (TLB) in relation to 1962 and 1990 

Mississippi River thalweg profiles. See text for definition of river mile.

apparently Tertiary units are exposed in the channel bed (fig. 

14). The bend lies along the crest of the Pascola arch and 

margin of the Blytheville arch; however, there is no conclusive structural evidence to suggest that uppermost Tertiary 

rocks are deformed at Caruthersville. As noted earlier, there 

is a marked 50-ft thinning of alluvium at the western end of 

the Caruthersville bend (Obermeier, 1989, plate 7). This Tertiary high extends from the Caruthersville bend to the southwest, and it coincides with the Blytheville arch (fig. 2). At 

Caruthersville, the exposure of Tertiary units in the bed has 

probably maintained the bed elevation.

The abrupt steepening of the projected-channel profile 

at the boundary between Reach 5 and Reach 6 (RM 826; figs. 

5B and 7) and the compensating increase of sinuosity (fig. 6) 

and channel width-to-depth ratio, marks a dramatic change 

between Reaches 5 and 6. Reach 6 is laterally active and sinuous relative to Reaches 5 and 7. The reach has an anomalously steep projected-channel profile and a locally 

steepened water-surface profile at RM 820. A fault crossing 

has been proposed within the reach at RM 819 (Heyl and 

McKeown, 1978).

Similar changes of projected-channel slope and stream 

pattern occur at the Reach 7 and Reach 8 boundary (figs. 55,

6, and 7) just north of Osceola, Ark. (RM 791). The significant changes of Mississippi River character suggest that an 

external influence has modified the channel. No faulting has 

been detected, but the river encounters Tertiary-age 

sediments in the Chickasaw Bluffs (fig. 55), and this "bedrock" may be the controlling factor in this reach.

GEOMORPHOLOGY OF THE 

WESTERN ALLUVIAL VALLEY

If the Mississippi River responds to tectonically altered 

flood-plain slopes, then smaller rivers on the adjacent flood 

plain should also respond in a similar fashion—this was 

demonstrated for several streams crossing the Monroe uplift 

in Louisiana and the Wiggins uplift in Mississippi (Burnett 

and Schumm, 1983). However, any interpretation of anomalous river patterns and behavior must consider the influence 

of Pleistocene sedimentary deposits as well as old courses 

and deposits of the Mississippi River and human influences. 

Therefore, the several anomalous situations that are 

discussed below require further study before a tectonic cause 

can be confirmed.
R20 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

rx/o Brookland 

J ^Jonesboro Junction 0 10 MILES 

J

Figure 15. Index map of northern part of Crowleys Ridge, from 

the Castor River, in Missouri, to Jonesboro, Ark., showing general 

drainage patterns and location of numbered topographic profiles.

RIDGES

Erosional processes such as mass wasting, weathering 

and fluvial erosion tend to leave irregular topographic patterns. Therefore, when linear features are observed, an 

assumption that there is a lithologic or structural control is a 

reasonable conclusion. Two major topographic features 

dominate the very flat Mississippi River alluvial valley. 

Sikeston Ridge trends north from New Madrid, Mo., and 

Crowleys Ridge forms a divide in the western part of the 

alluvial valley from Helena, Ark., almost to Cape Girardeau, 

Mo. (fig. 1).

Sikeston Ridge rises 20 ft above the adjacent alluvial 

plain. The southern end is irregular with crescentic scars, 

which are a result of Mississippi River erosion. From its 

southern end, Sikeston Ridge narrows from about 1.2 mi to 

0.5 mi to the north for 12 mi and then maintains a width of 

21/a mi for an additional 11 mi. The east and west margins of 

the ridge are very straight, which suggests a structural control (Sikeston, New Madrid, and Bayouville TVa-minute 

topographic quadrangles). Sikeston Ridge is generally

concluded to be formed by erosion by braided streams (Russ, 

1982, p. 99), but even braided streams would be expected to 

develop more irregular margins of the ridge. Hamilton and 

Zoback (1982, p. 61) identified a seismic reflection profile 

discontinuity where their profile S-ll crosses the western 

edge of Sikeston Ridge, which suggests that additional ;geophysical work along Sikeston Ridge is warranted.

Crowleys Ridge (figs. 1 and 15) has been attributed to 

Pleistocene deposition and erosion, but examination of the 

drainage patterns and relief variations along Crowleys Ridge 

strongly suggests that it also has major structural controls 

(Fisk, 1944, fig. 6). Cox (1988a) recognized that the character of Crowleys Ridge changes abruptly south of Jonesboro, 

Ark., where the Bolivar-Mansfield tectonic zone crosses it 

(Cox, 1988b). He notes that the ridge north of lat 35°45' N. 

is asymmetrical and steeper on the west side, which suggests 

east-southeast tilting. Cox (1988a) suggests that Crowleys 

Ridge north and south of lat 35°45' N. is composed of two 

separate structural blocks. In support of these ideas, seismic 

reflection lines that cross the margin of Crowleys Ridge at 

the northern end of the southern segment and in the latitude 

of Jonesboro reveal faulting of Paleozoic and Eocene rocks 

at the ridge margin, especially south and west of Jonesboro 

(Nelson and Zhang, 1991; VanArsdale and others, 1992).

The studies by Cox (1988a, 1988b) and VanArsdale 

and others (1992) suggest that Crowleys Ridge near Jonesboro, Ark., is fault controlled. The morphology of the ridge 

to the north, as described above, suggests that this structural 

control extends to its northernmost extent. The drainage 

pattern on Crowleys Ridge and a series of topographic profiles that show general topographic characteristics support 

this contention (fig. 16). For example, streams that drain 

Crowleys Ridge directly north of Jonesboro approximately 

parallel the trend of the ridge. They appear to have developed 

along zones of weakness that have separated the ridge into 

three distinct structural units. Profiles 1 and 2 (fig. 16) cross 

Crowleys Ridge in this area, and they suggest that it is composed of three fault blocks that dip to the east. Each segment 

has a relatively steep west-facing escarpment. Erosional 

modification of the ridge has made these relations less 

obvious on profile 2, and, in fact, the three segments of the 

ridge may reflect stream incision shifting to the east.

Crowleys Ridge from south of Paragould to Rector, 

Ark. (fig. 15), has a scarp that faces west and a drainage 

divide that is on the western side of the ridge, which suggests 

that this segment of the ridge may be an east-dipping fault 

block (fig. 16). For example, profiles 3, 5, and 6 (fig. 16) 

have a scarp on the west side of the ridge and a less well 

defined margin to the east. Profile 4 has a similar asymmetric 

shape, but the eastern edge of the ridge is better defined than 

in profile 3.

From Rector, Ark., to the water gap of the St. Francis 

River (fig. 15), the drainage divide is in the center of the 

ridge. Note also that the eastern and western margins of the 

ridge are both abrupt slopes, which may be evidence of
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R21

(1) BOND (West) TO BROOKLAN (East)

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

Big and Mud 

Creeks

Lost 

Creek

LWest

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000

(7) TIPPERARY (NW) TO RECTOR (SE)

600

500

400

300

200

100

10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

(2) NEAR FIFTYSIX (NW) TO JONESBORO JCT. (SE)

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

Big and Mud Lost 

Creeks

i_ NW

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000

(3) WALCOTT (NW) TO GREENE HIGH (SE)

10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000

(8) N. OF LOWER BOYDSVILLE (NW) TO PRATT (SE)

600

500

400

300

200

100

diii 111 M 1111111 n i ] 11111111 ii 1111 TI 111 11111111

10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000

(9) N. OF HORSE CREEK (NW) TO PIGGOTT (SE)

600

500

400

300

200

100 i- NW SE -=

=l I I I I I I I I I I i I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I F

10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

(4) WALCOTT (West) TO PARAGOULD (East)

600

500

400

300

200

100 |-West - - - - - East

=l I I I I I I I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000

(10) NORTH OF POWE (NW TO SE)

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I M I I I I I I I I I I M I I I I I I I I M I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I t

I- NW SE 4

=ti 1111111111111111 i I 111111111111111111 i I 1111111111111111111 11111111 in

0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000

(5, 6) STONEWALL (NW) TO HWY (SE)

600

500

400

300

200

100

I 1 1 T 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I IT I I I I I I II I 1=

-Profile #5

=- NW

Lafe and Pigeon 

Roost Creeks 'Profile #6

SE 4

n i i i i i i i i I i i i i i i i i i I i i i i i i i i i I i i i i i i i i i I i i i i i i i i i=

(11) WEST OF PYLETOWN (NW TO SE)

250

10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 "0

DISTANCE, IN FEET

4,000 8,000 12,000 16,000 20,000

Figure 16. Topographic profiles 1-11, Crowleys Ridge. See figure 15 for profile locations.

uniform uplift, although profile 9 (fig. 16) shows a better 

defined east-facing scarp.

The ridge narrows and its morphology changes between 

the St. Francis River and the Castor River (fig. 15). Along 

this part of the ridge, there is an east-facing scarp, and the 

divide is on the east side of the ridge (fig. 16). This 

geomorphology suggests that this segment of the ridge may 

be a fault block dipping to the west.

In summary, drainage asymmetry and ridge-margin 

declivity along Crowleys Ridge may be the result of tilting 

due to faulting. In a northern direction, it changes from an 

easterly sloping three-segment ridge with a steeper western 

margin (profiles 1 and 2, fig. 16) to a single east-sloping 

ridge with a west-facing scarp (profiles 3,5,6, and 7, fig. 16) 

to a dissected plateau (profiles 8, 9, fig. 16) to a less well 

defined ridge with an east-facing scarp and westerly slope
R22 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

Powe

.ennett

Figure 17. Map showing anomalous courses of Black and St. 

Francis Rivers. Dashed line shows approximate location of 

inferred uplift.

(profiles 10, 11, fig. 16). The degree of ridge dissection 

suggests that considerable erosion has occurred since major 

faulting, but the linearity and sharpness of portions of the 

ridge margins suggests that faulting along the ridge margins 

occurred during the Quaternary Period.

In conclusion, the morphologic character of both 

Sikeston Ridge and Crowleys Ridge suggest structural controls for at least parts of both features. In fact, Fisk (1944, p. 

22, 24) suggested that the straightness of the western margin of Crowleys Ridge reflected faulting and that the gaps 

in the ridge correspond with the position of east-west fault 

zones. It appears that the structural controls identified by 

Cox (1988a, 1988b) and VanArsdale and others (1992) 

extend to the north.

BLACK RIVER ANOMALIES

The Black River (fig. 17) leaves the western bluff line at 

Poplar Bluff, Mo. It flows southeasterly for 3 or 4 mi and then 

turns southwesterly along a easterly convex course (Harviell, 

Missouri, 7'/2-minute quadrangle). This pattern is mirrored 

by the St. Francis River, which is east of Black River (fig. 

17). Their arcuate courses are striking, but of more interest is 

the flow history of the northern half of Dan River (fig. 18). 

Although Dan River is a continuous channel on figure 18, it 

is segmented by a drainage divide extending west from Big 

Island School. Because Dan River is an abandoned channel 

of the Black River, the flow should be to the south, however,

DRAIN AGE__ J__ ___ 

DIVIDE ^ 1

Big Island 

/ School

Figure 18. Map showing anomalous patterns of Black and Dan 

Rivers. Note tributary to Dan River that suggests flow to the north.

topographic contours and tributary junctions indicates that 

part of the river flow is to the north (Harviell, Missouri quadrangle). The Dan, Black, and St. Francis Rivers, anomalous 

patterns suggest an upwarping along an east-west axis to the 

west of Big Island School (fig. 18) and perhaps between Harviell and Powe, Mo. (fig. 17).

Although the Black River's general trend is southwest 

in figure 17, its course is composed of a series of essentially 

north-south and east-west reaches. This angular pattern 

(rectangular drainage) is very similar to that of streams with 

courses controlled by faults or joints. Thus, the Black River 

contains river-pattern anomalies that suggest structural control, but the origin of the apparent control is unknown.
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R23

PASCOLA-WARDELL 

AREA

Figure 19. Map showing present course and old abandoned 

courses of St. Francis River

Figure 20. Map showing course of Little River and meander belt 

width as mapped in the 1870's. Also shown are two main areas of 

Little River Drainage District evaluated in this study.

ST. FRANCIS RIVER ANOMALIES

The St. Francis River leaves the western bluff northeast 

of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and, as noted above, it follows an 

arcuate course similar to Black River to the south until it cuts 

southeastward through Crowleys Ridge (fig. 17) at a point 

that coincides with the axis of the Pascola arch, as projected 

from the Caruthersville bend (Piggott, Arkansas, 71/2-minute 

quadrangle). After passing through Crowleys Ridge, it turns 

to the southeast and then back to the southwest (fig. 17). Old 

courses of the St. Francis River southeast of Piggott, Ark., 

show that the river has progressively migrated to the east (fig. 

19). The bifurcation of the modern channel east of Piggott to 

form Seven Mile Island suggests that this eastward migration 

is continuing. Such avulsive changes can be a natural aspect 

of river behavior, but it can also reflect a subtle tilting of the 

flood plain to the east, which could be caused by uplift in the 

Ozark Mountains (McKeown and others, 1988).

LITTLE RIVER ANOMALIES

The Little River flows generally to the south (New 

Madrid, Missouri, 71/2-minute quadrangle) past New Madrid 

and Lilbourn, Mo., and turns abruptly west near Lonestar, 

Mo. (fig. 20). Its meander belt, as surveyed in 1870, was 

about 1 to l l/2 mi wide. However, to the south, the meander 

belt narrows (fig. 20), and near the New Madrid-Pemiscot 

County line, the Little River makes a 6-mi deflection to the 

west past Wardell, Mo., where the meander belt is only 1/4 

mi wide. It then turns abruptly south for 6 mi to the southern 

edge of the Pascola, Missouri, 71/2-minute quadrangle. East 

of Bragg City, Mo., the meander belt widens abruptly to 2l/2 

mi. These changes of direction and meander-belt width suggest that the river may be affected by changes in local topography or by surficial sediments.

To identify possible structural controls on the course of 

the Little River, survey data were obtained from the Little
R24 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

Ditch profile concavity 

Ditch profile convexity

Surveyed ditch with Little 

River Drainage District 

reference number

' \ ICharter \\ 

!"|0ak\ X-. \

' \ \\

Figure 21. Location map showing drainage ditches, topographic anomalies, and braided-stream deposits (heavy 

lines) in Catron area of Little River Drainage District.
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R25

284 I I I I I I I I I I I 1 ! I I [ I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I _

C NORTH SOUTH I

BRAIDED-STREAM 

DEPOSITS

272

10,000 20,000 30,000 

DISTANCE, IN FEET

40,000 50,000 60,000

Figure 22. North-south surveyed profile of District 19, Ditch 1 North (in fig. 21) showing convexity in vicinity of Catron, Mo.

300

295

290

285

280

275

i i i i i i i I i i i i i i i i i i I i r T i r i 

	EXPLANATION

1: Ditch 42 (vertical offset 8 ft)

2: Ditch 41 (vertical offset 6 ft)

3: Ditch 40 (vertical offset 4 ft)

4: Ditch IN (vertical offset 2 ft)

5: Ditch 37

1 _

10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

DISTANCE SOUTH FROM COMMON EAST-WEST SECTION LINE, IN FEET

60,000 70,000

Figure 23. Surveyed profiles and linear best-fit lines of four north-south-trending ditches near Charter Oak and Canalou, Mo. Profiles are 

offset vertically to prevent overlap.
R26 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

Castor 

River,

Canalou

EXPLANATION

£Jixj£j Broad profile concavity 

—• • • • Castor River

Figure 24. Topographic plot of northern Catron area, showing topographic depressions (shaded) between Canalou and Charter Oak, Mo.

River Drainage District (LRDD). The earliest ditch construction in the LRDD began in 1914 and was completed in 1920. 

In 1924, the drainage plan was revised and the existing and 

planned ditches were surveyed. The survey consisted of 

measuring ground-surface elevations approximately every 

500 ft along the ditches to 0.1-ft precision. The 1924 survey 

was conducted prior to intense pumping of ground water for 

irrigation in the region, so the impact of man-induced surface 

deformation along the profiles should be relatively low. The 

1924 survey has been analyzed for evidence of surface deformation by construction of two-dimensional profiles and 

three-dimensional relief maps.

Two main areas of the Little River Drainage District 

were chosen for detailed analysis, because they contain the 

course of the Little River and its meander belt and because 

the 1924 ditch profiling was relatively dense in these areas. 

The first area is west of New Madrid, Mo.; it extends from 

approximately Canalou, Mo., in the north to Lonestar, Mo., 

in the south (fig. 20). The town of Catron, Mo., is located 

approximately in the center of the area; hence it will be 

referred to as the "Catron area." The second area is to the 

south, in the vicinity of Wardell, Pascola, and Bragg City, 

Mo., where the Little River makes an abrupt turn to the south 

and flows within a narrow meander belt (fig. 20). This will 

be referred to as the "Pascola-Wardell area." The primary 

objectives of the topographic analysis are: (1) to characterize

topography in each area, (2) to evaluate the influence of 

topographic features on drainage patterns, and (3) to consider the causes of any identified topographic anomalies.

Catron Area.—Within the Catron area, the Little River 

flows south past Canalou and Charter Oak, Mo., and then 

continues southward in a broad easterly arc past the town of 

Lilbourn, Mo., and toward Lonestar, Mo. The 1924 maps 

also show the course of the Castor River, which flows 

approximately due south through the Catron area and joins 

the Little River in the southern portion of the area (fig. 20). 

Figure 21 shows the ditches that were surveyed, as well as 

any upward concavities or upward convexities observed on 

the plotted profiles. There is minimal convexity associated 

with the Little River meander belt, indicating that natural 

levee development adjacent to the river is minor. West of the 

river, however, numerous profiles display convexities. To 

aid in the discrimination between depositional features and 

surface deformation, geologic and soil-survey maps were 

utilized to identify locations of Wisconsin-age braidedstream deposits that form topographic highs on the Little 

River surface. Figure 21 shows the braided-stream deposits 

as mapped on the soil survey (Brown, 1971).

Based on the mapped distribution of braided-stream 

deposits, it is evident that the majority of convexities 

observed on the ditch profiles are directly related to natural 

depositional features rather than to tectonic deformation.
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R27

Stratified alluvium

Figure 25. Physiography of Pemiscot County, Missouri (from Brown, 1971).

Figure 22 shows an example of a ditch profile that is convex 

over mapped braided-stream deposits. Similar conditions 

between mapped braided-stream deposits and profile convexities for the remaining ditches indicate that depositional 

features are the primary control of topography in the area. 

However, in the northernmost Catron area, a series of ditch 

profiles display depressions where there are no previously 

mapped depositional features that created the topography 

(fig. 23). These profiles indicate the presence of a slight 

northeast-trending depression in the vicinity of Charter Oak, 

Mo., which may be the result of localized tectonic deformation, ground subsidence due to ground-water withdrawal, or 

an unmapped variability in surficial deposits. Ditch 41,

which runs through the same area along the Castor River, 

does not display the topographic anomaly, possibly due to 

sediment deposition along the river.

In order to obtain a topographic perspective of the 

Catron area topography, the ditch profiles were combined 

into an X, Y, Z database, and surface-elevation plots were 

generated. Figure 24 shows the topography of the northern 

Catron area, near Canalou and Charter Oak, Mo. The plot 

highlights the areas of broad profile concavities as shown in 

two dimensions on figure 23. Early 20th century construction of drainage ditches has resulted in the diversion of most 

flow away from the Castor River, such that the ability of the 

river to adjust to topography has been diminished. If the
R28 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

depressions are the result of surface deformation, they are 

probably relatively recent because the river has not shifted 

into the topographic lows.

Surficial deposits in the area were not mapped during 

the course of this study; consequently, the relationship 

between alluvial deposits in the region should be mapped in 

detail and the intensity of ground-water withdrawal evaluated before a tectonic control on topographic variability is 

assumed.

Wardell-Pascola Area.—South of the Catron area, the 

Little River intersects Portage Open Bay. Portage Open Bay 

is a crevasse-splay channel of the Mississippi River that 

flows into the Little River (fig. 25). Natural levee deposits 

that bound the Little River in the Wardell, Mo., area are, 

therefore, largely related to Mississippi River overbank 

flows (fig. 25). Although historic surface deformation in the 

region is suggested by reports that navigation between Portage Open Bay and the Little River became impossible after 

the 1811-12 earthquakes, the loss of navigation capabilities 

has been attributed to extensive ground failure rather than 

regional surface deformation (Penick, 1981).

From its junction with Portage Open Bay to about 8 mi 

southwest, the Little River flows primarily westward within 

natural levee deposits (fig. 25). As the river emerges from the 

natural levee deposits, it makes an abrupt turn southward. 

Topographic data were compiled in an effort to identify controls on the course of the Little River through the Wardell-Pascola area. Because the area has been historically 

characterized by poor drainage, numerous east-west ditches 

were constructed to drain water from the Little River flood 

plain to a main ditch (Ditch 251) that runs northeast-southwest toward the Arkansas State line. The locations of ditches 

in the area that were surveyed in 1924 and utilized in this 

analysis are shown in figure 26.

A topographic plot of the area shows how natural levee 

deposits have created an overall westward-dipping slope 

(fig. 27). As the river passes Portage Open Bay, it turns 

west and flows down that slope. The river is bounded by 

natural levee deposits, as it crosses Ditches 64, 65, and 66 

(fig. 26). It then turns south, emerging from the natural 

levee deposits as it crosses Ditches 68 through 71. This 

southerly course is anomalous in that it is tangential to the 

overall southwesterly topographic gradient. An abandoned 

Little River channel segment, referred to as "Big Bayou" on 

the 1924 drainage district maps, leaves the Little River at 

the point of emergence from the natural levee deposits (figs. 

26 and 27). This abandoned channel segment suggests that 

the Little River has avulsed eastward from Big Bayou. 

However, the surface plot of the Pascola-Wardell area does 

not show any obvious topographic features that may have 

caused the Little River to shift eastward from what is now 

Big Bayou to its present position.

Plotted ditch profiles from the Pascola-Wardell area 

show that profile convexities are generally located on natural

levee deposits along the Little River, with the exception of a 

broad convexity on the main northeast-southwest-trending 

ditch (Ditch 251). Several profiles parallel to the ditch that 

were constructed using surveyed elevations from ditches 

running tangential to Ditch 251 show a similar convexity 

(fig. 28). The convexity trends northeast and runs subparallel 

to the mapped northwestern margin of the Reelfoot rift (fig. 

26). Furthermore, it is located between the Reelfoot rift margin and the Bootheel lineament (fig. 26). This convexity may 

reflect surface deformation near Bragg City, Mo. This uplift 

may have affected the course of the Little River by causing 

abandonment of the Big Bayou channel and relocation of the 

Little River to the east.

SUMMARY

Numerous geomorphic features have been identified 

west of the Mississippi River, that may be related to surface 

deformation in the New Madrid seismic zone. Crowleys 

Ridge consists of at least four geomorphically discrete 

blocks that may be the result of structural segmentation. The 

Black River and St. Francis River all display abrupt course 

changes that may reflect upwarping and (or) tilting of their 

flood plains. Ditch-survey data that was collected in the Little River Drainage District during the 1920's have been used 

to identify topographic anomalies in the area. In most cases, 

these topographic anomalies reflect braided-stream and natural levee deposits. However, several anomalous areas were 

identified that do not correlate to such previously mapped 

deposits. Avulsion of the Little River off of the regional 

topographic gradient may reflect localized warping at the 

point of avulsion. The identified anomalies do not collectively form regular patterns, hence, they apparently do not 

delineate systematic deformational trends.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Numerous Mississippi River (figs. 7, 10, 11, 12), Black 

River (figs. 17,18), St. Francis River (figs. 17, 19), and Little 

River anomalies (figs. 21, 26) have been identified in the 

Mississippi Embayment between Hickman, Ky., and 

Osceola, Ark. The identification of these anomalies offer 

direction for scientists who are using subsurface geological 

and geophysical data to locate areas of tectonic deformation 

in the New Madrid seismic zone.

The Mississippi River can be divided into reaches (fig. 

1) that reveal the effect of the Lake County uplift (Reaches 3 

and 4) and an inferred fault that crosses the river near the 

Reach 5 and 6 boundary (fig. 1), as mapped by Heyl and 

McKeown (1978). The boundary between Reaches 5 and 6 

is also where the river crosses the southern boundary of the 

Blytheville arch (fig. 2). The Caruthersville bend appears to
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R29

\: \ *-"s •> 

O Yu Bayou/y 

BraggCity \*\ /((

EXPLANATION

Ditch profile convexity 

Natural levee deposits

Surveyed ditch with Little River 

Drainage District reference number

Figure 26. Location map of geomorphic features and available ditch surveys, Wardell-Pascola, Mo., area.
R30

50'-i

INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

Wardell

Little River

Portage 

Open Bay

EXPLANATION

Natural levee 

deposits

• • • Big Bayou 

Little River

Figure 27. Topographic plot of Wardell-Pascola, Mo., area showing geomorphic features and course of Little River.

280

NE

-CONVEXITY AXIS

270

EXPLANATION

Ditch 251 profile

- G- -G -0 - 5,000 ft east; vertical offset 2 ft

-A- & -& - 10,000 ft east; vertical offset 4 ft 

15,000 ft east; vertical offset 6 ft

O 260

250

240

- EAST-WEST DITCH INTERSECTIONS:

40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000 

DISTANCE, IN FEET

120,000 140,000

Figure 28. Profile of Ditch 251 and constructed parallel profiles to east, showing regional convexity.
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R31

. Kennett

o Dyersburg

EXPLANATION

Clay sampled in channel

bed 

Proposed fault

Levee borings indicate 

Tertiary outcrop in bed

Steep-water surface

Osceola o

Figure 29. Map showing previously identified structures and anomalous geomorphic conditions along Mississippi River. Locations of geologic structures are from Russ (1982), O'Connell 

and others (1982), and Heyl and McKeown (1978).
R32 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

Poplar Bluff r-, i_I

V.

L.

y.

V 

N>

V^Canalou

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Figure 30. Map showing probable structural trends (numbered lines are discussed in text).

be affected by Tertiary-age sediments that overly the Pascola 

arch and Blytheville arch (figs. 14 and 29).

Locations of intense seismic activity during 1811-12, 

as well as recent seismicity, can be related to reaches of 

anomalous channel morphology. Where the cross-rift seismic trend crosses the river (fig. 2), the river is anomalously 

wide (fig. 9), shallow (fig. 8), and apparently laterally unstable. The high width-to-depth ratio (fig. 10) is the result of 

rapid lateral channel migration of the downstream limb of 

the New Madrid bend, where seismic activity is intense. 

Convex water-surface profiles (fig. 11) along the New 

Madrid bend suggest that there has been recent uplift of the 

New Madrid bend itself. Resistant clay, which is probably of 

Tertiary age, has been sampled in the bed of the river within 

the New Madrid bend, suggesting that further channel incision into the uplifted block may be limited. In general,

high-flow channel morphology shows the overall pattern of 

the Lake County uplift, whereas low-flow data depict the 

effects of more recent subsidiary deformation. For example, 

low-water profiles (fig. 12) show a steep channel section 

near New Madrid, Mo., a few miles upstream from where the 

bed was reported to have been vertically offset in 1811 and 

1812 (fig. 29).

Steep water-surface slopes are also present at RM 870 

on the downstream margin of the Lake County uplift and at 

Caruthersville, Mo., and near Osceola, Ark. (figs. 13 and 

29). The channel-bed elevation at RM 870 (fig. 13) and at 

Caruthersville is probably controlled by relatively resistant 

Tertiary-age clay, as evidenced by levee borings (fig. 14) 

and bed sampling. Wherever Tertiary units are exposed in 

the channel bed, the potential for local uplift should be considered, although the top of the Tertiary strata can be highly
EVIDENCE OF DEFORMATION, NORTHERN PART OF NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE R33

irregular. Levee borings and sampling data indicate exposure 

of Tertiary units in the channel bed near Hickman, Ky., New 

Madrid, Mo., and Caruthersville, Mo. (figs. 14 and 29).

Historic river surveys indicate that active deformation 

of the Lake County uplift has strongly affected the morphology, slope, and course of the Mississippi River in the vicinity 

of New Madrid, Mo. These variables may provide an effective tool for locating other areas of active deformation in the 

Mississippi Embayment, but they must be utilized carefully 

because navigation-improvement projects have strongly 

impacted channel morphology.

To the west of the Mississippi River, the two major 

topographic highs, Sikeston Ridge and Crowleys Ridge, 

appear to be delineated by faults. Crowleys Ridge, between 

Jonesboro, Ark., and the Castor River, seems to be composed of at least three structural blocks (figs. 15 and 16), and 

the ridge appears to be bounded by northeast-trending faults.

The Black River, northeast of Pocahontas, Ark., follows 

a peculiar angular course that suggests fracture control (fig. 

17). Other numerous anomalous abrupt changes in direction 

of the Black, St. Francis, and Little Rivers may be related to 

subsurface faulting or warping, as well as to differential compaction over structures or the effects of ground-water withdrawal. Nevertheless, many of these anomalies are more than 

local, and when considered on a larger scale, they suggest 

major structural trends (fig. 30). For example, between Piggott, Ark., and Pascola, Mo., the St. Francis and Little Rivers 

flow in eastward arcs, having left abandoned channels to the 

west. This may be evidence of local uplift and eastward tilting. The Caruthersville bend is due southeast of these features 

on the Mississippi River. The bend is anomalous, as shown 

by its long-term stability as an extremely tight bend. The persistence of the bend is apparently due to the exposure of resistant sediments in the channel perimeter, which may be the 

result of uplift on the northwest-trending Pascola arch or 

northeast-trending Blythville arch.

The Little River displays course deflections in the 

vicinity of three structural elements in the New Madrid seismic zone: the western margin of the Reelfoot rift, the axis of 

the Pascola arch, and the Bootheel lineament (fig. 26). Topographic plots of the area show that natural levee deposits that 

formed on old Mississippi River crevasse splays have played 

a significant role in controlling the course of the Little River 

(fig. 27). For example, the abrupt southern turn of the Little 

River downstream of Wardell, Mo., occurs as the river 

emerges from the bounding natural levee deposits. However, 

ditch profiles that cross the Little River flood plain display a 

convexity that does not correlate to mapped sedimentologic 

features (figs. 26 and 28). This presumed upwarp occurs at 

the point of diversion of the Little River from Big Bayou, an 

abandoned channel segment to the east. Thus, the avulsion of 

the Little River to its present course may reflect active uplift 

at the avulsion point. If so, it may represent a subsidiary feature on the structural trend that extends from the Mississippi

River at Caruthersville, Mo., to the St. Francis water gap 

near Piggott, Ark. This is shown as trend 1 on figure 30.

Farther north, the St. Francis River and Black River flow 

in broad eastward arcs, suggesting regional eastward tilting, 

and the Little River displays a similar arc near Lilbourn, Mo. 

(fig. 30). Topographic plots of the Little River flood plain in 

this vicinity (fig. 24) reveal local topographic depressions, 

which appear unrelated to depositional features and may 

reflect differential warping on an east-west trend. These 

anomalies are collectively shown as an east-west trend 2 on 

figure 30. The Barfield bends of Reach 6 display anomalous 

geomorphic characteristics and are delineated as trend 3 on 

figure 30. Within this reach, valley slope is steep (fig. 7), the 

river channel is highly sinuous (fig. 6) and historic planform 

maps depict extremely active channel migration and bend 

development. There is a local steepening of the water-surface 

profile within the upstream Barfield bend. A fault has been 

mapped at this location (Heyl and McKeown, 1978); however, subsequent studies have not verified its existence. These 

trends, plus the segmenting of Crowleys Ridge (figs. 1, 15), 

appear to represent structural controls on geomorphic features 

that are normal to the major northeast-south west structures 

associated with the Reelfoot rift (fig. 2).

The geomorphic evaluation in this report has identified 

several anomalous surface features in the New Madrid seismic zone, some of which can be directly linked to mapped 

structures in the region, primarily the Lake County uplift as 

delineated by Russ (1982). Of the numerous other features, 

several suggest that they result from a structural control. The 

many geomorphic anomalies may reflect a densely fractured 

suballuvial surface, as in East African rift valleys. Movement on these fractures probably varies in space and time. 

Although most activity should occur in the seismically active 

zones (fig. 2), the potential for movement elsewhere is high. 

The rivers and streams of the Mississippi Embayment are 

flowing on alluvium, and, therefore, they should be isolated 

from structural patterns in the underlying Cenozoic rocks. 

However, the anomalous patterns identified herein suggest 

that suballuvial structures have a surface expression.

The anomalous geomorphic features delineated in this 

report have been identified entirely upon compilation of 

existing topographic and geologic data. Several of the identified anomalies are geomorphically and (or) topographically 

subtle and require further investigation prior to the adoption 

of a tectonic explanation for their genesis. However, it is 

hoped that the identification of these anomalies will aid in 

the designation of areas where future evaluations of subsurface and surface deformation are warranted.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey 

under the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program, 

Award 14-08-0001-G2119. We gratefully acknowledge the
R34 INVESTIGATIONS OF THE NEW MADRID SEISMIC ZONE

advice provided by David Russ, Anthony Crone, and Frank 

McKeown. During our data-acquisition phase, cooperation 

provided by Guy Forney, D. Wilbanks, John Monroe, D. 

Jones, and D. Baretta of the Memphis District Corps of Engineers, Robert Rentschler of the Mississippi River Commission, Larry Dowdy of the Little River Drainage District, Lou 

Orlowski, Phyllis Steckel, and Roy VanArsdale proved 

invaluable and is gratefully acknowledged.

The reviews of this report, performed by Anthony J. 

Crone, Russell L. Wheeler, Roy VanArsdale, and E.S. Schweig, III, were of great value.

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Manuscript approved for publication October 26, 1994

Published in the Central Region, Denver, Colorado

Edited by Richard W. Scott, Jr.

Graphics preparation and photocomposition by Mari L. Kauffmann

J,S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1995-673-046/86128