Regions of Missouri
The words "From rolling rivers to rolling hills to rolling plains" can be used to describe the land of Missouri.  Mighty  rivers, hidden valleys, rocky hills, and field that stretch to the horizon can all be found in Missouri
Northern Plains or Glacial Plains
Slow winding rivers of the glacier plains
 
 
Glaciers often deposited large rocks  while they where retreating.
The Northern part of the state from the Iowa border to the Missouri River is known as the Northern Plains or Glacial Plains.  The glaciers, large sheets of ice, were one of the forces that shaped the landscape of Missouri.  During the Ice Age,the glaciers stretched form the North Pole south to where the Missouri River is today.  As the Earth warmed up (about 500,000 years ago), the glaciers retreated, moving northward like huge bulldozers.  In some places, they carved valleys.  In other places, they crushed rocks into soil and left the land flat.  The loose soil eventually blew into rolling hills.
  In the Glacial Plains, the soil is very deep and good for farming.  Because the land is fairly flat the rivers run slowly, along paths that wind back and forth.  The water is often brown because it is carrying so much soil.
The Glacier Plains are generally flat land with gentle rolling hills.  Wheat, corn, and other crops are grown here.
 
 
The glaciers deposited very rich deep soil excellent for farming.  Many farms like these can be found on the glacier plains.
The Ozark Highlands
Long before the Ice Age, about 500 million years ago, Missouri was covered by an ancient sea or ocean. We know this because of the layers of sedimentary rock and fossils found in the Ozark Highlands, a region that covers most of the southern and southeastern part of the state.
  
When rocky fragments and sediments are deposited together by wind, water or ice, they gradually (over thousands or more years) cement together into new rocks, called sedimentary rocks. Some
sedimentary rock is formed when creatures living in the ocean die.  Their skeletons sink to the bottom of the ocean.  Over millions of years, these skeletons form layers thate are crushed together into rock.  Often, you can see these layers when a highway cuts through a hillside.  In some of these layers, you will find fossils (remains of ancient animals hardened into rock) of the sea creatures whose skeletons make up the rock.

These are ancient sea creatures called Crinoids or "Sea Lillies".  These creatures lived in the ancient oceans that covered Missouri.  The Crinoid is the state fossil.
   
The most common, rock found in Missouri, made in this manor, is called Limestone.   Limestone is easily dissolved by water and over thousands of years, water seeping through these rocks have created caves.  Misssouri has so many caves that it is somethimes called "The Cave State"

Cave entrances like these can be seen throughout the Ozark Higlands.

 

Stalactites and Stalagmites are common cave formations.  These are made from minerals left behind by dripping water.

 

All the caves in Missouri are Limestone caves.  They all have water dripping in them still.  Some once had entire rivers running through them that helped carve the caves.

 
When the water that has filtered throught the rocks and caves come to the surface again, it comes out in springs.  Some of these springs are very large, with millions of gallons of water gushing forth every day.  There are more than 600 large springs in Missouri.  Most of them are in the Ozark Highlands region.
Alley Springs is the deepest spring in Missouri.  Its clear blue water has provide excellent drinking water to Missouri's early homesteaders.  A mill was build on the spring to generate power to grind wheat into flower.
The Ozark Highlands have lots of clear fast moving rivers.  These rivers are fed by springs, which are openings in the rock were ground water comes out.  Spring water is clear, clean and cool.
   But how did this region become dry mountainous land?  Deep in the earth's crust Magma (molten rock) pushed its way into the layers of rock.  These pools of magma pushed on the sedimentary rock forcing it upwards into mountains.  In Missouri these mountains are part of a chain called the Ozarks.  That name is from the French abbreviation aux, meaning "to the Arkansas River."  One of these mountains is Missouri's highest point.  Taum Sauk Mountain in Iron County.  Its elevation, is 1,772 feet.  Taum Sauk was named by the Sauk Indians.
The Ozark Mountains are very old and show many signs of weathering.  In fact in some places almost all of the Sedimentary Rock has been weathered away and the igneous rock that lies beneath it is exposed.  This is the only region in Missouri where you can find igneous rock.  The igneous rock found in Missouri is some of the oldest in the world.  It contains many minerals, including iron and lead ore.  That is why there are so many mines in this region.

Elephant Rock is one of the places in the Ozark Highlands where red granite, a type of igneous rock can be seen.  Granite is mined here and used for monuments and tombstones.

This part of Missouri is also called "The Lead Belt" because of the large number of lead mines.

The Ozark Highlands contain many weathered mountains and hills like the one shown here.
The Land in this region is very hilly and rocky, farming is very hard.  Instead, the land is used for lumbering and recreation.  The hills are very pretty and make great places for hiking and camping. 

The Ozark highland are very rocky but also very beautiful.  Clear, quick moving streams run through the hills, making camping, hiking and canoeing favorite activities in the area
Southeast Lowlands
Just a couple of hours by car from the highest point in Missouri, Taum Sauk Mountain, is Missouri's lowest point.  It is where the St. Francis River crawls into Arkansas.  It is only 230 feet above sea level.  This area is part of the Southeast Lowlands, in the southeast corner of the state.  This region includes the area known as the Bootheal.

The land in Southeast Missouri was once very swampy, now it is drained of the extra water and is excellent farmland.

The Southeast Lowlands were not pushed up by the same igneous rock that formed the Ozarks.  In fact, this area  was covered by water for a long time.  Rivers flowing into the region deposited layers of soil.  But much of the land was a swamp until the early 1900's.
In the early 1900's the people drained the swamps to reach the trees that covered the region.  When the trees had all been cut down, the land was turned into farms.  Today it is one of the best agricultural (farming) regions in the state, growing wheat, soybeans, cotton and even rice.

Cotton Fields of Southeast Missouri
 
Western Plains
In the southwestern  third of Missouri is a region called the Western Plains.  Like the Southeast Lowlands, this region was not pushed very high by the igneous rock or magma under the earth's surface.  Instead, the region remained flat.  It is part of the Great Plains, which stretches westward to the Rocky Mountains and northward into Canada.

Grasslands still cover most of the Western Plains.

Cattle are common sites on the western plains
In this region there are many large dairy and cattle farms.  The cows graze on vast stretches of grassy pasture.  There are also a number of mines in the southwestern part of the region, along the Kansas and Oklahoma borders.