Crowley's Ridge (Crowleys Ridge), Malden, Dunklin County, Missouri, USAi

Regional Level Types
Crowley's Ridge (Crowleys Ridge)	Ridge
Malden	Town
Dunklin County	County
Missouri	State
USA	Country

Crowley’s Ridge is a small yet distinctive natural region. It ranges in width from one to twelve miles and extends from southern Missouri across eastern Arkansas to Helena-West Helena (Phillips County, Arkansas). It is made up of a continuous series of rolling hills except for a slight break at Marianna (Lee County, Arkansas); this break or gap was created by the L’Anguille River as it flowed across the ridge. The ridge received its name from Benjamin Crowley, the first white settler to reach the area near present-day Paragould (Greene County, Arkansas), sometime around 1820.

Crowley’s Ridge is an unusual geological formation that rises above the Alluvial Plain of the Mississippi Embayment (Mississippi Alluvial Plain, or Delta). The ridge contrasts sharply with the surrounding flat table land of the Delta. In terms of formation, the ridge is generally thought to have once been an island between the Mississippi River and the Ohio River. It became a long and narrow hilly ridge after the rivers changed course millions of years ago. Prior to the change in course, the Mississippi River flowed along the west side of what is now Crowley’s Ridge, with the Ohio River meandering along the east side. The work of these major rivers and their subsequent shifting in course resulted in the formation of an erosional remnant that is now Crowley’s Ridge.

Crowley’s Ridge, completely surrounded by the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, is clearly visible because it rises some 250 feet above a relatively flat landscape. The ridge is capped by a deep layer of wind-deposited (loessial) soils, a fine-grained soil created millions of years ago as glaciers moved across the continent. Extensive areas, including the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and Crowley’s Ridge, were covered by windblown soil. Rivers and streams that continued to meander across the plain washed away the loessial material. On Crowley’s Ridge, however, the loess continued to collect, up to fifty feet in depth in some locations. Since loess is very easily eroded, steep slopes and deep valleys characterize much of Crowley’s Ridge.