Last updated: July 18, 2024
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NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Wilson's Creek National Battlefield, Missouri
Geodiversity refers to the full variety of natural geologic (rocks, minerals, sediments, fossils, landforms, and physical processes) and soil resources and processes that occur in the park. A product of the Geologic Resources Inventory, the NPS Geodiversity Atlas delivers information in support of education, Geoconservation, and integrated management of living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of the ecosystem.
Introduction
Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield (WICR) is located approximately 16 km (10 mi) southwest of Springfield in Christian and Greene Counties, southwestern Missouri. Originally authorized as Wilson’s Creek Battlefield National Park, the park unit was renamed and redesignated on December 16, 1970. Encompassing nearly 958 hectares (2,368 acres), WICR commemorates the Battle of Wilson’s Creek, the second major battle of the American Civil War and the first major battle west of the Mississippi River (National Park Service 2016a). Fought on August 10, 1861, the Battle of Wilson’s Creek resulted in a Confederate victory and was a lesson that the Union would desperately need reinforcements to maintain control over Missouri territory. Major features preserved in WICR include the original battleground site, a 7.9-km (4.9-mi)-long historical tour road, the restored 1852 Ray House, Bloody Hill, and the Trans-Mississippi museum and library that contains one of the finest collections of Civil War-era items in the Trans-Mississippi West (National Park Service 2017f).
Geologic Setting
Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield lies in the Springfield Plateau section of the Ozark Plateau physiographic province, a region predominantly underlain by Mississippian and Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks (Haley et al. 1993). The geology of WICR consists entirely of Mississippian carbonate rocks, with the predominant bedrock composed of undivided deposits of the Keokuk Limestone and Burlington Limestone. Carbonate (limestone) rocks of the Elsey Formation are mapped along the course of Wilsons Creek, Schuyler Creek, and Terrell Creek. The oldest bedrock in WICR occurs in the southernmost portion of the national battlefield near the mouth of Terrell Creek and consists of the Reeds Spring Formation. A major structural feature of WICR is the northwest–southeast-trending Sac River–Battlefield Fault that underlies the northeastern boundary of the national battlefield.
Regional Geology
Wilson's Creek National Battlefield is a part of the Ouachita and Ozark Plateaus Physiographic Province and shares its geologic history and some characteristic geologic formations with a region that extends well beyond park boundaries.
The Geologic Resources Inventory produces digital geologic maps and reports for more than 270 natural resource parks. The products listed below are currently available for this park, check back often for updates as many maps, reports, and posters are still in progress.
- Scoping summaries are records of scoping meetings where NPS staff and local geologists determined the park’s geologic mapping plan and what content should be included in the report.
- Digital geologic maps include files for viewing in GIS software, a guide to using the data, and a document with ancillary map information. Newer products also include data viewable in Google Earth and online map services.
- Reports use the maps to discuss the park’s setting and significance, notable geologic features and processes, geologic resource management issues, and geologic history.
- Posters are a static view of the GIS data in PDF format. Newer posters include aerial imagery or shaded relief and other park information. They are also included with the reports.
- Projects list basic information about the program and all products available for a park.
Source: Data Store Saved Search 3199. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
A NPS Soil Resources Inventory project has been completed for Wilson's Creek National Battlefield and can be found on the NPS Data Store.
Source: Data Store Saved Search 3224. To search for additional information, visit the Data Store.
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National Park Service Geodiversity Atlas
The servicewide Geodiversity Atlas provides information on geoheritage and geodiversity resources and values within the National Park System. This information supports science-based geoconservation and interpretation in the NPS, as well as STEM education in schools, museums, and field camps. The NPS Geologic Resources Division and many parks work with National and International geoconservation communities to ensure that NPS abiotic resources are managed using the highest standards and best practices available.