__NOTOC__ Big Spring is one of the largest springs in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the world.Vineyard and Federer, 1982, p. 12 An enormous first magnitude spring, it rises at the base of a bluff on the west side of the Current River valley in the

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover ...

Location

Located about four miles downstream from Van Buren, it is within the boundaries of the

Ozark National Scenic Riverways The Ozark National Scenic Riverways is a recreational unit of the National Park Service in the Ozarks of southern Missouri in the U.S. The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1964 to protect the Current and Jacks Fork rivers, and it w ...

, and its visitor facilities are managed by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

. It is a contributing resource to Big Spring Historic District, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1981.

Description

The average flow of of water per second from Big Spring constitutes the second-largest tributary of the Current River. The spring is by far the largest spring in the

Ozark Plateau The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, as well as a small area in the southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cov ...

region. The only two springs in the Ozark region that approach the size of Big Spring are Greer Spring and Mammoth Spring. The maximum discharge of Big Spring must be estimated because backwater from the Current River makes accurate high-water measurements impossible.

The spring outlet

The spring issues from the base of a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

bluff, churning out aqua-blue water with great force, creating whitecaps, then quickly calming to a crystal-clear channel. The spring water travels about , where it adds itself to the Current River. The water is about , and the spring is surrounded by a well-maintained park and a steep valley hillside covered in hardwood forest. Most of the known drainage basin encompasses northern areas of the Eleven Point River watershed. Big Spring is ever-increasing in size, as the groundwater continues to dissolve limestone in a vast

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

system, and continues to capture streams in greater quantities. The spring is estimated to dissolve and remove 175 tons of limestone in an average day. The amounts of limestone dissolved and removed by the spring system in one year is estimated to equal a

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

high and wide,Vineyard and Federer, 1982, p. 68 though that amount is dispersed among all parts of the karst system.

References

External links

Ozark National Scenic Riverways
Protected areas of the U.S. Interior Highlands Bodies of water of Carter County, Missouri Springs of Missouri

Location

Description

The spring outlet

See also

References

Further reading

External links