Arikaree Breaks facts for kids
The Arikaree Breaks are a really cool and rugged area of land in northwest Kansas. Imagine a place where the flat plains suddenly drop away into deep valleys and steep cliffs! That's what the Arikaree Breaks are like. They form a natural boundary, about two to three miles wide, between the flat lands of Kansas and eastern Colorado and the lower areas near the Arikaree and Republican rivers. You can find these breaks stretching from Rawlins County, Kansas in Kansas, all the way west through Cheyenne County, Kansas, and even into Yuma County, Colorado.
What are the Arikaree Breaks?
The Arikaree Breaks are a type of landform called badlands. Badlands are areas with soft rock and soil that have been heavily eroded by wind and water. This creates a landscape with sharp ridges, deep gullies, and tall, steep cliffs. It looks very different from the flat plains around it!
How were they formed?
These unique landforms were created over thousands of years by the power of water. The main ingredient for the Arikaree Breaks is a special kind of soil called Loess. About 10,000 years ago, strong winds blew this fine, silty soil into the area.
Loess soil is very special because it tends to stand in nearly vertical cliffs when it erodes. This means that when rain and rivers cut through the loess, they create very steep, almost straight-up-and-down, walls. This is why the Arikaree Breaks have such dramatic cliffs and deep canyons. You can also find this kind of loess soil in other parts of the United States, like northeast Kansas, southwest Nebraska, and Iowa. In those places, it forms similar landscapes known as the Loess Hills.
Where are the Arikaree Breaks located?
The Arikaree Breaks are found in the very northwest corner of Kansas. They start in Rawlins County, Kansas and stretch westward. They continue across Cheyenne County, Kansas, which is the westernmost county in Kansas. The breaks then extend even further west, crossing the state line into Yuma County, Colorado. This means they create a unique natural feature that spans two different states!
