The Ozarks are filled with areas of karst
terrain causing sinkholes and "losing streams". The abundant water of this terrain flows in
and out of the land sinking through limestone and sometimes reappearing in many
other areas of land. Water is abundant
in the Ozarks.
While
the state of Massachusetts does not have huge areas of karst, there is karst
land along the cape and the islands, which was mentioned in the section on
Florida. The Berkshire area of western Massachusetts also has some karst
aquifers that are made up of crystalline limestone and also marble. Because the karst has a crystalline base, it
isn’t as porous as the limestone karst in the Ozark and Florida. The Berkshires don’t have as much problem
with water pollution because the water doesn’t mix with outside contaminants as
much. They also don’t have to deal with
millions of chickens and hogs pooping all over the place. The glacial process and limestone land has created some caves in the Berkshires, but not as deep or extensive as those in the Ozarks. In Massachusetts, the largest caves found in this area are really more like huge fissures or cracked openings rather than deep caves. Even though these caves aren’t huge, there is a great deal of interest in protecting these caves and also in the sport of “caving”. The Northeastern Cave Conservancy is trying to protect karst caves in the Berkshire area for environmental reasons along with caves along the east coast. Many organizations in Massachusetts teach and support the sport of caving, like Boston Grotto and the M.I.T. Caving Club. The idea is to teach people to support the environment while enjoying the wonders that nature has to offer.
Bat's Den Cave, Jug End (Karst) State Reserve
Mountain medicine and home cures
have been an integral part of the Ozark culture. Many people in the Ozarks still believe in
and practice this form of medicine by using ingredients from nature and
soaking in natural hot springs. While it
seems very backwoods, it probably has a strong connection to holistic medicine
here in the United States.
Massachusetts,
on the other hand, is the hospital and medical research capital of the
world. That’s probably an exaggerations
but the Massachusetts Hospital Association does lists about 145 hospitals in
the state. There are 75 hospitals listed
in Boston alone. There are also many
major medical research universities, such as Harvard Medical School, which is
ranked as the number one research medical university in the United States. Others include Boston University School of
Medicine and Tuffs University School of Medicine. Use the link below to see a map of Massachusetts Hospitals
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=map+of+boston+hospitals&ie=UTF-8&ei=i2NsUrT2M4bliALNyIDICg&sqi=2&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg
According to US News and World Report, the top rated fields of medicine and research in Massachusetts are diabetes, gynecology, neurosurgery and psychiatry. While Massachusetts has been involved in traditional hospital and research medical practices, there is recent movement towards holistic, naturopathic and integrative medicines. These areas are being researched and studied at major hospitals, research universities and private institutions.
Page on display at the Miller County Museum, Tuscumbia, MO
and scroll down to read the full article. It's pretty gross!
Major Industry Headquarters
It is well know that the Ozarks are
home to mega-industries like Walmart and Tyson Foods, as well as multiple
trucking companies. The economy in the
Ozarks is dependent upon these industries for employment and tax-based
revenues.
Massachusetts
doesn’t have any industries that can compare to the size of Walmart but there
are a number of successful industries that have their head quarters in
Massachusetts. Since Massachusetts is a
part of Megalopolis, they are not economically dependent on any one company or
industry. The largest home-based company
in Massachusetts is TJX Companies (TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Homegoods), followed by Staples
(paper products/technology), Raytheon (Dept. of Defense contracts)
and Ocean Spray (cranberries). TJX employs about 180,000
employees. In comparison, Tyson employs
about 107,000 people, but Walmart employs over 2,000,000 worldwide.
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