The west trending structure of the Arbuckles and the parallel trending Wichita Mountains is at almost right angle to the regional tectonic trend of the mid-Paleozoic structure from the Ouachitas south to the Marathon Uplift. The Arbuckles are thought to have originated along a failed rift or aulacogen in the Precambrian basement which was uplifted and folded during the Ouachita Orogeny.