What are geological features of Florida?

What are geological features of Florida?

While modern-day Florida lacks snowcapped mountains, deep river-cut canyons, exploding volcanoes, glaciers, large outcrops of sedimentary layers, or frequent earthquakes, it is nevertheless a fascinating place to study geology. Having strong ties to marine and coastal processes, Florida’s geologic story is unique.

What kind of ecosystem is Florida?

As a peninsula, Florida is surrounded on three sides by two main bodies of water, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to its water centrality and extremely low ratio of land sea levels, Florida is composed of marshland, swampland, lakes, springs and rivers.

What is Florida geologically?

Geologically, Florida perches on top of what geologists call the “Florida Platform,” a plateau that is mostly underwater. Due to sea-level fluctuations through geologic time, the Florida Platform has both been entirely underwater (during interglacial periods) and entirely above sea-level (during glacial periods).

How was Florida geologically formed?

The Florida plateau, which is the platform upon which Florida is perched, was formed about 530 million years ago by a combination of volcanic activity and marine sedimentation during the early Ordovician Period. When North America split from Laurasia and drifted northwesterly, it dragged the Florida plateau with it.

Are there plains in Florida?

If asking a geologist or oceanographer, Florida has three general geographic regions, all based on coastal plains that include a hilly, upland area with a dizzying height of 345 feet.

Is Florida on a tectonic plate?

Florida doesn’t see many earthquakes because the state is not on a tectonic plate boundary, Blakeman said, unlike places like Alaska, Japan or Chile. Most earthquakes in Florida are too small to cause significant damage, Blakeman said.

What kind of landscape does Florida have?

The land of swaying palm trees and warm ocean breezes is quite flat with a rolling landscape to its highest point in the Northwest. Part of three geographic land areas make up the Florida landscape; the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the East Gulf Coastal Plain and the Florida Uplands.

What are the 7 Ecosystems in Florida?

Coastal Ecosystems

• Tropical Coral Reefs.
• Inshore Marine Habitats.
• Mangroves.
• Salt Marshes.
• Dunes & Maritime Forests.

What are the geologic strata in Florida?

Florida geologic strata are divided into formations. Formations are the basic rock units used in stratigraphy, the branch of geology that deals with the layers of sedimentary rock that have accumulated over geologic time. The following are select formations that can be found in the state.

What is the Florida Geological Survey (FGS)?

The Florida Geological Survey (FGS) collects, archives, interprets and distributes geologic information to benefit the environment and Florida’s communities. The FGS uses geologic, hydrogeologic and related data as well as mapping and modeling to improve understanding of water and mineral resources, and geological hazards such as sinkholes.

What is the South Florida ecosystem?

The South Florida Ecosystem supports the only subtropical ecological communities in the continental United States: about 60 percent of the native plant species south of Lake Okeechobee originated from the tropics.

What is the geology of the Florida peninsula?

Geology of Florida. The Florida peninsula is a porous plateau of karst limestone sitting atop bedrock known as the Florida Platform. The emergent portion of the platform was created during the Eocene to Oligocene as the Gulf Trough filled with silts, clays, and sands. Flora and fauna began appearing during the Miocene.