Geology of Florida

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"Florida plate" redirects here. Not to be confused with Vehicle registration plates of Florida.
African plate
over 200 million years ago.

The Floridian 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. No land animals were present in Florida prior to the Miocene.

Limestone over bedrock

The Floridian 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. No land animals were present in Florida prior to the Miocene.

The largest deposits of rock phosphate in the United States are found in Florida.[1] Most of this is in Bone Valley in central and west-central Florida.[2]

Extended systems of underwater

springs are found throughout the state and supply most of the water used by residents. This type of terrain (geomorphology
) that develops over a carbonate platform or strata is called Karst Topography.

The limestone is topped with

last glacial period, lower sea levels and a drier climate revealed a much wider peninsula, largely savanna.[3] While there are sinkholes in much of the state, modern sinkholes most commonly form in the Tampa Bay area and Central Florida.[4][5]

Early history of Florida

Calcite crystals in fossilized clamshell found in Fort Drum limestone deposit

During the early

North American plate. This provided some of the foundation upon which Florida now rests.[6]

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.[citation needed].

Earthquakes

Florida is tied with

Orlando, the stadium at University of Central Florida shook from the earthquake.[11]

References

  1. Hoover's. 2010-03-25. Archived from the original
    on 2010-02-14.
  2. ^ Parsons, Victoria (Spring 2011). "The Real Cost of Fertilizer". Bay Soundings. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  3. Cooperative Extension Service. University of Florida. Archived
    from the original on 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
  4. U.S. Geological Survey
    , Tampa, Florida. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Sinkhole Maps of Florida Counties". Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education. University of South Florida. 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  6. ^ Means, Guy H. (August 30, 2010). "Florida's Geologic History". Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  7. ^ Presler, Margaret Webb (14 April 2010). "More earthquakes than usual? Not really". The Washington Post. Washington D.C. pp. C10.
  8. ^ See List of earthquakes in Cuba
  9. ^ "Florida:Earthquake History". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  10. ^ "6.0 quake in Gulf shakes Southeast". CNN. September 11, 2006. Archived from the original on 2010-06-01. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  11. ^ Sentinel, Katie Rice | Orlando (2020-01-28). "UCF's 'Bounce House' stadium shakes after earthquake near Jamaica". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
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