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publications > maps > florida geologic map

Thomas M. Scott, Kenneth M. Campbell, Frank R. Rupert, Jonathan D.

Arthur, Thomas M. Missimer, Jacqueline M. Lloyd, J. William Yon, and Joel G.

Duncan

2001

Produced by the Florida Geological Survey in

cooperation with the Florida Department of

Environmental Protection

Introduction

[This text is taken from the Florida Geological Survey Open File Report No. 80.]

The Florida Platform lies on the south-central

part of the North American Plant, extending to

the southeast from the North American

continent separating the Gulf of Mexico from

the Atlantic Ocean. The Florida Platform, as

measured about the 300 foot (91 meter)

isobath, spans more than 350 miles (565

kilometers) at its greatest width and extends

southward more than 450 miles (725

kilometers) at its greatest length. The modern

Florida peninsula is the exposed part of the

platform and lies predominately east of the axis

of the platform. Most of the State of Florida lies on the Florida Platform; the

western panhandle is part of the Gulf Coastal Plain.

The basement rocks of the Florida Platform include Precambrian-Cambrian

igneous rocks, Ordovician-Devonian Sedimentary rocks, and Triassic-Jurassic

volcanic rocks (Arthur, 1988). Florida's igneous and sedimentary foundation

separated from what is now the African Plat when the super-continent Pangea

rifted apart in the Triassic (pre-Middle Jurassic?) and sutured to the North

American craton (Smith, 1982).

A thick sequence of mid-Jurassic to Holocence sediments (unlithified to well

lithified) lies unconformably upon the eroded surface of the basement rocks.

SOFIA - Florida Geologic Map http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/maps/florida_geology/

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Carbonate sedimentation predominate from mid-Jurassic until at least

mid-Oligocene on most of the Florida platform. In response to renewed uplift

and erosion in the Appalachian highlands to the north and sea-level

fluctuations, siliciclastic sediments began to encroach upon the carbonatedepositing environments of the Florida Platform. Deposition of siliciclasticbearing carbonates and siliciclastic sediments predominated from

mid-Oligocene to the Holocene over much of the platform. Numerous

disconformities that formed in response to nondeposition and erosion resulting

from sea-level fluctuations occur within the stratigraphic section.

The oldest sediments exposed at the modern land surface are Middle Eocene

carbonates of the Avon Park Formation which crop out on the crest of the

Ocala Platform in west-central Florida. The pattern of exposures of younger

sediments is obvious on the geologic map. Much of the state is blanketed by

Pliocene to Holocene siliciclastic-bearing sediments that were deposited in

response to late Tertiary and Quaternary sea-level fluctuations .

The characteristic landscape of Florida is relatively to extremely flat. There are

few large, natural exposures and limited smaller exposures that geologists can

investigate. The result is that geologists must rely primarily on de-watered or

dry pits and quarries for exposures and must make use of subsurface data in

studying the geology of Florida. Subsurface data, in the form of well cuttings

and cores, were utilized extensively in the development of this map.

Formational tops recognized in the subsurface have been extrapolated to the

surface where exposures are limited.

A complete version of this report is available in html format, and can also be

downloaded as a PDF (1.4 MB).

Florida Geological Survey

Open File Report No. 80

Text to Accompany

The Geologic Map of Florida

By Thomas M. Scott, P.G. 99

This map is available as a jpg. A zipped version (.zip) has also been provided.

Please note the file size for each map.

Medium-sized map (note: some text may be unreadable; 30" x 30"): JPG

(640 KB) | ZIP (JPG) (562 KB) |

Large-sized map (40" x 40"): JPG (986 KB) | ZIP (JPG) (848 KB) |

XLarge-sized map (61" x 61"): JPG (1.8 MB) | ZIP (JPG) (1.5 MB) |

| Instructions for downloading files |

New! This map is also available in sections (as PDF and as JPG or GIF files)

that can be printed on standard letter size paper (8.5" x 11"). NOTE: To view

larger versions of each section, click on the thumbnail images. To print, use

the files linked below the thumbnails (all in portrait layout).

SOFIA - Florida Geologic Map http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/maps/florida_geology/

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Geologic Map of

Florida

PDF (250 KB)

ZIP (PDF) (204 KB)

JPG (66 KB)

Geologic units and time

scale

PDF (68 KB)

ZIP (PDF) (56 KB)

JPG (104 KB)

Florida counties

map

PDF (56 KB)

ZIP (PDF) (52 KB)

GIF (32 KB)

Panhandle

PDF (596 KB)

ZIP (PDF) (520 KB)

JPG (110 KB)

Northern Peninsula

PDF (180 KB)

ZIP (PDF) (160 KB)

JPG (116 KB)

Southern Peninsula

PDF (188 KB)

ZIP (PDF) (144 KB)

JPG (100 KB)

Cross section A-A'

PDF (104 KB)

ZIP (PDF) (92 KB)

JPG (117 KB)

Cross section B-B'

PDF (88 KB)

ZIP (PDF) (76 KB)

JPG (101 KB)

Downloading Hints

Mac users: to download a file to your computer, hold down the "option" key and

then click on the link. PC users: right-click on the link to download it to your

desktop.

If you do not have the software to expand zipped files, please use the links below

to download freeware or shareware that will allow you to unzip the files.

WinZip

PkZip

Back to publications homepage

SOFIA - Florida Geologic Map http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/maps/florida_geology/

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U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey

This page is: http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/maps/florida_geology/index.html

Comments and suggestions? Contact: Heather Henkel - Webmaster

Last updated: 09 March, 2009 @ 06:04 PM(TJE)

SOFIA - Florida Geologic Map http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/maps/florida_geology/

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