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### 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 Surveyin

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-levelfluctuations, 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/

2 of 4 7/25/2011 1:25 PMGeologic 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)

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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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