The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1886-09-16
N. Y. Scientific Arena for Septembcr.)
the GEOLOGY OF FLORlDA.~

BY JOHN KosT, NJ D., L. L. d. (sTATE aEoIoafsrl
Not much is to be expected from q paper on
the geology of Florida, at this time beciuse the
| opportunity Tor procuring materials Is yet %
meagcr. The geological survey OF the State Is
only just begun. Yet there are sufficient data to
show that the earlier ideas OF the deposits on the
Gulf Coast in Florida have been erroneous. Coral
formation is not the entire constituent OF the bed
rock Immediately underlying the great sand de-
| pOsf, as has been supposed Nor yet does this
material constitute even the chief substance of
| many Of The rocks nf the State. The chief con-
stituent is shell material; and the coqTna rock,
which is the only variety of rocks | have yet
| found east of the st. Johns river, s composed al
most completely of cOaise fragmenta shell. ce-
! mente,l, mainly by carbonate Of lime, but s0ine
times by siiceous material, an, is in the latter
| hard and durable rock.
| This c,'quina is found in various places In
| great beds, some at which are notably inclined
| in Position.
| was surprised, in my brief preliminary in
spection, to find 30 much variety of materials In
| the deposits OF Florida and had my specula.
tOns as to the sources of these various depOsits.
In places, extending for miles, there are deep de-
| posts of clay, though always more or less sand
Herewith. Iron. in disseminated form, 10 very
| common among the clay Flint or sliceous ma
teral, is abundant IN places among the lime
stone. In spots the flint so prevalent as 10 ex-
clude the hope of recovering the land This
| flint material has all been in solution, and has
congomerated a variety Of f,ssls-shells. corals,
limestone fragments, clay and sand. Beautiful
| geodes of quartz agatcs and chalcedony occur in
| variOns localities These sometimes nncle-
ated, but Oftener clean. Nodded among fossils,
vegetable and animal. are found most fantastic,
| and often exquisiiely beautiful specmena Other
| gems of quarizose material not rare and
the staining is OF iron, manganese, and seemingly
| OF lead or mercury, rs well as of more precious
metals. Of course these are from the water
| holding the siliceous matter; but whence came
| they? One thing is evident thermal springs
| have existed, and have gwen off streams of i'm
| pregnated waters Marls of all degrees of com
| minution are to be found in great beds every
| where that have visited
But the most interesting part, by far in the
| geology of Florida, is whal concerns its paleOn-
tolOgy; and this State must prove itself local
| ity OF more than common interest in this regard.
1t Is evident, in my mind. that broad sec
| tion, perhaps all the pennsular portion of the
Stale, If not the entire State, had been elevated
from coral bearing depth to vast plain, with
undu'ations, to a level with the surface OF The
| sea- permitting its tides to meander vastly about
sections slightly higher. This uplift must have
been after the deposit OF the upper eocene or the
oligocene, and very likely was contempOrane0us
with the earliest OF the Rocky Mountain uplitts,
as the fossils of the latter to Indicate.
While the larger portion OF this vast peninsula
was then resting, with surface near the water
level of the gulf, somewhat extensive plaeaus
sufficiently high to be free from habitual oser-
| hows, must have existed, for they were most AS
| suredly, fresh lakes and streams rs the
| fossils prove. Liqnites deposits are notable, and
the distribution thereof IS such proves water
margins. The ligniies are of miocenc character,
| believe. That these lignites were deposited in
both brackish and fresh waters seems evident by
| the fossils.
| But the fauna and fora are most interesting
| There must have continued for "A long tlme the
| hat is hn rrclu Art
| portions must have been long continued To have
| afforded populations SD great rs the remains of
| them prove Furthermore, the physical cOndi
tiOns admitting of tropical and semi tropical pro-
| ducti0ns animal aud vcgeiable-must have
been favorable; as appears from the great variety
of animals, especially, that lived then and there
| Nor are the localities atfording these much cir
cumscribcd they are found in various sections
| all the State wherever have visited. Sew
| eral species OF the elephant and rhnucerOs; the
lion and other larger carnivora; mastodOn horse,
OK, camel, llama elk, deer, goat bear fox otter,
beaver, rat, squirrel, ETC., have existed numer-
| ously.
| There must have been ample scope for various
| life habits and opportunities for secusion or
| the numerous great and small carnivOrOus ami
| mails would have exterminated the others
| Large birds existed. l found a fragment of a
| humerus OF nearly an inch diameter in its shaft
| which was evidently the bone of bird. Va
| rious reptiles, whose habitats were of fresh or
| brackish waters also existed abundantly thus
| proving the same physical conditions.
Another circumstance proving the compare
| lively long continuance OF a miOcene age is the
| extent of the physical forces that had inerpOsed
There are valleys or river courses filed with the
quarternary or recent deposits, which contain in
these deposited materials the remains of eOcene
| fauna, as those of the eOcene shark and zuglo-
| don, intermixed with more recent animal re-
mains. These sharks teeth, etc. of the eOcene
were dislOdged by the cutting way of the encene
rock beds and were redeposited in these valleys
river beds admidst the more recent fossils that
had been washed in from higher horizons. Thus, l
tOund in one bed, the teeth of the carcharadOn,
Zugludon, mastOdon ophIs, plludina and helix
These were in channel bed of twenty feet
depth
Thus, in miOcene age of some Duration there
were numerous great and small lakes and streams
even as now existing. About these, life was
abundant. The lair of the lion and tiger, bear
and cougar, near some watering places, where
dense vegetation afforded cover; the grazing
flats, and the dryer places suited for the squirrel,
fox, goats, horse and camel and The lagoons for
reptiles, must have characterized the landscape
After an indefinite but somewhat long time of
this condition of things, there was subsidence of
some considerable extent, to admit of the deposit
of the supermpOsed materials This deposit so
formed, contains marine fossils in abundance
Great oyster beds, coral reefs, mari banks, sand,
clay, iron and other metal peat, muck,
various orders and manners OF deposit
There must have been physical forces that
moved the W tiers OF the sea, and the materials
of the land, to large extent. There are dunes,
ridges, hills, valleys, plateaus and declivities,
with sharp escarpments along the streams. If
Florida be still set down a long stretch of level
sand deposit on bed OF recent coral, there will
be q continued mistake. There are hills and
dels in more than a few counties, and in divers
parts of the State
II appears to me that the latter subsistence cor
responded chronologcally with that which pre-
| ceded the champlaln epoch as noted more espe-
cially in the northern portion of the continent.
But the subsidence was less considerable than
the greatest that occurred in the north
| This subsidence must have submerged ex.
tended swclls or ridges of the Appalachian range
| that had reached to Southern Alabama, and
| which OccasiOned ridges in the Alabama Sea,
| that came within the power of the surf action
| and were cut away when the Gulf Stream passed
| over what is now the southern third or more OF
| that State.
Ii is only necessary for an opinion of this Sort
| that the materials deposited in Florida be ex-
amined. Feldspar is The source of the clay that
is deposited in immense beds IN various portions
| of Florida. The iron which is so abundant also
| has its counterpart in the material ot the Ap-
| palachian range, as is notable In Georgia and
Alabama. Mica is disseminated among all the
| later Florida deposits Whence, otherwise, all
these materials that could only come from al
most direct erosions of land There are no
great river channeaR, either filled or open, that
| could have brought these materials and given
| hor tba,, tt.air oh uc Of