The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-03-30
HOW PHOSPHATE CAME.
FLORIDA Once a Region Of Marshes and La
gOOns.
Jacksonville Tsmes- Union and citizen.
gOOns.

Dlrds, etc., consolidate into guano,
but, from the traces of fossil vegeta-
ton and fresh water fossils, it is
probable that the climate Of the Flori-
dian region was not unlike what it is
now, at certain periods Of the year
subject to recurrent showers AS at
the present time, these rains sank
rapidly into the loose, absorbent lime
stone, carrying with the water the
chemical constituents of the excreta
of the various animals and birds. AS
phosphate acid has a greater affinity
for lime than carbonic acid, atom by
atom the carbonate Of lime in such
localities became converted into the
less soluble phosphate Of lime, and, as
the process was continued for thous-
ands Of years, in all probability, the
first steps in the formation of the
invaluable phosphate beds Of Florida
were taken in this way. The acids
derived from the contract Of rain water
with d~ecaying vegetation dissolved
and carried away in solution much Of
the unaltered carbonate of lime, so
that a perpetual concentration of the
less soluble phosphate vas in progress.
Those PARTICLES or pieces Of the lime
stone which were most thoroughly
phosphatized remained, while the rest
was gradually dissolved and the subsi-
dence of the honey-combed rock re-
suited i'll gravel and angular frag-
ments, as crushed by the weight of
the remaining rock.
Where there were rivers these frag-
ments became rounded into pebbles
and mixed with the bones and teeth
of fossil animals. The richer and
therefore harder fragments resisted
wear longer than the others, so here
also a natural concentration was in
constant progress. The softer and
more soluble phosphate material was
redeposited in Jumps, drusy layers on
the rock cavities, and as a superficial
coating on pebbles and grains of lime.
The organic SILICA, sponge specules.
and the like, entangled 10 the lime
stone, was also in a more soluble state
than ordinary mineral silica, and was
dissolved by p~ercolating waters and
redcposited as ~chalcedonic nodules,
goodies, sheets and stringers in cavi-
ties in the limestone. Worn by run
ming water, Fractured h55 subsistence,
trifurated by mutual friction, this re-
deposited silica became the source Of
a large part Of the Floridian sands.
As the limestone dissolved, the iron
and clay it contained we're left behind
and r%estratiied or mixed with the
residual fragments of the original rock.
Where exposed to the weather the
iron oxydiEed, forming the red soils of
the State. or was partly redenosited as
g haoHish ooat ON fints and pebbles,
or the surface Of siliceous rock.
So the mills of the gods, driven by
wind, rain and surf, have been grind
ing on 3; the surface Of the land grad
ually rising from age to age, a little
@c.c rapidly than ~ sana from soiu-
tion Of its mass The strait to the
northward grew narrower, but was still
open during the miocene period, when
changes to the northward brought
down the coast a current Of cold water,
driving before it, southwark, or kill
ing a large part of the marine animals
used to a higher temperature. This
current passed through the Suwan-
nee Strait, and brought with it north
ern animals which populated the
northern shores Of the Gulf, east Of
the Mississippi, and some Of which
were hardy enough to survive through
subsequent changes to the present
day. The cold water, however, did
not reach west cf tie Mississippi or
far to the south.
Near the end Of the miocene (Which
forms the middle division. of. Tertiary
time) an accelerated movement in ele-
walton began, and the bottom Of the
Suwannee Strait was raised above the
sea, cutting IF the cold waters from
the Gulf and producing a peninsula
not unlike the present n in shape,
though smaller. The southern marine
animals began to return into the now
warmer waters of the Gulf ; the con-
tinent had become joined TO South
America, and along the road thus
opened curious South American mann
mails, like the G~lyptodon, found their
way nordhward and eastward.
With the elimination Of the eleya-
tion the miocene ended, and tie plis-
Gene or last epoch Of the Tertiary be-
gan. G%lyptodons, elephants and other
animals found their way into the
peninsula, their steps per haps hasten.