Roadside Geology of Florida

By Jonathan R. Bryan, Thomas M. Scott, and Guy H. Means

Learn about the Geology of Florida with maps, photos and expert descriptions! This 6"x9" paperback has 375 pages that are packed with detailed information about Florida Geology. See table of contents below.

Roadside Geology of FloridaTable of Contents
Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
I. Introduction	1
The Foundations of Eden	1
Geologic Fieldwork	6
Common Minerals, Rocks and Fossils	8
Sedimentary Rocks	12
The Process of Fossilization	13
Structural and Geomorphic Regions	17
The Suwannee Channel	20
II. Geological and Paleontological History	22
Florida's Plate Tectonic Context	22
Going Back in Time… Deep Time	23
Exotic Terrane--Late Precambrian and Paleozoic Time (1,000 to 251 Million Years Ago)	25
When the Gulf was Young--Triassic and Jurassic Time (251 to 145 Million Years Ago)	28
When Rudists Ruled the Earth--Cretaceous Time (145 to 65 Million Years Ago)	31
Sea World--Paleocene and Eocene Time (65 to 34 Million Years Ago)	32
Tropical Paradise--Oligocene Time (34 to 23 Million Years Ago)	35
Bush Gardens--Miocene and Pliocene Time (23 to 1.8 Million Years Ago)	37
No Frozen Mammoths--Pleistocene Time (1.8 Million to 10,000 Years Ago)	39
Coastal Property--Holocene Time (10,000 Years Ago to the Present)	41
The First Floridians--Geoarchaeology	43
III. Sculpting a Land from the Sea	46
Sea Level Change--Past and Present	46
Coastal Strandlines and Terraces	49
Coastal Environments	50
Ocean Currents and Coastal Water Flow	52
Anatomy of a Beach	55
Origin of Barrier Islands	57
Coastal Erosion	58
Hurricanes	58
Rivers	60
Wetlands, Lakes and Soils	61
Aquifer Systems	62
Karstification--A Dissolving Landscape	65
Fountains of Youth--Florida's Legendary Springs	68
IV. Panhandle--The Other Florida	73
US 29 and Florida 4 Pensacola--Century--Crestview	75
US 90 and Interstate 10 Pensacola--Crestview--DeFuniak Springs	76
Side Trip on Florida 85	78
Side Trip to the Highest Point in Florida	80
US 90 and Interstate 10 DeFuniak Springs--Marianna	82
Side Trip to Falling Waters State Park	85
Mermaid's Pennies--Larger Foraminifera	92
Pearly Nautilus in Florida	95
Florida Caverns State Park and Speleothems	97
US 90 and Interstate 10 Marianna--Chattahoochee--Tallahassee	100
Side Trip to Torreya State Park	103
Tallahassee	105
US 20 Niceville--Tallahassee	107
Side Trip on Florida 73	108
Side Trip on Florida 12	110
US 98 Pensacola--Panama City	114
It Came from the Bog--Carnivorous Plants of the Panhandle	115
Side Trip to Santa Rosa Island	117
Dunes and Dune Lakes--A Side Trip on Florida 30A	118
US 98 Panama City--Port St. Joe--St. Marks	122
Side Trip to St. Joseph Peninsula	124
Wakulla Springs State Park	128
San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park	131
V. Northern Peninsula--Upon the Suwannee River	133
Us 90 and Interstate 10 Tallahassee--Lake City	134
A Lonely Trilobite in Florida	134
Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers	135
The Upper Suwannee River	137
Living Fossil Fish in Florida Waters	144
US 90 and Interstate 10 Lake City--Jacksonville	145
Silurian Sea Scorpions	147
Us 27 Tallahassee--Perry--High Springs	149
Fossil Echinoids	152
Some Things Never Change--The Remarkable Bryozoan Nellia tenella	154
Exposures and Springs on the Lower Suwannee, Santa Fe and Ichetucknee Rivers	154
Thomas Farm	160
Fossil Horses	162
US 98/US 19 St. Marks--Inglis	162
Paleoindians and Pleistocene Megafauna	166
Fossil Elephants	166
The Salt Marsh Environment	171
Rainbow Springs State Park	173
Interstate 75 and US 441 Lake City--Gainesville--Ocala	174
Fossil Ground Sloths	179
Fossil Rhinoceroses and Tapirs	181
Florida 100 Lake City--Palatka	187
Florida A1A (I-95 and US 1) Fernandina Beach--New Smyrna Beach	189
Living and Fossil Sea Turtles	197
VI. Central Peninsula--We Dig Phosphate	199
US 98/US 19 Inglis--St. Petersburg--Bradenton	204
Eocene Molluska--the Tethyan Connection	206
Fossil Manatees and Dugongs	209
Fossil Camels	210
With Love, from South America	219
Interstate 75 Ocala--Tampa--Bradenton	222
Fossil Saber-Tooths	226
Central Florida Phosphate District	228
Where the Buffalo Roamed, and the Deer and the Antelope Played	230
Fossil Whales	231
US 441 Ocala--Orlando--Okeechobee	233
US 27 Clermont--Venus	237
Sugarloaf Mountain	239
The "Mountains of Florida"--Dune Fields Past and Present	242
Interstate 95, US 1 and Florida A1A New Smyrna Beach--Cape Canaveral--Fort Pierce	244
Coastal Development--Florida's Beach Ridge Plains	246
We Serve Anybody--Fossil Crabs of Florida	248
VII. Southern Peninsula--A River of Grass Flows Over It	251
Interstate 75 and US 41 Bradenton--Fort Myers--Naples	254
Pliocene and Pleistocene Mollusks	255
Fossil and Living Sharks and Rays	258
Fossil Sea Stars of Florida--The Panamanian Connection	263
The Estuarine Environment	269
US 41 (Tamiami Trail) Naples--Miami	272
Mangrove Swamps	272
Sunniland Oil Field	274
Big Cypress Swamp and the Everglades	274
Alligators and Crocodiles	279
Lake Okeechobee	279
Florida A1A (I-95 and US 1) Fort Pierce--Miami	282
VIII. Florida Keys--Pleistocene Republic	291
The Florida Reef Tract	293
US 1 (Overseas Highway) Biscayne Bay and Upper Keys (Key Largo to Bahia Honda Key	298
Holocene History of the Florida Reef Tract	300
Pleistocene History of the Key Largo Limestone	306
Florida Land Developer--The Coral Animal	309
Other Limestone Producers of the Florida Reef Tract	311
Where's the Reef? Reefs of Florida--Past and Present	313
US 1 (Overseas Highway) Lower Keys (Big Pine Key to Key West)	316
Marquesas Keys and Dry Tortugas	317
Glossary	323
Appendices	339
References and Suggested Reading	347
Index	355
About the Authors	376