INTERACTIVE, WEB-BASED FLORIDA GEOMORPHOLOGY ATLAS

The Florida Geological Survey is releasing the “Florida Geomorphology Atlas”, which presents the first comprehensive discussion of Florida’s landforms that benefits from digital elevation models, light detection and ranging data, aerial and satellite imagery, and geologic data in a geographic information system environment. Previous descriptions of Florida’s geomorphology did not define discrete boundaries and provided limited descriptions of the landforms, often with little to no discussion of their origins or relationship to the underlying geology.

Florida is divided into 10 regional districts which are subdivided into 71 provinces. This classification system is based on landform similarities, relationships to surrounding features, and geologic processes affecting the area, particularly coastal, fluvial, and karst processes. Geomorphic districts from earlier work in Alabama and Georgia were extended into Florida where appropriate.

District and province description sections include Characteristics and Importance, Location, Important Geological Strata, Physiographic Characteristics and Boundaries, and Important Landforms and Sites. Due to the vast eogenetic karst terrain in Florida, the geological strata discussion is important to identify the lithostratigraphic formations significant to the karst landforms in each region. The important landforms provide information about (1) coastal landforms, e.g. strand plains, marine escarpments, and coastal ridges in Florida; (2) fluvial landforms, e.g. valleys and river systems with floodplain features; and (3) karst landforms, e.g. springs, sinkholes, swallets, and other karst related landforms. The interplay of coastal and karst processes is significant to the district and province classifications in Florida. Site discussions provide places to experience some of the array of landforms in each district and province.

The “Florida Geomorphology Atlas” is a digital publication that includes a website and interactive WebApp with text descriptions for districts and provinces and accompanying spatial polygon data. It provides an informative and conceptual framework for understanding the landforms of Florida.