Abstract: Evolution of Florida Bay Interpreted from Island Stratigraphy

Paul Enos, R. D. Perkins

The sedimentary record of most Florida Bay islands is an asymmetric cycle consisting of a transgressive sequence followed by a regressive sequence formed during a continuous Holocene rise in sea level. The principal sedimentary environments of Florida Bay and the south Florida mainland are represented in an upward succession of: (1) fresh-water pond; (2) coastal mangrove swamp; (3) shallow bay ("lake"); (4) mud bank; and (5) island. Some parts of the cycle may be missing, but the sequence is always the same. Supratidal carbonate sedimentation on islands may develop from coastal mangrove swamps or by mangrove colonization of mud banks. Islands have developed from mud banks at many different times during the rise of sea level into Florida Bay, indicating that mud banks must have existed throughout most of the bay's history. Present trends of island formation and growth suggest that Florida Bay will evolve into a coastal carbonate plain with inland mangrove swamps and fresh-water ponds, very similar to the present southwest Florida mainland.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90972©1976 AAPG-SEPM Annual Convention and Exhibition, New Orleans, LA