Origin of the epeirogenic uplift of Pliocene-Pleistocene beach ridges in Florida and development of the Florida karst

Abstract

Marine fossils of Pleistocene age are known to occur in beach ridges near the border of northern Florida and southern Georgia at elevations of between 42 and 49 m above mean sea level. No evidence exists for a massive melt-off of glacial ice, which would be required to raise sea level to these elevations. Florida, therefore, must have been uplifted epeirogenically during the Pleistocene. Measurement of dissolved solids in Florida9s springs demonstrates that the karst area is losing a minimum of 1.2 × 10 6 m 3 /yr of limestone through spring flow, the equivalent of 1 m of surficial limestone every 38,000 yr. This loss has led to an isostatic uplift of the north-central part of the Florida peninsula of at least 36 m during Pleistocene and Holocene time, which agrees with observed elevations of marine terraces.