“Fresh crisp bacon” formed by water flowing originally from a crack or elongate hole and cascading down the face of the limestone. The deposit formed as a small ridge that then acted as the course of subsequent water which added additional deposits. The dark bands contain some impurity to give a color to the ordinarily white calcite.
Land Movements in Florida
If these caves, we see in the Florida Caverns Park area, were formed under water, how is it possible to walk through them today? This is an obvious question which requires an answer. If rocks formed under marine waters are exposed on the land surface today it is obvious that the land has been raised out of the sea, or the sea has lowered. From geologic evidence it is known that Florida has been rising since late geologic time. This elevation is believed to be caused by downwarping at the mouth of the Mississippi River, where many thousands of box car loads of sediment are dumped each day, accompanied by adjustments in the earth’s crust and the elevation of land areas surrounding the delta of the Mississippi River.
Then there is a second cause by which these caves are made dry. Everyone has heard that ice caps the North and South poles of the earth, but few people realize that, if all this ice melted, the level of the sea as it is known today would be higher by about 110 feet. If all polar ice melted, the Chipola River at Florida Caverns, would become a salt bay, Marianna a seaport town, and a bay beach would be located near the park area. However, do not sell your present beach property too quickly since this polar ice is known to be melting only a few inches a century.
Well-lighted, underground trails make accessible Florida’s amazing network of underground passageways. The temperature remains at about 63 degrees, F. throughout the year. In addition, natural rock gardens, wildlife, historical values and recreational facilities make Florida Caverns one of the South’s outstanding State Parks.
Considering the sub-tropical climate of Florida, isn’t it peculiar that ice had so much to do in shaping our land surface? As a matter of record all of the surficial deposits making up the large part of the land surface of Florida were created and shaped during the geologic past (one to ten million years ago) when ice piled up on the poles and moved down over lower latitudes or when this ice was being melted. In the United States as this ice piled up on the North Pole and moved down over most of the middle western states, the water forming this ice came from ocean basins and the water in them was lowered as much as three to four hundred feet. At this time much of the Gulf and Atlantic bottoms was uncovered, land streams cut their valleys much deeper, ground water circulated much more vigorously and rocks through which it passed were dissolved faster. Later as this ice was melted the lower parts of stream valleys were filled with salt water and the streams became sluggish and deposited sediment in their valleys to make their flood-plains. Ground-water circulation was retarded and the bottoms of the Gulf and Atlantic were again covered. This uncovering of the bottoms of the Gulf and Atlantic followed by covering constitutes a cycle. Five of these cycles have been recognized in Florida, and the red sands, clay and gravel that make up the surface of most of Florida represent former bottoms of the Gulf and Atlantic, now raised out of these seas by land movements.
Today we are living in a period following a time the northern and southern extremes of the earth were covered by ice, and this ice is still melting off of these areas.
In 71,000 acres of parks, valued at approximately $50,000,000, Florida offers the vacationer a natural wonderland he can explore. Within these park areas the visitor can discover for himself the “true” Florida by car, along foot trails, navigating tropical rivers and streams—or by following elevated boardwalks through hauntingly beautiful swamps.