The goal of this Overview of Geologic Features/History of Florida assignment is to provide you with an overview of the geologic features and geologic history of Florida. To complete this assignment, you will use two sources: (1) the document titled Hines Geology of Florida.pdf available on Canvas in the link to Assignment 4 and (2) the following website: http://fdep.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=992bf1a70b734dbea8487aabb6ed5bee (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

The website provides a brief history of Florida by clicking on the different geologic time periods on the left. By clicking on the “Legend” you can see the estimated elevations, and more importantly, see which areas of Florida were above and below sea level (and the approximate shape of the coastline) during that period. In the questions, I refer to these two sources as the pdf and website, respectively.

The pdf has a glossary of terms in the back that may be helpful. Other terms that may be helpful. Highstand and lowstand refer to times of high and low sea level, respectively. Laurentia refers to a continental landmass that largely includes North America and Greenland prior to formation of Pangea. Gondwana refers to a continental landmass that largely included Africa, South America, and Australia, prior to formation of Pangea.

Please answer the question of assignment 5

Florida’s Geological History

Introduction

While modern-day Florida lacks snowcapped mountains, deep river-cut canyons, exploding volcanoes, glaciers, large outcrops of sedimentary layers, or frequent earthquakes, it is nevertheless a fascinating place to study geology. Having strong ties to marine and coastal processes, Florida’s geologic story is unique. The term “Florida geology” should invoke visions of azure shallow seas, bustling coral reefs, hollow caverns beneath your feet, Ice Age animals traversing the ancient landscape, massive amounts of freshwater stored deep in our aquifers, and even sinkholes large enough to consume a building. As we tread upon the ever-changing Floridian landscape, it is important to understand how Florida (as we know it) has formed over the last several hundred million years.
What is Florida?

Geologically, Florida perches on top of what geologists call the “Florida Platform,” a plateau that is mostly underwater. Due to sea-level fluctuations through geologic time, the Florida Platform has both been entirely underwater (during interglacial periods) and entirely above sea-level (during glacial periods). Today, only about one-third of the Florida Platform is above sea-level (Figure 1, top). The current shape of Florida’s coastline is merely a snapshot in geologic time because sea-level is constantly fluctuating with our planet’s climate cycles.

In the Gulf of Mexico, the Platform extends over 100 miles to the west of the modern shoreline. While mountainous terrain does not exist on the modern-day Florida peninsula, there is an extraordinarily steep topographic (or bathymetric) landscape on the margins of the Florida Platform. At its westernmost edge, a steep slope descends over 9000 feet from the relatively shallow West Florida Shelf, down to the abyssal plain of the Gulf of Mexico (Figure 1, bottom). This feature is called the “West Florida Escarpment.” From the base of the West Florida Escarpment (the abyssal plain) to the highest point in Florida (Britton Hill), the Florida Platform has a topographic relief of approximately 10,000 feet. This relief is higher than the majority of the US states, but because this varied topography is all under water and not considered part of the state, the Sunshine State holds the record f

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ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

• Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, including a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
• Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
• One or two-sentence responses, simple statements of agreement, or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
• I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.

Weekly Participation

• Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
• In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
• Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
• Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.

APA Format and Writing Quality

• Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
• Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
• I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.

Use of Direct Quotes

• I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’s level and deduct points accordingly.
• As Masters’s level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
• It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.

 

LopesWrite Policy

• For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
• Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
• Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
• Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

• The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
• Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
• If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
• I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
• As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

• Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: 
  • Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
  • Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.