publications
> report > MGS-Spackman
1964
Miami Geological Society Publications Environments of Coal Formation in Southern FloridaTrip Leaders William Spackman, David W. Scholl and William H. Taft
Accurate interpretation of the ecological significance of geologically ancient sediments has been inhibited in many years by a lack of detailed information on the relationships between sediment type and depositional environment. Recognition of this fact has led to the recent increased effort devoted to the study of "modern sediments" and has stimulated publication of data on a variety of sediment types. The Proceedings of the First National Coastal and Shallow Water Research Conference provide an insight into the scope of these research efforts (Gorsline, 1962). In spite of this increased interest in recent sediments, few investigators have focused their studies on the plant derived deposits that represent the progenitors of coal seams. There are exceptions to this including geochemical studies (e.g. Swain, Blumentals and Miller, 1959), geological studies as represented by that of Fisk (1960), palynological studies of investigators motivated by the needs of the oil industry as exemplified by the work of Kuyl, Muller and Waterbolk (1955) and those motivated by interests in post-glacial climatic and vegetational history (e.g. Dansereau and Segados - Vianna, 1952; Potzger, 1953). Even with the data provided by these and similar studies, it remains difficult, if not impossible, to attach an accurate paleoecological description to the individual lithobodies that compose coal seams of Tertiary and older strata. This not only minimizes the amount of ecological information to be derived from the study of the coal seam, but it also confounds attempts to correlate seams. Detailed stratigraphic and paleogeographic reconstructions are also difficult to develop because of a lack of knowledge on the botanical and geological significance of the lithotypes encountered in the coals of coal measure sequences. The Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains of eastern United States contain a variety of swamp and marsh environments in which the progenitors of coal substances are forming. These include the Dismal Swamp region of Virginia and North Carolina, the Okefenokee Swamp of southern Georgia, the inland swamps and related lakes and marshes of central and north-central peninsular Florida, and the river swamps of the Florida panhandle. Each of these areas appears to possess the potential of yeilding information useful in interpreting the significance of Tertiary coal sequences. The panhandle river swamps contain a remarkable number of the floristic elements represented in such deposits as the mid-Tertiary Brandon Lignite (see Barghoorn and Spackman, 1950). In certain environments in Okefenokee Swamp the peat appears remarkably similar to many of the European brown coals in color, texture and phyteral content. If a mass of this material were to be dehydrated it would be difficult to differentiate it from a "woody" brown coal. The geologic settings associated with the Okefenokee area and with the deltaic river swamps render these comparable to many of the swamps that contributed to the development of at least some of the Tertiary coal sequences. The numerous and varied environments in central and north-central Florida can provide much information that will prove critical in recognizing certain of the more uncommon coal types. The sapropel deposit and underlying 30 feet of peat in Mud Lake near Ocala, Florida and the woody, fibrous and amorphous peats of the Lake Isotokpoga area are of particular significance in this connection. However, the vast
Everglades, occupying much of peninsular Florida from Lake Okeechobee southward,
are also of considerable importance in view of the apparent significance
of these environments in such brown coal sequences as those of Germany (Thomson,
1950; Teichmuller, 1958). In southernmost
Florida this Everglades area is fringed by a mangrove forest that attains
its best development on the southwestern coast in the vicinity of the Shark
River. Because this southwestern sector of Florida is now a National Park,
it has been modified by agricultural practices to a lesser degree than the
area between the Tamiami Trail and Lake Okeechobee. Inspection of the National
Park area will make evident that (1) the plant communities involved are
relatively simple in composition and comparatively few in number, (2) several
environments are rather readily recognized and environmental boundaries
appear sharp as opposed to gradational, and (3) six to fifteen feet of peat
can be found beneath the mangroves, the saw grass of the Everglades and
the "hammocks" or "heads" that occur as "tree islands"
in the open saw grass sea. It can be argued that the limestone substratum
upon which the peat lies and the general geologic setting render these sites
unlike those commonly represented in coal measure sequences. This is true
to a certain extent, for it is difficult, to say the least, to envision
how an underclay could develop beneath these peats. However, it is probable
the influence of the sub-peat strata becomes less and less significant as
the swamp plants find themselves rooted in peat alone. Moreover, the conditions
present in this region make it possible to compare similar environments
and peats as they have developed on substrata composed of different mineralogical
composition and to examine the effects of burial beneath a cover of quartz
sand on the one hand and marine or fresh-water marl on the other. Nevertheless,
until it is shown that the limitations imposed by the dynamic geologic history
of peninsular Florida are insignificant, it must be emphasized that the
data presented may have meaning only for the particular types of geologic
setting involved as opposed to being generally applicable. (The entire report is available below.)
These
reports and documents have been scanned from the original hard-copy materials
and are made available on the internet in both HTML and PDF formats. Because
these are scanned documents, we are unable to provide fully-accessible versions
of these reports. If you cannot fully access the information in these documents,
please contact Heather S. Henkel at hhenkel@usgs.gov.
The
HTML versions of these documents have been created to provide the information
in a format that is quickly and easily readable over the Internet. Selective
pages and images can be printed from this HTML version by placing the cursor
inside the right-hand frame and selecting the print option from the browser.
The PDF version of the reports are also provided, and are the recommended
format to use for the best printer format and resolution.
Please note - some PDF files are very large (over 2 MB) and may take some time to download, depending on your system.
View
the PDF version of this report (multiple PDF files) (best
for printing)
|
U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
This page is: http://sofia.usgs.gov/publications/reports/mgs_spackman1964/index.html
Comments and suggestions? Contact: Heather Henkel - Webmaster
Last updated: 23 December, 2004 @ 12:13 PM (KP)