Abstract
Seismic reflection profiles and sampling of the western margin of the Florida platform show that the Florida Escarpment coincides with the position of a Lower Cretaceous barrier reef north of 27°15'N and south of 24°20'N. The occurrence of evaporites of Lower Cretaceous age in the south Florida basin suggests that the reef must also have flourished along the intervening segment of the scarp. This area is now characterized by topographic offsets, canyons and other features which suggest that the reef has been removed by erosion, slumping or faulting. Whether these processes acted individually or in combination, uplift and subaerial exposure of the western margin seem to be necessary preludes to removal of such large quantities of lithified reef material. These movements may be related to Mesozoic igneous activity indicated by magnetic anomalies and drilling results in central Florida. The times of erosion or faulting along the escarpment and in the Straits of Florida agree with times of orogeny in Cuba. Shallow-water carbonates recovered at great depths in wells and by means of dredging demonstrate subsidence greater than 4.6 km in south-central Florida and greater than 1.8 km along the western marginal escarpment. The process through which this subsidence was accommodated by deep crustal or sub-crustal layers is not known. ...
Pyle, Thomas Edward (1972). Structure of the west Florida platform, Gulf of Mexico. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -186023.