Customer Reviews

The Geology of Florida

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Florida isn't merely a drab slab of limestone; instead, it is a surprisingly complex and interesting geological lab. For example, most of what we now call Florida was once a part of Africa! In this book, the many chapter authors (edited by Randazzo and Jones) cover the evolution of the Florida platform from the origin of its crystalline basement in paleo-Africa, through its docking with the North American plate, innumerable sea level changes, and the reef building, barrier island migration and mining impacts of the past few thousand years. This text is stuffed with information! The Keys even merit their own chapter -- a wise choice.

This is a university level text; and as such, it contains some of the typically academic dryness of writing and technical terminology which probably wouldn't appeal to the mildly curious reader. But for anyone who is seriously interested in either Florida geology or in carbonate platforms in general, there can probably be no better resource. Because of its thorough coverage of the processes which have built Florida, and its rich scientific bibliography, geology students and librarians will find this book to be a solid reference.

I had recently moved to Florida and did not know much about the Florida geology. This book was perfect as a comprehensive guide to the geomorphology, sedimentology, paleontology, and hydrogeology of the area. There are many more interesting chapters with a wealth of information. Randazzo and Jones put together a wonderful collection with great geologists such as Bob Halley of the USGS and Sam Upchurch formerly of the University of South Florida.

In many ways, this is an excellent book, written by a collection of experts. If you want a good description of the geology of Florida, go ahead and buy this book. What missing is a clear explanation of the important processes driving the geology. If I had been the editor, I would have asked the contributors to write top down: Describe the processes applicable to your chapter and then show how these worked in the case of Florida; don't be afraid to mention similar cases in the rest of the world. This book -- as good as it is -- is too myopic. Geologists tend to focus on what happened when, rather than why it happened at all. Perhaps a 2nd Edition will include stand-alone chapters on (1) subsidence (due to lithospheric cooling, plate collisions, and isostasy) and eustatic sea-level change and (2) shallow water carbonate accumulation, in all its many modes, especially as affected by (1).