Florida seen from outer space

Much of the state of Florida is situated on a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. Spanning two time zones, it extends to the northwest into a panhandle along the northern Gulf of Mexico. It is bordered on the north by the states of Georgia and Alabama, on the west, at the end of the panhandle, by Alabama. It is near The Bahamas, and several Caribbean countries, particularly Cuba.

The state has 1,197 miles of coastline and a land mass of 53,630 square miles. It’s 792 miles by land from Pensacola in the far northwestern Panhandle to Key West.

Terrain

At 345 feet above mean sea level, Britton Hill in northern Walton County is the highest point in Florida and the lowest known highpoint of any U.S. state.

Britton Hill, Florida’s “mountain”

Much of the state south of Orlando is low-lying and fairly level; however, some places, such as Clearwater, feature vistas that rise 50 to 100 feet above the water.

Much of Central and North Florida, typically 25 miles or more away from the coastline, features rolling hills with elevations ranging from 100 to 250 feet. The most prominent topographic feature on the Florida Peninsula is the Lake Wales Ridge, a narrow sand ridge that runs north to south down the center of peninsular Florida. The Lake Wales Ridge, sometimes referred to as the Mid-Florida Ridge, is a sand ridge running for about 100 miles south to north in Central Florida. Clearly viewable from satellite.

Much of Florida has an elevation of less than 12 feet, including many populated areas such as Miami which are located on the coast. Miami and other parts of south Florida are the most vulnerable regions in the world to rising sea levels associated with climate change. Due to the vast amounts of limestone bedrock that Florida sits above, water is allowed to move relatively freely beneath dry land and to rise up to the surface. Water will also likely encroach from the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf Coast, and up through the Everglades, endangering the plant biomass within its marsh communities.

Geology

The Florida peninsula is a porous plateau of karst limestone sitting atop bedrock known as the Florida Platform.

The emergent portion of the platform was created during the Eocene to Oligocene as the Gulf Trough filled with silts, clays, and sands. Flora and fauna began appearing during the Miocene. No land animals were present in Florida prior to the Miocene.

The largest deposits of phosphate rock in the country are found in Florida.

Extended systems of underwater caves, sinkholes and springs are found throughout the state and supply most of the water used by residents. The limestone is topped with sandy soils deposited as ancient beaches over millions of years as global sea levels rose and fell. The Everglades, a wide, slow-flowing river, encompasses the southern tip of the peninsula.