A relatively flat
limestone bank that separates the
Atlantic Ocean from the
Gulf of Mexico covering more than 350 miles from the eastern edge of the Florida peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico and extends southward more than 450 miles encompassing most of the state of
Florida. The
emergent portion is the
Florida peninsula which sits at the eastern edge of the platform with only a three to four
mile sliver extending into the Atlantic Ocean. The southern rim of the platform is marked by the
Florida Keys before dropping into the
Florida Straits. To the west of Florida, the platform extends over one hundred miles into the Gulf at
depths of less than three hundred feet.
The platforms basement
rocks are
Precambrian to
Cambrian in age and were once a part of the
African plate before it was
sutured to the
North American Plate during the formation of
Pangaea in the early
Mesozoic. When Pangaea broke apart, the platform was left behind allowing for siliclastic and carbonate deposits to build up creating the gently sloping topography seen today. During the last
glacial maximum,
sea levels were four hundred feet lower exposing the Florida Platform in its entirety probably creating massive waterfalls off the the platform
escarpment.