The Cody Scarp or Cody Escarpment is located in north and north central Florida United States. It is a relict scarp and ancient persistent topographical feature formed from an ancient early Pleistocene shorelines of ~1.8 million to 10,000 years BP during interglacial periods. The Cody Scarp has a slope of 5% to 12%.
The Cody Scarp runs from just east of the Apalachicola River to Alachua County. It is the boundary over that range between the Gulf Coastal Lowlands and the Northern Highlands of Florida. The Gulf Coast Lowlands have only a thin layer of soil over limestone, while the Northern Highlands consist of plateaus of sand, clay and carbonate rock. The scarp rises about 100 feet (30 m) from the Gulf Coastal Lowlands to the Northern Highlands. The Cody Scarp and the Gulf Coastal Lowlands are karst landscapes, with many sinkholes, springs, underground streams, and related features. [1]
The scarp, at 42.6 to 45.7 meters (140 to 150 feet) above sea level, is most prominent in Leon County, Florida where it runs east to west. It is a remnant of two Pleistocene interglacial shorelines. The first shoreline is known as the Okefenokee Terrace. The second is known as the Wicomico Terrace. [2]
In Jefferson County to the east, the scarp coincides with the Wicomico Terrace with an elevation at 40–45 feet above mean sea level. [3]
The scarp separates the Hawthorn Group of fine to medium grained sandy clays and silty, clayey sands of the Red Hills Region of north Florida and southwest Georgia to the north from the fine to medium fine grained, partially recrystallized, silty to sandy limestones of the Gulf Coastal Lowlands to the south. A dramatic difference in elevation is seen here as the Red Hills, at a maximum of 70 meters (230 feet) mean sea level (MSL), drops to the area known as the Woodville Karst Plain, an elevation of 50 to 80 feet (15 to 24 meters) within 15 miles (24 km). [4]
On the Woodville Karst Plain, the Suwannee Limestone of the Floridan Aquifer is shallow and exposed in many places. This is the primary recharge area for Wakulla Springs and where the aquifer is most vulnerable to pollution on the land surface. It is also a zone of high sinkhole activity. [5]
In Alachua County, Florida this westward-facing escarpment between an upland plateau to the east and a karst plain to the west has elevations up to 190 feet (58 meters) mean sea level (MSL). The Cody Scarp runs right through Gainesville, Florida.
The geography of Alabama describes a state in the Southeastern United States in North America. It extends from high mountains to low valleys and sandy beaches. Alabama is 30th in size and borders four U.S. states: Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. It also borders the Gulf of Mexico.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a country situated in West Asia, the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula, bordering the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Its extensive coastlines provide great leverage on shipping through the Persian Gulf and the Suez Canal. The kingdom occupies 80% of the Arabian Peninsula. Most of the country's boundaries with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, and the Republic of Yemen are undefined, so the exact size of the country remains unknown. The Saudi government estimate is at 2,217,949 square kilometres, while other reputable estimates vary between 2,149,690 and 2,240,000 sq. kilometres. Less than 7% of the total area is suitable for cultivation, and in the early 1960s, population distribution varied greatly among the towns of the eastern and western coastal areas, the densely populated interior oases, and the vast, almost empty deserts.
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
Landforms are categorized by characteristic physical attributes such as their creating process, shape, elevation, slope, orientation, rock exposure, and soil type.
The Gulf Coastal Plain extends around the Gulf of Mexico in the Southern United States and eastern Mexico.
Southeast Georgia's Lower Coastal Plain, often referred to as the "Coastal Empire", is a subregion that encompasses the lowest-lying areas of the Atlantic coastal plain in the state, containing barrier islands, marshes, and swampy lowlands, as well as flat plains and low terraces. It differs from Georgia's Upper Coastal Plain in that it is lower in elevation with less relief and wetter soils. The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines the Lower Coastal Plain as an ecoregion, part of the larger, interstate Southern Coastal Plain.
In geology, a terrace is a step-like landform. A terrace consists of a flat or gently sloping geomorphic surface, called a tread, that is typically bounded on one side by a steeper ascending slope, which is called a "riser" or "scarp". The tread and the steeper descending slope together constitute the terrace. Terraces can also consist of a tread bounded on all sides by a descending riser or scarp. A narrow terrace is often called a bench.
The Big Bend of Florida, United States, is an informally named geographic region of North Florida where the Florida Panhandle transitions to the Florida Peninsula south and east of Tallahassee. The region is known for its vast woodlands and marshlands and its low population density relative to much of the state. The area is home to the largest single spring in the United States, the Alapaha Rise, and the longest surveyed underwater cave in the United States, the 32-mile (51 km) Wakulla-Leon Sinks cave system.
The Geology of Pennsylvania consists of six distinct physiographic provinces, three of which are subdivided into different sections. Each province has its own economic advantages and geologic hazards and plays an important role in shaping everyday life in the state. From the southeast corner to the northwest corner of the state, they include: the Atlantic Plain Province, the Piedmont Province, the New England Province, the Ridge and Valley Province, the Appalachain Province, and the Central Lowlands Province.
New Jersey is a very geologically and geographically diverse region in the United States' Middle Atlantic region, offering variety from the Appalachian Mountains and the Highlands in the state's northwest, to the Atlantic Coastal Plain region that encompasses both the Pine Barrens and the Jersey Shore. The state's geological features have impacted the course of settlement, development, commerce and industry over the past four centuries.
The Suwannee Limestone is an Early Oligocene geologic formation of exposed limestones in North Florida, United States.
Orange Island is the earliest emergent landmass of Florida dating from the middle Rupelian ~33.9—28.4 Ma. geologic stage of the Early Oligocene epoch and named for Orange County, Florida, United States of America.
Leon County Pleistocene coastal terraces and shorelines were the geologic result of warming and cooling periods in what is now Leon County, Florida during the Pleistocene epoch.
The Kissimmee/Okeechobee Lowland is one of 47 distinct lake regions within the state of Florida, United States.
Florida's Hazelhurst terrace and shoreline is an ancient relict shoreline or delta present in the southeastern United States's Atlantic seaboard dating from the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene.
The Gulf Coastal Lowlands is a geomorphological province in Florida. The province extends along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from the western end of the Florida Panhandle to near Ft. Myers in southern Florida. The average width of the province is 40 km. While much of the province is less than 15 m above mean sea level (msl), it rises to about 100 feet (30 m) above msl along its inland side. It is the largest geomorphological province in Florida. Due to its low elevation, the province was at sea level during warmer periods of the Pliocene and Pleistocene, and features such as ancient dunes and sand bars are found far inland. Marine terraces found in the Gulf Coastal Lowlands include the Silver Bluff terrace, 1 to 10 feet above mean sea level (msl), Pamlico terrace, 8 to 25 feet above msl, Talbot terrace 25 feet (7.6 m) to 42 feet (13 m) above msl, Penholoway terrace, 42 to 72 feet above msl, and Wicomico terrace, 70 to 100 feet above msl.
Warren's Cave is a dry karst cave in Alachua County, Florida. It is the longest dry cave in Florida, with more than 4 miles (6.4 km) of mapped passages. The cave is located on the margin of the Cody Scarp near the San Felasco Hammock Preserve State Park, northwest of the city of Gainesville. The property on which the entrance to Warren's Cave is located, the Warren Cave Nature Preserve, is owned by the National Speleological Society. Warren's cave was probably formed by a high water table when sea levels in the Quaternary Period were elevated close to 100 feet (30 m) above current sea level, corresponding to the Wicomico terrace.
Wambaw Swamp is a swamp in northeastern Charleston County, South Carolina. It is located entirely within the Francis Marion National Forest and contains 4,755 acres (19 km2), all of which is designated as a wilderness area. This forest wetland is a mix of river-bottom hardwood and pine. To the southeast lies the Little Wambaw Swamp Wilderness, a 4,967 acres (20 km2) wilderness area managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The area is similar to the main Wambaw Swamp ecologically with more high ground for walking and camping. Wambaw Creek Wilderness protects 1,832 acres (7 km2) of the watershed along the Charleston and Berkeley County line as it leaves the swamps and empties into the South Santee River near Hampton Plantation State Historic Site.
The Atlantic Coastal Ridge is a geomorphological feature paralleling the Atlantic coast of Florida from the border with Georgia to Miami-Dade County, where it transitions into the Miami Rock Ridge. For most of its length it consists of one or more relict beach ridges created when the sea level was about 30 feet (9.1 m) higher than at present. The southernmost part of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge was created as a carbonate platform during the same period. Before human modification for agriculture and urban development, much of the ridge hosted scrub vegetation.
The North American Southern Coastal Plain is a Level III ecoregion designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in six U.S. states. The region stretches across the Gulf coast from eastern Louisiana to Florida, forms the majority of Florida, and forms the coastlines of Georgia and much of South Carolina. It has been divided into twelve Level IV ecoregions.