Florida Geologic Sample Collections Facility
The Florida Geologic Sample Collections Facility contains more than 20,000 sets of samples from exploration, water, and oil wells. Most boreholes are represented by drill cuttings; however, approximately 1,800 wells are represented by continuous core or core samples (a total of approximately 430,000 feet are within the Sample Collections Facility). The facility occupies 24,000 square feet, with approximately 54,000 cubic feet of shelf space. As of the end of the 2025-2026 fiscal year, Collection holdings represent more than 2,770 miles of borehole sample with a replacement value estimated to be greater than $2.5 billion.
Some interesting facts about borehole samples in the Collections Facility include:
- Well No. 1 is the Chipley Oil #1 oil well at Falling Waters State Park, drilled in 1921 to a depth of 4,912 feet below land surface (BLS).
- The oldest set of well samples is W-236 at the Flagler Hotel, now Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL, drilled in 1887 to a depth of 1,440 feet BLS.
- The deepest continuous core in the Collection is W-19961 drilled by the Southwest Florida Water Management District in Polk County in 2022 to a depth of 2,957 feet BLS (0.56 mile).
- The deepest / longest well is W-18368 in Escambia County, drilled in 2002 to a measured length of 18,808 feet BLS (3.56 miles).
The FGS maintains paper and digital records (including geophysical logs) for the wells represented in the FGS Sample Collections Facility. See the Data and Maps page for details. Additionally, the FGS headquarters houses an extensive array of outcrop samples and mineral specimens in a collection known as the "M-Series." More information can be found on our M-Series collection page. The FGS thin section collection includes more than a thousand petrographic thin sections, sediment grain mounts, and microslides. More information can be found on our Thin Section Collection page.
The Florida Geologic Sample Collections are maintained as a resource for geologic investigation. If you are a researcher and would like to view samples or acquire sub-samples for analysis, please see our Sample Collections Facility Sampling Policy for proposal guidelines.
If you would like to offer geologic samples to the Florida Geologic Sample Collections please contact us at FGSCollections@FloridaDEP.gov. New samples may be accepted for accession to the Collection after review by Collections staff. Unexpected or declined samples that arrive at the Facility may be discarded or returned to the sender at the sender's expense.
Collection viewing by appointment only
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST)
Offices closed for all state of Florida Holidays
To obtain information about the FGS Sample Collections Facility holdings or to arrange a visit, please contact:
850-245-3121