Florida has unique origins. What would become the basement rocks of Florida were once part of other continents. During the early part of the Cenozoic Era, Florida was submerged under a warm, shallow, ocean which explains why our entire state has hundreds to thousands of feet of limestone beneath it!
Geologic hazards (or "geohazards") come in many shapes and sizes. They are hazards because of the unique geologic or environmental conditions of the area.
1. Large amounts of rain over a short period of time where stormwater drainage is insufficient. This is called a flash flood. Water rise may be sudden and with little warning. Additionally, after periods of drought, the soil can be too dry to sufficiently absorb the water in the short term (due to the lack of cohesion).
2. Large volumes of water over an extended period. This type of flooding will occur over the long term of the storm, and the flooding may continue long after the storm passes. There will oftentimes be a lag between the event and the flooding as water moves through the hydrologic system. It may even be an event that did not have heavy rain in your location, but areas upstream experienced significant rainfall.
3. Storm-surge flooding from the wind and waves of hurricanes and tropical storms which result in the accumulation of excessive amounts of water along the coast. It is a combination of the low pressure of the storm allowing water to rise and the relentless surf pushing water inland faster than it can escape against the same waves back to deeper water.
While hurricanes are Florida’s most obvious flood producers, it is important to realize that heavy rains can cause flooding in Florida at any time of the year and at any place. Flooding may result in the loss of human life and property. Episodes of flooding may be accompanied by contamination of aquifers and water wells in some areas. Floridians should be aware of “boil-water warnings” posted in their local news media. It is vitally important that everyone living in Florida be aware of the potential for flooding and resources available to assist Floridians in dealing with it.
Coastal erosion has both natural causes and causes related to human activities. Gradual coastal erosion results naturally from fluctuations in sea-level and by longshore drift. Ideally the movement of sand functions like a balanced budget. Sand is continually removed by longshore currents moving parallel to the shoreline in some areas but it is also continually replaced by different currents of the same type.
Structures such as piers or sea walls, jetties, and navigational inlets may interrupt the movement of sand as it can become “trapped” in one place by these types of structures. The currents will, of course, continue to flow, though depleted of sand trapped elsewhere. With significant amounts of sand trapped in the system, the continuing motion of currents (now deficient in sand) results in erosion. In this way, human development and construction activities that result in the unnatural trapping of sand have the potential to result in significant coastal erosion over time.
The most severe coastal erosion can occur over a very short period of time when the state is impacted by hurricanes and other severe weather systems as a combination of storm surge, flooding, and wind erode the coast.
Karst features are important in understanding surface water-groundwater interactions. Karst features include sinks, seeps, swallets and springs. Research in this area includes identifying recharge and discharge areas; investigating groundwater contribution to surface water via springs and seeps, including seepage of groundwater in coastal zones; support data collection and modeling efforts that address karst hydrogeologic settings; and quantify interactions for regulatory purposes.
Recent FGS projects in this research area include:
Evaluating surface water and groundwater chemistry is critical to ensure good quality drinking water. Research in this area includes water-rock interaction and metals mobilization during Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR); Florida springs and aquifer system ambient geochemical data collection and interpretation; and water quality trends analysis. See below for more detailed information regarding Aquifer Storage and Recovery in Florida.
Sinkholes are a geological hazard that place people’s property and even lives at risk. Vulnerability of an area to sinkhole formation is dependent upon both natural (geologic, hydrologic, and meteorologic) and human (water pumping, terraforming, ground loading) factors. As Florida’s population continues to surge and development encroaches on vulnerable regions, the potential for encountering a sinkhole hazard in areas with favorable geology increases.
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