Barrier Island Sedimentology
Merritt Island, Florida
Studying geology has brought me many breathtaking places, but none had made it more difficult to study than Merritt Island, Florida. Besides laying on a hammock and enjoying the sunshine, the goal of this trip was to study a geological area that's one of the best when it comes to witnessing barrier island systems. This system is produced as sediment from deltas gets reworked by wave action into a spit of sand along the coast. When longshore currents meet each other, a cape can form, which is exactly what happened with the older cape canaveral, neighboring Merritt Island, as can be seen in the map below
The specific area of study (as seen to the left) is a large outcrop of Coquina Rock. Coquina Rock, as defined by "coquinarock.com" was formed during the Pleistocene Ice Age, approximately from 1.8 million years ago, until approximately 11,550 years ago. The end of the Pleistocene Era corresponds with the retreat of the last continental glacier. Florida itself, and its landmass, was rising from the sea, and Coquina rock began forming along a long portion of Florida's East Coast, in the latter part of this era, and the global warming period that came with it. Marine life before the Ice age flourished in the seas, and again after the receding ice, marine abundance quickly recovered. Coquina Rock, and Florida became, as we know it today.
The specific area of study (as seen to the left) is a large outcrop of Coquina Rock. Coquina Rock, as defined by "coquinarock.com" was formed during the Pleistocene Ice Age, approximately from 1.8 million years ago, until approximately 11,550 years ago. The end of the Pleistocene Era corresponds with the retreat of the last continental glacier. Florida itself, and its landmass, was rising from the sea, and Coquina rock began forming along a long portion of Florida's East Coast, in the latter part of this era, and the global warming period that came with it. Marine life before the Ice age flourished in the seas, and again after the receding ice, marine abundance quickly recovered. Coquina Rock, and Florida became, as we know it today.
This series of coquina rock present on the southern tip of Merritt Island along with different sequences in Florida of similar age are all indicative of Florida's former shorelines throughout geologic time, as can be shown more accurately below.