218 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY THIIRD ANNUAL REPORT.
The order in which the several regions are described below is necessarily somewhat arbitrary, for they cannot very well be classified by age like geological formations, and they do not form parallel bands like climatic zones. But as far as possible the westernmost ones will be taken up first and the southernmost last. For each of the major divisions the topography, vegetation and other prominent features will now be briefly sketched, and the character and extent of the peat deposits described in a general way.
WEST FLORIDA COAST REGION.
(FIG. 22)
This extends from about the mouth of the Ocklocknee River westward beyond the limits of the State, forming a belt only a few miles wide. Its dominant features are narrow beaches, islands or peninsulas parallel with the general shore-line, with sounds, bays or estuaries behind them, and ancient (stationary) dunes on the edge of the mainland, or on some of the peninsulas. The soil is practically all sand (overlaid in a few places by recent alluvium, etc.), and there is no clay or limestone near enough to the surface to have any perceptible effect. Long-leaf pine (Pinus palustris) and spruce pine (Pinus clausa) are characteristic trees.
Peat of good quality but rather limited quantity occurs in numerous hollows among the old dunes, characterized by a dense growth of tyty bushes and other evergreens. Larger peat deposits are found in the estuaries of the Blackwater, Apalachicola, and other rivers, but these contain such a high percentage of mineral matter as to be almost worthless.
Analyses of peat from this region can be found in a subsequent chapter, under localities numbered 7, 36, 37 and 38.
WEST FLORIDA PINE HILLS.
(FIG. IS)
The region thus designated covers most of West Florida, passing northeastward into the Altamaha Grit region* of Georgia, and westward into the "Grand Gulf" region of Alabama and Mississippi. It is a non-calcareous region, with sandy soil and clay subsoil throughout. There is doubtless limestone under it, as in all other parts of Florida, but so far below the surface in most places as to have very little effect on the topography, which
*For definition and description of this region see Annals N. Y. Acad. Sciences, vol. 17, part I. To6.