l8 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY— 1 3TH ANNUAL REPORT 



If any showings of oil have been found in the wells so far 

 drilled they were small, and .the great thickness of limestone under- 

 lying the surface formations in Florida does not encourage an 

 expectation that oil will be found there in commercial quantities, 

 for oil is usually associated with thick deposits of shale, in which 

 it presumably originated. The evidence available at the present 

 moment does not seem to justify sanguine hopes of developing 

 an important oil field in this State. 



STRUCTURE OF THE ROCK BEDS. 



The dominant structural feature of eastern Florida is an an- 

 ticlinal fold, or arch, which. trends south-southeastward and forms 

 the axis of the peninsula. The axis of this arch passes near 

 Li\-e Oak, lo to 20 miles west of Gainesville, and an equal distance 

 west of Ocala, and is the southern continuation of the broad an- 

 ticlinal area of south-central Georgia. Along this anticline there 

 are two high areas. The highest part of one, called the Ocala up- 

 lift, appears to be in eastern Levy County; that of the other is 

 near Live Oak. The Ocala uplift is the larger and the higher. On 

 this uplift the Ocala limestone is found 120 feet above sea level. 

 From that elevation it dips toward the east to a depth of 200 

 feet below sea level at St. Augustine and 500 feet below sea level 

 at Jacksonville. 



The Ocala uplift is separated from the uplift near Live Oak 

 by a low area, or saddle, which runs parallel to the axis of the 

 anticline to a point near Santa Fe Rixer. in southern Columbia 

 County. 



From that point the beds appear to rise gently to form a dome- 

 shaped fold near Live Oak. The Ocala limestone is found at Su- 

 wannee, Ella\'ille, Dpwling Park, and Luraville, on Suwannee 

 River, at elevations ranging from 35 to 45 feet above sea level, 

 whereas the Chattahoochee limestone, which overlies it, is 120 feet 

 above sea level at Live Oak. /\s the Chattahoochee here has an 

 estimated thickness of 30 to 40 feet, the Ocala is probably 40 feet 

 higher at Live Oak than at any of the exposures on the Suw^an- 

 nee or at Bass, a fact which suggests the inference that a dome-like 

 uplift centers at Live Oak. This inference is strengthened by the 

 fact that the top of the Chattahoochee limestone stands at an ele- 



