2^2 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT. 



Mechanical Analyses of Soils of West Florida Pine Hills. 



I 2 3456 



Fine gravel (2-1 mm.) .78 .64 2.1 0.9 0.6 2.3 



Coarse sand (1-.5 mm.) 10.64 9.24 20.9 5.1 4.5 13.6 



Medium sand (.5.25 mm.) 21.52 22.84 25.5 5.1 4.4 11.5 



Fine sand (.25-.! mm.) 43.10 44.34 32.5 29.7 19.7 27.9 



Very fine sand (.1-.05 mm.) __ 12.78 14.98 6.7 25.4 17.4 17.0 



Silt (.OS-.G05 mm.) 6.50 5.18 7.8 21.9 28.5 17.7 



Clay (.005-0 mm.) _____ __ 4.68 2.70 4.4 11.6 23.8 9.3 



Total 100.00 99.92 99.9 99.7 98.9 99.3 



Organic matter .54 .15 ?. ? ? ? 



If the texture of a soil was a reliable indication of its fertility the 

 "Norfolk loam" should be much richer than the "Orangeburg sandy loam," 

 as it contains nearly twice as much silt and clay; but a chemical analysis 

 might tell a different story. 



Topography and Hydrography — This region includes the highest 

 land in Florida; about 275 feet above sea-level along the east and 

 west ridge in Walton County and 300 feet at the inland edge of the 

 uplands in Gadsden County. Escambia Bay is bordered on the west 

 by bluffs which rise steeply from near the water's edge to a height 

 of 50 or 75 feet, and altitudes of over 100 feet can be found within 

 half a mile of the bay. Alum Bluff, on the Apalachicola River, 160 

 feet high (mentioned on page 211, and illustrated in 2nd Annual 

 Report, pi. 17. i), is another example of the high land of this 

 region. 



There are some shallow cypress ponds, mostly in the part east, of 

 the lake region ; and on the sandy ridge, in the neighborhood of De- 

 Funiak Springs, there are a few lakes much like those in the lake 

 region previously described. With these exceptions the topography 

 is due almost entirely to normal erosion processes. Valleys contain- 

 ing small branches are numerous, there being few areas more than 

 a mile square without running water. The smallest valleys vary 

 from broadly V-shaped, with almost no swamp, to flattish and 

 savanna-like, with acres of boggy wet pine land. Some of them, 

 particularly on both sides of the DeFuniak ridge, head in amphithea- 

 ters or steepheads,* 50 feet deep or more. 



Many of the smaller branches are so swift that the sound of nm- 

 ning water is audible several yards away — which is rather excep- 

 tional in Florida. A few of the branches and creeks have been dam- 

 med up to furnish power for- small mills. There are many small 



*The stations of Bear Head and Mossy Head, on the L. & N. R. R., 

 evidently derive their names from such features. 



