SOME FLORIDA’ LAKES AND LAKE BASINS. 03 
to four miles. It contains about twelve thousand acres. Low 
divides scarcely exceeding ten feet in elevation separate this basin 
from Kanapaha and other prairies on the west and from Levy, Led- 
with, and numerous smaller lakes on the south, and from Newnans 
Lake on the northeast. The total area embraced within these vari¬ 
ous basins is not less than fifty square miles. For a map of this 
section the reader may consult the Arredondo topographic sheet 
of the U. S. Geological Survey. 
When dry or nearly so, this basin supports a dense growth of 
grasses and weeds. On the more elevated and dryer parts dog- 
fennel prevails, growing to a height of eight or ten feet, while on 
the lower and wetter parts of the basin maiden cane abounds. 
The principal stream entering this basin is a creek flowing from 
Newnans Lake. This creek enters at the east side of the basin and 
flows west and northwest to the sink. 
The “sink*’ of Alachua Basin is located in the northeast border. 
Two sinks occur here. The waters from these sinks enter the 
Vicksburg Limestone. The sinks are partly surrounded by bluffs 
rising to an elevation of thirty or forty feet above the general 
level of the basin. Numerous sinks occur along the border of the 
lake showing enlargement of the lake basin in this direction. The 
stream entering the more westerly of the two sinks was car¬ 
rying water when examined in October, 1907, at an estimated 
rate of 20,000 gallons per minute. At this time the water level in 
the sink was only 2.01 feet above the general level of water in the 
Vicksburg Limestone as shown by the Gainesville city well,* in¬ 
dicating that the sink was carrying water at its full capacity or near¬ 
ly so. 
In November, 1909, the water in the sink stood approximately 
one and one-half feet above the level of the water in the sur¬ 
rounding limestone. 
During seasons of heavy rainfall the stream draining from 
Newnans Lake and other smaller streams carry water so rapid¬ 
ly that the water is unable to escape through the sink as rapidly 
as it flows in. Under these conditions the basin fills, becoming tem¬ 
porarily a lake. It is probable also that the drainage sink be¬ 
comes more or less completely clogged at times retarding the escape 
of water, and in this case the prairie may continue as a lake through 
a succession of years. 
Variation in this lake has been more or less perfectly recorded 
since the time of the earliest settlements in this section. When 
*Bull No. 1, Fla. Geol. Survey., p. 60, 1908. 
