A PRELIMINARY REPORT of the GEOLOGY of FLORIDA 
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE STRATIGRAPHY 
GEORGE CHARLTON MATSON AND FREDERICK G. CLAPP. 
INTRODUCTION. 
OBJECT AND SCOPE OF REPORT. 
Previous Information Regarding the State:—Although Florida 
was settled early in the history of colonization, various natural causes 
have cooperated to retard the development of the State’s resources. 
At the present time Florida contains the largest unsettled area in the 
eastern part of the United States. 
Various papers containing information relating to the geology of 
the State have appeared in scientific journals at intervals, especially 
during the last twenty years of the nineteenth century. 1 Such insti¬ 
tutions as the Wagner Free Institute of Science of Philadelphia have 
published the results of extensive investigations, and the U. S. Geo¬ 
logical Survey has at various times sent parties into the State. Numer¬ 
ous scientists, attracted to the South by the delightful climate during 
the winter months, have attempted, with varying degrees of success, 
to solve some of the geologic problems; but prior to 1907 no State 
Geological Survey had been authorized by the legislature and no 
stratigraphic report, published by the State, of a popular and compre¬ 
hensive nature has appeared. A prominent object of the present 
report is to fulfill this important task. 
Insufficiency of Knowledge:—It is a fact that, in many States, the 
geologic conditions are so complicated and diverse that few persons 
other than geologists and parties engaged in prospecting or develop¬ 
ing the mineral resources have even a fair idea of the character, 
sequence, and significance of the strata, and this is true particularly 
in Florida. Indeed, this characteristic is more striking in Florida 
than in many other States, because the greater part of the State is 
low, and the older geological formations are obscured by a thick 
mantle of sand. An incorrect belief, still held by many, and unfor¬ 
tunately taught until recently, is that the Florida peninsula is 
entirely a coral formation. Few people who have not made the sub- 
1 For a bibliography of the geology of Florida see First Annual Report, 
E. H. Sellards, 1908. 
