SOIL SURVEY OF THE OCALA AREA, FLORIDA. 
213 
The Norfolk sand is, next to the Norfolk fine sand, the most ex¬ 
tensively developed soil type in the area surveyed. It occurs in the 
eastern half of the area and in Marion and Sumter Counties. It is 
practically in one large, connected but irregular body, being limited 
by areas of flatwoods and swamps on its borders and interiorly 
broken by the projection of the high hammock lands as islands, as 
it were, and by the soils occurring in the depressed areas of sinks and 
basins. 
The topography of the Norfolk sand varies from nearly flat or 
gently undulating to rolling or low hilly, rolling being the most 
common surface configuration. In looking over the areas of this 
soil it has a billowy appearance to some extent, but the ridges are 
not continuous, being rather a heterogeneous collection of low sandy 
knobs, conspicuous because of the depressions between, which are 
the result of the dissolution of the underlying limestones forming 
sinks or basins. The elevation ranges from 50 to 100 feet above sea 
level, the undulating areas averaging a little more than 10 feet or so 
while in the more rolling areas the change in elevation reaches 20 
to 40 or 50 feet. 
The Norfolk sand consists of a superficial mantle of sand of sedi¬ 
mentary origin laid down as a marine deposit during the Pleistocene 
period, when this part of Florida was submerged.* 
The drainage of the Norfolk sand is excessive in that, because of 
its open, sandy character, the rains falling upon it .pass quickly 
downward, seeking the permanent water-table Revels or seeping into 
the sinks or to the swamps. The type maintains a small moisture 
supply at all times, but during hot, dry spells the crops suffer. Its 
moisture-holding capacity is greatly increased by the incorporation 
of organic matter. So readily does water pass into this soil that its 
cultivation is not interfered with by rains. 
The Norfolk sand in the main constitutes one of the “pine lands” 
types of soil. Because of its generally rolling surface, it is known 
locally as “rolling pine lands.” In addition to the pines some black- 
jack oaks are found over much of the land, the latter taking hold 
when the longleaf pine is removed. The pines attain a fair size, 
but the stand is rather thin. The pine lands are rated in classes 
*The origin of these superficial sands is questioned. While their sedimentary 
origin is accepted by most geologists, there are some who consider them of 
residual origin or formed in situ from sedimentary rocks, the age being unknown 
because of lack of fossil remains. See Florida Geological Survey reports. 
