A transgressive palustrine depositional model is described for the South-east Saline Everglades, Florida. The origin, development and termination of freshwater carbonate mud (marl) deposition along the very low gradient Late Pleistocene carbonate ramp are responses to changing rates of rising sea level during the Late Holocene. The onset of the Late Holocene is defined by a decrease in the rate of sea-level rise from between 2 and 3 to <1 mm year⁻¹. Freshwater marl deposition began with this decrease ca 3165 ± 187 year BP, in a shallow (<0.3 m deep), ephemeral wetland that developed landward of a fringing mangrove forest and is maintained by seasonal Everglades water delivery. Sedimentation kept pace with sea-level rise forming a 1.2 m thick wedge shaped, landward thinning deposit. The rate of global sea-level rise began to accelerate ca 1900, the Anthropocene Marine Transgression, and presently the regional rate is 9.4 mm year⁻¹. Saltwater encroachment rates >80 m year⁻¹ are driven by sea-level rise. Saltwater encroachment resulted in retreat and transformation of coastal communities and their biogenic facies, resulting in a decrease in freshwater wetlands and marl production. Inundation ponding, mangrove overstep and the beginning of submergence are the responses to the accelerating rate of sea-level rise, however, small scale topographic and tidal ingress differences create considerable variability between Biscayne Bay and Florida Bay coastal basins. The freshwater marl producing habitat will probably be lost within 55 years, and submergence within the next century at the present rate of sea-level rise. The unique South-east Saline Everglades depositional environment is compared to other Holocene palustrine depositional environments.

1 INTRODUCTION

Platt and Wright (1992) described the South-east Saline Everglades (SESE) as part of the Everglades palustrine model. Differentiation between the Everglades Basin and the proposed SESE model is based upon: the different dates of original deposition, ca 6000 and ca 3000 year BP, respectively, the presence of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge (ACR) separating the two systems, no freshwater lakes within the SESE and because the Everglades is distally connected to the sea, in contrast to the directly connected to the sea SESE. In addition, sea-level rise (SLR) is causing rapid saltwater encroachment, creating major shifts in plant communities (Meeder et al., 2017) and reducing the freshwater environment in the SESE (Meeder et al., 2022). The SESE is a very young dynamic palustrine depositional environment (depositional environment is referred to simply as environment, in remaining text) that will be lost to submergence this century. The SESE model documents that transgressive thin freshwater marl deposits in the rock record may represent only a few thousand years.

1.1 Background

The classic palustrine carbonate environment is defined as a shallow wetland with rooted macrophytes, distinguished by their gastropod assemblages, subject to a fluctuating water table and associated with a fringing perennial lake with water nearly saturated in respect to calcium carbonate (Alonso-Zarza et al., 2006; Freytet & Plaziat, 1982; Freytet & Verrecchis, 2002; Perez et al., 2002). Alonso-Zarza and Wright (2010) further report that water depths are <1 m and salinities <0.5 ppt. Marls are frequently associated with late stages of basin filling wherein the water table controls carbonate accumulation, providing a specific environmental signal in rock sequences (Tanner & Lucas, 2018), which is utilised in hydrocarbon exploration (Kelts, 1988). This economic application drives the interest in modern palustrine environments. In humid climates, palustrine deposits are more organic rich than in arid climates and are associated with hydrocarbons, coals or may develop into coals (Alonso-Zarza & Wright, 2010). The Miocene of the Teruel Graben (Alonso-Zarza & Calvo, 2000) and the Oligocene of the Ebro Basin (Cabrera & Sa'ez, 1987) are examples of organic rich sequences. In contrast, semi-arid climates are characterised by wide pseudomicrokarst development on top of the successions, and organic matter is rarely preserved, as in the Upper Jurassic of the Morrison Formation (Dunagan & Turner, 2004). More arid climates favour the presence of evaporate nodules within the palustrine carbonates, or palustrine carbonates dominated by dolomite (Sanz-Rubio et al., 1999). Martin-Chivelet and Gimenez (1992) report palustrine deposits in the Devonian contemporaneous with the advent of rooted vegetation that are most common in interior basins, although they are also found along coastal margins of low-relief carbonate platforms and may cover thousands of square kilometres (MacNeil & Jones, 2006). The majority of stratigraphic sequences containing palustrine marls are complex, containing thin, discontinuous units. Since the middle Pliocene, nine marl units, all at the top of marine carbonate sequences, were deposited in the upper 10 m of section in South Florida, differing from most palustrine deposits by the lack of terrigenous sediments (Hickey et al., 2010; Meeder et al., 2019; Perkins, 1977; Scholl, 1964).

1.2 The study area

The SESE is a subtropical, oligotrophic, biogenic, ephemeral wetland with no allochthonous sediment influx. The Late Pleistocene bedrock, the Miami Limestone (Hoffmeister et al., 1967), consists of an ooid shoal and related facies. The shoal forms the ACR, the foundation of the greater metropolitan Miami area. The area to the west and north of the ACR is the Everglades Basin and the broad (> 15 km), low-sloped (highest elevation <1.5 m), fore-shoal area is a carbonate ramp with a smoothed coastline ca 110 km in length that is the foundation for SESE marl deposition (Figure 1). Southern Biscayne Bay, Card Sound, Barnes Sound and Florida Bay are the brackish or marine limiting boundaries.

Details are in the caption following the image — **FIGURE 1**
Open in figure viewer PowerPoint

Study site and core transect locations. Transect locations are delineated: HCT, historic creek transect; MCT, Mowry creek transect; TKY, Turkey point transect, TPPP, Turkey point power plant. The marl producing area of the SESE (tan) lies between the Pleistocene limestone of the ACR (yellow) and the mangrove peat (red) along the coast. Dashed lines are large canal-levee systems. Modified from Meeder et al. (2022). Core locations along transect are displayed (Figure 3).

The Late Pleistocene limestone bedrock was exposed to pedogenic (Plaziat & Freytet, 1978) and karst (Meeder & Harlem, 2019) processes for >114,000 years (Hickey et al., 2010; Lidz, 2006), resulting in the saturation of surface and groundwater with respect to Ca⁺⁺, which is significant in later marl production. Everglades freshwater is delivered by shallow groundwater and seasonal surface water through breaks in the ACR (locally called transverse glades). Surface water spreads out as sheet flow (depth ca 10 cm, Olmsted et al., 1980) across the coastal plain, eventually merging with tidal creeks before reaching coastal waters. Basin topography is produced by differential biogenic sediment accumulation rates. Areas adjacent to water ways have greater accumulation rates and basin interior the lowest (Meeder et al., 2017). The SESE is thereby divided into coastal basins by the freshwater-tidal creeks. This general coastal basin model applies to Biscayne Bay and Florida Bay coastal basins, although differences in basin morphology and tidal exchange affect their response to SLR. Biscayne Bay has a greater tidal amplitude, higher salinities and twice the coastal slope but are half as wide as Florida Bay coastal basins, and rarely experience salinity crises because of greater tidal exchange. In contrast, the coastal embayments and offshore banks along the Florida Bay coast conserve freshwater during the rainy season but during the dry season salinity extremes occur that adversely affect the estuarine fish because of evaporation of wind-driven incoming low salinity waters (Lorenz, 2014).

1.3 Previous work

This report on the SESE palustrine environment is the result of several previous studies that have built upon one another, culminating in this depositional model and prediction of the termination of the freshwater carbonate deposition. First, saltwater encroachment of ca 4–5 km between 1895 and 1995 was documented (Ross et al., 2000; Meeder et al., 2017), followed by recognition of the marine transgression and description of the Anthropocene Marine Transgression (Meeder & Parkinson, 2018). Saltwater encroachment is defined as an increase in salinity caused by tidal water ingress into a freshwater ecosystem that changes plant composition, structure and productivity and the invertebrate assemblage. A restudy starting in 2017 documented an additional 1.79 km of saltwater encroachment and focussed upon changes in sediment organic carbon and changes in the marl environment in Biscayne coastal basins (Meeder et al., 2021) and for the entire SESE (Meeder et al., 2022). Data generated in these studies are the basis for the development of the palustrine model.

1.4 Objectives

A new palustrine depositional model for the SESE is described because of the differences identified between this and other South Florida marl producing environments and because of recent rapid changes expected to result in the near future termination of the environment. This study focusses on the circumstances of the original marl deposition, continued expansion of marl deposition, decreasing marl depositional area and predicted termination of the SESE freshwater environment. This focus is approached by the following objectives: (1) the depositional facies and their distributions are described, (2) the origin and development of the marl environment are described, (3) the lost area of marl production and the future termination are calculated and (4) the SESE is compared to other Florida and global Holocene environments.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

Shore-normal core transects were established along the plant-sediment-salinity coastal gradient (Figure 1). Transects focussed on the dynamic area between marine influenced and undisturbed freshwater wetlands, in order to, document and calculate the rate of saltwater encroachment. Cores were taken by hand driving 7.6 cm diameter aluminium tubing, subsequently stored upright, frozen, then described and sectioned at 1 cm intervals for analysis. Samples were collected from the centre of the core to avoid side wall contamination and minimise compaction. Facies were described by their unique associations of plants, sediment types, texture and depositional salinity. The dominant plant species name followed by the sediment type was utilised in the naming of facies. Bioturbation by plant root systems was described based upon dimensions and patterns. The biogenic sediment types were based upon macroscopic differences observed among the 872 core samples and were either marl, freshwater calcite mud, organic or a mixture of both (Meeder et al., 2022). Each core interval was divided into aliquots consisting of a 2 cm³ sample for determination of dry weight and calculation of bulk density. A 2 cm³ sample size was utilised because of sediment heterogeneity, especially in the peat-marl facies. Organic matter was then calculated by loss on ignition (Dean, 1974) and converted to organic carbon using a factor 0.58 (Sikora & Stott, 1996). Sediment organic carbon was addressed because of its importance in the coastal carbon budget and because sediment organic carbon increases as marl deposition decreases.

One half of the core interval was washed through a 1 mm sieve and all molluscs were collected, identified and counted. Each species was assigned a salinity index (SI) value based upon known salinity distributions (Meeder et al., 2022). The sample SI was calculated by applying the weighted average technique (Blinn, 1993). The SI values between 1.0 and 1.5 were freshwater and values >1.5 were marine influenced. The 1.5 value for the freshwater threshold was utilised because the most common gastropod is euryhaline, living in brackish and freshwater. The bulk density was determined for 1 cm³ aliquots of select cores and sent to independent laboratories (Louisiana State University, Dr. R. E. Turner, analysed the 1995 cores and Florida International University, Dr. D.C. Kadko, the 2017 cores) for ²¹⁰Pb analysis to determine sediment accretion rates using the Constant Rate of Supply Model (Appleby & Oldfield, 1992).

2.1 Facies distribution

The contact depth between freshwater (marl) and marine influenced facies (mangrove peat-marl) was determined in all cores in each transect and plotted in fence diagrams. The dates of the contacts and the rates of saltwater encroachment were previously calculated (Meeder et al., 2022). These cores were also utilised to determine the distribution of the facies in Biscayne Bay coastal basins. Very little facies change occurred in the Florida Bay coastal basin interior cores. Fence diagrams were made which display the contact between freshwater and marine influenced facies. In addition, two stratigraphic cross-sections were constructed illustrating the typical facies distribution patterns for Biscayne Bay and Florida Bay coastal basins.

2.2 Depositional model

A model was created based upon the two stratigraphic cross-sections that represent the variability found in the SESE. The Biscayne Bay cross-section exhibited the loss of horizontal accommodation space and the replacement of marl by mangrove peat. The second transect was placed just east of Taylor Slough beginning on an outcrop of limestone and extending to an estuarine embayment along Florida Bay.

2.2.1 Origin

A radiocarbon date was utilised to estimate the time of earliest fringe mangrove deposition (Meeder & Parkinson, 2018). Additional fringe cores were taken along Biscayne Bay, however, coastal north-east Florida Bay stratigraphy and changes in environment was taken from the literature (Cottrell, 1989).

2.2.2 Development

Fifty cores in 10 transects were collected in order to understand the stratigraphy and sediment record of the SESE (Figure 1). Fourteen cores were dated by the ²¹⁰Pb method documenting the rate of accumulation for each facies, which permitted the placement of dates on specific sediment horizons. Core depths ranged between 20 and 55 cm in depth, with the majority ca 35 cm. The focus was on the last century's changes in response to accelerating rates of SLR. The 2015 core transects overlapped the northern cores of the 1995 study (Meeder et al., 2017) which documented saltwater encroachment ca 3–4 km inland, and extended transects inland an additional ca 4–5 km focussing on saltwater encroachment since the 1995 study. Horizontal and vertical changes in facies were also recorded.

2.2.3 Termination

Present rates of SLR were utilised although the rate of SLR is accelerating rapidly (Parkinson & Wdowinski, 2022). Therefore, the calculated termination based upon saltwater encroachment and sediment deficit are probably underestimates. The area of marl production was calculated as the area of the spike rush-periphyton community which contains the highest biomass of cyanobacteria and produces the greatest volume of calcite crystals. Calculations were completed utilising Google Earth Pro Polygon Ap and 2017 georeferenced aerial photographs. The assumption that the marl horizontal expansion was at the same rate between 3200 year BP and 1900 was made because the rate of SLR was constant during that period and periods of non-deposition or erosion are not observed.

2.2.4 Hindsight and the future

Coastal responses at different rates of SLR in the past were utilised in the prediction of present and near future responses to the accelerating rate of SLR (Parkinson & Wdowinski, 2023). The assumption that present rates will produce the same results as past rates is the basis for these comparisons.

2.3 Holocene model comparisons

The Late Holocene SESE environment was compared to eight Holocene marl producing environments in South Florida and eight global sites from the literature. The sites were classified and described by geological setting; coastal or connected to the sea and interior basins (Alonso-Zarza & Wright, 2010).

3 RESULTS AND DESCRIPTIONS

3.1 Facies description and distribution

The facies of the study area were described (Meeder et al., 2022) with the results summarised in Table 1 and reviewed in the following text. The subaerially exposed limestone surface was covered with small scale epikarst and pedogenic features with higher elevations covered by pine or other forest types. In lower areas, solution features are often filled with marl and peat. The sawgrass (Cladium) peat-marl facies contained a dark to black marl matrix with varying amounts of organic matter consisting of sawgrass horizontal rhizomes (Figure 2A), vertical carbon films and sometimes the remains of plants and basal culms, and often appears nodular (Figure 2B). The marl facies was produced by precipitation of calcite crystals within cyanobacteria mats in the low cover spike rush (Eleocharis)-periphyton community. Calcite precipitation is greatest in the spike rush community because the community has the least cover and therefore the least light competition for the periphyton. The upper or outer photosynthesising portion of the periphyton mat was 3– 4 cm in thickness as identified by a greenish colouration and thick distinct wavy laminae. The periphyton mat is composed primarily of cyanobacteria with abundant diatoms. Frequent desiccation of the periphyton mat leaves little evidence in the marl. Desiccation mud cracks are found locally in higher areas. White or light-coloured massive mudstone texture dominated marl sediment intervals (Figure 2C). Spike rush has a small root biomass, generally leaving behind narrow vertical carbon films (Figure 2D). These low sediment organic carbon marls contained little plant material and contained small gastropods, sponge spicules and diatoms, the latter two the only silicates in the system.

TABLE 1. Summary of facies characteristics (modified from Meeder et al., 2017).

Facies	Landscape feature	Dominant species	Secondary	Sediment type	Textural	SI ^b	SOC ^b (g cm⁻³)	SAR (mm year⁻¹)
1	Karst upland ^b	Pines	Hardwoods	Limestone bedrock	Well-cemented, high porosity	NA	NA	NA
2	Bedrock surface	Trees, shrubs	Lichen	Calcrete, rhizobreccia	Highly variable pedogenic products	NA	NA	NA
3	Sawgrass marsh	Cladium jamaicense	Periphyton	Sawgrass peat-marl ^a	Vertical carbon films, horizontal rhizomes	<1.5	0.0605	2.2
4	Spike rush prairie	Periphyton	Eleocharis cellulosa	White marl	Gastropods, sponge spicules	<1.5	0.0222	0.8
			Eleocharis cellulosa, Rhizophora	Tan marl	Fine vertical carbon films, gastropods, sponge spicules	<1.5	0.0330	1.4
			Eleocharis Cellulosa, Cladium	Black marl	Dense, mottled, gastropods, sponge spicules	< 1.5	0.0590	ns
5	Mangrove scrub	Rhizophora mangle	Periphyton	Mangrove peat-marl	Few leaves, fine network of rootlets, marsh clam	>1.5	0.0522	3.2
6	Mangrove fringe	Rhizophora mangle	Other mangrove species	Mangrove peat	Cable roots and voids, rootlet mass	>1.5	0.0722	3.9–4.2 ^c
6	Buttonwood ridge	Conocarpus erectus	Rhizophora mangle	Peat marine mud	Laminated locally, skeletal lenses, bioturbated	ns	ns	ns
7	Coastal embayments	Thalassia testudinum	Algae	Marine mud	Bioturbated, skeletal material	ns	ns	ns
7	Marine benthos	Thalassia testudinum	Algae	Marine mud	Bioturbated, skeletal material	>1.5	ns	ns

Abbreviations: NA, not applicable; ns, not sampled; SAR, sediment accumulation rate.
^a Only found in subsurface.
^b Meeder et al. (2021).
^c Meeder et al. (2017).

The mangrove (Rhizophora) peat-marl facies was present under scrub mangroves, the longer the mangrove presence the greater the organic material in the tan marl matrix, eventually terminating in mangrove peat. Horizontal cable roots and a network of fine rootlets intruded the tan marl matrix (Figure 2E). The filter feeding marsh clam was the characteristic mollusc. Biscayne Bay coastal fringing red mangrove produced a dense in situ reddish fibrous peat with abundant horizontal cable and a dense matrix of fine roots (Figure 2F), rare above ground material and few highly etched heavy arboreal gastropod shells. Decomposed cable roots produced round voids throughout the peat intervals.

The red mangrove fringe was replaced by the ‘Buttonwood Ridge’, a coastal wash-over levee (Cottrell, 1989), which was covered with buttonwood and occasionally mangrove and salt marsh grasses along the Florida Bay coast. Sediments were characterised by marine muds and organic rich layers. Red mangrove peats were found along tidal creeks and embayments under the narrow bands of taller mangroves. A marine mud facies, a tidal wash-over deposit composed of marine muds with a few foraminifera and small molluscs, was found at the coastal Turkey Point transect (Figure 1). The Eleocharis-periphyton marl and sawgrass peat-marl were naturally freshwater with SI values <1.5. The mangrove peat-marl and peat were both marine influenced with SI values >1.5. The facies were found as bands nearly parallel to the coastline along the salinity gradient (Figure 3). The contact between freshwater and marine influenced sediments were plotted for each transect to document saltwater encroachment (Figure 4). The calculated rate of SWE varies between coastal basins, dependent upon slope, width of the coastal wetlands and freshwater delivery. The Historic Creek and Mowry Canal coastal wetlands are much narrower than the other transects and exhibit complete SWE (Figure 4A,B, respectively). The Turkey Point and the Triangle (Figure 4C,D, respectively) exhibit >3 km of SWE, as do TA2 (Figure 4E) and TA3 (Figure 4F), but the latter have had recent reversals in SWE, however, SWE has regained >3 km of SWE. TA4 experienced ca 1 km of SWE which has since been reversed because of increased freshwater delivery along the C-111 Canal (Figure 4G). TA 5 (Figure 4H) had <3 km of SWE and TA6 (Figure 4I) and coastal basins to the west did not record SWE because of Shark River freshwater delivery. In Biscayne Bay transects the SI boundary line was also the sediment type boundary, with mangrove peat-marl or peat overlying marl. Florida Bay transects document saltwater encroachment but plant communities and their sediments have not responded sufficiently to detect the change.

3.2 The SESE Palustrine depositional model

The model was based upon two typical transects, one from Biscayne Bay and one from Florida Bay coastal basins (Figure 5A,B). The width of Florida Bay's coastal zone was much greater than along Biscayne Bay (Figure 1) but the Biscayne Bay coastal area has twice the slope with greater tidal exchange, because the bays and mudbanks along the Florida Bay coast decrease tidal ingress. Mangrove peat-marl has expanded landward to the L31E levee in the northern Biscayne Bay transects resulting in a marine transgressive stratigraphic sequence and lost accommodation space (Meeder & Parkinson, 2018). In contrast, mangroves have moved up to 7.5 km in Florida Bay coastal basins but are patchy and sparsely distributed with cover too low to change the sediment type (Meeder et al., 2022).

3.2.1 Origin

A radiocarbon date of 3165 ± 187 year BP marks the beginning of Holocene deposition in the SESE (Meeder & Parkinson, 2018). This basal date was from the fringing mangrove and was approximately 20 m seaward of the easternmost basal marl, now between 10 and 15 m because of Hurricane Andrew coastal erosion (Swiadek, 1997).

3.2.2 Development

Fringing mangrove and interior cores document continuous deposition of peat and marl, respectively. Mangrove deposition kept up with SLR during the Late Holocene producing peat intervals that range between 1.2 and 2.1 m in the fringing mangrove, along the western Biscayne Bay shoreline. The vertical fringing mangrove peat body reaches bedrock and has remained in its original location. Marl deposition also kept up with SLR, accumulating vertically and expanding landward up the gently seaward dipping bedrock forming a thin wedge-shaped deposit (Figure 5A). Marl thickness ranges between 0 and 1.2 m, with up to 2.0 m in bedrock depressions. In many places, marl has reached the toe of the ACR, in addition, the construction of the L31E flood prevention levee parallel to the Biscayne Bay coastline is a physical barrier to further landward expansion and has eliminated future accommodation space (Figures 1 and 5B).

3.2.3 Termination

Four processes resulted in the loss of freshwater marl producing wetlands, direct anthropogenic activities and three linked to SLR. Miami-Dade County has allowed development well into the coastal zone limiting room for further expansion. Saltwater encroachment has moved inland up to 7.5 km, or 62% of the area since 1900, driven by the accelerating rate of SLR. Between 1895 and 1940 the rate of saltwater encroachment was 49.1 m year⁻¹, then was 69.2 m year⁻¹ between 1940 and 1968, and 73 m year⁻¹ between 1968 and 1995. The rate of saltwater encroachment was as high as 131.1 m year⁻¹ between 1995 and 2015, commensurate with accelerating rate of SLR. During the last 22 years saltwater encroachment moved an average of 1.79 km inland in Florida Bay coastal basins. A maximum 4.5 km of SESE has not been affected by saltwater encroachment. Therefore, at the present rate of saltwater encroachment, 2.5 cycles of 22 years, a total of 55 years are required for complete saltwater encroachment in the Florida Bay coastal basins or by 2078. Saltwater encroachment results in changing composition of the cyanobacteria and loss of calcite production (Mazzei et al., 2018). Saltwater encroachment was also the mechanism for mangrove propagule transport into the interior. Both saltwater encroachment and mangrove propagule transport are dependent upon incoming tide. Saltwater encroachment moves further inland than mangrove propagules because propagules require a water depth of ca 15 cm for transport. The greater tidal exchange and steeper coastal slope has permitted mangroves to become established all the way to the L31E levee in Biscayne Bay coastal basins, replacing marl depositional habitat. Because of the greater distances, lower coastal slope and reduced tidal exchange in Florida Bay coastal basins, propagule transport into the interior is more dependent upon storm surges which explains the apparent randomness and less dense propagule dispersal and lack of mangrove peat-marl replacing marl (Meeder et al., 2017).

The present regional rate of SLR is 9.4 mm year⁻¹ (Parkinson & Wdowinski, 2022). The sediment accumulation rates for all facies are in deficit to the rate of SLR. Mangrove peat has the highest sediment accumulation rate with a deficit of 6.2 mm year⁻¹ and marl an 8.3 mm year⁻¹ (Table 1). At this same deficit sea level will be 83 cm higher by 2120, if not sooner if the rate of SLR increases as predicted (Masson-Delmotte et al., 2021), sufficient to submerge most of the SESE. Results of this deficit were observed as inundation ponding in the coastal area landward of the mangrove facies (Meeder & Parkinson, 2018). Increased water depth extends the hydroperiod eliminating marl production (Browder et al., 1994). Submergence is beginning south of Turkey Point and will soon expand as sea level becomes higher than the land surface. Turkey Point is the only transect where marine sediments were deposited.

3.2.4 Hindsight and the future

There is a positive relationship between the rate of SLR and coastal response (Parkinson & Wdowinski, 2023). This relationship permits hindcasting, predicting the recent coastal response at a given rate of SLR by comparison to coastal responses during past known periods of SLR rates. In the Western Atlantic region, during the Early Holocene, the SLR rate was >10 mm year⁻¹ and coastal wetlands were rarely preserved because of unstable, submerging coastlines and coastal migration (Walker et al., 2014). During the Middle Holocene, 6000–3000 years BP, the rate of SLR was 2 to 3 mm year⁻¹ and barrier islands and coastal wetlands developed under conditions of slower coastal migration (Wanless et al., 1994). At the slower rate of <1 mm year⁻¹, during the Late Holocene, coastlines were able to stabilise and maintain their relative elevation with SLR. These widespread observations, together with a recent and accelerating SLR rate of 9.4 mm year⁻¹ (Parkinson & Wdowinski, 2022) which are expected to increase for the next few centuries (Masson-Delmotte et al., 2021), suggests submergence is the probable scenario. The lack of allochthonous sediment influx further supports submergence.

3.3 Comparison among Holocene environments

The SESE palustrine model (Figure 5A,B) was compared with; (1) other South Florida palustrine environments (Figure 5C,D,E; Table 2) and (2) global palustrine environments connected to the sea, distally connected to the sea and interior basins (Table 3).

TABLE 2. Summary of South Florida marl environments.

Site	Setting		Origin (yr BP)	Termination (yr BP)	Reason		Source
SESE	Ramp	Connected to the sea	3200	2100 AD	SLR, submergence	Comment	This report
Whitewater Bay	Ramp, w/barrier	Connected to the sea	ca 3000	ca 1000	SLR, Submergence		Scholl (1964)
Everglades Basin	Elongate basin	Distally connected to the sea	6470			Marl along basin margins	Gleason & Stone (1994)
Lake Okeechobee	Basin	Interior	12,050, 13,160	5000	Rising water table	Peat deposition along south shore	Gleason & Stone (1994)
Lake Flirt	Extensive wetland	Interior	20 900	1900 AD	Drainage	Connected to Lake Okeechobee	Brooks (1974)
East Big Cypress	Flat limestone surface	Interior	?	1900 AD	Drainage	Pliocene bedrock	Duever et al. (1986)
Corkscrew Swamp	Basin	Interior	10,600	5685	Rising water table	Pliocene bedrock	Stone et al. (2006)
Lake Trafford	Basin	Interior	?	8290	Rising water table	Quartz sand substrate; overlain by muck	Stone et al. (2006)

TABLE 3. Holocene palustrine environments.

Location	Author(s)	Stratigraphic sequence	Sequence driver	Marine connection	Relationship to organic beds	Age
Le Mancha Plain, Spain	Valino et al. (2002)	Fluvial, lacustrine to palustrine	Climate, base-level change	Interior basin	Insignificant organics	Middle to Late Holocene
Las Tablas de Daimiel marsh, Spain	Alonso-Zarza et al. (2006)	Alluvial, fluvial, lacustrine to palustrine	Tectonic activity, climate, karst	Interior basin	Underlies insignificant freshwater organics	Late Holocene
Jefara Plain, north-west Libya	Giraudi et al. (2013)	Aeolian to palustrine	Climate	Interior basin	Overlies minor freshwater organics	Holocene
Guadelentine Depression, Spain	Silva et al. (2008)	Alluvial to fluvial	Structural	Interior basin	Insignificant organics	Middle to Late
Loboi Swamp, Kenya	Ashley et al., 2013	Flood plain, organic rich palustrine to peat	Rising groundwater, climate	Interior basin	Underlies freshwater peat	Late Holocene
Central Delaware	Pizzuto & Rogers (1992)	Fluvial channel to estuarine	Climate, sea level change	Distally connected	Interbedded, no carbonates	Holocene
Po Coastal Plain, Italy	Rossi et al. (2021)	Palustrine to marine	Sea level change	Distally connected	Overlies peat	Holocene
Everglades Basin (modified), Florida	Platt & Wright (1992)	Bedrock, palustrine to freshwater peat	Sea level changes	Constricted direct connection	Underlies freshwater and marine peat	Holocene
Bagnoli and Fuorigrotta depression, Naples, Italy	Calderoni & Russo (1998)	Volcanic, alluvial, fluvial to lacustrine-palustrine	Volcanism, sea level change	Direct connection	Overlies peat	Holocene
SESE, Florida	This report	Bedrock, palustrine to marine	Sea level changes	Direct connection	Underlies marine peat	Late Holocene

3.3.1 South Florida palustrine environments

Eight different marl environments are discussed (Figure 6). The SESE and Whitewater Bay palustrine environments are directly exposed, or connected to the sea, and deposited upon slightly seaward dipping carbonate ramps. The Whitewater Bay marl is ca 275 ha in area and developed behind the Cape Sable barrier and presently has <5 km of direct but intermittent connection to the sea (Figure 6C). The depositional basin is much smaller than the SESE (92, 720 ha), with ca 120 km exposed to the sea (Figure 1). Whitewater Bay receives most of the Shark River freshwater delivery to the coast. In contrast, the original source of calcium carbonate saturated water in the SESE was Everglades groundwater but later, with the rising water table, was dominated by seasonal surface runoff from the Everglades Basin through karst valleys, called transverse glades (Meeder & Harlem, 2019). Groundwater delivery decreased as coastal springs and seeps were lost to marl deposition. Remaining seeps and springs are located under tree islands and appear as headwaters to many tidal creeks (Figure 7).

The Cape Sable barrier island developed along the south-west coast that was receiving Everglades freshwater from Shark River. The freshwater delivery resulted in deposition of ca 30 cm of marl on the limestone bedrock. Marl deposition was replaced by mangrove peat ca 3000 years BP in response to saltwater encroachment driven by SLR (Scholl, 1964). Mangrove peat deposition lasted ca 1000 years and accumulated between 30 and 60 cm of peat, at which time continued SLR ‘destroyed the mangrove swamp’ resulting in skeletal debris and open water, Whitewater Bay (Scholl, 1964). The date of initial marl deposition is unknown, however assuming the rate of marl accumulation is the same as in the SESE, 1.1 mm year⁻¹ (Meeder et al., 2022), the period of deposition of 30 cm of marl is ca 273 years. Therefore, the onset of wetland deposition in south-west Florida was ca 3273 years BP, very close to 3165 years BP for basal Biscayne Bay wetland deposition. Although Whitewater Bay and the SESE marl production began contemporaneously, the SESE is still a marl producing environment. Neither the Whitewater Bay nor the SESE sediment bodies were deposited in a topographic basin like the Everglades and the SESE is separated from the Everglades Basin by the ACR. The SESE is much smaller in area than the Everglades Basin and has eight times the exposure to the sea (Table 3).

The Everglades Basin is connected to the sea by Shark River to the south (ca 50 km long), by the Caloosahatchee River to the west (ca 100 km in length), and 15 transverse glades delivering water east to Biscayne Bay and south to Florida Bay. Historically, freshwater delivery to the sea has been sufficient to prevent saltwater encroachment into the Everglades Basin, as defined by Parker et al. (1955). The Caloosahatchee River drained Lake Okeechobee through the historic Lake Flirt, which was a large wetland area lying on both sides of the river contiguous to the lake, dominantly freshwater marl wetlands. Marl deposition began in Lake Flirt ca 20,900 years BP (Brooks, 1974) and terminated after the Caloosahatchee River was channelised lowering the Lake Okeechobee water level from 6.3 to 4.2 m above sea level which drained Lake Flirt (McVoy et al., 2011). This extremely old date is questioned (Gleason & Stone, 1994). Two basal marl dates in Lake Okeechobee Basin are 12,050 and 13,160 years BP (Gleason & Stone, 1994). The marls were replaced by freshwater peats ca 5000 years BP along the south rim but failed to keep up with the rising water level elsewhere, resulting in the present open water lake. The Kissimmee River watershed supplies Lake Okeechobee which, in turn, delivers water west to the Caloosahatchee River and south to the Everglades Basin. Lake Flirt and the Everglades Basin are the only two environments adjacent to a lacustrine environment. The Everglades Basin was occupied by an ephemeral wetland that produced marl beginning ca 10,500 years BP (Gleason & Stone, 1994). Peat deposition began with wetter conditions caused by a rising water table ca 6000 years BP (Gleason & Stone, 1994). As the water table continued to rise the Everglades wetland expanded horizontally maintaining a marginal ephemeral environment, producing marl, on either side of the wetter central peat body (Figure 5D).

The southern Everglades Basin narrows southward to Shark River (Parker et al., 1955) which originally was a narrow karst valley (Meeder & Harlem, 2019). As sea-level rose sediment deposition expanded laterally into a 13 km wide sawgrass dominated marl environment until mangroves were reached near the coast. The Everglades Basin is bound by the Pleistocene ACR to the east and Pliocene outcrops to the west, which is the bedrock for the eastern Big Cypress. Throughout the eastern Big Cypress where Pliocene limestone bedrock was exposed, a thin marl unit was located at the surface on the level limestone and as basal deposits in sloughs which may contain surficial cypress peat (Duever et al., 1986). No dates on the origin or termination were available. However, marl deposition probably terminated with decreased water delivery or perhaps by increasing nutrient load soon after 1900, associated with regional drainage and agriculture. No observations of active cyanobacteria mats producing marl are known.

Corkscrew Swamp located in the western Big Cypress Swamp was an interior basin located ca 23 km from the Gulf of Mexico that features one of the longest Holocene sediment records. Marl deposition began 10,600 years BP and expanded horizontally and vertically forming a lens shaped deposit. The rising water table replaced marl with cypress peat ca 5685 years BP (Stone et al., 2010). The top of the sandy marl under Lake Trafford (Figure 6) has a radiometric date of 8290 ± 150 years BP, no basal date exists (Stone et al., 2006). Lake Trafford probably started as a shallow depression in the Pleistocene quartz sand. Marl deposition began with the elevation of the water table which was replaced by organic muck and open water as the water table continued to rise. The SESE differs from the other marl bodies in South Florida, which have different physical settings, water sources and timing of origins and terminations, however, South Florida marl environments share a peat-over-marl sequence deposited during rising water tables (Stone et al., 2010).

3.3.2 Connected to the sea environments

Connected to the sea palustrine environments require sufficient freshwater delivered to the coastal area, carbonate bedrock, lack of allochthonous sediment influx and seasonally controlled freshwater delivery, conditions normally associated with tectonically passive coasts in lower latitudes. Only one other Holocene palustrine environment directly connected to the sea was found in the literature. The Bagnoli-Fuorigrotta depression, Italy (Calderoni & Russo, 1998) was very different from the South Florida environments. The Bagnoli-Fuorigrotta depression stratigraphic sequence was driven by volcanism which caused a change from marine to volcanic to alluvial, palustrine and lacustrine tephra, with palustrine deposits overlying peat producing a regressive stratigraphic sequence. The Late Pleistocene deposits of coastal Tanzania were also addressed because of their direct comparison to the Everglades (Reuter et al., 2009). Although the Tanzania and Everglades marls were very similar, the Tanzania stratigraphic sequence was deposited during a regression and overlies organic rich strata. The sequence stratigraphy began with unvegetated tidal flat clays followed by either rooted tidal flat clays or organic rich clay to lacustrine to palustrine marls driven by dropping sea level and tectonic uplift changing deposition from tidal flat to palustrine sediments.

3.3.3 Distally connected to the sea environments

Two Holocene distally connected to the sea sites include the coastal central Delaware, (Pizzuto & Rogers, 1992) and Po Plain, north-east Italy (Rossi et al., 2021), neither contain carbonates and neither compare to the SESE. The sequence stratigraphy at the central Delaware coastal site was deposited in a Pleistocene channel and was driven by rising sea level changing from a fluvial to an estuarine environment. The Po Plain sequence stratigraphy was driven by rising sea level creating a profile of palustrine overlain by marine sediments. The biogenic Everglades, which lacks any allochthonous sediment influx, does not compare with either setting. In addition, the Po Plain palustrine sediments overlie organic rich sediments, in contrast to the SESE and the Everglades where marls were overlain by organic rich sediments (Table 3).

3.3.4 Interior basins

Interior basin environments exhibit few similarities to any of the South Florida environments. Corkscrew Swamp (Figure 6, CSS) may be the closest comparison but receives no allochthonous sediments and developed under conditions of rising water table (Stone et al., 2006). The five Holocene interior basin models include the Loboi Swamp, Kenya (Ashley et al., 2004, 2013); the Le Mancho Plain, Spain (Valino et al., 2002); the Las Tablas de Daimiel marshlands, Spain (Alonso-Zarza et al., 2006); Jefara Plain, north-west Libya (Giraudi et al., 2013); and Guadalentin Depression, south-east Spain (Silva et al., 2008) (Table 3). All were located in arid or semi-arid interior basins. The Loboi Swamp was Late Holocene in age and was fed by increasing groundwater delivery driving a shift from floodplain to organic rich palustrine and peat deposition. Such groundwater driven systems were common in east African rift valleys such as those found in Tanzania (Decampo, 2002; Ashley & Lintkas, 2002). The Le Mancho Plain was an extensive stratigraphic Pleistocene basin partially filled with Middle and Late Holocene fluvial sediments overlain by lacustrine and palustrine sediments with insignificant organic content. The sequence was driven by climate change and change in base level. The Late Holocene Las Tablas de Daimiel was found within the Le Mancho Plain and was one of the last surviving wetlands in the plain. The Las Tablas de Daimiel was suggested as the best analogue model for ancient palustrine environments (Alonso-Zarza et al., 2006). The stratigraphic sequence was driven by neotectonic activity and climate change, producing a change from alluvial to lacustrine and palustrine deposition with insignificant organic material in the semi-arid basin. Karst dolines developed in the limestone bedrock producing lacustrine and palustrine environments along the old river channel. The Jefara Plain stratigraphic sequence was driven by climate change producing a change from aeolian to palustrine, with palustrine sediments overlying minor organic rich beds in the arid basin. The Guadalentin Depression stratigraphic sequence was driven by rising base level in the late Neogene structural basin producing change from alluvial and fluvial to palustrine sediment deposition adjacent to fluvial deposits with insignificant organics.

4 DISCUSSION

4.1 Facies descriptions and distribution

Seven facies are recognised in the SESE across the pedogenic, palustrine and marine environments (Table 1, Figure 2). Many classic palustrine facies are missing because these Late Holocene sediments have not undergone cementation or diagenesis. The facies are found along a shore normal salinity gradient in near parallel bands. Marine facies are expanding over the freshwater marl facies producing a marine transgressive stratigraphic sequence (Meeder & Parkinson, 2018). Facies distributions are constant throughout the SESE although basin dimensions differ greatly. The northern Biscayne Bay coastal basins are smaller and saltwater encroachment and mangrove expansion has terminated at the foot of the L31E storm protection levee by loss of accommodation space. Although saltwater encroachment and sparse mangrove cover have moved landward to the L31E levee at the Turkey Point coastal basin (Figure 4C), marl production has not been replaced in most of the basin. Saltwater encroachment moved into the interior Florida Bay coastal basins up to 7.5 km east of Taylor Slough and mangrove expansion extends inland but is patchy and with low percent cover because of poor tidal exchange in contrast to Biscayne Bay coastal basins (Meeder et al., 2021). The rate of saltwater encroachment increased commensurate with accelerating rate of SLR.

Three additional areas with marl deposition are known in North and Central America. The facies and their distribution in northern Belize (Rejmankov et al., 1995) are very similar to those found in the SESE with the exception that the source of marine water is a large tidal creek system. In addition, the coastal area on the east side of the Yucatan has a few areas of freshwater marl deposition supported by groundwater, near saturated in calcium carbonate, from the limestone platform (Olmsted, 1993). The Fresh Creek area, Andros, Bahama Islands (Black, 1980) is a marl environment that is suggested as a better modern analogue of marl deposition than the Everglades (Gleason & Stone, 1994). In addition, Holocene marls are found under Florida Bay islands but are not discussed (Davies & Cohen, 1989; Wanless & Tagett, 1989). All South Florida sites contain the same variety of facies but with large differences in the dominant facies. In the SESE, sawgrass peat-marl is the most common facies followed by spike rush-periphyton marl, mangrove peat-marl and mangrove peat. In the Everglades Basin, sawgrass peat, sawgrass peat-marl, marl, mangrove peat-marl and mangrove peat facies are found in decreasing order.

4.2 The SESE Palustrine depositional model

The SESE marl body represents ca 3200 years of deposition after the rate of SLR decreased to <1 mm year⁻¹. Deposition is continuous during the Late Holocene with the mangrove fringe vertically accumulating up to 2.1 m of peat. The spike rush-periphyton community accumulated marl maintaining its elevation in respect to rising sea level and horizontally, moving up the gently seaward dipping Pleistocene carbonate ramp to the ACR, resulting in a wedge-shaped deposit with a thickness of 1.2 m, maximum thickness of 2.1 m. Differences between Biscayne Bay and Florida Bay coastal basin wetlands include slope, width and tidal exchange which is demonstrated by greater mangrove expansion in the Biscayne Bay basins. The ephemeral wetland was initially supported by shallow groundwater from the Everglades Basin. However, as the water table rose in response to SLR, the major source of water became surface delivery through the transverse glades. The transverse glades were channelised prior to 1965. The rate of SLR increased between 1900 and 2017 causing saltwater encroachment rates >130 m year⁻¹, and initial submergence and expansion of mangroves at the expense of the spike rush-periphyton community. Termination of the freshwater SESE wetlands is predicted in 55 years, because the ACR limits horizontal accommodation space (Meeder et al., 2022). The SESE stratigraphic record documents how minor changes in SLR over short periods of time can produced rapid changes in the environment (Meeder & Parkinson, 2018).

4.3 Comparison among other Holocene environments

4.3.1 South Florida palustrine environments

The SESE differs from the other seven marl environments and is closest to the Whitewater Bay environment that developed on a seaward sloping ramp, but behind a barrier. The Whitewater Bay marl environment terminated ca 3000 years BP because of marine flooding (Scholl, 1964) when marl deposition could no longer keep up with SLR, although it did in the SESE. Marl deposition was replaced by mangrove peat, but continued SLR resulted in erosion and submergence, termed destruction (Scholl, 1964), producing a residual skeletal surface layer and Whitewater Bay. However, the slow rate of SLR during the Late Holocene was insufficient to destroy a mangrove forest behind a barrier without an additional stressor like a hurricane, such as Irma (Osland et al., 2020; Lagomasino et al., 2021). This suggestion is based upon: the interpretation of the peaty skeletal debris as a storm lag deposit; the indirect evidence of continuous mangrove peat accumulation during the Late Holocene in numerous places (McKee et al., 2007); and observations of Hurricane Irma's massive mangrove mortality in Everglades National Park. Jones et al. (2019) reported that droughts and hurricanes were responsible for the hiatus, missing mangrove peat, found in a core from Bob Allen Key, Florida Bay, south-east of Cape Sable.

The Holocene marl forming environments in South Florida are subject to seasonal carbonate saturated water delivery from adjacent exposed limestone, without allochthonous sediment influx. Of the eight marl environments, the SESE with a 3200 year record and Everglades Basin, with a 10,500 year record, are the only active marl environments. Of the six terminated environments, Lake Trafford and Corkscrew Swamp are lost because of increasing hydroperiod that produced peat-over-marl sequences, Lake Flirt and the eastern Big Cypress failed because of drainage and Lake Okeechobee and Whitewater Bay by submergence. Lake Okeechobee was submerged by a rising water table driven by rising SLR and Whitewater Bay by rising sea level. The SESE is approaching termination, which is highly probably based upon termination of other South Florida marl environments, especially, Whitewater Bay. Holocene South Florida marl forming environments are short-lived which also appears true for the Florida Pleistocene (Hickey et al., 2010; Perkins, 1977) and Pliocene (Meeder et al., 2019).

All South Florida marl deposits were deposited during a rising water table driven by rising sea level or climate change (increased rainfall) and all but the eastern Big Cypress exhibited peat-over-marl sequences, except in the sloughs. Furthermore, there is a distinct lack of allochthonous sediment, except for Lake Trafford where sandy marl developed upon a quartz sand foundation. Eight separate surficial or shallowly buried Holocene marl environments in South Florida are reviewed (Table 3; Figure 6). Many of these environments are small in area but each are different from one another. The diversity, variability and short-lived nature of these palustrine settings generate difficulty in interpretation of the rock record, emphasising the need to establish the overall geological setting.

4.3.2 Comparison among Holocene palustrine environments

The division of palustrine environments into connected to the sea, remotely connected to the sea and interior basins is a useful approach (Alonso-Zarza & Wright, 2010). It is interesting that South Florida Holocene includes examples of all three major settings, although scaled down in area. The SESE and Everglades Basin are compared to the eight global Holocene palustrine environments from the literature (Table 3; Figure 6). Sea-level change drives most coastal and distally connected to the sea sedimentary sequences, whereas, structural, base-level change, changing climate and changing sediment sources drive interior basin sequence stratigraphy. As the distance from the sea increases, the influence that sea-level change imposes decreases. The more distally connected to the sea the more probably stratigraphic sequences are driven by factors other than sea-level change, such as climate change, structural changes, mass wasting, changes in base level and sediment source.

Three examples of connected to the sea marl environments are discussed. The SESE and Whitewater Bay share an origin at the beginning of the Late Holocene on a seaward sloping ramp. But the Whitewater Bay marl environment developed behind a barrier island (Cape Sable) and was terminated ca 3000 years BP because of marine flooding, and was replaced by mangrove peat (Scholl, 1963), although marl deposition continues in the SESE. In the Bagnoli and Fuorigrotta Depression the sequence stratigraphy was driven by volcanic activity. The SESE shares few characteristics with distally connected to the sea environments, however, the Everglades Basin is an interior basin with two major connections to the sea and several minor connections, the transverse glades. Everglades marls are overlain by freshwater peats. Other Holocene examples include Central Delaware located in a Pleistocene River channel and Po Coastal Plain, both without carbonates. The Po palustrine environment is dominantly forested freshwater wetlands in the interior of a prograding delta where wetland peats represent a regressive sequence rather than a transgressive sequence as in the SESE example. One of the big differences between palustrine deposition during transgression or regression is the highly organic marine sediments overlie the freshwater marls in transgressive sequences and the organic rich freshwater sediments are overlain by marls in regressive sequences. Whether marl deposition occurred during transgression or regression is frequently difficult to determine because of the thin, often discontinuous beds overlying and overlain by shallow water marine carbonates, even though evidence of exposure may be obvious by the presence of pedogenic and karst processes and laminated crusts.

The SESE has few similarities with interior basins, although a few Holocene South Florida extinct environments such as Corkscrew, Lake Okeechobee and Lake Trafford are interior basins, but they are located in the sub-tropics with ample rainfall, rising water tables with overlying freshwater peats and no allochthonous sediment influx. The greatest diversity of described Holocene environments are interior basins. All five are located in arid to semi-arid regions with local sources of water, frequently groundwater. Interior basin stratigraphic sequences vary greatly depending upon regional geology and are often driven by aeolian, alluvial, lacustrine, fluvial and flood plain processes. In most interior arid and semi-arid basin environments organics are not common, usually are freshwater, and may be found beneath or overlying palustrine sediments.

Holocene interior basin palustrine sediment sequences are controlled by tectonic actions that change base level, type of sediment, sediment availability and water delivery patterns, as well as climate change, especially rainfall. Arid and semi-arid interior basin sequences generally contain much less organic material and organic material usually underlies palustrine sediments in contrast to environments adjacent to or distally connected to the sea. The diversity of Holocene palustrine environments provides the geologist with tools to address the interpretation of the diverse palustrine deposits in the rock record. However, all South Florida sites exhibit a sequence stratigraphy of peat-over-marl, both in freshwater and marine settings. This pattern contrasts with northern peat bogs and lakes which fill in from the margins, also frequently producing peat-over-marl sequences (Lew et al., 2018, Figure 2; Miner & Ketterling, 2003).

5 CONCLUSIONS

The following findings are summarised:

The SESE is described as a coastal freshwater marl environment that began ca 3200 years BP.
The Late Holocene SESE developed upon a seaward dipping carbonate ramp subject to SLR and produced a wedge-shaped marl body ca 1.2 m in thickness with no allochthonous sediment.
The SESE environment began with a decrease in the rate of SLR and termination will occur before 2200 because of the accelerating rate of SLR.
The SESE is a distinct marl environment, separate from the Everglades Basin and the six Holocene extinct marl environments found in the South Florida Holocene.
All South Florida Holocene marls are overlain by either freshwater or mangrove peat, which may or may not be preserved in the rock record.
The SESE differs from other Holocene environments providing an additional environment for interpretation of the rock record.
The diversity, variability and short-lived nature of these palustrine settings in South Florida and globally complicate interpretation of rock sections, but all provide strong evidence of exposure in areas of freshwater delivery.

The South Florida Holocene marl environments include coastal, distally connected to the sea and interior basins, thus documenting the diversity of environments that can occur in a small region. The diversity of origins and the thin, discontinuous nature of the sediment bodies presents a challenge for interpretation of the rock record.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The National Science Foundation under grant no. HRD-1547798 and Grant No. HRD-2111661 paid publication costs. These NSF Grants were awarded to Florida International University as part of the Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) Program. This is publication #1727 from the Institute of Environment at Florida International University, a Preeminent Program. Partial funding support was provided by the SFWMD grants C-11679, C-12409, C-4244 and Task Agreement P15AC01625 of Master Cooperative Agreement H5000-10-5040 and Task Agreement Number P16AC01727 of Cooperative Agreement P16AC00032. Jesus Blanco, Santiago Castaneda, Dr. Peter Harlem, Alex-Martinez-Held, Carlos Pulido, Amy Renshaw and Rosario Vidales are acknowledged for field or laboratory assistance. Special thanks are extended to the reviewers for their contribution in improving this manuscript.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

The author has no conflicts of interests, commercial or otherwise.

Open Research

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

There is no additional data to be shared.

REFERENCES

Alonso-Zarza, A.M. & Calvo, J.P. (2000) Palustrine sedimentation in an episodically subsiding basin: the Miocene of the northern Teruel Graben (Spain). Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 160, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(00)00041-9
10.1016/S0031-0182(00)00041-9
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Alonso-Zarza, A.M., Dorado-Valino, M., Valdeolmillos-Rodrıguez, A. & Ruiz-Zapata, M.B. (2006) A recent analogue for palustrine carbonate environments: The Quaternary deposits of Las Tablas de Daimiel wetlands, Ciudad Real, Spain. In: Alonso-Zarza, A.M. & Tanner, L.H. (Eds.), Paleoenvironmental record and applications of calcretes and palustrine carbonates. Geological Society America Special Paper, 416, 153–216 https://doi.org/10.1130/2006.2416(10)
10.1130/2006.2416(10)
Google Scholar
Alonso-Zarza, A.M. & Wright, V.P. (2010) Palustrine carbonates. Developments in Sedimentology, 61, 103–131.
10.1016/S0070-4571(09)06102-0
Google Scholar
Appleby, P.G. & Oldfield, F. (1992) Application of ²¹⁰Pb to sedimentation studies. In: M. Ivanovich & R.S. Harmon (Eds.) Uranium-series Disequilibrium. Applications to Earth, Marine & Environmental Sciences. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 731–778.
Google Scholar
Ashley, G.M. & Liutkus, C.M. (2002) Tracks, trails and trampling by large vertebrates in a rift valley paleo-wetland, lowermost Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Ichnos, 9, 23–32.
10.1080/10420940216407
Google Scholar
Ashley, G.M., Maitima Mworia, J.M., Muasya, A.M., Owen, R.B., Driese, S.G., Hover, V.C., Renaut, R.W., Goman, M.F., Mathai, S. & Blatt, S.H. (2004) Sedimentation and evolution of a freshwater wetland in a semi-arid environment, Loboi Swamp, Kenya, East Africa. Sedimentology, 51, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2004.00671.x
10.1111/j.1365-3091.2004.00671.x
CAS Web of Science® Google Scholar
Ashley, G.M., Deocampo, D.M., Ahmann-Robinson, K.J. & Driese, S.G. (2013) Groundwater-fed wetland sediments and paleosoils: it's all about the water table. New frontiers in paleopedology and terrestrial paleoclimatology: paleosols and soil surface analog systems. SEPM Special Publication, 104, 47–61. https://doi.org/10.2110/sepmsp.104.03
10.2110/sepmsp.104.03
Google Scholar
Black, M. (1980) The geology and sedimentology of Andros Island and the adjoining parts of the Great Bahama Bank. In: Jeans, C.V. and Rawson, P.F. (Eds) Andros Island, chalk and oceanic oozes (unpublished work of Maurice Black), Yorkshire Geological Society, Occasional Publication, 5, 13–48.
Google Scholar
Blinn, D.W. (1993) Diatom Community Structure Along Physicochemical Gradients in Saline Lakes. Ecology, 74, 1246–1263. https://doi.org/10.2307/1940494
10.2307/1940494
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Brooks, H.K. (1974) Lake Okeechobee. In P.J. Gleason (Ed.), Environments of South Florida: present and past. Miami Geological Society Memoir, 2, 256–286.
Google Scholar
Browder, J.A., Gleason, D.R. & Swift, P.J. (1994) Chapter 16. Periphyton in the Everglades: spatial variation, environmental correlates, and ecological implications. In: S.M. Davis & J.C. Ogden (Eds.) Everglades: The Ecosystem and its Restoration. Delray Beach, FL: St Lucie Press, pp. 379–417.
Google Scholar
Cabrera, L. & Sáez, A. (1987) Coal deposition in carbonate-rich shallow lacustrine systems: the Calaf and Mequinenza sequences (Oligocene, eastern Ebro Basin, NE Spain). Journal of the Geological Society, 144, 451–461.
10.1144/gsjgs.144.3.0451
CAS Web of Science® Google Scholar
Calderoni, G. & Russo, F. (1998) The geomorphological evolution of the outskirts of Naples during the Holocene: a case study of the Bagnoli-Fuorigrotta depression. The Holocene, 8(5), 581–588.
10.1191/095968398671591932
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Cottrell, D.J. (1989) Holocene evolution of the coast and nearshore islands, northeast Florida Bay, Florida. PhD dissertation, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida, p. 194.
Google Scholar
Davies, T.D. & Cohen, A.D. (1989) Composition and significance of the peat deposits of Florida Bay. Bulletin of Marine Science, 44(1), 387–398.
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Dean, W.E. (1974) Determination of carbonate and organic matter in calcareous sediments and sedimentary rocks by loss on ignition; comparison with other methods. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 44, 242–248. https://doi.org/10.1306/74D729D2-2B21-11D7-8648000102C1865D
10.1306/74D729D2?2B21?11D7?8648000102C1865D
CAS Web of Science® Google Scholar
Deocampo, D.M. (2002) Sedimentary processes and lithofacies in lake-margin groundwater-fed wetlands in East Africa. In: R.W. Renaut & G.M. Ashley (Eds.), Sedimentation in continental rifts. Society for Sedimentary Geology, Special Publication, 73, 295–308.
Google Scholar
Duever, M.J., Carlson, J.E., Meeder, J.F., Duever, L.C., Gunderson, L.H., Riopelle, L.A., Alexander, T.R., Myers, R.L. & Spangler, D.P. (1986) The Big Cypress National Preserve. New York, NY, USA: National Audubon Society. Research Report No. 8.
Google Scholar
Dunagan, S.P. & Turner, C.E. (2004) Regional paleohydrologic and paleoclimatic settings of wetland/lacustrine depositional systems in the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic), Western Interior, USA. Sedimentary Geology, 167(3–4), 269–296.
10.1016/j.sedgeo.2004.01.007
CAS Web of Science® Google Scholar
Freytet, P. & Plaziat, J.C. (1982) Continental carbonate sedimentation and pedogenesis-Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary of southern France. In: Contributions to Sedimentary Geology, Vol. 12. Stuttgart: E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, pp. 1–213.
Google Scholar
Freytet, P. & Verrecchia, E.P. (2002) Lacustrine and palustrine carbonate petrography: an overview. Journal Paleolimnology, 27, 2212237. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014263722766
10.1023/A:1014263722766
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Giraudi, C., Mercuri, A.M. & Esu, D. (2013) Holocene palaeoclimate in the northern Sahara margin (Jefara Plain, northwestern Libya). The Holocene, 23(3), 339–352.
10.1177/0959683612460787
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Gleason, P.J. & Stone, P.A. (1994) Age, origin, and landscape evolution of the Everglades peatland. In: S.M. Davies & J.C. Ogden (Eds.) Everglades: The Ecosystem and its Restoration. Delray Beach: St Lucie Press, pp. 149–198.
Google Scholar
Hickey, T.D., Hine, A.C., Shinn, E.A., Kruse, S.E. & Poore, R.C. (2010) Pleistocene carbonate stratigraphy of South Florida: Evidence for high-frequency sea-level cyclicity. Journal of Coastal Research, 26(4), 605–614. https://doi.org/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-09-00052-1
10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-09-00052.1
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Hoffmeister, J.E.K., Stockman, W. & Multer, H.G. (1967) Miami Limestone of Florida and its Recent Bahamian counterpart. Geological Society America Bulletin, 78, 175–190. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1967)78[175:MLOFAI]2.0.CO;2
10.1130/0016-7606(1967)78[175:MLOFAI]2.0.CO;2
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Jones, M.C., Wingard, G.L., Stackhouse, B., Keller, K., Willard, D., Marot, M., Landacre, B. & Bernhardt, E. (2019) Rapid inundation of southern Florida coastline despite low relative sea-level rise rates during the late-Holocene. Nature Communications, 10(1), 3231.
10.1038/s41467-019-11138-4
PubMed Google Scholar
Kelts, K.R. (1988) Environments of deposition of lacustrine petroleum source rocks: An introduction. In: K.R. Kelts, A.J. Fleet & M.R. Talbot (Eds.) Lacustrine petroleum source rocks, Vol. 40. London: Geological Society London Special Publication, pp. 3–26. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1988.040.01.02
10.1144/GSL.SP.1988.040.01.02
Google Scholar
Lagomasino, D., Fatoyinbo, T., Castañeda-Moya, E., Cook, B.D., Montesano, P.M., Neigh, C.S., Corp, L.A., Ott, L.E., Chavez, S. & Morton, D.C. (2021) Storm surge and ponding explain mangrove dieback in southwest Florida following Hurricane Irma. Nature Communications, 12(1), 4003.
10.1038/s41467-021-24253-y
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Lew, S., Glinska-Lewczuk, K. & Ziembinska-Buczynska, A. (2018) Prokaryotic community composition affected by seasonal changes in physicochemical properties of water in peat bog lakes. Water, 10(4), 485. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040485
10.3390/w10040485
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Lidz, B.H. (2006) Pleistocene corals of the Florida Keys: architects of imposing reefs—why? Journal of Coastal Research, 22(4), 750–759.
Google Scholar
Lorenz, J.J. (2014) A review of the effects of altered hydrology and salinity on vertebrate fauna and their habitats in Northeastern Florida Bay. Wetlands, 34, 189–200. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-013-0377-1
10.1007/s13157-013-0377-1
Web of Science® Google Scholar
MacNeil, A.J. & Jones, B. (2006) Palustrine deposits on a Late Devonian coastal plain sedimentary attributes and implications for concepts of carbonate sequence stratigraphy. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 76, 2922309. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2006.028
10.2110/jsr.2006.028
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Martın-Chivelet, J. & Gimenez, R. (1992) Palaeosols in microtidal carbonate sequences, Sierra de Utiel Formation, Upper Cretaceous, SE Spain. Sedimentary Geology, 81, 1252145. https://doi.org/10.1016/0037-0738(92)90060-5
10.1016/0037-0738(92)90060-5
Google Scholar
Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pirani, A., Connors, S., Pean, C., Berger, S., Caud, N., Chen, Y., Goldfarb, L., Gomis, M., Huang, M., Leitzell, K., Lonnoy, E., Matthews, J., Maycock, T., Waterfield, T., Yelekci, O., Yu, R. & Zhou, B. (2021) Climate change 2021, the physical science basis—summary for policymakers. Work Group I Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Switzerland https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157896
10.1017/9781009157896
Google Scholar
Mazzei, V., Gaiser, E.E., Kominoski, J.S., Wilson, B.J., Servais, S., Bauman, L., Davis, S.E., Kelly, S., Sklar, F.H., Rudnick, D.T., Stachelek, J. & Troxler, T.G. (2018) Functional and Compositional Responses of Periphyton Mats to Simulated Saltwater Intrusion in the Southern Everglades. Estuaries and Coasts, 41, 2105–2119. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-018-0415-6
10.1007/s12237-018-0415-6
CAS Web of Science® Google Scholar
McKee, K.L., Cahoon, D.R. & Feller, I.C. (2007) Caribbean mangroves adjust to rising sea level through biotic controls on change in soil elevation. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 16(5), 545–556.
10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00317.x
Web of Science® Google Scholar
McVoy, C., Said, W.P., Obeysekera, J., VanArman, J.A. & Dreschel, T.W. (2011) Landscapes and hydrology of the predrainage Everglades. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, p. 342.
Google Scholar
Meeder, J.F., Parkinson, R.W., Ruiz, P.L. & Ross, M.S. (2017) Saltwater encroachment and prediction of future ecosystem response to the response to the Anthropocene Marine transgression, Southeast Saline Everglades, Florida. Hydrobiologia, 803, 29–48. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3359-0
10.1007/s10750-017-3359-0
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Meeder, J.F. & Parkinson, R.W. (2018) SE Saline Everglades Transgressive Sedimentation in Response to Historic Acceleration in Sea-Level Rise: A Viable Marker for the Base of the Anthropocene? Journal of Coastal Research, 34, 490–497. https://doi.org/10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-17-00031.1
10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-17-00031.1
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Meeder, J.F. & Harlem, P.W. (2019) Origin and development of true karst valleys in Response to late Holocene sea-level change, the Transverse Glades of southeast Florida, USA. Special Issue: Celebration of the Career of Robert Nathan Ginsburg. The Depositional Record, 5, 558–577. https://doi.org/10.1002/dep2.84
10.1002/dep2.84
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Meeder, J.F., Klaus, J.S. & Grasmueck, M. (2019) Ramp reef depositional facies model for the Mid-Pliocene Golden Gates Reef Member of the Tamiami Formation, South Florida. Facies, 65, 40. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-019-0582-3
10.1007/s10347-019-0582-3
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Meeder, J.F., Parkinson, R.W., Kominoski, J., Ross, M.S. & Castaneda, S. (2021) Anthropocene Marine Transgression and Changing Organic Carbon Storage, Southeast Saline Everglades, Florida, USA. Wetlands, 41, 41. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-021-01440-7
10.1007/s13157-021-01440-7
Google Scholar
Meeder, J.F., Adelgren, N., Stoffella, S.L., Ross, M.S. & Kadko, D.C. (2022) The paleo-ecological application of mollusks in the calculation of saltwater encroachment and resultant changes in depositional patterns driven by the Anthropocene Marine Transgression. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10, 908557.
10.3389/fevo.2022.908557
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Miner, J.J. & Ketterling, D.B. (2003) Dynamics of peat accumulation and marl flat formation in a calcareous fen, Midwestern United States. Wetlands, 23, 950–960. https://doi.org/10.1672/0277-5212(2003)023[0950:DOPAAM]2.0.CO;2
10.1672/0277-5212(2003)023[0950:DOPAAM]2.0.CO;2
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Olmsted, I. (1993) Wetlands of Mexico. In: D.F. Whigham, D. Dykyjová & S. Hejný (Eds.) Wetlands of the world: Inventory, ecology and management Volume I. Handbook of vegetation science. Dordrecht: Springer, p. 15-2. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8212-4_13
10.1007/978-94-015-8212-4_13
Google Scholar
Olmsted, I.C., Loope, L.L. & Rintz, R.E. (1980) A survey and baseline analyses of aspects of the vegetation of Taylor Slough, Everglades National Park. U.S. National Park Service, South Florida Research Center. Technical Report T-586, 1–71.
Google Scholar
Osland, M.J., Feher, L.C., Anderson, G.H., Vervaeke, W.C., Krauss, K.W., Whelan, K.R., Balentine, K.M., Tiling-Range, G., Smith, T.J. & Cahoon, D.R. (2020) A tropical cyclone-induced ecological regime shift: Mangrove forest conversion to mudflat in Everglades National Park (Florida, USA). Wetlands, 40, 1445–1458.
10.1007/s13157-020-01291-8
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Parker, G.G., Ferguson, G.E. & Love, S.K. (1955) Water resources of Southeastern Florida with special reference to the geology and groundwater of the Miami area. Geological Survey Water Supply Paper, 1255, 1–965.
Google Scholar
Parkinson, R.W. & Wdowinski, S. (2022) Accelerating sea-level rise and the fate of mangrove plant communities in South Florida, USA. Geomorphology, 412, 108329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2022.108329
10.1016/j.geomorph.2022.108329
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Parkinson, R.W. & Wdowinski, S. (2023) A unified conceptual model of coastal response to accelerating sea-level rise. Science of the Total Environment, 892, 164448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164448
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164448
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Perez, A., Luzon, A., Roc, A.C., Soria, A.R., Mayayo, M.J. & Sanchez, J.A. (2002) Sedimentary facies distribution and genesis of a recent carbonate-rich saline lake: Gallocanta Lake, Iberian Chain, NE Spain. Sedimentary Geology, 148, 1852202. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(01)00217-2
10.1016/S0037-0738(01)00217-2
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Perkins, R.D. (1977) Pleistocene depositional framework of south Florida. In: P. Enos & R.D. Perkins (Eds.) Quarternary Sedimentation in South Florida, Vol. 147. Boulder, CO: Geology Society of America Bulletin, pp. 131–198.
10.1130/MEM147-p131
Google Scholar
Pizzuto, J.E. & Rogers, E.W. (1992) The Holocene history and stratigraphy of palustrine and estuarine wetland deposits of central Delaware. Journal of Coastal Research, 8(4), 854–867. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4298041
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Platt, N.H. & Wright, V.P. (1992) Palustrine carbonates at the Florida Everglades: towards an exposure index for the fresh-water environment. Journal Sedimentation Petroleum, 62, 105821071. https://doi.org/10.1306/D4267A4B-2B26-11D7-8648000102C1865D
10.1306/D4267A4B?2B26?11D7?8648000102C1865D
Google Scholar
Plaziat, J.C. & Freytet, P. (1978) Le pseudo-microkarst pe'dologique: un aspect particulier des pale'o-pe'dogene'ses de'veloppe'es sur les de'poˆts calcaires lacustres dans le Tertiaire du Languedoc. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, 286, 166121664.
Google Scholar
Rejmankova, E., Pope, O., Pohl, M.D. & Rey-Benayas, J.M. (1995) Freshwater Wetland Plant Communities of Northern Belize: Implications for Paleoecological Studies of Maya Wetland Agriculture. Biotropica, 27, 28–36.
10.2307/2388900
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Reuter, M., Piller, W.E., Harzhauser, M., Kroh, A. & Berning, B. (2009) A fossil Everglades-type marl prairie and its paleoenvironmental significance. Palaios, 24, 747–755. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2009.p09-062r
10.2110/palo.2009.p09-062r
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Ross, M.S., Meeder, J.F., Sah, J.P., Ruiz, P.L. & Telesnicki, G.J. (2000) The southeast saline Everglades revisited: 50 years of coastal vegetation change. Journal of Vegetation Science, 11(1), 101–112.
10.2307/3236781
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Rossi, V., Barbieri, G., Vaiani, S.C., Cacciari, M., Bruno, L., Campo, B., Marchesini, M., Marvelli, S. & Amorosi, A. (2021) Millennial-scale shifts in microtidal ecosystems during the Holocene: dynamics and drivers of change from the Po Plain coastal record (NE Italy). Journal of Quaternary Science, 36(6), 961–979.
10.1002/jqs.3322
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Sanz-Rubio, E., Hoyos, M., Calvo, J.P. & Rouchy, J.M. (1999) Nodular anhydrite growth controlled by pedogenic structures in evaporite lake formations. Sedimentary Geology, 125(3–4), 195–203.
10.1016/S0037-0738(98)00150-X
CAS Web of Science® Google Scholar
Scholl, D.W. (1963) Sedimentation in modern coastal swamps, southwestern Florida. AAPG Bulletin, 47(8), 1581–1603.
CAS Google Scholar
Scholl, D.W. (1964) Recent sedimentary record in mangrove swamps and rise in sea level over the southwestern coast of Florida, Parts I and II. Journal of Marine Science, 1, 344–366. https://doi.org/10.1016/0025-3227(64)90047-7
10.1016/0025?3227(64)90047?7
Google Scholar
Sikora, L.J. & Stott, D.E. (1996) Soil organic carbon and nitrogen. In: J.W. Doran & A.J. Jones (Eds.) Methods For Assessing Soil Quality. Madison, WI: Soil Science Society of America, pp. 157–167. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaspecpub49.c9
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Silva, P.G., Bardají, T., Calmel-Avila, M., Goy, J.L. & Zazo, C. (2008) Transition from alluvial to fluvial systems in the Guadalentín Depression (SE Spain) during the Holocene: Lorca Fan versus Guadalentín River. Geomorphology, 100(1–2), 140–153.
10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.10.023
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Stone, P.A., Duever, M.J. & Meeder, J.F. (2006) Age, Staged evolution, and natural disturbance of Corkscrew Swamp, SW Florida. (Poster) Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (GEER) Conference, Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Google Scholar
Stone, P.A., Gleason, P.J., Meeder, J.F., Duever, M.J., Ross, M.S., Graf, M.-T. & Chmura, G.L. (2010) Common peat-over-marl sedimentary sequences in south florida—a much different hydrologic history than better-known examples from temperate climates. (Poster) Greater Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (GEER) Conference, Naples, FL.
Google Scholar
Swiadek, J.W. (1997) The impacts of Hurricane Andrew on mangrove coasts in southern Florida: a review. Journal of Coastal Research, 13, 242–245.
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Tanner, L.H. & Lucas, S.G. (2018) Pedogenic record of climate change across the Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary in red-bed strata of the Cutler Group, northern New Mexico, USA. Sedimentary Geology, 373, 98–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2018.05.014
10.1016/j.sedgeo.2018.05.014
CAS Web of Science® Google Scholar
Valiño, M.D., Rodrı́guez, A.V., Zapata, M.B.R., Garcı́a, M.J.G. & De Bustamante Gutiérrez, I. (2002) Climatic changes since the Late-glacial/Holocene transition in La Mancha Plain (South-central Iberian Peninsula, Spain) and their incidence on Las Tablas de Daimiel marshlands. Quaternary International, 93, 73–84.
10.1016/S1040-6182(02)00007-1
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Walker, M.J.C., Gibbard, P.L., Berkelhammer, M., Bjorck, S., Cwynar, L.C., Fisher, D.A., Long, A.J., Lowe, J.J., Newnham, R.M., Rasmussen, S.O. & Weiss, H. (2014) Formal subdivision of the Holocene series/epoch. In: STRATI 2013: First International Congress on Stratigraphy, At the Cutting Edge of Stratigraphy. Berlin: Springer International Publishing, pp. 983–987.
10.1007/978-3-319-04364-7_186
Google Scholar
Wanless, H.R. & Tagett, M.G. (1989) Origin, growth and evolution of carbonate mudbanks in Florida Bay. Bulletin of Marine Science, 44(1), 454–489.
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Wanless, H.R., Parkinson, R.W. & Tedesco, L.P. (1994) Sea level control on stability of Everglade's wetlands. In: S.M. Davis & J.C. Ogden (Eds.) Everglades: The Ecosystem and Its Restoration. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press, pp. 199–224.
Google Scholar

Volume11, Issue1

February 2025

Pages 467-485

Description of the Late Holocene South-east Saline Everglades, Florida palustrine depositional environment with comparisons to other Holocene environments

Abstract