Main
        Copyright
    Front Cover
        Page i
        Page ii
    Title Page
        Page iii
    introduction and geomorphology
        Page 1
        1a
        1b
    Stratigraphy
        Page 2 (MULTIPLE)
        Page 3
        3a
        3b
        Page 4
    Geologic sampling program
        Page 5
        Page 6
        Page 7
        7a
        7b
    Hydrology
        Page 8
        Page 9
        9a
        9b
        aPage 10
        9d
        Page 10
        Page 11
    Referenes
        Page 12 (MULTIPLE)
    Figure captions
        Page 13
    Appendix
        Page 14
        Page 15
        Page 16
        Page 17
        Page 18

FLRD GEOLOSk ( IC SUfRiW


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State of Florida
Department of Natural Resources
Tom Gardner, Executive Director




Division of Resource Management
Jeremy Craft, Director




Florida Geological Survey
Walt Schmidt, State Geologist and Chief









Open File Report 22


The Geology of Wakulla Springs


by

Frank R. Rupert


Florida Geological Survey
Tallahassee, Florida
1988



































3126 04646428 /







sc IPC



LIBRARY






Florida Bureau of Geology Library
903 W. Tennessee Street
Tall-hassee, Florida 32304




State of Florida
Department of Natural Resources
Tom Gardner, Executive Director



Division of Resource Management
Jeremy Craft, Director



Florida Geological Survey
Walt Schmidt, State Geologist






Open File Report 22


The geology of Wakulla Springs


By

Frank R. Rupert


Florida Geological Survey
Tallahassee, Florida
1988





THE GEOLOGY OF WAKULLA SPRINGS


Frank R. Rupert
Florida Geological Survey

INTRODUCTION

Little was known about the geologic makeup of the Wakulla

Springs system prior to the 1987 Wakulla Springs Project. Olsen

(1958) explored the outer 1100 feet of the main cave and

collected paleontological and archeological remains. However, a

detailed geologic reconnaissance was apparently never performed.

During the course of the Wakulla Springs Project, the project

divers collected a series of rock specimens and sediment cores

for analysis by the Florida Geological Survey. The following

section provides an overview of the geomorphology and the geology

of Wakulla Springs and vicinity, including a discussion of the

geology of the conduit system based on the samples collected.


GEOMORPHOLOGY

Wakulla Springs are situated in the Woodville Karst Plain

geomorphic zone. 'This zone encompasses an area extending

southward from the Cody Scarp to the Gulf of Mexico, and from

just west of U. S. Highway 319 eastward through Jefferson County

(Figure 1). The Woodville Karst Plain is characterized as a

flat or very gently rolling surface of porous sand overlying

Oligocene and Miocene age limestones. Elevations range from 0 to

35 feet above mean sea level, and surface slope averages about

four feet per mile southward. During the Pleistocene Epoch (two





















Figure 1: Map showing the extent of the
Woodville Karst Plain and the
geologic cross section location.






EXPi'ANATION

WooDVILLE KARST PLAIN /

U.S. HIGHWAY /
SSTATE/COUNTY ROAD
CROSS SECTION LOCATION ) z


TALLAHASSEE


;** "'"-***


SLEON COUNTY
WAKULLA COUNTY

,


Ni\




MILES 1
012345 3 I5


02468
KILOMETERS


i-Q


OF


MEXICO


1


)~l~i;:.: r?~;~r- :.






million to 10,000 years ago), sea level fluctuated in a range

between 300 feet below and 150 feet above present level. The

ancient shoreline was at one time, just south of Tallahassee near

the Cody Scarp. Waves and currents in these highstanding

Pleistocene sea reworked the sands of older formations,

depositing them over limestone in a broad, flat sea flooe.' As

the sea retreated for the final time in the late Pleistocene it

left in its wake the relict dunes, bars, and thin sand veneer

covering the Woodville Karst Plain today.

Limestone is within 25 feet of the surface in most of

eastern Wakulla County. The top of this limestone is highly

karstic, having undergone extensive dissolution by groundwater

percolating through the porous overlying sands. As a result,

the Woodville Karst Plain contains numerous wet and dry sinks,

natural bridges, disappearing streams, and as this project has

revealed, cavernous underground drainage systems.


STRATIGRAPHY

The oldest sediments underlying Wakulla County are Paleozoic

age (350 500 million years ago) shales occurring at depths in

excess of 12,000 feet below land surface (Rupert and Spencer,

1988 in press). These rocks form the foundation for an extensive

series of overlying Mesozoic and Cenozoic age siliciclastic and

marine carbonate rocks.


In the vicinity of Wakulla Springs, the near-surface






formations are predominantly Eocene through Miocene-age marine

limestones and dolomites, overlain by a thin veneer of

undifferentiated Pleistocene sand. These carbonate rocks, along

with their equivalent strata state-wide, serve as an important

freshwater aquifer known as the Floridan aquifer system. The

formations comprising the Floridan aquifer system in Wakulla

County include the Eocene-age Ocala Group, the-Oligocene age

Suwannee Limestone, and the Miocene-age St. Marks Formation.

Figure 2 is a geologic cross section near Wakulla Springs

illustrating the local stratigraphy.

Limestones of.the Ocala Group lie below the depths attained

by most water wells. The Ocala Group is comprised of Upper

Eocene fossiliferous marine limestones and dolomites. These

rocks were deposited in a shallow sea some 36 to 40 million years

ago. Oil test wells near Wakulla Springs penetrated Ocala Group

sediments at depths between 400 and 600 feet below land surface.

The deepest portion of the conduits explored during the Wakulla

Springs Project did not penetrate Ocala Group sediments.


The Lower Oligocene Suwannee Limestone unconformably

overlies the Ocala Group in Wakulla County. This formation was

also formed in a shallow sea which inundated all of Florida 30 to

36 million years ago. The Suwannee Limestone is typically a

white to pale orange, calcarenitic limestone, composed of sand-

sized calcareous particles and frequently containing larger

fossil mollusks, echinoids, and corals. It may also contain beds




















Figure 2: Geologic cross section across
the Woodville Karst Plain.


I I





















I-








-20-




-40-




-60-




-80-




-100-




-120-


ILl
IU
us



-50

MEAN
-0 SEA
LEVEL


-50



--100



-150 i




u.
,-250




--300


--350


--400


--450


cm
V_
oh

0I

1


UNDIFFERENTIATED PLEISTOCENE

SAND


f6FIMATION
1 .1 -- -------- L W

r
- - -

-- ---------------- -
----------------


-- ------------
- - - - -

----- ---- ---- ---------- -----
- - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - -
----------------------------
--------- ---- -----------
- - - - -
-------------
. . . . .. ..
------ --------
.jljo -- -------------
ijjw fw! .. - - - ---- ------------------ ----------------
---------- -


t s - - - ---------- -----
-------------- --------- --- --- - - -
------------------------ ------------------
s,
-------------------
- - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - - . . . . .
- - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - . . . . .
----- --- -------
..........
..........
- - -
...........
...........................
- - - - - - -
- - -

..........

MILES
GROUP 0 1 2 3 4 5


0 i I I I I I I I I


ST.D.-2169 FT.


2 4
KILOMETERS


6 8


VERTICAL EXAGGERATION IS 105 TIMES TRUE SCALE.

* WELL NUMBERS ARE FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY WELL ACCESSION NUMBERS.


Lio


A'


v






of tan to light brown dolomite. Some drinking-water wells draw

freshwater from the Suwannee Limestone, and as discussed later,

the conduits feeding Wakulla Springs are developed in this rock

unit.


The Lower Miocene St. Marks Formation overlies the Suwannee

Limestone and is generally the uppermost carbonate unit in the

Woodville Karst Plain. Most of the karst features of the area as

well as the channel of the Wakulla River are developed in the

upper part of this unit. It crops out in the Wakulla Springs

pool, in sinks throughout the area, and along the Gulf coast in

southern Wakulla County. As shown in Figure 2, it thins to the

east, ultimately pinching out against the Suwannee Limestone in

Jefferson County. The St. Marks is a white to pale orange,

calcilutitic marine limestone, approximately 20 to 25 million

years old. It frequently contains some quartz sand, fossil

mollusk molds, and clay stringers. Locally the St. Marks is the

upper unit of the Floridan aquifer system. Most of Wakulla

County's domestic wells draw freshwater from the St. Marks

Formation.

A thin blanket of undifferentiated Pleistocene quartz sands

and clayey sands overlie the St. Marks Formation. Most of these

sands are relict marine deposits, stranded by the regressing

Pleistocene sea. The sands are generally porous, allowing direct

rainwater recharge to the underlying carbonates of the Floridan

aquifer system.






GEOLOGIC SAMPLING PROGRAM

Geologic samples were collected within the Wakulla Spring
cave system to better understand the local stratigraphy as well

as the geology of the entire conduit network. In cooperation

with the Florida Geological Survey, the divers recovered seven

shallow sediment cores from the cave floor and cave-wall rock

samples from 28 depth intervals ranging from 9 to 304-feet below

spring pool surface (approximately four feet MSL). These samples

were described and are currently cataloged in the Florida

Geological Survey sample repository as M-3023. Lithologic

descriptions of the samples are included in the Appendix, and

sample locations are shown on Figure 5.


The entire conduit system is developed in the Oligocene age

Suwannee Limestone. Throughout most of the cave, the lithology

consists of white to very pale orange, poorly indurated,

recrystallized, foraminiferal, biocalcarenitic limestone. Near

the cave mouth, samples show a rind of iron oxide staining

ranging from 0.5 to'1-inch thick on the exposed, weathered faces.

The typical fossil fauna include the Foraminifera Dictyoconus

cookei. Rotalia mexicana. Cancris sagra. Operculinoids

vicksburaensis. and Quincueloculina spp., molds of the mollusk

Cerithium sp., corals, and recrystallized casts of the echinoid

Rhvncholampus couldii. A distinct lithologic change within the

Suwannee Limestone, first noted at a depth of approximately 218

feet, is sporadically traceable along the tunnel walls into the






caves as far as exploration progressed (Wes Skiles, personal

communication, 1987). This lithologic change appears as a sharp

color change on the video tapes taken of the conduit walls. The

color change is caused by an abrupt transition from the soft

biocalcarenite above the change to a harder, recrystallized
dolomitic calcarenite below. This lower, harder layer floors

most of the cave system below the 218-feet depth, and may have

retarded further downward dissolution within the conduits. At

the deepest sampled depth of 304 feet, the lower lithology is a

brown sucrosic dolomite.

The Suwannee Limestone unconformably contacts-the overlying.

Miocene age St. Marks Formation at a depth of approxiamtely 90

feet below water surface. This contact is exposed on the face of
the limestone ledge in the spring pool directly above the spring
vent. The St. Marks Formation is a white to very pale orange,

fossiliferous, slightly sandy, calcilutitic limestone. Diver

Bill Wilson reported several distinct coral heads and shell beds

within the portion exposed in the ledge. Most of the contained

fossils are recrystallized, with Foraminifera, mollusk molds, and
corals dominating. Foraminifera include Sorites sp. and Archaias

cf. floridanus. Between 20 and 40 feet deep, the lithology of

the St. Marks Formation is a pale orange, generally

unfossiliferous calcilutite containing some white to pale green

clay stringers. The nine-foot sample is abundantly mollusk-

moldic. In the vicinity of Wakulla Springs, the elevation of the






top of the St. Marks Formation is variable. The shallowest

samples collected in the spring pool cropped out at nine feet of

water depth. Locally, this formation is generally overlain by 10

to 20 feet of undifferentiated Pleistocene sand. However,

boulders of St. Marks Formation "float" may be observed along the

nature trail on the park grounds.

Collection of paleontological remains was not part of the

Wakulla Springs exploration project. The divers documented on

videotape the extensive Pleistocene bone beds first noted by

Olsen (1958) in the primary spring tunnel (see Figure 3), and

. also..discovered. a second deposit of similar bones some 1200 feet

into tunnel "B", at a depth of 285 feet. The origin of these

deposits is uncertain. Two hypotheses explaining the placement

of these bone beds center on the 300-feet drop in sea level

postulated to have occurred during the Pleistocene glacial

periods (Lane, 1986). Such a drop in world-wide sea level would

have lowered the freshwater table as well, leaving the spring

conduits stranded as dry caves. One theory holds that the

Pleistocene mammals roamed in these dry caves, perhaps looking

for water, or that paleo-Indians carried animal carcasses into

the cave. A second theory is that Wakulla Spring may have been a

sink or "swallow hole" during lower sea level, possibly receiving

the flow of an ancient stream. The water inflow, it is reasoned,

may have flushed animal remains down into the cave, possibly as

far as the outer bone beds noted by Olsen. However, the recent




















Figure 3: Cross section of the Wakulla
Cave, from Olsen(1958).


~_~ I ~~ ~::-rci I SC; i'-F: :!::'; '~d\~.~.it"L~B~P~E&~;~ti~~





















NORTHWEST SOUTHEAST


LODGE
DIVING
PLATFORM --.









-15 a EXPOSED E E
SPRING POOLEXPOSED

LIMESTONE










A MASTODON LEG BONE
200 NT SLOTH TOOTH E R UNEXPLORED


D MASTODON JAWBONE-
E CHARRED WOOD AREA OF FOSSIL FINDS LARGE SCATTERED
-250 F LARGE TUS SHARP TURN TO UMESTONE CORAL
GF LARGEs THE SOUTHWEST BOULDERS FRAGMENTS
G nles
H LEG BONE
V ERTICA EXAGGERATION IS 2 TIMES TRUF SCALE

FEET 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
i I I I I I I I I I i









-ZI






discovery of bones 1200 feet back into the caves may make the

latter theory seem less plausible. Future radiometric and

micropaleontologic study of the short core taken in the bone bed

may help determine the true origin of these deposits.

HYDROLOGY

Groundwater is water that fills the pores and interstitial

spaces in rocks and sediments beneath the surface of the earth.

Most of eastern Wakulla County's groundwater is derived from

precipitation within the county and in Leon County to the north

(Hendry and Sproul, 1966; Stewart, 1980). A portion of the

precipitation leaves the area via surface runaff..(stream.flow) or ..

by evaporation and transpiration. The greater portion of

precipitation water, however, enters the aquifer directly through

sinks or percolates rapidly down through the porous surface sands

of the Woodville Karst Plain. In this way, rainfall enters the

shallow, karstic limestones and recharges the Floridan aquifer

system rapidly.


Spring flow at Wakulla Springs shows a wide variation and

correlates closely with rainfall (Rosenau et al., 1977). After

heavy or sustained rainfall, plugs of tannic water are flushed

into the Wakulla Springs conduits, frequently turning the

normally clear water brown and decreasing visibility (Clemens,

1988). The source of the tannic water is not certain, but its

color suggests it may have recently been surface water.






Potentiometric Gradient

Water confined within the Floridan aquifer system is

generally under a pressure greater than atmospheric, resulting in

a positive static head. The height to which water rises in

tightly-cased wells penetrating an artesian aquifer forms an

imaginary surface called the potentiometric surface. If the land

elevation of a well or spring is below the level of the

potentiometric surface, the well or spring will flow at the

ground surface. Figure 4 illustrates the potentiometric surface

of the Floridan aquifer system in Wakulla County. Water flow

through the aquifer, the potentiometric gradient, is from the

higher to lower potentiometric contours,, in a direction

perpendicular to the contour lines. In the vicinity of Wakulla

Springs, this flow is southeastward.

The Conduit System

Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating the relative

relationships of the four conduits explored by the divers, water

flow, and geology. The Wakulla Spring feeder conduits probably

developed during the Pleistocene Epoch, millions of years after

the rock containing them was formed. Although the mode of

formation is not certain, the sheer size and lack of

characteristic dry cave formations (e.g. stalagtites) suggests

they were dominantly formed by flowing groundwater. Since sea

level (and hence the freshwater table) fluctuated considerably

during the Pleistocene, the conduit system could have evolved

sporadically throughout a wide range of sea level positions.




















Figure 4: Potentiometric surface of the
Floridan aquifer system in
Wakulla County (from Barr, 1987).


_ .. ;..;. .........,.i' ,`'"~tMJ;i~n~:~ll.hii::i-l? -:~i~t~i


























Figure 5: Block diagram of the Wakulla
Spring conduit system (data
from U. S. Deep Caving Team).


- ~'il~l











































' GEOLOGIC SAMPLE
LOCATIONS
DEPTH INTERVALS COLLECTED NEAR
EACH NUMBERED LOCATION:
1. 9 180 FEET (In spring pool
and oave mouth).
2. 10O 190 FEET
3. 200 230 FEET
4. 240 270 FEET
5. 280 290 FEET
6. 298 304 FEET






sporadically throughout a wide range of sea level positions.

The directions the conduits feeding Wakulla Spring assumed

during their formation may have been largely bedding-plane and

joint or fracture controlled. Limestone will naturally contain

some horizontal beds which are softer or more easily exploited by

water than others. In addition, natural fractures in regionally

consistent orientations are common in limestone terrain. Such

fracturing is often observable as linear patterns in air

photographs. Over time, the dissolving action of groundwater

seeping along these fractures could shape a tubular conduit. The

existing fracture directions would determine the compass

direction a conduit assumed. Likewise, the horizontal positions

of the softest, most exploitable beds, as well as the elevation

of the water table, would control the depth of the conduits. If

the fracturing is widespread and intersecting, an extensive

series of interconnected tunnels could develop.

Although data on linear trends in Wakulla County is lacking,

Hendry and Sproul (1966) and Yon (1966) observed a series of

linear patterns, trending northeast-southwest and northwest-

southeast, in adjacent Leon and Jefferson Counties. The

orientations of long segments in each of the Wakulla Spring

conduits appear to generally correspond to these compass

directions.

Water flow in all the tunnels is towards the Grand Junction

Depot room, and ultimately northwestward to the spring vent






(Figure 5). Interestingly, this flow is generally in opposition

to the local potentiometric gradient. Water quality within the

conduits showed somewhat differing characteristics. Tunnels

"B", "C", and "D" carried "air clear" water, while Tunnel "A"

carried tannic (tea-colored) water. Input from the tannic-laden

conduit frequently determined the spring's overall clarity on a

daily basis. Clemens (1988) reported no major water quality

(chemistry) differences between water samples collected by the

dive team in tunnels A, B, C, the cave entrance, and Sally Ward

Spring. Preliminary uranium isotope counts conducted on water

samples taken within the four conduits reveals that tunnels "B"

and "C" carry regional groundwater, while Tunnel "D", and

possibly tunnel "A" have recent surface water components (Kenneth

Osmond and Milena Macesich, Florida State Universtiy, personal

communication, 1988).

The existence of such large and complex systems of

underground caverns is not surprising to geologists. Similar

patterns are known in dry caves, and cave divers have been

exploring other submerged conduit systems throughout Florida for

years. However, the discoveries made during the Wakulla Springs

Project have great significance to our understanding of the

hydrology of the Woodville Karst Plain. The traditional view of

a limestone aquifer as a porous, consistent mass of rock through

which water seeps at a predictable rate is no longer entirely

accurate. We must now take into consideration the additional






a series of virtual


interconnected, and moving large quantities of water rapidly.


REFERENCES

Barr, G. L., 1987, Potentiometric surface of the upper Floridan
aquifer in Florida, May 1985: Florida Geological Survey Map
Series 119.

Clemens, L. A., 1988, Ambient ground water quality in northwest
Florida, Part 2: A case study in regional ground water
monitoring Wakulla Springs, Wakulla County, Florida:
Northwest Florida Water Management District, Water Resources
Report 88-1, 25 p.

Lane, B. E., 1986, Karst in Florida: Florida Geological Survey
Special Publication No. 29, 100 p.

Hendry, C.. W., Jr., and Sproul, C. R., 19.66, Geology and
groundwater resources of Leon County, Florida: Florida
Geological Survey Bulletin 47, 178 p.

Olsen, S. J., 1958, The Wakulla Cave: Natural History, v. 67,
no. 7, p. 396-403.

Rosenau, J. C., Faulkner, G. L., Hendry, C. W., Jr., and Hull, R.
W., 1977, Springs of Florida: Florida Bureau of Geology
Bulletin no. 31 (revised), p. 415-424.

Rupert, F. R., and Spencer, S. M., 1988 in press, The geology of
Wakulla County, Florida: Florida Geological Survey Bulletin
60.

Stewart, J. W., 1980, Areas of natural recharge to the Floridan
aquifer in Florida: Florida Bureau of Geology Map Series
98.

Yon, J. W., Jr., 1966, Geology of Jefferson County, Florida:
Florida Geological Survey Bulletin 48, 119 p.


effects of


underground rivers,






FIGUREi CAPTIONS


Figure 1: Map showing the extent of the
Woodville Karst Plain and
the geologic cross section
location.


Figure 2:





Figure 3:


Figure 4:


Figure 5:


Geologic cross section
across the Woodville
Karst Plain.



Cross section of the
Wakulla cave, from
Olsen (1958).



Potentiometric surface
of the Floridan aquifer
system in Wakulla County
(from Barr, 1987).


Block diagram of the
Wakulla Spring conduit
system (data from U.S.
Deep Caving Team).





APPENDIX


Appendix: Lithologic descriptions of the Wakulla Springs rock
samples and Core #2.


Wakulla Sprinas Geological Samples (Depths are feet below spring
pool surface)

9.0 feet White recrystallized calcilutite. Mollusk and
foraminifera moldic. Foram fauna comprised
largely of:

Archaias sp.
Sorites sp.

Insoluble residue test: 24.8 weight percent
insolubles, composed primarily of very fine
quartz sand.


20.0 feet


25.0 feet


30.0 feet


(u


White to very pale orange recrystallized
calcilutite. Contains small mollusk molds, very
rare foraminifera.

Insoluble residue test: 0.06 weight percent
insolubles, composed of clay and-minor very fine
quartz sand.

Very pale orange to white calcilutite,
containing yellowish gray clay stringers.
Contains rare foraminifera, including:

Archaias cf. floridanus
Ouinaueloculina sp.

Insoluble residue test: 33.5 weight percent
insolubles, composed of approximately 60% very
fine to fine quartz sand and 40% clay.

Very pale orange to white calcilutite,
containing yellowish gray clay stringers. Minor
iron oxide staining. Contains fossil foram
molds and rare recrystallized foraminifera,
including:


Sorites sp.
Amphisteaina sp.

14






as well as echinoid spines.


40.0 feet


50.0 feet


Insoluble residue test: 28.5 percent
insolubles, predominantly fine quartz sand.

Very pale orange to white calcilutite,
abundantly fossiliferous with recrystallized
foraminifera, including:

Sorites sp.
Quinqueloculina spp.
Archaias of. floridanus

Insoluble residue test: 0.09 weight percent
insolubles, predominantly fine quartz sand, with
minor clay.

Very pale orange to white calcilutite,
containing small mollusk molds and abundant
recrystallized foraminifera. (May possibly be a
recrystallized biocalcarenite with micrite
cement). Small calcite crystal growths in vugs
and cavities. Miliolid foraminifera are
dominant microfauna.


Insoluble residue test:
recovered.


60.0 feet


No insolubles


Very pale orange unfossiliferous, recrystallized
calcilutite.


Insoluble residue test:
percent insolubles (clay).


70.0 feet


Less than 0.01 weight


Very pale orange fossiliferous calcilutite.
Contains pelecypod and coral molds and abundant
foraminifera, including:

Ouinaueloculina/Triloculina spp.
Archaias sp.
Cycloculina? miocenica

Insoluble residue test: None recovered.


80.0 feet


White unfossiliferous
recrystallized).


calcilutite (may be


Insoluble residue test: None recovered.


Miocene
St. Marks Fm.





90.0 feet
Oligocene
Suwannee Lmst.


Very pale orange to grayish
recrystallized biocalcarenite with
cement. Mollusk and foram molds, and
recrystallized foraminifera.


orange,
calcite
abundant


100 feet


110 feet


Contains one large mollusk mold of what is
probably Crithium sp. Miliolid foraminifera
very abundant.

Insoluble residue test: None recovered.

Very pale orange, recrystallized, poorly
cemented foraminiferal biocaloarenite. Contains
nearly 100 percent foram tests, with minor
echinoid spines and calcareous fragments. Fauna
includes:

Rotalia (Pararotalia mexicana
Dictyvoonua of.cookei
Miliolids

and many others.
Insoluble residue test: None recovered.

Very pale orange reorystallized foraminiferal
biocalcarenite. Sample has 3/8 to 1/2 inch
thick "rind" of iron oxide staining on exposed
edge. Fauna includes:


aftalia xicana
Cancris sagra
Quinaueloculina spp.
TriJaculina sp.
and others.


120 feet

130 feet

140 feet



150 feet


160 feet


As above.

As above.

White recrystallized biooalcarenite/calcilutite.
Contains foram and small mollusk molds, and
approximately 5% fine quartz sand. Also
contains rare Ooerculinoides vicksburaensis.

Very pale orange recrystallized foraminiferal
biocalcarenite. Contains very abundant
miliolids and minor echinoid spines.
As above.






170 feet

180 feet

190 feet

217 feet


220 feet


230 feet


As above.


As above, with pelecypod molds.

As above.

Very pale orange recrystallized foraminiferal
biocalcarenite. Poorly cemented and mollusk
moldic. Contains abundant recrystallized
foraminifera and Rvnoholampus gouldi echinoids.

Foraminifera include:

Discorbig of. patelliformis
ouinaueloculina sp.
Triloculina triaonula
Discorinopsisa unteri
Quinqueloculina of. seminula
and many others.

Very pale orange, hard, recrystallized
caloarenite; mollusk moldic. Small caloite
crystal growth in molds and cavities.

Both samples belong to the Suwannee Limestone.

Very pale orange to white recrystallized
calcarenite; calcilutite matrix. Very abundant
recrystallized benthic foraminifera, rare
mibl-usk molds.


250 feet


White to very
biocalcarenite.
abundant benthic


pale orange recrystallized
Calcilutite matrix. Very
foraminifera, including:


Lepidocyclina spp.
Rotalia mexiana
Miliolids, and-others.


280 feet

296 feet


304 feet


White
forams.


calcilutite.


Abundant poorly preserved


Very pale orange calcilutite, containing
unidentifiable recrystallized forams and rare
mollusk molds.

Yellowish gray sucrosic dolomite. No fossils
observed. Note: A visible lithologic change is
reported by the divers between 296 and 304 feet
in-the- cave-wall.






Sally Ward Spring Sample


90 feet


Very pale orange reorystallized biocalcarenite.
Very abundant poorly preserved foraminifera, rare
mollusk molds. Fossil colonial coral impression
on one side of specimen. Suwannee Limestone.


Wakulla Springs Project

Core #2, taken at a water depth of 140 feet, in the mouth of the
main spring tube. Collected by W. Wilson, 11-15-87.


Inches (down core; 0 top) Litholoav


- 4.0


4.0 6.3



6.3 7.8


7.8 11.2


11.2 15.2


White, (yellowish-gray wet) medium to coarse
quartz sand; contains organic and plant remains.

Greenish black clay. Contains plant remains,
freshwater mollusk fragments, and approximately
2% medium, subangular quartz sand.

white (yellowish-gray wet) fine quartz sand;
contains minor organic and plant remains.

Olive gray organic-rich clay, containing minor
small calcareous particles.

White (yellowish-gray wet) fine quartz sand,
containing organic material and numerous small
freshwater gastropod shells. Organics include a
one inch diameter portion of a tree branch (at 13
in.) and layered peat-like plant remains.


15.2 23.9


Olive gray organic-rich
calcareous particles.


clay,


containing


Total length:


23.9 inches.


Pleistocene Holocene deposits.