ABSTRACT

Five new sand sample suites have been collected and analyzed from the high marine terrace system in and near Tallahassee, Fla. The three main terraces, with present key elevations of about 35, 50 and 80 meters, had been sampled previously. The five new suites were obtained from 20-50 meters. Part of the earliest work, based on widely spaced samples, is shown not to be as useful as more recent work (each suite of samples was collected from a rather small area, probably representing a single depositional agency, rather than a mix). The key procedure was granulometric analysis, following strictly-defined methods, including the use of "suite statistics."

Results: (1, 2) Two Capital Circle sites, 22-25 m elevation: Fine sand, representing an earlier river, then a beach, then later settling from water in a coastal location; (3) Fairview School locale, at about 25 m elevation: dune; (4) Campground Pond Road locality at about 37 m: a river not far away; (5) Ocala Road locality, at about 50 m: beach.

The 80-m, 50-m and 35-m terraces represent beaches plus wind work, with faint evidence for prior river transport. The wave energy level for the beach localities was low-to-moderate. The sands from these three terraces show clear changes with time (gradual fining of grain size, gradual worsening of sorting).