A sand-resources survey off eastern Florida by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC) in 1965-1966 resulted in the collection of 2,600 mi of seismic-reflection profiles. With a penetration depth range of 0 to -500 ft MLW the profiles extend from nearshore (approximately 15-ft water depth) to 15 mi offshore.

The records show several prominent acoustic reflecting horizons at shallow depth which can be traced across large areas of the nearshore continental shelf off east Florida. These areally extensive reflectors indicate some shallow structural features beneath the shelf surface; some tentative stratigraphic correlations have been made with logged wells onshore.

In the section revealed by CERC reflection records the dominant structural feature is an almost universal eastward dip of strata. Below about -100 to -200 ft MLW broad low-relief undulations are common and appear to be of structural origin. Shallower subbottom strata are characterized by internal bedding features, erosional surfaces, and a generally gentler eastward dip than the deeper section. The records show little apparent evidence of faulting.

Subbottom acoustic horizons on the CERC records are judged to represent a stratigraphic range from Eocene to Holocene. Erosion surfaces and shallow-water bedform features in the uppermost section are interpreted as resulting from Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations.

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