Everglades National Park

Located in sunny south florida, Everglades National Park is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States(NPS). It’s amazing, rare, and endangered wildlife and vegetation attracts tourists from all over the world. It is even known as “The River of Grass” for its abundance of sawgrass. Unlike most of the parks studied throughout the semester, Everglades National Park lies in the Atlantic Coastal Plain with a lower elevation. Visiting this park will be personally interesting for me because it is located close by my house and I’ve always known about its interesting features, but I never really took time to visit or cherish its beauty. Therefore, planning a trip and learning about the geology of Everglades National Park realistically

Located between the Southern Atlantic Coastal Strip subprovince to the east and the Big Cypress Swamp subprovince to the west lies the Everglades(NPS). The common terrain of the Everglades produces from the erosion of carbonate rocks like limestone and dolomite. This terrain is known as Karst(NPS). These carbonate rocks are known to be extremely porous and exposed to weathering. Solution holes, or pits in the Karst, formed along the basin when the sea level rose. Aquatic animals use these solution holes as a home during the dry season. To continue with the geology of Everglades National Park, two kinds of soil occur here: marl and peat. Marl soil is a product of periphyton, a complex assemblage of algae, cyanobacteria, microbes, and detritus(NPS). This type of soil is common where bedrock lies close to the surface. Furthermore, peat soil is composed of organic remains of dead plants. These soils are like opposites that cannot exist together in the same environment. The Everglades also creates fires often. Hot fires burn during the winter dry season and affect many of the plants and animals that live

With 1.5 million acres of Everglades stretching across south Florida, three areas are the most important to visit(NPS). The northern and southern sections along with the area in the middle divides the Everglades into these three main sections, all of which are accessible from different places. To begin with, I will simply be staying at my house, which is only 30 miles away from Everglades National Park. I would start by going to the southern section of the park and entering to the visitors station. This way, I can get the most information about the journey I will soon be embarking on. After I get all the information I need, I will then head north to Shark Valley Trail, which consists of an observation tower, a boardwalk, and an otter cave trail. Visiting the observation tower will bring me to higher elevations and give me a panoramic view of the entire park. From here, I can see the abundance of sawgrass that covers the Everglades and wildlife such as alligators and wood storks. Next on my journey, I will travel west towards the Ten Thousand Islands. For this part of my trip, I will take a boat tour in order to really get the best experience as possible. The tour will take me through one of the world’s largest mangrove forests. Manatees, eagles, ospreys, and dolphins are a common attraction during this tour(Ten Thousands Island Cruise). Lastly, after experiencing