Flatwoods and The Atlantic Coastal Ridge
The prairies and sloughs of the Everglades system are bordered by two areas of poorly drained sandy soil on both sides of Lake Okeechobee: the Eastern Flatwoods and the Western Flatwoods just north of Big Cypress Swamp. The predominant ecosystem in the Flatwoods is pine forest, but there are also cypress swamps and sloughs in the Eastern Flatwoods. Along the eastern border of the Everglades is the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, rising 20 feet (6.1 m) in elevation, and curving to the southwest, gradually decreasing in elevation until it meets Taylor Slough. The Coastal Ridge prevents Everglades water from flowing into the Atlantic Ocean to the east, directing it southwesterly into Florida Bay. The South Florida metropolitan area is located on a portion of the Atlantic Coastal Ridge, and much of the landscape has changed drastically within the past 100 years as a result of urban growth.
Read more about this topic: Geography And Ecology Of The Everglades
Famous quotes containing the words atlantic and/or ridge:
“In clear weather the laziest may look across the Bay as far as Plymouth at a glance, or over the Atlantic as far as human vision reaches, merely raising his eyelids; or if he is too lazy to look after all, he can hardly help hearing the ceaseless dash and roar of the breakers. The restless ocean may at any moment cast up a whale or a wrecked vessel at your feet. All the reporters in the world, the most rapid stenographers, could not report the news it brings.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The light passes
from ridge to ridge,
from flower to flower—”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)