The Ocala Platform or Ocala Uplift is a geologic formation

Geologic formation

A formation or geological formation is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy. A formation consists of a certain number of rock strata that have a comparable lithology, facies or other similar properties...

, a structural high, and a northwest-trending uplift paralleling the Peninsular Arch

Peninsular Arch

The Peninsular Arch is a geologic formation and dominant sub-surface structure of Florida.-Age:The arch was present from the Jurassic ~199.6—145.5 Ma through the Paleogene geological periods.-Location:...

 along the west coast.

Age

Period: Neogene

Neogene

The Neogene is a geologic period and system in the International Commission on Stratigraphy Geologic Timescale starting 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and ending 2.588 million years ago...

Epoch

Epoch (geology)

An epoch is a subdivision of the geologic timescale based on rock layering. In order, the higher subdivisions are periods, eras and eons. We are currently living in the Holocene epoch...

: Early Late Oligocene through Pliocene

Pliocene

The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...

Faunal stage

Faunal stage

In chronostratigraphy, a stage is a succession of rock strata laid down in a single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions of years of deposition. A given stage of rock and the corresponding age of time will by convention have the same name, and the same boundaries.Rock...

: Chattian

Chattian

The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale, the youngest of two ages or upper of two stages of the Oligocene epoch/series. It spans the time between and . The Chattian is preceded by the Rupelian and is followed by the Aquitanian .-Stratigraphic definition:The Chattian was introduced by Austrian...

 through early Blancan

Blancan

The Blancan North American Stage on the geologic timescale is the North American faunal stage according to the North American Land Mammal Ages chronology , typically set from 4,750,000 to 1,808,000 years BP, a period of .. It is usually considered to start in the early-mid Pliocene epoch and end...

 ~23.03 to ~2.588 mya, calculates to a period of

Origin

The Ocala Platform was originally named by Hopkins in 1920. Due to the uncertainty of its creation, T. M. Scott used the term "platform" in place of "uplift" or "arch". This geologic feature was described as a gentle flexure developed in Tertiary sediments with a northwest-southeast trending crest by Vernon in 1951.

The Ocala Platform was created during two episodes. The first occurred during the Late Oligocene through Early Miocene

Early Miocene

The Early Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages....

 and the second episode occurred in Early Pliocene and into Late Pleistocene

Late Pleistocene

The Late Pleistocene is a stage of the Pleistocene Epoch. The beginning of the stage is defined by the base of the Eemian interglacial phase before the final glacial episode of the Pleistocene 126,000 ± 5,000 years ago. The end of the stage is defined exactly at 10,000 Carbon-14 years BP...

 according to Williams et al. This movement created the feature referred to as the Ocala Uplift. It has been suggested that the uplift was a pre-Hawthorn Group

Hawthorn Group

The Hawthorn Group is a Late Oligocene to Pliocene grouping of several geologic formations and members in North Florida, United States.The Hawthorn Group was originally called the Waldo Formation in 1887 by L. C...

 occurrence (Pirkle & Brooks 1959a).

Sediments of the Hawthorn Group are thought to have been deposited across the Ocala Platform (Scott, 1981a; Scott, 1988). Erosion after the Miocene has removed sediments of the Hawthorn Group from much of the crest of the Ocala Platform. This has exposed Eocene

Eocene

The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...

 carbonates which could confuse dating. (Cooke, 1945; Espenshade and Spencer, 1963; Brooks, 1966; and Scott, 1981b).

Structure

Fluctuating sea levels during the Neogene

Neogene

The Neogene is a geologic period and system in the International Commission on Stratigraphy Geologic Timescale starting 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and ending 2.588 million years ago...

 has created three marine terrace

Marine terrace

A marine terrace, coastal terrace, raised beach or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin, mostly an old abrasion platform which has been lifted out of the sphere of wave activity . Thus it lies above or under the current sea level, depending...

s.

• Wicomico terrace (70–100 feet)
• Sunderland/Okefenokee terrace (100–175 feet)
• Coharie terrace (170–215 feet)