Everglades National Park I n many respects the Everglades seems an odd fit in the U S The land the water the plant life and the animals of this expansive wetland simply don’t fit the typical mold of an American national park In fact they don’t fit the mold of American landscapes habitats or anything else The explanation for the Everglades uniqueness begins with the state in which it is found On a map of the U S the peninsular state of Florida seems out of place and in a way it is All of the continents on Earth are moving and have been for millions of years in a process called continental drift About 300 million years ago land that later became known as Africa collided with what is now North America Before the collision the land that is today Florida was likely attached to the African landmass The slow but incredibly powerful impact of the two continents created the Appalachian Mountains of North America and the Anti-Atlas Mountains of northern Africa During the same impact Florida broke free of Africa About 180 million years ago the continents began to separate again and Florida remained attached to North America and animals found nowhere else in the U S because in the many millions of years since then life forms have come and gone and nearly any living thing that inhabited Florida 300 million years ago is long extinct However Florida’s southerly location and exposure to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico support ecosystems unique to the Everglades The region is at the junction of This does not directly explain why the Everglades features plants Compared with most national parks the flat Everglades is shockingly low in elevation Rock Reef Pass is actually a high point 10
temperate North America and the tropical Caribbean which creates a region called the subtropics that hosts ecosystems and life forms characteristic of both The Everglades also has distinct wet and dry seasons that further define the landscape and wildlife But the primary reason for the Everglades watery ecosystem is its low flat terrain Elevation throughout this vast region rarely varies more than 20 feet 6 m and for several periods over the past millions of years the Everglades has been under a shallow ocean In fact the rock bed beneath the Everglades is primarily limestone a stone that is composed of ancient shellfish remains Today the land is barely above sea level and water continues to define the region The Everglades begins as far north as Lake Okeechobee and Everglades summers are hot and humid but visitors who brave the conditions see the wilderness when it is most lush and green 11
