Oct. 17, 2016 –  Florida may be famous for its beaches, but its soil is much more complex. The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) October 15th Soils Matter blog post explains there’s more to this state than white sand.

Florida has a variety of soils that support its 47,600 farms and 300 agriculture products. “While Florida is often thought of as white sand and water, it is a state whose soils vary significantly across its 37.5 million acres,” says blog author Nick Comerford of the University of Florida.

“We also have soils with high water tables, and other soils that are made not of sand, silt and clay, but of organic matter. Parts of the Everglades are a good example,” Comerford says.

In Dade County, in the southeast of Florida, limestone is sometimes just a few inches below the surface. Rock outcrops of limestone populate the scenery. This creates a challenge for tree-planting and other uses. Soil surveys provide vital information to determine if land is suitable for building, agriculture, or other uses.

To read the entire blog post, visit http://soilsmatter.wordpress.com.

Follow SSSA on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SSSA.soils, Twitter at SSSA_Soils. SSSA has soils information on www.soils.org/discover-soils, for teachers at www.soils4teachers.org, and for students through 12^th grade, www.soils4kids.org.