ABSTRACT
The first major transgression during Aftonian times flooded the Everglades Basin with a new marine system, the Loxahatchee Subsea (named for the town of Loxahatchee, Palm Beach County; Petuch, 2004) (Figure 6.2), whereas the second, during Yarmouthian times, produced the Belle Glade Subsea, named for the city of Belle Glade, Palm Beach County (Petuch, 2004) (Figure 6.12). During the time span of these two subseas, biogenic deposition increased dramatically and rapidly filled the central lagoon area of the pseudoatoll. Throughout this time, the narrow Loxahatchee Trough remained the only deepwater area within the shrinking pseudoatoll. This enclosed, landlocked feature acted as a refugium for many tropical marine organisms from Caloosahatchee times. These survivors, mixed together with newly evolved organisms, gave the marine communities of the Loxahatchee and Belle Glade Subseas a strange and unique appearance.
