ABSTRACT
Taking into account the lack of formal descriptions for most of the Tamiami members, Waldrop and Wilson proposed a new formational name for the Pliocene sequence at Sarasota; the “Fruitville Formation”. The Fruitville Member was deposited in two distinct pulses, corresponding to two eustatic highs during the late Pliocene. Each of these marine transgressions were separated by at least 200,000 years of dry, terrestrial environments, producing obvious unconformities. The areal distribution of the Fruitville member is essentially the same as the underlying Pinecrest member. Like the Pinecrest, the Fruitville also has a distinctive Kissimmee facies, composed of muddy, organic-rich sand generally packed with crushed mollusk shells. During the highest sea level stand of the late Piacenzian, the Myakka Lagoon system was flooded to its maximum size and contained the largest and best-developed mangrove forests of the entire Tamiami subsea region.
