ABSTRACT
During the beginning of the Gelasian Age of the Pleistocene, around 2.6 million years B.P., sea levels rose abruptly, and the Okeechobean basin was reflooded with a new marine world, the Caloosahatchee Subsea. By this time, the Okeechobean sea had become essentially landlocked, resembling a saltwater lake surrounded by low islands covered by mangroves and pine forests. Along the Miami Canal, bordering the eastern edge of Miccosukee Island, the formation lies only 3 m below surface. At some areas, such as Fort Denaud on the Caloosahatchee River, the formation is less than 2 m below surface and is exposed at the lowest water line during periods of drought. Petuch recognized Bee branch sediments and fossils from the Miami Canal dredgings, Palm Beach county, and later found large exposures in the Brantley pit near Arcadia, DeSoto county. Based on the stratigraphic position within the Caloosahatchee sequence, the Ayers landing member dates from the late Gelasian Pleistocene.
