Windley Key Fossil Reef is a national park that can be described as a geological marvel located in the Florida Keys. Similar to a time capsule, this ecological site provides a trip back in time through its historical artifacts. This location used to be a limestone quarry, but was turned into a national park in the 1960s. The series of limestone rock formations are fossilized corals encrusted into the sediment over the years. The corals present at this site are from reefs that date back hundreds of years when the sea level was much higher than it is today. The climate at that time was also warmer than it is today.
Left: Four cylinder system used to cut limestone during the time of the stone quarry
Right: Overlook of one of the old quarries near the entrance to the park
As we walked through the site, there were many massive corals that were encased in the layers of rock, most of which were a boulder formation. Coral reefs tend to grow over time, and after sediment settles on an older reef, new coral larvae will settle on top of that sediment and physically build up the reef over hundreds of years. The coral layers show a variance of how the sediment types built up over time, and they are displayed well by a sediment core in the information center of the park. Throughout the park, large pieces of coral can be found in the cut limestone.
Images of the sediment core found in the information center for the state park, acting as a time capsule of a sense for the reef near Windley Key
Close up pictures of Solenastrea bournoni (left) and Diploria labyrinthiformis (right) fossils found in the limestone
The surrounding maritime forest area at Windley Key depicts that in certain spots the soil is nutrient rich and there is optimal sunlight along with other factors that work concurrently together in the ecosystem. Certain areas of the soil contain more growth than others, often because there is freshwater stored within a hole in the limestone under the ground's surface. There were many important plants in the hammock environment at Windley Key, but one that was focused on was Mahogany. Mahogany trees serve as a significant contributor to the hammock of maritime forests in the keys, as it provides a large canopy of shade and shelter for other organisms.
Mahogany tree trunk found in the park
Overall Windley Key was a very enjoyable experience, as it showed us how coral reefs hundreds of years old that are out of the water now are still providing the basis for thriving ecosystems on land today. It was also a wonderful review of coral species before the end of the week, and we all appreciated the abundant amount of fossils present.
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