Big Bend (Florida)

The Big Bend of Florida, U.S.A., is an informal region of the state with no official surveyed boundary. Geologists prefer to characterize Florida’s Big Bend as the drowned karst section of the coast that occurs between the Apalachicola Cuspate Delta and Southwest Florida’s Central Barrier Coast. [Williams, K., Z. Pinzon, R. Stumpf, and E. Raabe. (1999), Sea-level Rise and Coastal Forests on the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Geol. Surv.: Open-file Rept. 99-441. 87pp + app.] [ [http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/wetlands/gallery/geology.html A Photo Gallery of Florida's Big Bend Tidal Wetlands] ] [ [http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004AM/finalprogram/abstract_79821.htm Status of Knowledge in Florida's Big Bend] ] Perhaps the most culturally relevant definition of the Big Bend region is the section of west peninsular Florida’s coast without barrier islands-- the section from North Anclote Key (or the Anclote River) to Ocklocknee Bay, near Alligator Point. The straight line distance between these two geographic features is about 150 miles apart. Generally following the arc of the coast offshore, it is more like 200 miles.

An alternative definition more prevalent in Florida's panhandle includes the area around Apalachee Bay, an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. It runs from Wakulla County on the west end through Jefferson, Taylor and Dixie counties to Levy County on the southeast end. [ [http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/sites/bigbend/info.htm Big Bend Seagrasses Aquatic Preserve] - URL retrieved September 21, 2006] Common usage may also include Franklin, Gadsden, Leon, Liberty and Madison counties in the region. [ [http://www.elcbigbend.org/ Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend Region] - URL retrieved September 21, 2006] [ [http://www.pafinc.org/chapter.php?chnum=1 Big Bend Chapter of PAF] - URL retrieved September 21, 2006] The principal city in the region is Tallahassee.

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