This post is for fossil nerds & nature lovers

Hey, you there. Do you love fossils? Do you love geology? Do you love wildlife? If the answer is yes, then Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park is the place for you.

Many patrons love the Florida Keys, but many do not know how these paradise islands originated. Many who frequent the Keys know and love the offshore coral reefs, but many tourists may not know that ancient reefs built the very islands that provide their place of paradise. When you visit the Fossil Reef Geological State Park, the history of the islands is revealed.

Once upon a time before the last ice age,  sea levels were 25 feet higher than present day, and much of America as we know it was submerged. Over 125,000 years and certainly longer, the reefs of the Florida Keys grew and thrived in a series of patch reef systems, extending from the southern tip of Florida in a curve to the Southwest. The reefs developed due to ocean currents which carried larvae of species in this very curve. 

Coral reefs grow an exoskeleton by extracting calcium carbonate dissolved in the water and excreting their skeleton in beautiful biological patterns. To be alive, coral have a symbiotic relationship with photosynthetic zooxanthellae, which give the corals their beautiful color. Thus, corals need to be close enough to the surface to have light for photosynthesis. Zooxanthellae provide food for the coral which helps them grow faster and larger. When a new coral wants to grow by budding, fragmentation, or by releasing gametes in the water column, they tend to grow on top of other coral, and eventually the underwater of coral will die, leaving their exoskeleton. This is the process that built the massive islands that we know today as the Florida Keys. It is hard to wrap your head around the expansiveness of this flourishing ecosystem!

The geological park we visited was a mine for blocks to build the first railroad connecting all of the Florida Keys, which began around 1910. Builders would work is horribly hot and buggy conditions in the sun. They would also be subject to powerful storms, hurricanes, and work in shallow or deep water to connect islands. As the workers sawed through the rock with a belt motor system, blocks were carved out, which exposed the beautiful reef patterns. People and architects noticed the beautiful patterns of the coral and began to make countertops and other structures out of the limestone rock. Seen here are mostly large brain and mustard coral. 

The limestone rock is easily eroded by water, and sinkholes and carvings in the rock provide a place for moisture, for sediment to build, and for trees to take root. Trees have become one with the rock.

Coral reefs are threatened today by rising temperatures, for most of the corals exist at their maximum range of tolerated temperatures. In addition, increased ocean acidity dissolves calcium carbonate more easily, so the existing corals can dissolve and have a harder time growing their exoskeletons. Both conditions are caused by fossil fuels emissions to the atmosphere, so the addiction to fossil fuel needs to come to an end, quick. One way to reduce fossil fuels is by policy, like the Energy Innovation Act now introduced in congress that will transfer our nation's economy from fossil fuels to renewable energy.