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2018 Map of Sandy Key

Name: 2018 Topographic Map of Sandy Key
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2018
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2018

About this map

Everglades National Park covers the majority of this aquatic landscape where the southern tip of the Florida mainland meets the sea. The map focuses on the delicate boundary between the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Bay, anchored by the distinctive landforms of Cape Sable and East Cape. This coastal environment is defined by submerged shoals and banks, including Middle Ground and the curiously named First National Bank, which dictate the navigable waters for those traversing the Rocky Channel.

Small islands like Sandy Key and Carl Ross Key provide rare points of elevation in an area otherwise dominated by the tidal exchange between the bay and the open Atlantic Ocean. The presence of the boundary for The Everglades in the northeast corner underscores the transition from the iconic sawgrass marshes to the marine wilderness of the keys. This survey is a record of the shifting seafloor and fragile keys at the very edge of the American continent.