_Florida’s State Parks include miles of white sand beaches, fine streams, beautiful springs, excellent fishing waters, floral displays, wooded ravines and outstanding recreational areas. It is the Florida in which the Indians hunted, fished and lived in original surroundings of great natural charm and wildlife profusion ... where yet remains the memory and imprint of Spanish conquistadores, French crusaders and Anglo-Saxon colonizers. Phenomena such as disappearing rivers, vanishing lakes, historic shrines, virgin country, strange subterranean landscapes are all to be seen inside the parks._ [Illustration: “Fresh crisp bacon” formed by water flowing originally from a crack or elongate hole and cascading down the face of the limestone. The deposit formed as a small ridge that then acted as the course of subsequent water which added additional deposits. The dark bands contain some impurity to give a color to the ordinarily white calcite.] Land Movements in Florida If these caves, we see in the Florida Caverns Park area, were formed under water, how is it possible to walk through them today? This is an obvious question which requires an answer. If rocks formed under marine waters are exposed on the land surface today it is obvious that the land has been raised out of the sea, or the sea has lowered. From geologic evidence it is known that Florida has been rising since late geologic time. This elevation is believed to be caused by downwarping at the mouth of the Mississippi River, where many thousands of box car loads of sediment are dumped each day, accompanied by adjustments in the earth’s crust and the elevation of land areas surrounding the delta of the Mississippi River. Then there is a second cause by which these caves are made dry. Everyone has heard that ice caps the North and South poles of the earth, but few people realize that, if all this ice melted, the level of the sea as it is known today would be higher by about 110 feet. If all polar ice melted, the Chipola River at Florida Caverns, would become a salt bay, Marianna a seaport town, and a bay beach would be located near the park area. However, do not sell your present beach property too quickly since this polar ice is known to be melting only a few inches a century. [Illustration: Well-lighted, underground trails make accessible Florida’s amazing network of underground passageways. The temperature remains at about 63 degrees, F. throughout the year. In addition, natural rock gardens, wildlife, historical values and recreational facilities make Florida Caverns one of the South’s outstanding State Parks.]