Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are a chain of tropical islands extending southwest from Florida’s mainland into the Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida. They include coral islands and exposed remnants of ancient reef.

Florida Reef: A coral reef system stretching along the Florida Keys and Florida’s southeastern coast. It lies offshore from the island chain and shapes its marine habitats.
Key Largo Limestone: A fossilized coral limestone that forms much of the upper Florida Keys. It records the ancient reef that built these islands.
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: A federally protected marine area surrounding the Florida Keys and their coral reef ecosystem. It regulates activities across much of the waters adjoining the islands.
Sea-level rise: A long-term increase in the average height of the ocean surface, driven mainly by warming and melting land ice. Rising seas increase flooding and threaten the Keys’ low-lying islands.
Calusa: An Indigenous people who built a complex society along southwest Florida’s coast before and during early European colonization. Calusa influence extended through the island and coastal waters of South Florida.
Florida Bay: A shallow subtropical lagoon between the Florida mainland, the Keys, and the Gulf of Mexico. Its waters border the northern side of the Keys.
Miami Limestone: A porous limestone formation that forms much of the lower Florida Keys and nearby South Florida. Its exposed oolitic rock gives the lower Keys a different geological foundation.
Dry Tortugas National Park: A remote national park west of Key West, encompassing islands, reefs, and Fort Jefferson. It protects the westernmost island group associated with the Keys.
Hurricane Irma: A powerful 2017 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Florida Keys and the Florida peninsula. Its storm surge and winds caused severe damage across the island chain.
Tequesta: An Indigenous people whose historic territory included southeastern Florida and the Biscayne Bay region. Their territory bordered the northern approach to the Keys.

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