A ground-water sapping landscape in the Florida Panhandle

Drainage networks that have formed by ground-water sapping are developed in the highly permeable sands of the Citronelle Formation in the Florida Panhandle. The valleys resemble those formed on Hawaii, the Colorado Plateau and on Mars, but they have developed without significant lithologic controls. Drainage patterns range from trellis to dentritic depending on the effect of beach ridges and relative relief. Many of the drainage networks are not fully developed, and the adjacent uplands have been modified by marine, aeolian, and to a limited extent fluvial processes. Extension of the networks appears to be episodic, as a result of fires, hurricanes, and human activities, which damage or destroy vegetation.