Dry Tortugas National Park (DTNP)
Note: The data were entered in the language of the country of origin (English, French or Spanish) and there is no translation available yet.Chapter 3. SITE DESCRIPTION
a - General features of the site
Terrestrial surface under sovereignty, excluding wetlands:
42 sq. kmWetland surface:
0 haMarine surface:
265 sq. kmGlobal comment for the 3 previous fields (optional):
Submerged carbonate banks with coral reefs, sandy shoals and seven islands located in the Straits of Florida on the southwest margin of the Florida Continental Shelf, 113 kilometers west of the town of Key West.
b - Physical features
Brief description of the main physical characteristics in the area:
DTNP contains a highly diverse coral reef ecosystem with complex benthic features. The carbonate banks are interspersed with sandy islands, shoals and seagrass beds, and form an ellipsoid with a south-west to north-east axis. Atoll-like in structure, the rim of the banks consists of 14 m (46 ft) thick Holocene coral reefs (<10,000 years old) that lie above 135,000-year-old rock known as Key Largo Limestone.