retrorocketrick
Flow on!
Two well known rivers begin in the Okefenokee: The St. Mary’s River and the Suwannee River.
The St. Mary’s River flows all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and is 190 miles long.
The Suwannee River is the principle outlet of the swamp. The Suwannee flows from the west side of the swamp and empties into the Gulf of Mexico near Cedar Key, Florida. The Suwannee River is 280 miles long.
A very long time ago, the coast of Georgia was in a different place. It was much farther inland, and the part of land that is now the Okefenokee Swamp was just the ocean floor. A sandbar developed out in the ocean, and it cut off this area from the rest of the ocean. This made a kind of pool of water that was separate from the ocean, and that pool filled with rainwater and runoff water, and became a pool of fresh water (instead of the salt water it used to be).
There are many lakes scattered throughout the Okefenokee. Sixty of these lakes are big enough to be named. Some are forty feet deep! Others are only two or three feet deep.
Average annual temperature is 68 degrees F. The average annual rainfall is 60 inches.
Rainfall accounts for approximately 95% of the water in the Okefenokee Swamp. 80% of the rainfall is returned to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration, leaving only 20% to find its way down the Suwannee and St. Mary’s Rivers.
Okefenokee Swamp
Waycross, Georgia
Flow on!
Two well known rivers begin in the Okefenokee: The St. Mary’s River and the Suwannee River.
The St. Mary’s River flows all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and is 190 miles long.
The Suwannee River is the principle outlet of the swamp. The Suwannee flows from the west side of the swamp and empties into the Gulf of Mexico near Cedar Key, Florida. The Suwannee River is 280 miles long.
A very long time ago, the coast of Georgia was in a different place. It was much farther inland, and the part of land that is now the Okefenokee Swamp was just the ocean floor. A sandbar developed out in the ocean, and it cut off this area from the rest of the ocean. This made a kind of pool of water that was separate from the ocean, and that pool filled with rainwater and runoff water, and became a pool of fresh water (instead of the salt water it used to be).
There are many lakes scattered throughout the Okefenokee. Sixty of these lakes are big enough to be named. Some are forty feet deep! Others are only two or three feet deep.
Average annual temperature is 68 degrees F. The average annual rainfall is 60 inches.
Rainfall accounts for approximately 95% of the water in the Okefenokee Swamp. 80% of the rainfall is returned to the atmosphere by evapotranspiration, leaving only 20% to find its way down the Suwannee and St. Mary’s Rivers.
Okefenokee Swamp
Waycross, Georgia