The Florida Platform is a flat geological feature with the emergent portion being the Florida peninsula.

The platform forms a rampart between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The platform's western edge, or Florida Escarpment, is normally defined with water depths at 300 feet (91 m) dropping dramatically and in a short distance to 10,000 feet (3,000 m). The Florida peninsula is located on the eastern side of the platform where it lies only 3 to 4 miles (4.8 to 6.4 km) from the platform's edge. On the Gulf side the platform ends over 100 miles (160 km) west where a massive cliff rises over 6,000 feet (1,800 m) from the 10,600 feet (3,200 m) depth of the Gulf floor. The western reaches of the platform just off of Tampa were explored by the submersible DSV Alvin. Examination has placed the depth of carbonate rocks at greater than 20,000 feet (6,100 m).

The platform's basement rocks include Precambrian-Cambrian igneous rocks, Ordovician-Devonian sedimentary rocks, and Triassic-Jurassic volcanic rocks. Florida's igneous and sedimentary foundation separated from what is now the African Plate when the super-continent Pangea rifted apart in the Triassic and possibly pre-Middle Jurassic. It then secured to the North American craton. One of the early geologic structures is the Peninsular Arch created during the Jurassic.

Florida (ⁱ/ˈflɒrɪdə/) is a state in the southeastern United States, bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Florida is the 22nd most extensive, the 4th most populous, and the 8th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state capital is Tallahassee, its largest city is Jacksonville, and the South Florida metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan area in the southeastern U.S.

Much of Florida is situated on a peninsula between the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Straits of Florida. Its geography is marked by a coastline, by the omnipresence of water and the threat of hurricanes. Florida has the longest coastline in the contiguous United States, encompassing approximately 1,350 miles (2,170 km), and is the only state to border both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Much of the state is at or near sea level and its terrain is characterized by sedimentary soils. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south. Its symbolic animals like the American alligator, Florida panther and the manatee, can be found in the Everglades, one of the most famous national parks in the world.