They provided the only access for ocean-going vessels to Biscayne Bay until artificial channels were dredged starting early in the 20th century. The Cape Florida Channel (ten to eleven feet deep in 1849) and Bear Cut (four feet deep in 1849) are the deepest natural channels into Biscayne Bay. Only Soldier Key, approximately 200 by 100 yards (183 by 91 m) wide, lies between Key Biscayne and the Ragged Keys. The Cape Florida Channel separates the island from the Safety Valve, an expanse of shallow flats cut by tidal channels that extends southward about 9 miles (14 km) to the Ragged Keys, at the northern end of the Florida Keys. The southern end of the island is Cape Florida. The northern end of the island is separated from another barrier island, Virginia Key, by Bear Cut. It is approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) long and 1 to 2 miles (1.6 to 3.2 km) wide. Key Biscayne is elongated in the north–south direction, tapering to a point at each end. In the 1850s Louis Agassiz noted that "outh of Cape Florida no more silicacious sand is to be seen." (The beaches in the Florida Keys, by contrast, consist primarily of finely pulverized shells.) Geologists believe that the island emerged around 2000 BCE, soon after the sea level stopped rising, as the sand built up to form new barrier islands on the southern Florida coast. The coastal transport of sand southward ends at Key Biscayne. ![]() There is no hard bedrock near the surface of the island, only layers of weak "shelly sandstone" to depths of 100 feet (30 m) or more. Key Biscayne, although named a "key", is not geologically part of the Florida Keys, but is a barrier island composed of sand eroded from the Appalachian Mountains, carried to the coast by rivers and then moved along the coast from the north by coastal currents. Geography Location of Key Biscayne Aerial view of Key Biscayne in 1999 The southern part of the island is now protected as Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, adjacent to Biscayne National Park, one of the two national parks in Miami-Dade County. The middle section of the island consists of the incorporated Village of Key Biscayne. The northern portion of Key Biscayne is home to Crandon Park, a county park. The key is connected to Miami via the Rickenbacker Causeway, originally built in 1947. ![]() It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and southeast of Miami. Key Biscayne (Spanish: Cayo Vizcaíno) is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, located between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay.
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