A celebration was held on March 16 at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)'s Center for Coastal and Watershed Studies in St. Petersburg, FL, to commemorate the conclusion of a 5-year collaborative study between the USGS, the University of South Florida (USF), and Eckerd College. The West-Central Florida Coastal Studies Project was undertaken to investigate the geologic history of the west-central Florida coast and the processes that control the distribution of sediment and the formation of barrier islands in this heavily developed region, where high rates of beach erosion have become a major concern.

Project participants sought to better understand the recent geologic history of the region's barrier-island system and its natural variation, sea-floor bathymetry, surficial-sediment distribution, and subsurface stratigraphy, as well as water circulation and its interaction with the coastal inner-shelf system. Numerical models developed from the project help describe the responses of west-central Florida's continental-shelf circulation and sea level to storms and varying seasonal conditions.