The Tamiami Formation in southwest Florida is a complex succession of shallow-water, predominantly marine sands, clays, and limestones of late Miocene to Pliocene age. This succession has been studied in 26 wells in Lee and Hendry Counties, Florida, where lithologic and micropaleontologic analyses indicate deposition under rapidly shifting nearshore environments, perhaps the result of eustatic sea-level fluctuations correlative with Southern Hemisphere glaciation. Despite the relatively sharp facies changes within the sedimentary complex, geologic cross sections show the persistence of some sharply contrasting limestone and clay units which can serve as a basis for correlation. Other aids to correlation include a distinctive diatom bed within the latest Miocene clay unit nd the establishment and use of local benthic foraminiferal assemblage zones.

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