A large part of the LTER research i s on a transect from Hog Island to the Brownsville plantation on the mainland. The present barrier island complex was formed during the late Holocene rise of sea level. Rapid changes have occurred during the last few thousand years as the island complex h as migrated westward across the continental slope at a rate of about a kilometer per 1000 years. Local erosion and deposition rates can be as high as 13 m per year in the horizontal dimension. Mean relief in the ecosystem is on the order of only 2 m.
Painter is on the mainland portion of the peninsula of eastern Virginia.
The lagoons to the right extend seaward some 15 kilometers. There the barrier islands are found. VCR is one of the most dynamic of all the LTER sites. Sea level change of a few centimeters over a several years can alter tree species dominance in the estuarine upland. Storms are particularly important.