[R-sig-Geo] projecting data from decimal degrees to meters

[Tiago Marques]

Dear List,

Sorry if this is a very basic question, I've searched around and could 
not find a simple answer to it. I am familiar with R, but not with 
geo/GIS stuff. I have a matrix zs containing 3 columns, longitude, 
latitude and depth. Depth is available at a regular grid of points 
covering approximately 200 by 200 km in the Bahamas. The first few lines 
of the data are below:

head(zs)
         lat        long    z
1 23.2383 -78.3133 4.01
2 23.2383 -78.3100 4.00
3 23.2383 -78.3066 4.00
4 23.2383 -78.3033 4.00
5 23.2383 -78.3000 4.00

I would like to implement some animal movement simulations, and my 
movement model is parametrized in terms of displacement, in meters. How 
can I project zs to a matrix containing say x,y,z in which the x,y are 
in meters.

Best, and many thanks in advance for any advice coming this way.

Tiago