1999-present mapping program by the U.S. Geological Survey, Coastal Carolina University, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The dataset contains integrated geophysical interpretations detailing Cretaceous and Tertiary shelf deposits, paleochannel incisions, and regional unconformities. It supports the South Carolina/Georgia Coastal Erosion Study Phase II.
Use Cases
- Map the geometries of Cretaceous and Tertiary continental shelf deposits from integrated geophysical data to understand subsurface framework.
- Identify the location and extent of paleochannel incisions to analyze historical coastal evolution and sediment transport pathways.
- Define a regional transgressive unconformity and overlying reworked sediment bodies for stratigraphic correlation and sand-resource assessment.
- Use sidescan-sonar and sub-bottom profiling data, groundtruthed with vibracores, to investigate inner-shelf morphology's role in coastal change.
Strengths
- Data integrates multiple high-resolution sources: sidescan-sonar, interferometric sonar swath bathymetry, and sub-bottom profiling.
- Interpretations are groundtruthed with surface sediment samples, vibracores, and video data.
- Supports a long-term study (Phase II from 1999-present) focused on quantifying historic shoreline change and sediment budgets.
Limitations
- Sample size and specific row/column counts for the mapped features are unknown.
- Data is described as preliminary maps; completeness and final validation status are unspecified.
- Temporal coverage for the actual mapped features, beyond the program start date, is not detailed.
Provenance
- Source
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Coastal Carolina University (CCU), Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO).
- Collection Method
- Integrated interpretation of geophysical data (sidescan-sonar, interferometric sonar swath bathymetry, sub-bottom profiling) groundtruthed with sediment samples, vibracores, and video.
- Time Range
- Program began November 1999; ongoing as part of Phase II study.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- South Carolina's Long Bay coastal region, from Little River to Winyah Bay (the Grand Strand).