ANALYSIS OF A SHELF-EDGE OUTCROP USING MULTIBEAM SONAR AND SEDIMENTOLOGY
During a November 2006 research cruise aboard the NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER, a section of the continental shelf-edge off the Charleston, SC coast called Doc's Rocks (water depths 50 - 60 m) was surveyed using multibeam sonar. This shore-parallel rocky outcrop ledge feature was previously identified during a Transect Program cruise sponsored by the College of Charleston in 2004. In the northeastern section of Doc's Rocks lie several parallel ledges that are truncated by a shore-normal depression. This segment will be examined in detail using multibeam, sidescan, sediment grab samples and backscatter data. Based on local fisheries data, this site and adjacent sections of Doc's Rocks could possibly be a spawning site or habitat for several commercially viable fish species. These results will be compared to that of other habitat characterization studies completed along the shelf-edge of the southeastern continental margin.