Paper No. 13
Presentation Time: 11:45 AM
THE U.S. ATLANTIC COASTAL PLAIN: HISTORICAL AND MODERN PERSPECTIVES WITH AN EMPHASIS ON THE SOUTHEAST
HARRIS, Scott, Geology and Environmental Geosciences, College of Charleston, 66 George Street, Charleston, SC 29407, WRIGHT, Eric, Department of Marine Science, Coastal Carolina University, P.O. Box 261954, Conway, SC 29528, BEACH, Todd A., Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, 629 East Main Street, Richmond, VA 23218 and JOHNSON, Gerald H., Geololgy, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA 23187, harriss@cofc.edu
Almost forty years have elapsed since the publication of “Post-Miocene Stratigraphy: Central and Southern Atlantic Coastal Plain” (Oaks and DuBar, 1974). Since that publication, the population of Atlantic Coastal Plain (ACP) has more than doubled, creating a need for better understanding of the landscape, resources, habitats, and hazards acting in this region. Regional meetings and numerous articles have addressed various aspects of the study of the ACP since the publication of Oaks and Dubar, but no comprehensive integration across disciplines studying this region exists. Integrating our understanding of the formation, age, and evolution of the stratigraphy and landscape of the ACP is a critical next step to provide the public, managers, and future scientists a solid basis for future studies.
The Southeast ACP serves as an excellent example of an area with many hazards and a complex landscape for study. Hurricanes, floods, sinkholes, fires, and earthquakes are common to the region. Based on numerous LiDAR, USGS, and NOAA data sets, the landscape is defined and segregated, and a classification developed. Both manual and statistical categorization and segregation methods are presented at both small (regional) and large (local) scales. In many cases, just understanding the landscape provides a significant understanding of the shallow subsurface; in others, comprehensive studies of the subsurface are warranted. Overall, new technologies matched with a historical understanding of terrestrial, coastal, and marine processes, provides a powerful model for extracting useable and important data from the surficial deposits of the ACP.
