MORPHODYNAMICS OF CAPTAIN SAM’S INLET, SC FROM 1989 TO 2014

Captain Sam’s Inlet is a migrating ebb tidal inlet located along the central mesotidal South Carolina coast between Kiawah and Seabrook Islands. Evidence for the inlet’s main channel migration and pivoting is shown by adjacent barrier island accretion and erosion patterns. Google Earth historical images were used to quantitatively measure channel migration and barrier island geomorphologic variability for the years 1989-2014. Southwestward channel migration was consistent throughout the study except for an engineered breaching in 1996. Migration rates were 1.91 m/year prior to breaching and 1.05 m/year following the breaching. Accompanying channel movement is an average increase in the Kiawah Spit area at a rate of 3.36 km²/year prior to breaching and 18.49 km²/year following the breaching. Quantitative and qualitative measurements collected in this study reveal the dynamic inlet morphology downdrift from an accreting recurved spit.