REGIONAL FRAMEWORK, PALEODRAIANGE AND HABITAT CHARACTERIZATION OF THE MID-SOUTH CAROLINA CONTINENTAL SHELF: WINYAH BAY TO CAPE ROMAINE

A regional geophysical survey of the inner continental shelf off central South Carolina was completed on a cooperative cruise between NOAA and Coastal Carolina University in July 2015. An integrated mapping suite comprised of subbottom echosounder, side scan, multibeam and split beam sonars was used to define the regional geologic framework, including paleodrainage patterns across the shelf and to identify potential fish habitat locations that will provide additional inputs to a thematic habitat mapping routine developed by NOAA. Initial results from the thematic mapper characterization suggest that large-scale framework elements such as paleochannel networks may play a role in determining benthic habitat distribution. Several large paleo-fluvial valleys that are likely associated with the ancestral Santee and Pee Dee River systems are observed in the subbottom data and appear to correlate with broad topographic lows identified by the thematic habitat mapping routine. The collective dataset will provide opportunity to locally evaluate and provide a basis to refine the regional habitat mapping routine. Additional geophysical survey is scheduled for summer 2016 to connect the onshore and offshore framework and to further refine channel fill geometries, bottom habitat and Holocene reworking of the shelf system.