USING GROUND PENETRATING RADAR TO CHARACTERIZE THE STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK OF THE LOWER COASTAL PLAIN IN NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA

The lower coastal plain of South Carolina is composed of Pliocene to Quaternary age sedimentary units with eight coastal high stand formations having been mapped at the present-day land surface. The contacts between formations correspond to low relief escarpments, and the formations are defined in part based on differences in their elevation above present-day sea level.

We use ~20 km of GPR reflection data collected in Horry and Georgetown counties, in the northern coastal plain of SC, to explore the distribution of these sedimentary formations in the subsurface, as well as the geometry of their contacts. We process the GPR data by applying topographic corrections, dewow, and low-pass filtering with the goal of resolving stratigraphy at the bed set scale. The ability to image and constrain formation contacts in the subsurface with accurate depths will permit comparison with differences in elevation between the same formations observed at the surface, and may help refine our understanding of the genetic and chronostratigraphic relationships between these sedimentary formations.