The
backwater area has savannahs, marshes, swampy forests and coastal
rivers that rise & fall with the tides. The outer part is made
of three divisions:
1) the Grand Strand - the arcuate of 60 miles of sandy
beaches from the NC border to Winyah Bay
2) the Santee Delta - 18 miles, runs from Winyah
Bay to Bulls Island
3) Sea Island Complex - has Sea Islands and
Barrier Islands. Sea Islands, erosion
remnant islands, are actually part of the continent but become
surrounded by ocean after the last Ice Age ended (Ex. Kiawah, Hilton
Head, Edisto, St. Helena, and Port Royal). Barrier Islands
are deposited sand dunes from the Holocene Epoch (Ex. Edisto Beach,
Hunting Island).
What are Barrier Islands?
Barrier Islands are narrow sandbar created beaches that are
separated from the mainland, usually temporary, lasting from a few
years to a few centuries. (Ex. Bull Island, Fripp Island, Hunting
Island, etc.) South Carolina's barrier islands have the
following characteristics:
1) A dynamic beach system with offshore bars, pounding surf
and shifting or eroding beaches
2) A series of grassy dunes behind the beach
3) Maritime forests with wetlands in the interiors
4) Salt or tidal marshes on the lee side, facing the mainland
What are Other Shoreline Features on Depositional Beaches?
Beaches are defined as deposits of sediment which run parallel to the shore. The southeast coastline of the U.S. is depositional shoreline (sandy beach) for the most part.
Other
sandy beach features:
- lagoon - a long, shallow body of seawater isolated
from the ocean.
- spit- formed from deposits from the longshore
current as it loses energy as it approaches a bay.
- bay mouth bar - where a spit has closed off a bay by
attaching to a headland
Links to Other Sights in the Coastal Zone of S.C.
ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge / SCMaps on the A.C.E. Basin
Coastal Discovery, the Museum on Hilton Head Island
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge
Colleton State Park and Edisto River Canoe & Kayak Trail
Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge
Come along with our web team on our visit to Hunting Island State Park.
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