A
Coast for All Seasons
A
Naturalist’s Guide to the Coast of South Carolina
Miles O. Hayes
and Jacqueline Michel
Pandion Books
Columbia,
South Carolina
The
coastal geology of South Carolina is complex, formed by the combined processes
of sea level rise, sediment supply, waves, and tides. The presentation consists
of two parts. Part I describes the general processes and landforms of the
coast, explaining the history of how the South Carolina coast evolved and how
processes such as waves, tides, sediment supply, and sea level rise have
combined to produce the modern coastal features such as barrier islands,
deltas, estuaries, tidal flats, and salt marshes. We include discussion of the
impacts of hurricanes, changes in sediment supply that are both natural and
man-made, the beach cycle, and methods to control erosion. Part II describes in
more detail the coastal geomorphology of each of four compartments: the Grand Strand; the Delta Region; the
Barrier Islands; and the Low Country. Explanations are provided for key
features of the coast such as Carolina bays, capes, barrier islands, and tidal
inlets. The presenters, two
coastal geologists, who have 35 years of experience conducting scientific
research on the coast, tell their story of discovery and fascination through
engaging conversation, richly illustrated original diagrams, aerial
photographs, and satellite imagery that paints a truly complete picture of a complex
topic rarely so smoothly distilled from the scientific literature.
Dr. Miles O. Hayes
Dr. Miles O. Hayes
is a coastal geomorphologist and sedimentologist with 50 years of research
experience. He has authored more than 250 articles and reports and three books
on a range of topics relating to tidal hydraulics, river morphology and
processes, beach erosion, barrier island morphology, oil pollution, and
petroleum exploration.
Based on extensive
field experience throughout the world, he has developed innovative techniques
regarding environmental protection, oil-spill response and shoreline processes.
Three of the original concepts proposed and developed by Hayes are: 1)
importance of hurricanes to barrier island and nearshore shelf sedimentation;
2) the effect of tides on shoreline morphology and sedimentation patterns; and
3) the environmental sensitivity index (ESI) for mapping shorelines (with
co-author Michel), which has been applied worldwide.
Hayes' teaching
experience includes a range of both undergraduate and graduate courses while a
Professor at the Universities of Massachusetts and South Carolina. Seventy-two
graduate students received their degrees under his supervision, most of whom
are now leaders in their respective academic, government and industry
positions. He is presently chairman of the Board of Research Planning, Inc.
(RPI), a science technology company located in Columbia, S.C.
Dr. Jacqueline Michel
Dr. Jacqueline
Michel is an internationally recognized expert in oil and hazardous materials
spill response and assessment with a primary focus in the areas of oil fates
and effects, non-floating oils, shoreline cleanup, alternative response
technologies and natural resource damage assessment. She has participated in
research projects in 33 countries.
Since 1982, she has
been a member of the Scientific Support Team to the U.S. Coast Guard provided
by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Under this role,
she is on 24-hour call and provides technical support for an average of 50
spill events per year. She leads shoreline assessment teams and assists in
selecting cleanup methods to minimize the environmental impacts of the spill.
She has written
more than 150 manuals, reports, and scientific papers on coastal resource
impacts, mapping and protection. As a member of the Ocean Studies Board at the
National Academy of Sciences for four years, she served on four National
Research Council committees (chairing two), and is a Lifetime Associate of the
National Academies. One of the original founders of RPI, which started in 1977,
she now serves as the company president.