scholarly journals Water quality in the Withers Swash Basin, with emphasis on enteric bacteria, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 1991-93

1995 ◽  
Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas M. Pastore ◽  
Richard N. Peterson ◽  
Diane B. Fribance ◽  
Richard Viso ◽  
Erin E. Hackett

Beach erosion and water quality degradation have been observed in Singleton Swash, a tidal creek that traverses the beach-face connecting land and ocean in Myrtle Beach, SC. The objective of this study in Singleton Swash is to explore relationships between water quality and hydrodynamics, where the latter are influenced by beach face morphology. We measure water velocities, water levels, and dissolved oxygen concentrations (DO) (a proxy for water quality) and apply correlation analysis to examine the relationships between physical processes and dissolved oxygen variations. Results show that larger tidal ranges are associated with higher mean levels of DO in the tidal creek. The larger tidal ranges are linked to larger magnitude currents, which increase both the DO transport via larger fluxes of oxygenated oceanic water into the swash and the magnitude of Reynolds shear stresses; due to tidal asymmetries, flood currents are stronger than ebb currents in this system. Based on these results, it is concluded that the combined transport of oxygenated waters into the tidal creek from the ocean on large flood tides and subsequent mixing due to large Reynolds shear stresses result in the observed net DO concentration increases in the creek over tidal cycles.


Shore & Beach ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 35-45
Author(s):  
Patrick Barrineau ◽  
Timothy Kana

Hurricane Matthew (2016) caused significant beach and dune erosion from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, USA, to Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. At Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the storm caused beach recession, and much of the southern half of the city’s beaches appeared to be overwashed in post-storm surveys. Around half of the city’s beaches appeared overwashed following the storm; however, the Storm Impact Scale (SIS; Sallenger 2000) applied to a pre-storm elevation model suggests less than 10% of the city’s beaches should have experienced overwash. Spatial analysis of elevation and land cover data reveals dunes that were “overwashed” during Matthew drain from watersheds that are >35% impervious, where those showing only dune recession are <5% impervious. The densely developed downtown of Myrtle Beach sits on a low seaward-sloping terrace. Additionally, indurated strata beneath the downtown area can prevent groundwater from draining during excessive rain events. As a result, the most continuous impervious surface cover and near-surface strata lie within a half-kilometer of the beach and drain directly to the backshore. Along the U.S. Southeast coast, this is somewhat rare; many coastal systems feature a lagoon or low-lying bottomland along their landward border, which facilitates drainage of upland impervious surfaces following storm passage. At Myrtle Beach, all of the stormwater runoff is drained directly to the beach through a series of outfall pipes. Many of the outfall pipes are located along the backshore, near the elevation of storm surge during Matthew. Runoff from Matthew’s heavy rains was observed causing ponding on the landward side of the foredune and scouring around beach access walkways. Based on these observations, the severe dune erosion experienced near downtown Myrtle Beach during Hurricane Matthew may have been caused by runoff and/or groundwater flux rather than overwash. These results highlight an unexpected relationship between upland conditions and dune erosion on a developed shoreline. That is, dune erosion can be caused by mechanisms beside overwash during storm events.


2015 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 98-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xubiao Yu ◽  
Joanna Hawley-Howard ◽  
Amber L. Pitt ◽  
Jun-Jian Wang ◽  
Robert F. Baldwin ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Caitlyn C. Mayer ◽  
Khalid A. Ali

The Ashepoo, Combahee, Edisto (ACE) Basin in South Carolina is one of the largest undeveloped estuaries in the Southeastern United States. This system is monitored and protected by several government agencies to ensure its health and preservation. However, as populations in surrounding cities rapidly expand and land is urbanized, the surrounding water systems may decline from an influx of contaminants, leading to hypoxia, fish kills, and eutrophication. Conventional in situ water quality monitoring methods are timely and costly. Satellite remote sensing methods are used globally to monitor water systems and can produce an instantaneous synopsis of color-producing agents (CPAs), including chlorophyll-a, suspended matter (TSM), and colored-dissolved organic matter by applying bio-optical models. In this study, field, laboratory, and historical land use land cover (LULC) data were collected during the summers of 2002, 2011, 2015, and 2016. The results indicated higher levels of chlorophyll, ranging from 2.94 to 12.19 μg/L, and TSM values were from 60.4 to 155.2 mg/L between field seasons, with values increasing with time. A model was developed using multivariate, partial least squares regression (PLSR) to identify wavelengths that are more sensitive to chlorophyll-a (R2 = 0.49; RMSE = 1.8 μg/L) and TSM (R2 = 0.40; RMSE = 12.9 mg/L). The imbrication of absorption and reflectance features characterizing sediments and algal species in ACE Basin waters make it difficult for remote sensors to distinguish variations among in situ concentrations. The results from this study provide a strong foundation for the future of water quality monitoring and for the protection of biodiversity in the ACE basin.


Author(s):  
Susan Libes ◽  
J. Michael Trapp ◽  
Scott Kindelberger ◽  
Danielle Doremus

In October 2011, the coastal municipalities of North Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach, Surfside, and Horry County signed a resolution, under the aegis of their Coastal Alliance of mayors, to develop and implement the Long Bay Hypoxia Monitoring Consortium. The goal of this consortium is to support monitoring and studies that further characterize hypoxia and its causes in Long Bay. The baseline data will enable assessments of water quality management efforts. Monitoring stations are to be maintained at three piers, Cherry Grove (NMB), Apache (Horry County), and Second Ave N. Pier (Myrtle Beach). Turbidity and chlorophyll sensors will be deployed at two piers and radon detectors at three piers. All piers will have weather stations. Data will be accessible via a real-time public website. Biological responses to low dissolved oxygen (DO) will be assessed via monitoring of larval recruitment and net plankton. The S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) is also conducting creel surveys at the piers. These efforts are being coordinated with a marine education outreach campaign that includes signage at the piers, presentations at pier events, and web-based content.


1992 ◽  
Vol 25 (12) ◽  
pp. 93-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pommepuy ◽  
J. F. Guillaud ◽  
E. Dupray ◽  
A. Derrien ◽  
F. Le Guyader ◽  
...  

In order to improve bacterial water quality of shellfish farming areas, studies were conducted in the English Channel (Morlaix) and on the Mediterranean coast (Toulon). These two areas were chosen in order to compare behaviour of fecal bacteria in two different ecosystems. In the estuary of Morlaix sediments are polluted by way of settlement, but most of the bacteria are mixed with turbid waters and are able to survive a very long time (T90 are in a range of several hours to several days). By measuring the increase in salt tolerance of the strains grown in natural organic matter, it was demonstrated that Salmonella can tolerate coastal water salinities. Moreover, because light penetration is prevented by suspended matter, the solar bactericidal effect is very low. On the contrary, through lack of nutrients and very high sunlight intensity, die-off rates in Mediterranean waters are very high (at the surface T90 are less than 2 hours, and several hours in deep waters). A close relationship was found between the light intensity received by bacteria and the T90. Predicted T90 must be found using these two parameters(including turbidity and deep effect on light intensity). The authors suggest that precautions must be taken to carry out impact studies depending on water quality of the area, especially in turbid areas. The knowledge of these mechanisms is very important to evaluate waste water impact on the quality of shellfish farming areas, and to improve elimination of fccal bacteria in sewage treatment plants.


1982 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. McCartan ◽  
J. P. Owens ◽  
B. W. Blackwelder ◽  
B. J. Szabo ◽  
D. F. Belknap ◽  
...  

AbstractThe results of an integrated study comprising litho- and biostratigraphic investigations, uranium-series coral dating, amino acid racemization in molluscs, and paleomagnetic measurements are compared to ascertain relative and absolute ages of Pleistocene deposits of the Atlantic Coastal Plain in North and South Carolina. Four depositional events are inferred for South Carolina and two for North Carolina by all methods. The data suggest that there are four Pleistocene units containing corals that have been dated at about 100,000 yr, 200,000 yr, 450,000 yr, and over 1,000,000 yr. Some conflicts exist between the different methods regarding the correlation of the younger of these depositional events between Charleston and Myrtle Beach. Lack of good uranium-series dates for the younger material at Myrtle Beach makes the correlation with the deposits at Charleston more difficult.


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