Geologists try to enhance understanding of coastal Carolina

Joe Holmes/Research Planning Inc.

An infrared image from 2006 shows the Hunting/Fripp headland on the right.

Joe Holmes/Research Planning Inc.

This pond, shown here in November 2006, is on the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge.

To see is not necessarily to observe.

Most residents of the Palmetto State's coastline are relatively familiar with the general features of its geography and the flora and fauna it supports. But unless one's beach house is in danger of sliding into the Deep, do we realize how dynamic a system governs its contours?

Miles O. Hayes and Jacqueline Michel do. And the husband-and-wife team of coastal geologists is keen to share the expertise in "A Coast for All Seasons: A Naturalist's Guide to the Coast of South Carolina," a comprehensive, general-readership book that gives equal emphasis to science and recreation.

"We are writing a series of books on the different states, with South Carolina being the most recent," says Hayes, a geomorphologist. "Jacqui kind of talked me into the project. It's (inspired) by the 'Roadside Geology' books by David Alt, and also by Carl Sagan's 'The Pale Blue Dot,' in which he says scientists should communicate effectively with the general populace."

"The idea is to try to give people more information about the coastal geology and the places they visit and live by," adds Michel.

Casting a wide net

The large-format, softcover volume is released by Pandion Books, a publisher of general-interest scientific and technical books in the fields of ecotourism, coastal science and environmental protection. The imprint is a division of Research Planning Inc., a science technology company in Columbia. Since founded in 1977 by Hayes and a group of fellow University of South Carolina scientists, the firm has been involved in coastal research in more than 50 countries.

Hayes and Michel, who wield their doctorates lightly in print, still poured 35 years of experience in conducting coastal research into their book, augmented by original diagrams, aerial photographs and satellite imagery that help distill the scientific literature into an engaging, understandable picture of a complex subject. It's divided into two principal sections: Coastal Processes and Land Forms, and A Travel Guide for the Major Compartments of the Coast.

"These graphics and illustrations are one of the chief powers of this book. They have never been published anywhere else," says Michel. "Two-thirds of the research is original that we did or our students did. The core derives from the scientific literature, but we've taken out the mumbo jumbo to make it easier to understand."

"We've been doing this piecemeal on the coast for a long time," says Hayes. "It took about a year to write it, updating it all along. A number of teachers already have ordered copies for classroom use, and the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission is using it in its naturalists course in September."

Apart from research, the couple has invested 30 years in teaching, performing intensive training for such clients as the Coast Guard and beginning geologists for oil companies.

A geo what?

Hayes is accustomed to fielding the question: What exactly is a coastal geomorphologist?

"Some people accuse me of inventing the term. The field's been around for a long time, but the coastal focus didn't start until the 1960s. A geomorphologist studies three-dimensional landforms: mountains, valleys, rivers and river deltas, volcanoes, beaches and barrier islands. It provides an understanding of the processes of creating three-dimensional forms — waves and tides, in this case.

"When Jacqui and I do outreach, I'm called theory and she's called practice."

"The second session is more entertaining," Michel says. "The first part is a little more abstract."

It is the size of the tides that distinguishes the shoreline of South Carolina from its immediate neighbors to the north and south, the scientists say.

"The big difference is the bigger tides of South Carolina. This whole shoreline is called the trailing edge of the Continental Shelf, in contrast to California (the subject of the couple's next book), which is the leading edge. Once you have that setting, the big things are the hydrodynamic processes, the interaction between how big the waves are and the tidal range. South Carolina is the world's classic example of intermediate waves and intermediate tides, and we get tremendous numbers of inlets and barrier islands. It's what we call a mixed-energy coast."

To assess the near-term and long-term future of our barrier islands, the authors divide them into two types.

"It's a battle between sea-level rise and sediment supply," says Michel. "We've built all these things that interfere with the processes. We have cut off new supplies of sand to the shoreline. As the sea level rises, it will migrate landward. No barrier island on the S.C. coast is older than 5,000 years. They are ephemeral features from a geological perspective. The shoreline will respond. At this time, it's rising at about a foot per century. Now, if it were to really take off ..."

For more information on the book, go online to http://pandionbooks.researchplanning.com....

Places to visit

In "A Coast for All Seasons: A Naturalist's Guide to the Coast of South Carolina," Miles O. Hayes and Jacqueline Michel suggest visiting the following coastal areas in the state:

--The ACE Basin: Great Swamp Sanctuary and ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge.

--Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island (great for biking).

--Bull's Island and Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.

--Edisto Beach State Park on Edisto Island.

--Folly Beach (especially the northern end, with a view of the Morris Island lighthouse).

--Folly Beach County Park.

--Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island.

--Huntington Beach State Park.

--Hunting Island State Park and Hunting Island Light Station.

--Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve in Horry County.

--Myrtle Beach State Park.

--Pawleys Island.

--Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge.

--Port Royal Sound (by boat).

--Seabrook Island (boat tours launching from Bohicket Marina).

--Sea Pines Forest Preserve (Hilton Head Island).

--Savannah (River Delta) National Wildlife Refuge.

--St. Helena Island.

--Sullivan's Island.

--Victoria Bluff Heritage Preserve (Hilton Head Island).

--The Winyah Bay Estuary Complex, including the Baruch Marine Field Laboratory and Hobcaw Point.

Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.