Response of the fluvial dynamics in the lower Santee River to the construction of the SanteeCooper dams
Presentation Type
Event
Full Name of Faculty Mentor
Till Hanebuth
Other Mentors
Additional Mentor: Joshua Long,
Major
Marine Science
Minor
Coastal Geology
Second Minor
Mathematics-Applied
Presentation Abstract
The Santee River Delta is located on the coastal plain of central South Carolina and drains the second largest catchment basin on the US east coast. The Santee system has remained widely void of modern infrastructure and development. In the 1940s, the SanteeCooper dams were constructed. These dams diverted the flow away from the lower Santee until the 1980s, and trap the sediment, assumedly reducing the natural sediment transport down to the delta and the coast. This study attempts to document the changes in river bottom inventory through the acquisition of bathymetric data compared to a digitized bathymetric map from 1934-35, when the ICW was opened, artificially linking the natural river distributaries. For the systematic characterization and geographic distribution of sand bedforms, shallow seismo-acoustic surveys and sediment grain size analysis were performed, providing a detailed understanding of the hydrodynamic conditions and historic changes in the lower Santee.
Course
MSCI 499
External Presentation
1
Location
Lib Jackson Student Union, Atrium
Start Date
17-4-2019 4:30 PM
End Date
17-4-2019 6:30 PM
Disciplines
Oceanography
Recommended Citation
Durica, John, "Response of the fluvial dynamics in the lower Santee River to the construction of the SanteeCooper dams" (2019). Undergraduate Research Competition. 15.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/ugrc/2019/poster/15
Response of the fluvial dynamics in the lower Santee River to the construction of the SanteeCooper dams
Lib Jackson Student Union, Atrium
The Santee River Delta is located on the coastal plain of central South Carolina and drains the second largest catchment basin on the US east coast. The Santee system has remained widely void of modern infrastructure and development. In the 1940s, the SanteeCooper dams were constructed. These dams diverted the flow away from the lower Santee until the 1980s, and trap the sediment, assumedly reducing the natural sediment transport down to the delta and the coast. This study attempts to document the changes in river bottom inventory through the acquisition of bathymetric data compared to a digitized bathymetric map from 1934-35, when the ICW was opened, artificially linking the natural river distributaries. For the systematic characterization and geographic distribution of sand bedforms, shallow seismo-acoustic surveys and sediment grain size analysis were performed, providing a detailed understanding of the hydrodynamic conditions and historic changes in the lower Santee.