Paul Gayes

• Coastal Carolina University

Sea breeze winds are observed at various locations worldwide, but the spatially continuous mapping of sea breeze winds is rare. We have developed a scheme to map the areas of the southeastern United States (SEUS) coast influenced by sea breeze winds using a range of surface re‐analysis data to identify their occurrence. Changes in wind direction an...

The Lagrangian tracking approach is often used in numerical modeling (NM) to simulate and predict the movement of marine particles such as plastic, oil spills, and floating wreckage. The uncertainties in NM reduce prediction accuracy as a result of the coarse temporal and spatial resolution, along with waves, winds, and currents. From 29 August to...

Sea breezes have been observed to move inland over 100 km. These airmasses can be markedly different from regional airmasses, creating a shallow layer with differences in humidity, wind, temperature and aerosol characteristics. To understand their influence on boundary layer and cloud development on subsequent days, we identify their frequency and...

Eighty percent of the world’s energy relies on fossil fuels and is under increasingly strict regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Development of renewable energy is a vital solution for reduction of carbon emissions and energy security. This study is focused on a geomorphological assessment of the inner continental shelf along the eastern seabo...

Great Lakes water levels have been trending downwards throughout the 20th and into the 21st centuries. Potential causes are numerous. There have been dredging and water diversion projects over the last 110 years, increasing demand for fresh water consumption from a rising population, and considerable variations in environmental factors (rainfall, s...

Increasing erosional pressures on coastal systems due to rising sea level and the unnatural vulnerability of societal oceanfront infrastructure require a better understanding of the mechanisms of natural and anthropogenic induced alterations. This is especially important in sediment-starved coastal systems where the effects from geologic framework...

A regional geophysical survey of the inner continental shelf off central South Carolina was completed on a cooperative cruise between NOAA and Coastal Carolina University in July 2015. An integrated mapping suite comprised of subbottom echosounder, side scan, multibeam and split beam sonars was used to define the regional geologic framework, includ...

Significant portions of the United States (U.S.) property, commerce and ecosystem assets are located at or near the coast, making them vulnerable to sea level variability and change, especially relative rises. Although global mean sea level (MSL) and sea level rise (SLR) are fundamental considerations, regional mean sea level (RSL) variability alon...

The inner-continental shelf off Fire Island, New York was mapped in 2011 using interferometric sonar and high-resolution chirp seismic-reflection systems. The area mapped is approximately 50 km long by 8 km wide, extending from Moriches Inlet to Fire Island Inlet in water depths ranging from 8-32 m. The morphology of this inner-continental shelf re...

Statistical models for the seasonal prediction of hurricane strikes on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States (ESUS) are developed with the application of the statistical software (SAS) generalized linear model (GENMOD) to perform a Poisson regression linked by a logarithmic function. Preseason climatic/oceanic signals of the El Nino South Oscil...

Offshore wind farms located in a shallow water environment and in areas prone to hurricanes may experience extreme breaking waves. Although little is known about their characteristics, breaking waves may represent a dominant load that a wind turbine structure is subjected to over its design lifetime. Existing analysis approaches may have limited ap...

Realistically estimating the impact of depth-induced wave breaking processes during extreme weather events is a critical factor in planning and designing near-shore structures such as wind turbines. A high-resolution air-sea-wave coupled model is developed for the southeast US coastal regions. Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF) is used as the c...

Sediment budget analyses along the south shore of Fire Island, New York, have been conducted and debated in the scientific and coastal engineering literature for decades. It is well documented that a primary component of sediment transport in this system is directed alongshore from E to W, but discrepancies in volumetric sediment budget calculation...

High-resolution geophysical and sediment sampling surveys were conducted offshore of the Grand Strand, South Carolina to define the shallow geologic framework of the inner shelf. Results are used to identify and map Holocene sediment deposits, infer sediment transport pathways, and discuss implications for the regional coastal sediment budget.The t...

The trends and intrinsic frequencies in the time series of the number of Tropical Cyclones (TCs), hurricanes and typhoons, and Categories 4 and 5 hurricanes and typhoons in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean domains, and the yearly integral of hurricane wind energy, represented by the Power Density Index (PDI), in the Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific...

The mechanism of sediment exchange between offshore sand ridges and the beach at Fire Island, New York is largely unknown. However, recent evidence from repeat nearshore bathymetry surveys, coupled with the complex but consistent bar morphology and patterns of shoreline change demonstrate that there is a feedback occurring between the regional geol...

In Long Bay of the Carolinas, wind energy varies greatly in space and time. Natural variations of winds make it challenging to select the best location of wind farms. The Palmetto Wind Research Project is designed to physically measure and numerically model the variations of wind field within Long Bay. Particular focus is on resolving the gradient...

Recent efforts to project changes in coastal erosion and vulnerability of the state of South Carolina's (SC's) oceanfront for different scenarios of future sea level have reinforced the significance of the influence of societal modifications and response to past and anticipated coastal change in these systems. For large reaches of the SC coast huma...

Sediment budget analyses conducted for annual to decadal timescales report variable magnitudes of littoral transport along the south shore of Long Island, New York. It is well documented that the primary transport component is directed alongshore from east to west, but relatively little information has been reported concerning the directions or mag...

Thousand Acre Marsh, near Georgetown, SC has been investigated using ground penetrating radar and auger cores to determine this brackish marsh's recent depositional history. Core lithology, wood samples, vegetation fragments, and geophysical horizons all aided in the construction of a stratigraphic framework and the identification of antecedent env...

The deepening of shipping and entrance channels in Charleston Harbor (South Carolina, USA) was completed in April 2002 and placed an estimated 22 million cubic yards (mcy) of material in the offshore Charleston Ocean Dredged Material Disposal Site (ODMDS). To determine if sediments dispersed from the ODMDS were negatively affecting invertebrate and...

A combination of geophysical methods including continuous electrical resistivity and high-resolution Chirp sub-bottom profiling were utilized to characterize geologic controls on pore fluid salinity in the nearshore of Long Bay, SC. Resistivity values ranged from less than 1Ωm to greater than 40Ωm throughout the bay. Areas of elevated electrical re...

In this paper, we examine temporal and spatial beach profile volume changes, sediment budget changes, and side-scan sonar images at nourished beaches of northeastern South Carolina. Results of bulk volume change indicate that most sands eroded from the subaerial beach section remain and circulate within the coastal system. The results also indicate...

The Grand Strand coastal region of South Carolina is located along Long Bay, a sediment starved embayment with few tidal inlets or fluvial sources of sediment input. The area has been the focus of ongoing coastal erosion, shoreface monitoring and geophysical/geologic framework investigations for more than a decade. We have taken a nested approach t...

The regional geologic framework of the inner shelf off Fire Island, New York is well-documented. Ridges of reworked Holocene sand derived from erosion of a headland of Cretaceous coastal-plain strata overlie Pleistocene sediment. Coastal geomorphology of the barrier and imbalances in the regional sediment budget together suggest that material, like...

Numerous regional geophysical mapping efforts have taken place along the mid-Atlantic coast over the past 20 years, illuminating the relationship between relict geology and coastal processes. Results have demonstrated that variability in the structural framework of the coastal plain is important in controlling regional-scale shoreline evolution and...

Rapid climate fluctuations associated with ice-sheet oscillations have resulted in pulses of iceberg discharge that are recorded by iceberg scour marks along continental shelves and ice-rafted debris deposits across the North Atlantic. Iceberg transport is largely controlled by ocean surface currents; therefore, iceberg trajectories can serve as a...

Coastal Carolina University has committed to improving student retention and success in Mathematics and Science through a pilot program to engage first-year students in an applied and investigative project as part of the University's First-Year Experience (FYE). During the fall 2007 semester, five pilot sections of FYE classes, consisting of studen...

High resolution swath bathymetry data collected offshore of South Carolina as part of the NOAA Ocean Explorations program in 2006 and 2007 show evidence of extensive iceberg scouring along the upper slope (170-220 m water depth). Numerous furrows, 10-100 m wide and

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) has been identified as a significant contributor of dissolved nutrients and contaminants to near-shore waters. Little is known, however, about geologic controls on the spatial distribution of SGD seeps. Discharge estimates are typically derived from geochemical tracers such as Rn-222. Such estimates of total fl...

Using CHIRP subbottom profiling across the Chukchi shelf, offshore NW Alaska, we observed a large incised valley that measures tens of kilometers in width. The valley appears to have been repeatedly excavated during sea level lowering; however, the two most recent incisions appear to have been downcut during the last sea level rise, suggesting an i...

A long-term statewide beach surveying program in South Carolina has compiled a substantial record of beach and shoreface geometry across a region of diverse hydrodynamic and geologic framework. Initiated to support statewide beachfront regulatory obligations, the accumulated time-series has also afforded long-term monitoring of several beach nouris...

The inner continental shelf off northern South Carolina is a sediment-limited environment characterized by extensive hardground areas, where coastal plain strata and ancient channel-fill deposits are exposed at the sea floor. Holocene sand is concentrated in large shoals associated with active tidal inlets, an isolated shore-detached sand body, and...

The close relation between topographic expression and the history of formation of the Coastal Plain has been known and used by researchers for nearly a century. Topographic expression is usually the first aspect of a region that is used in researching the history of coastal plain formation. Where subsurface data is acquired, the generalities of the...

Several generations of the ancestral Pee Dee River system have been mapped beneath the South Carolina Grand Strand coastline and adjacent Long Bay inner shelf. Deep boreholes onshore and high-resolution seismic-reflection data offshore allow for reconstruction of these paleochannels, which formed during glacial lowstands, when the Pee Dee River sys...

Coastal landscapes evolve over wide-ranging spatial and temporal scales in response to physical and biological processes that interact with a wide range of variables. To develop better predictive models for these dynamic areas, we must understand the influence of these variables on coastal morphologies and ultimately how they influence coastal proc...

Naturally occurring hard bottom areas provide the geological substrate that can support diverse assemblages of sessile benthic organisms, which in turn, attract many reef-dwelling fish species. Alternatively, defining the location and extent of bottom sand bodies is relevant for potential nourishment projects as well as to ensure that transient sed...

Integrated high-resolution geophysical surveys of the northern South Carolina shoreface have been linked to similar surveys of the inner shelf and a range of onshore data types defining the structure and behavior of the modern beach. Together they characterize patterns of coastal erosion and evolution on a range of temporal and spatial scales. The...

A series of geophysical surveys conducted along a 90 km section of the northern South Carolina coast have sought to define the architecture of the shoreface and to quantify the geometry and volume of sediment in the modern active beach system along this sediment-starved region. This study was completed as part of the USGS-South Carolina Sea Grant C...

As part of the second phase of the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium--USGS South Carolina Coastal Erosion Program, an integrated, intra- and internet accessible geographic information system (GIS) has been implemented within South Carolina to expedite data sharing and analysis between investigators, coastal managers, and the general public. We ha...

As part of the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium-United States Geological Survey Coastal Erosion program, this continuing study examines the architecture and geomorphology of the DeBordieu barrier island complex along the southern portion of the Grand Strand coastline of northeastern South Carolina. To compare historical geomorphic changes to thi...

In 1992 the South Carolina Task Force on Offshore Resources, with the support of the Minerals Management Service, began compiling a comprehensive database of information on marine resources of the southeastern inner continental shelf, including information pertaining to fisheries, sand resources, and critical habitat. The multi-year, inter-agency c...

Singleton Swash on the South Carolina coast provides an extended record of storm events for this coast. We used experience gained by looking at storm traces detected as layers of offshore foraminifera intercalated with marsh sediments from a known storm in the area (Hugo, which occurred in 1989) to detect storm horizons from the sediments that have...

A portion of the USGS-SC Sea Grant Consortium coastal erosion program, this study presents a comparison of historical shorelines, LIDAR and coastal geomorphology to the geologic framework of the lower Coastal Plain and inner Continental Shelf of South Carolina. Shoreline change trends of historical data of Anders et al. (1990) and recent aerial pho...

Located in the transition between the more extensively studied wave-dominated barrier islands of North Carolina and the mixed-energy barrier islands of Central South Carolina, Waites Island is a 5 km long and 0.5 km wide barrier island situated at the northern end of South Carolina's Grand Strand arcuate coastal system. Building upon previous strat...

This study presents a statistical comparison of historical shoreline changes to framework geology and coastal geomorphology along a portion of the South Carolina coast. Situated along a dominantly mainland attached barrier system, we utilize a wide array of directly and remotely sensed geological framework data collected as part of a larger coastal...

Orrin Pilkey has brought conceptual simplifications of beach behavior used to model/manage beach change to national attention and debate. A regional program of beach profiling, shoreline mapping and geologic framework studies provide the perspective of beach behavior along the northern coast of South Carolina necessary to assess the assertions of P...

Real time kinematic GPS (RTK-GPS), bathymetric, and side-scan sonar data were integrated to analyze short-term shoreline change, from December 2001 to August 2002, in relation to offshore sediment distribution. Local beach behavior, induced by erosional and depositional events, can be identified by longshore trends in shoreline position variability...

The lower Coastal Plain and inner Continental Shelf of the United States East Coast vary coherently in both pre-Holocene and modern morphology, in long-term trends of coastal change, and in respect to critical areas of beach erosion. As a portion of the USGS-SC Sea Grant Consortium coastal erosion program, this study presents a comparison of histor...

Assessment of the extent and variability of benthic habitats is an important mission of biologists and marine scientists, and has supreme relevance in monitoring and maintaining the offshore resources of coastal nations. Mapping `hard bottoms', in particular, is of critical importance because these are the areas that support sessile benthic habitat...

Deformational strain within the Lake Tahoe Basin was mapped during previous campaigns using a combination of high resolution seismic CHIRP, multi-beam swath bathymetry, and airborne laser altimetry. These previous campaigns identified submerged paleo-shorelines of Pleistocene to early Holocene age, which act as a tectonic strain marker due to fault...

A regional geophysical mapping survey of Long Bay provides a comprehensive image of sea-floor character, bathymetry and shallow subbottom stratigraphy within the shoreface and across the inner shelf along 90 kilometers of the northern South Carolina coast. Chirp subbottom profiles, sidescan-sonar imagery and interferometric swath-bathymetry imaged...

Many channels are preserved on the Carolinas continental shelf, and they are widely distributed with a marked variability in form. Preserved channels are largely believed to be excavated by rivers during sea-level low stands, however, they also can be created and modified by processes (e.g., waves and tides) active during high-stand, falling, and r...

High-resolution seismic reflection profiles, sidescan-sonar imagery and interferometric swath-bathymetry, groundtruthed with surficial sediment samples and vibracores, allow for a detailed interpretation of the shallow geologic framework within South Carolina's Long Bay. This mapping provides a better understanding of the area's nearshore geology b...

A statewide monitoring program has been documenting changes within the beach and nearshore system along the South Carolina coast since 1993. Additional beach and geophysical surveys completed at recent beach nourishment projects have provided a consistent means to assess project behavior over long periods. Response of three recently nourished beach...

More than 40 short cores were collected from 10 localities in the Myrtle Beach to McClellandville coastline of South Carolina. The localities were selected on the basis of whether or not they should have a well preserved record of recent hurricanes, most notably Hugo, which occurred in September, 1989. Of the 40 cores collected, results from two si...

The event-to decade-scale patterns of sediment dispersal on two artificially nourished beaches have been mapped using a combination of geophysical surveys, closely-spaced vibracores, and repeated beach profiles. At both Wrightsville Beach, NC and Folly Island, SC the sediment used for beach nourishment is macroscopically distinct from native sedime...

Coastal deposits near Charleston, SC, consist of multiple Quaternary highstand and lowstand sequences. Vibracores taken on land and offshore, bucket and gouge auger holes, ground penetrating radar, nearshore bottom-grabs, high-resolution shallow seismics, amino acid analyses, and geomorphology are used to correlate stratigraphic and lithologic rela...

Grab samples show the effects of combined organic matter pollution and high riverine discharge. Typical estuarine assemblages appear to be displaced offshore as a result of these effects. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages in samples from transects in nearby North Inlet marsh do not appear to be affected by the polluted waters from Winyah Bay. -from...

Sea level oscillated between 5500 and 3500 yr ago at Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. For the same time interval, data from Nova Scotia indicate an acceleration in sea-level rise and a report from the Gulf of St. Lawrence suggests an oscillation of sea level at the same time. The implications are: 1) there was a eustatic sea-level oscillation of abo...

A highstand of relative sea level occurred at 4.2 ka in Murrells Inlet on the northern coast of South Carolina. The highstand was followed by a sea-level fall of 2 m until 3.6 ka and then a slow, steady sea-level rise of 10 cm/century to the present. Strong differential submergence between Murrells Inlet and Santee Delta, South Carolina, has occurr...

Shallow seismic data recently collected from the inner and middle continental shelf off Delaware reveal what appears to be a relatively complete stratigraphic record of middle to late Pleistocene sea-level events. At least four separate paleochannels of the Delaware River that have been identified and traced across the inner and middle shelf can be...

A high stand of relative sea level occurred at 4.2 ka in Murrells Inlet on the northern coast of South Carolina. The event was identified using benthic foraminiferal zonations, marsh stratigraphic relations and radiocarbon data. This highstand reached a maximum of approximately [minus]1 meter MSD and was followed by a fall of 2 meters until 3.6 ka....

Accurate documentation of beach and nearshore morphology is an essential component of coastal research and management. The Beach Erosion Research and Monitoring (BERM) program has been addressing this need through field intensive surveys for over a decade. Throughout this period BERM survey methods have evolved from conventional rod-level and sled-...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1987. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-185).