Millennial Scale Development of a Southeastern United States Spit

ABSTRACT Wright, E.; Kruse, S.; Forman, S.L., and Harris, M.S., 2018. Millennial scale development of a southeastern United States spit. A prominent 4-km-long and 1-km-wide spit is located at the southern downdrift end of the Grand Strand coastline in NE South Carolina. To reconstruct a millennial scale record of spit evolution, an integrated suite of data collection was employed, including LiDAR data, ground-penetrating radar data ground truthed by vibracore and split-spoon auger data, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages. OSL ages suggest initial spit formation began around CE 1100. During the last millennium, the spit records four periods of major advance: three by OSL ages around CE 1105 to 1240, CE 1485 to 1600, CE 1725 to 1835 and one by historical records after CE 1872 until prior to CE 1980. Each section grew by southerly advance of the spit platform, revealed by dipping foreset reflectors, overlain by beach, overwash, and eolian units. Section boundaries are indicated by abrupt OSL ag...