4.6 Summary

The uniquely detailed record of shoreline behavior from the SCCES provides guidance for land-use and development decisions along the Grand Strand.  It also helps us understand the linkages between subaerial coastal lands, which may be eroded in the near future, and adjacent submerged lands of the continental shelf where sediment moves freely on, off, and along the shore.  As the beach and shoreface migrate, they contact different materials underlying the modern coastal system.  The materials are more or less resistant to erosion due to their composition (percent sand, silt, clay) and mechanical properties (degree of cementation or compactness).  Erosion proceeds at different rates: less resistant deposits are eroded more deeply and more resistant deposits are eroded less deeply.  This differential erosion has modified the morphology of the seafloor, and in some cases, probably altered sediment-dispersal pathways in nearshore areas.  Because extensive development is located very near the coast throughout the region, even minor rates of coastal erosion pose a serious threat.  The abundance of engineered coastal-stabilization structures along the Grand Strand is a testament to the pervasive erosion, and the distribution of these structures provides a general indication of the areas where the effects have been the greatest.  In many instances, these so-called hard engineering solutions (Figure 1.7) have proven to further accentuate erosion rather than alleviate the problem.

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