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Quaternary eolian dunes in the Savannah River Valley, Jasper County, South Carolina, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Christopher S. Swezey ,
Arthur P. Schultz ,
Wilma Alemán González ,
Christopher E. Bernhardt ,
William R. Doar III ,
Christopher P. Garrity ,
Shannon A. Mahan  and
John P. McGeehin
Christopher S. Swezey*
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 926A, Reston, VA 20192, USA
Arthur P. Schultz
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 926A, Reston, VA 20192, USA
Wilma Alemán González
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 926A, Reston, VA 20192, USA
Christopher E. Bernhardt
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 926A, Reston, VA 20192, USA
William R. Doar III
Affiliation:
South Carolina Geological Survey, 5 Geology Road, Columbia, SC 29212, USA
Christopher P. Garrity
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 956, Reston, VA 20192, USA
Shannon A. Mahan
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, Denver Federal Center, MS 974, Denver, CO 80225, USA
John P. McGeehin
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, MS 926A, Reston, VA 20192, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: + 1 703 648 6953. E-mail address:cswezey@usgs.gov (C.S. Swezey).
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Abstract

Sand hills in the Savannah River valley in Jasper County (South Carolina, USA) are interpreted as the remnants of parabolic eolian dunes composed of sand derived from the Savannah River and stabilized by vegetation under prevailing climate conditions. Optically stimulated luminescence ages reveal that most of the dunes were active ca. 40 to 19 ka ago, coincident with the last glacial maximum (LGM) through early deglaciation. Modern surface winds are not sufficient for sustained eolian sand transport. When the dunes were active, winds blew at velocities of at least 4 m/s from west to east, and some vegetation was present. The ratio of annual precipitation to potential evapotranspiration (P:PE) was less than the modern ratio of 1.23 and may have been < 0.30, caused by stronger winds (which would have resulted in greater evaporation) and/or reduced precipitation. The Savannah River dunes are part of a larger assemblage of eolian dunes that were active in the eastern United States during and immediately after the LGM, suggesting that eolian sediment behavior in this region has been controlled by regional forcing mechanisms during the Quaternary.

Keywords

EolianDuneQuaternarySouth Carolina
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 80 , Issue 2 , September 2013 , pp. 250 - 264
Copyright
University of Washington

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