LiDAR Analysis of Paleo-Shorelines in the Carolinas

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  • February 26, 2019
Creator
  • Rosenthal, Emma
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Geological Sciences
Abstract
  • Paleo-shorelines are steps in the landscape that represent regressionary standstills, or in other words, paleo sea-levels. At the time of deposition, these scarps would have been horizontal so any elevation change seen along the base of these scarps today suggests warping of the crust beneath them. In this way, paleo-shorelines can be used to study uplift along passive margins, such as the east coast of North America. It has been shown that the mid-Pliocene Orangeburg Scarp, which is present throughout North and South Carolina, has a maximum variation in elevation of 60 meters. This dynamic topography has been attributed to warping of the crustal surface due to a combination of uplift by mantle convection and glacial isostatic adjustment. We hypothesize that younger scarps in the same regressionary sequence as the Orangeburg, should show a corresponding dynamic topography. This paper provides an analysis of the Quaternary-aged Suffolk Scarp in North Carolina using high-resolution LiDAR data to model the variation in elevation of the scarp’s longitudinal profile. The Orangeburg Scarp was also analyzed in the same way to compare the elevation change along its longitudinal profile to that found by previous studies. For the purposes of this study the Suffolk Scarp was assumed to be originally horizontal and the results of the model imply that it has not experienced warping in recent geologic history. Therefore, we conclude that the younger Suffolk Scarp does not show dynamic topography in correspondence to the older Orangeburg Scarp.
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  • In Copyright
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  • Funding: None
Advisor
  • Stewart, Kevin
Degree
  • Bachelor of Science
Academic concentration
  • Geological Sciences
Honors level
  • Honors
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduation year
  • 2017
Language
  • English

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