Geology topics

Research about Port Royal Sound

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Port Royal Sound.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS1989

Convergance experiments with a hydrodynamic model of Port Royal Sound, South Carolina

A two-demensional, depth-averaged, finite-difference, flow/transport model, SIM2D, is being used to simulate tidal circulation and transport in the Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, estuarine system. Models of a subregion of the Port Royal Sound system have been derived from an earlier-developed model of the entire system having a grid size of 600 ft. The submodels were implemented with grid sizes of 600, 300, and 150 ft in order to determine the effects of changes in grid size on computed flows in the subregion, which is characterized by narrow channels and extensive tidal flats that flood and dewater with each rise and fall of the tide. Tidal amplitudes changes less than 5 percent as the grid size was decreased. Simulations were performed with the 300-foot submodel for time steps of 60, 30, and 15 s. Study results are discussed.

South Carolina↗

USGS1985

Potential impacts of discharging tertiary-treated wastewater into Port Royal Sound, South Carolina

An assessment of physical characteristics of Port Royal Sound was combined with the results of a dye tracer study and with data collected from a previous environmental study to describe the impact on the water quality from discharging tertiary treated wastewater into the sound. Calculated velocities for the time of maximum velocity in the tidal cycle ranged from 2.32 ft/sec near the bottom to 4.65 ft/sec near the surface of the sound in a cross section in the vicinity of a proposed wastewater outfall. Vertical velocity distributions calculated for the time of maximum velocity were similar at all stations at which velocities were measured except the station in shallow water near the shore. A recent bathymetric chart of the vicinity of the proposed outfall indicates that a bar extends farther along the northern shore of Hilton Head Island than indicated on earlier nautical charts of Port Royal Sound. Continued extension of this bar could alter the impact on water quality from discharge of treated wastewater into the sound. Further study may be needed to monitor changes in the bar if the outfall is located between the bar and Hilton Head Island. Conservative calculations based on the results of the dye tracer study indicate that the discharge of 10.9 million gallons/day of wastewater having concentrations of biochemical oxygen demand and suspended solids of 15 mg/L will result in a maximum cumulative increase in concentrations of biochemical oxygen demand of < 0.01 mg/L and no increase in concentrations of suspended solids at high slack tide in the part of Port Royal Sound most affected by the proposed wastewater discharge. (Author 's abstract)

South Carolina↗

USGS1972

Tracer simulation study of potential solute movement in Port Royal Sound, South Carolina

A tracer study was conducted in Port Royal Sound to simulate the movement and ultimate pattern of concentration of a solute continuously injected into the flow. A total of 750 pounds of Rhodamine WT dye was injected by boat during a period of 24.8 hours in a line across the Colleton River. During the following 43 days, samples of water were taken at selected points in the sound, and the concentration of dye in the samples was determined by fluorometric analysis. The data obtained in the field study were used with theoretical models to compute the ultimate pattern of concentration of nonconservative and conservative solutes for a hypothetical continuous injection at the site on the Colleton River.

South Carolina↗