Geologic units in Charleston county, South Carolina

Additional scientific data in this geographic area

Chenier plain and deltas of Suwannee & Chattahoochie Rivers (Holocene) at surface, covers 31 % of this area

Chenier plain and deltas of Suwannee & Chattahoochie Rivers

Tidal Marsh (Quaternary) at surface, covers 22 % of this area

Peat and muck deposits along tidal margins of esturaries and back bays. Deposits range from a few feet to 60+ feet deep. Locally include silt and fine sand and clay as levees on tidal channels. At depth peaty material may be accumulated from fresh water plants. Peat at the surface dominated by spartina and other salt tolerant species.

Wando Formation (Pleistocene) at surface, covers 17 % of this area

Another Carolina coastal terrace sequence like Penholoway . This is the youngest and lowest. Late Pleistocene

Socastee Formation (Pleistocene) at surface, covers 15 % of this area

Low coastal formation in Carolinas like Penholoway but younger and lower in altitude.

Swamp (Quaternary) at surface, covers 10 % of this area

Extensive cypress swamps occur in low-lying poorly-drained bay deposits. Limit of cypress is southern Delaware; from NJ south to Georgia. Atlantic white cedar is original species. Commonly extensive thick peat and buried wood.

Beach (Holocene) at surface, covers 4 % of this area

Holocene beach complex sediments. Sands and gravels of littoral zone, dune system, barrier system.

Penholoway Formation (Pleistocene) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Similar to Cape May, broad lateral extent underlying terraces in the Carolinas; swamps and ridges on terrace surface were originally barrier islands and back bays. Superimposed on these landforms are swarms of Carolina bays.

Alluvial Valley Swamp (Quaternary) at surface, covers 0.6 % of this area

Unconformable on all underlying units, fluvial sand and gravel at base, grading upwards into fine sands and silts, local peat. May be overrun with recent sediments from forest cutting and agriculture.