The South Carolina Geological Survey Surface Elevation Table (SET) Network: 1998-2022

Abstract

Since 1998, the South Carolina Geological Survey (SCGS) has installed, measured, maintained, and expanded a state-wide network of Surface Elevation Table (SET) and Rod-SET (RSET) stations in South Carolina’s intertidal salt marshes. The ongoing goals of the SCGS SET project are to: 1. Use SET and RSET methodology to measure and quantify surface elevation changes in salt marshes that represent a variety of geomorphic, ecological, and tidal settings throughout coastal South Carolina; 2. Collect geodetic elevation data to quantify long-term potential subsidence or uplift, and; 3. Provide a long-term dataset to assess whether South Carolina’s salt marshes are maintaining their vertical elevation with regards to relative sea-level rise (RSLR), which combines eustatic sea-level rise (SLR) and local vertical land motion (subsidence or uplift).