Charleston Harbor Research Articles

Reflection of Storm Surge and Tides in Convergent Estuaries With Dams, the Case of Charleston, USA

AbstractConvergent estuaries have been shortened by dam‐like structures worldwide. Here, we evaluate 31 long‐term water level stations and use a semi‐analytical tide model to investigate how landward‐funneling and a dam influence tidal and storm surge propagation in the greater Charleston Harbor region, South Carolina, where three rivers meet: the Ashley, Cooper, and Wando. Results show that the phase speed and amplification of the principal tidal harmonic (M2) is larger than other long waves such as storm surge (∼1–4 days) and setup‐setdown (∼4–10 days). Further landward, all waves attenuate, but, as they approach the dam on the Cooper River, a frequency dependent response in amplitude and phase progression occurs. A semi‐analytical tidal model shows that funneling and the presence of a dam amplify tidal waves through wave interference from partial and full reflection, respectively. The different phase progressions of the reflected waves interact with the incident wave to increase or decrease the summed overall wave amplitude. Using a friction‐convergence parameter space, we demonstrate that dominant tides in 23 estuaries and the tidal, storm surge, and setup‐setdown waves in the Cooper River can be delineated into three regimes that describe landward amplification or attenuation associated with funneling, a dam, or both. The regime of each tidal constituent is consistent but can change with the duration and height of each storm surge event; dam associated wave interference can attenuate long‐duration events, while the most intense events (short duration, high water) are amplified by dams more than funneling and greatly increase flood exposure.

Spatial and Temporal Variability in Water Quality and Phytoplankton Community Composition in Charleston Harbor

The Charleston Harbor estuary is a dynamic ecosystem draining three rivers that surround the rapidly urbanizing greater Charleston area. Projected climate change impacts include elevated sea surface temperature and local changes in water quality that will likely alter biogeochemical cycling as well as phytoplankton abundance and community composition. Partnering with the local non-profit organization Charleston Waterkeeper, surface water samples were collected from late April through October 2021 at 20 sites in the Charleston Harbor estuary system. Water quality parameters measured included sea surface temperature (SST), salinity, pH, dissolved inorganic carbon, chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), phytoplankton pigments and nitrate and phosphate concentrations. Relatively high (6—16 μM) nitrate values were observed throughout the year and the nitrate to phosphate (N:P) ratios were consistently elevated (50—200) relative to the Redfield ratio of 16. Analysis of variance indicated that the delivery of nitrate, phosphate, and CDOM into the estuary came from upriver of the Charleston Harbor. For instance, CDOM was significantly impacted by tidal stage (p < 0.05) and was negatively correlated with salinity at low salinity sites, but no correlation was observed at high salinity sites. Seasonal patterns in phytoplankton community abundance and composition were driven by changes in SST, as overall phytoplankton biomass increased with a community shift from diatoms during colder months to flagellated cells such as prasinophytes during the warmer summer months. Phytoplankton diversity was greatest during the early summer and lowest in October. This study provides a reference baseline for water quality parameters and phytoplankton community composition in an estuarine ecosystem that is changing rapidly due to dredging and climate change processes.

Hydrometeorological Trends in a Low-Gradient Forested Watershed on the Southeastern Atlantic Coastal Plain in the USA

Hydrology and meteorological data from relatively undisturbed watersheds aid in identifying effects on ecosystem services, tracking hydroclimatic trends, and reducing model uncertainties. Sustainable forest, water, and infrastructure management depends on assessing the impacts of extreme events and land use change on flooding, droughts, and biogeochemical processes. For example, global climate models predict more frequent high-intensity storms and longer dry periods for the southeastern USA. We summarized 17 years (2005–2021) of hydrometeorological data recorded in the 52 km2, third-order Turkey Creek watershed at the Santee Experimental Forest (SEF), Southeastern Coastal Plain, USA. This is a non-tidal headwater system of the Charleston Harbor estuary. The study period included a wide range of weather conditions; annual precipitation (P) and potential evapotranspiration (PET) ranged from 994 mm and 1212 mm in 2007 to 2243 mm and 1063 in 2015, respectively. The annual runoff coefficient (ROC) varied from 0.09 in 2007 (with water table (WT) as deep as 2.4 m below surface) to 0.52 in 2015 (with frequently ponded WT conditions), with an average of 0.22. Although the average P (1470 mm) was 11% higher than the historic 1964–1976 average (1320 mm), no significant (α= 0.05) trend was found in the annual P (p = 0.11), ROC (p = 0.17) or runoff (p = 0.27). Runoff occurred on 76.4% of all days in the study period, exceeding 20 mm/day for 1.25% of all days, mostly due to intense storms in the summer and lower ET demand in the winter. No-flow conditions were common during most of the summer growing season. WT recharge occurred during water-surplus conditions, and storm-event base flow contributed 23–47% of the total runoff as estimated using a hydrograph separation method. Storm-event peak discharge in the Turkey Creek was dominated by shallow subsurface runoff and was correlated with 48 h precipitation totals. Estimated precipitation intensity–duration–frequency and flood frequency relationships were found to be larger than those found by NOAA for the 1893–2002 period (for durations ≥ 3 h), and by USGS regional frequencies (for ≥10-year return intervals), respectively, for the same location. We recommend an integrated analysis of these data together with available water quality data to (1) assess the impacts of rising tides on the hydroperiod and biogeochemical processes in riparian forests of the estuary headwaters, (2) validate rainfall–runoff models including watershed scale models to assess land use and climate change on hydrology and water quality, and (3) inform watershed restoration goals, strategies, and infrastructure design in coastal watersheds.

Standardization of monitoring data reassesses spatial distribution of aquatic microplastics concentrations worldwide

Microplastics are found in continental and oceanic waters worldwide, but their spatial distribution shows an intricate pattern. Their driving factors remain difficult to identify and widely discussed due to insufficient and unstandardized monitoring data. Here, based on in situ experiments and hundreds of river samples from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, we formulate a model to standardize aquatic microplastic measurements. The model was applied to existing data on a global scale. These data are standardized to a 20 µm mesh size, resulting in a new spatial distribution of aquatic microplastic densities, with average concentrations of 554.93 ± 1352.42 items/m3 in Europe, 2558.90 ± 4799.62 in North America and 1741.94 ± 3225.09 in Asia. Excessive contaminations (microplastic concentration > 10⁴ items/m3) are in the Yangtze River, the Charleston Harbor Estuary, the Bodega Bay and the Winyah Bay. We show that, based on these standardized concentrations, new driving factors could be used to predict the global or regional microplastic distribution in continental waters, such as the Human Development Index with a correlation of 75.86% on a global scale, the nighttime lights with a correlation of 37.26 ± 0.30% in Europe and 39.02 ± 0.54% in Asia, and the Mismanagement Plastic Waste with a correlation of 61.21 ± 19.86% in North America. Mapping standardized concentrations of aquatic microplastics enables a better comparison of contamination levels between regions and reveals more accurate hotspots to better adapt remediation efforts and future plastic pollution scenarios.

A case study of epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) caused by Aphanomyces invadans in eastern mosquitofish (Gambusiaholbrooki) from the headwaters of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.

A case study of epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) caused by Aphanomyces invadans in eastern mosquitofish (Gambusiaholbrooki) from the headwaters of Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.

Using Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UASs) to Determine the Distribution Patterns of Tamanend’s Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops erebennus) across Varying Salinities in Charleston, South Carolina

The Charleston Estuarine System Stock (CESS) of Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops erebennus) exhibit long-term site fidelity to the Charleston Harbor, and the Ashley, Cooper, and Wando Rivers in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. In the Cooper River, dolphins have been irregularly sighted in upper regions where salinity levels are below what is considered preferred dolphin habitat. We conducted unoccupied aerial system (UAS) surveys in high-salinity (>15 parts per thousand) and low-salinity (<15 parts per thousand) regions (n = 8 sites) of the Cooper River and surrounding waters to assess dolphin distribution in terms presence/absence, detection rate, abundance, and density. We also assessed the influence of ecological factors (salinity, water temperature, season, and prey availability) on dolphin distribution. Dolphins were detected at five sites, with higher salinity and water temperature being significant predictors of presence and abundance. Dolphins were detected year-round across high-salinity sites, and were infrequently detected in low-salinity sites during months with warmer water temperatures. The results from this study contribute to the overall understanding of dolphin distribution across various habitats within the Charleston Estuary System and the potential drivers for their movement into low-salinity waters.

Enhancing Interpretation of Cetacean Acoustic Monitoring: Investigating Factors that Influence Vocalization Patterns of Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins in an Urbanized Estuary, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, USA

The Charleston Harbor in South Carolina (SC)is a major port that experiences high levels of vessel traffic. Historical analyses of coastal bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus, now Tursiops erebennus) sightings identified multiple core use areas in the harbor that overlap with these anthropogenic activities. Informed by these long-term spatial data, passive acoustic monitoring, visual surveys, and prey sampling were conducted from December 2017 to June 2019 to assess the relationships and multivariate interactions that may influence dolphin vocalization patterns. Vocalizations varied spatially and temporally, peaking in fall and winter months coinciding with decreases in water temperature and daylight hours, following patterns previously reported in other SC estuaries. Dolphin prey and total fish abundance decreased with water temperature, which may indicate that dolphins echolocate and whistle more frequently in the winter months when prey are scarce and sound-producing species are less soniferous. Dolphin sightings and vocalizations were highly correlated. Dolphin occurrence was highest in the areas surrounding the confluence of the Cooper and Wando Rivers, along the shipping channel, where vessel and sound-producing fish detections were greatest. When vessel noise occurred, dolphins increased their vocalizations, which suggests that this population may be modifying its acoustic repertoire in response to increased noise levels. Multivariate interactions indicate strong spatial and seasonal patterns in vocalization rates that may be associated with dolphin and prey abundance as well as noise-induced redundancy.

Prevalence and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) litter along the shoreline of Charleston Harbor estuary, South Carolina, USA

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced personal protective equipment (PPE) litter into the environment since early 2020. These items are often made of plastic polymers and can degrade over time. This study quantified PPE litter abundance around Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. Plastic and PPE litter were collected at ten sites in September 2021. Items were weighed and categorized by type and plastic polymer. A total of 286 items of PPE were found, comprising 2.9 % of all plastic litter. Gloves were the most abundant type of PPE (n = 142), and PPE was found at an average density of 0.03 items m−1 and 0.19 g m−1. Compared to other coastal surveys conducted during the pandemic, PPE litter was present at higher proportions in Charleston Harbor. These results establish baseline levels of pandemic-related PPE litter in Charleston Harbor, and future research is necessary to quantify the environmental risks associated with PPE litter exposure.

System Dynamics Modeling for Effective Strategies in Water Pollution Control: Insights and Applications

Water pollution is a significant environmental challenge with implications for both the natural world and human well-being. To better understand and manage the complex interactions within water pollution systems, such as waste dumping in the sea, system dynamics modeling has emerged as a valuable tool. This simulation-based approach employs feedback loops and cause-and-effect relationships to capture the dynamic behavior of such systems over time. By simulating various waste disposal scenarios and assessing their impacts on the environment and human health, system dynamics modeling aids policymakers and waste managers in devising effective strategies for the sustainable management of dumping sites into the sea. In this manuscript, we present a system dynamics approach to model water pollution control. Our study entails the development of a conceptual model that encompasses pollution sources, pollutant transport and fate, and their effects on water quality and human health. By calibrating and validating the model using data from a case study in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, United States, we ensure its accuracy and reliability. The results highlight the model’s versatility in simulating different pollution control scenarios, particularly those involving dredging discharge and powerhouse effluent. Through these simulations, we gain valuable insights into the potential impacts of various pollution control measures on water pollution dynamics. Our research underscores the significance of system dynamics modeling in comprehending intricate water pollution systems, including those associated with waste dumping in the sea. By identifying effective strategies for water pollution control, this approach offers invaluable support in safeguarding marine ecosystems and human communities. In conclusion, system dynamics modeling proves to be a powerful tool for sustainable water pollution management. This research demonstrates its utility in analyzing dumping sites in the sea and provides essential findings to inform effective pollution control strategies. Emphasizing the broader context of water pollution, this study contributes to advancing knowledge and fostering sustainable practices to protect our precious water resources.

Infection of Atlantic tripletail Lobotes surinamensis (Teleostei: Lobotidae) by brain metacercariae Cardiocephaloides medioconiger (Digenea: Strigeidae).

Three juvenile Atlantic tripletail Lobotes surinamensis caught opportunistically in Charleston Harbor (South Carolina, USA) and maintained in captivity for over three months displayed an altered swimming behavior. While no direct causation can be demonstrated herein, fish were infected in their brain by strigeid trematode larvae (metacercariae) of Cardiocephaloides medioconiger, which were identified via ITS2 and 28S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing. Histology showed nonencysted metacercariae within the brain ventricle between the optic tectum and tegmentum, causing distortion of tegmental parenchyma. Aggregates of mononuclear inflammatory cells were in the ventricle adjacent to metacercariae. Metacercarial infection by Cardiocephaloides medioconiger has been reported from the brain and eyes of only two other fish species from the northern US Atlantic coast: the grey mullet Mugil cephalus and silverside Menidia menidia, but this identification is problematic and needs molecular verification. Atlantic tripletail is a new report as a second intermediate host for C. medioconiger and South Carolina is a new locality. Cardiocephaloides species in general have a low host specificity and infection by C. medioconiger could propagate to other fishes and affect neighboring natural ecosystems.

The Biological and Anthropogenic Soundscape of an Urbanized Port - the Charleston Harbor Estuary, South Carolina, USA.

Soundscape ecology provides a long-term, noninvasive approach to track animal behavior, habitat quality, and community structure over temporal and spatial scales. Using soniferous species as an indicator, biological soundscapes provide information about species and ecosystem health as well as their response and resiliency to potential stressors such as noise pollution. Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, USA provides important estuarine habitat for an abundance of marine life and is one of the busiest and fastest growing container ports in the southeast USA. Six passive acoustic recorders were deployed in the Charleston Harbor from December 2017 to June 2019 to determine biological patterns and human-associated influences on the soundscape. Anthropogenic noise was detected frequently across the estuary, especially along the shipping channel. Despite this anthropogenic noise, biological sound patterns were identified including snapping shrimp snaps (Alpheus spp. and Synalpheus spp.), fish calling and chorusing (Sciaenidae and Batrachoididae families), and bottlenose dolphin vocalizations. Biological response to anthropogenic activity varied among trophic levels, with decreased detection of fish calling when anthropogenic noise occurred and increased dolphin vocalizations in the presence of anthropogenic noise. Statistically, fine-scale, temporal patterns in biological sound were not clearly identified by sound pressure levels (SPLs), until files with anthropogenic noise presence were removed. These findings indicate that SPL patterns may be limited in their interpretation of biological activity for noisy regions and that the overall acoustic signature that we find in more pristine estuaries is lost in Charleston Harbor.

Life History Patterns of the Atlantic Brief Squid, Lolliguncula brevis (Blainville, 1823), in the Charleston Harbor Estuary, South Carolina, USA

The Atlantic brief squid, Lolliguncula brevis, is a euryhaline cephalopod that inhabits shallow, continental shelf habitats from Argentina to the Bay of Fundy. In the southeastern United States, brief squid can account for a considerable portion of the estuarine animal biomass and are an important component of the diets of species with high priority for management and conservation. Historical data from South Carolina Department of Natural Resources suggest that brief squid exhibit spatially and temporally variable size-frequency distributions within the Charleston Harbor estuary. Prior to this study, however, detailed life history information for this species was lacking in the region. Samples of brief squid were collected monthly at four stations along a salinity gradient within the Charleston Harbor estuary in 2019 to investigate temporal and spatial patterns of abundance, sex, size, and maturity. Season and station were significantly related to brief squid abundance, which was greater for all sexes in spring, summer, and fall than in winter. Catches of brief squid were dominated by immature squid compared with mature squid. Excluding sexually indistinct squid, and across all seasons, significantly more males were collected than females. Mean brief squid size tended to be larger in May than in several other months of the year, largely due to the lower abundance of small squid in that month. Logistic regression analyses indicated that brief squid size-at-maturity occurred at 50.2 mm for males and 59.2 mm for females. The presence of both small and large brief squid throughout the year at all stations supports a pattern of overlapping cohorts, whereas the continual presence of immature brief squid at all stations suggests asynchronous recruitment. This study provides valuable life history information that can be used to support the conservation and management of organisms that are either prey or predators of brief squid within the Charleston Harbor estuary. Further research over multiple years and within other estuaries in the Georgia Bight is needed, however, to determine how the life history patterns observed in this study apply more broadly across the region.

Microplastics: Global occurrence, impact, characteristics and sorting

Stressors like microplastics (MPs) cause proliferating environmental pollution globally. Since plastics are continuously introduced into water bodies through numerous paths, novel solutions are required to segregate as well as decline their quantity in various environmental sectors. Numerous techniques have been used and proposed in the last 10 years to screen and enumerate MPs, define the particle’s properties, for instance form, color, or size, and recognize the polymer material. This critical review aims to provide an overview of advanced procedures in MP investigation, provides illustrations of probable routes forward and lingering challenges, and categorizes present approaches as per their underlying research question. Methods presently employed for MP sampling, extraction, identification, characterization, and quantification were evaluated. Studies proposing use of precursors for removal of MPs from water via the sol–gel process were reviewed. Research on microfluidics systems finds application in environmental and industrial fields and has gained momentum in concentrating, sorting, classifying, focusing, and desegregating MPs. This review briefly discusses active and passive label-free microfluidic methods that are efficient in executing the desired particle separation and are gaining momentum in the ecological analysis of MPs. Although some sets of preliminary data of MPs at selected regions across the globe have been studied and obtained, the degree of MP contamination in most important rivers, nearshore inland areas, and air is yet to be understood completely. Along the Charleston Harbor Estuary, the MP concentration in intertidal sediment was found to be 0 to 652 MPs/m2. In Asia, at the South Korean region, western Pacific Ocean, a high plastic concentration of 15–9,400 particles/m3 was reported. In India, the MP concentration was identified as 288 pieces/m3 in the Netravati River. In Turkey, ingestion of MPs was reported to be found in 458 out of 1,337 fish samples, indicating the polluted situation of the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the rapid development in MP analysis, no standardized technique for sampling along with separation has been approved. Therefore, for attaining a more inclusive picture of MPs’ fate and abundance, this study highlights the importance of a standardized procedure for MP research that can be used globally and adequately enables comparisons around the world.

Long‐term hydro‐meteorology and water quality data from low‐gradient catchments of varying scales on the Santee experimental Forest, South Carolina

AbstractThe forest landscape of the Southeastern Atlantic coastal plain of the United States is experiencing increased threats from extreme precipitation events, tropical storms, flooding, droughts, and growing urbanization impacting on vegetation, road infrastructure, water extraction and other related ecosystem processes (e.g., storm runoff, nutrient and carbon cycling) and functions (e.g., flood protection, aquatic habitat). We describe ongoing hydro‐meteorologic monitoring on two first—(1.6 km2 each), the second—(5 km2), and the third—(52.5 km2) order catchments. The catchments are located on the Santee Experimental Forest at the headwaters of the Cooper River that drains into Charleston Harbour, South Carolina. Monitoring started in 1946, with a gap between 1982 and 1989, includes precipitation, weather, streamflow, water table, and water quality (anions, cations, and physical parameters) at varying temporal scales. The catchments are forest ecosystems dominated by loblolly (Pinus taeda) and longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) (LLP) mixed hardwood stands on the uplands and bottomland hardwoods on well‐drained to poorly‐drained soils characteristic of the low‐gradient Atlantic Coastal Plain. These data support multiple field and modelling studies, ranging from water and carbon budgets to hydrologic and biogeochemical processes to effects of microtopography and extreme climate on hydrology and water quality of these coastal catchments withstands regenerated since Hurricane Hugo (1989). One significant finding from the long‐term data was a reversal of the pre‐Hugo flow pattern between the paired watersheds 3 years after Hugo. This reversal persisted for 10 years and was attributed to change in forest vegetation due to hurricane damage to older pine and larger hardwood stands followed by delayed regeneration before full forest recovery. These publicly available data serve as a reference within a rapidly developing landscape and also for addressing potential impacts of extreme climate and forest disturbance on ecohydrology, biogeochemistry, habitat, water supply and infrastructure using validated models and tools.

A Coastal Flood Event Database for the Southeastern Georgia and Southeastern South Carolina Coast and the Operational Implementation of a Tide Forecast Tool

Coastal flooding occurs when saltwater inundates normally dry land and the resulting impacts can range from minor flooding of low-lying areas along the coast, to significant damage to property and structures. Previous research consistently suggests that if sea-level rise continues to increase along the East Coast of the United States, coastal flooding will occur more frequently. In order to document the history of coastal flooding along the southeastern Georgia and southeastern South Carolina coast, a coastal flood event database was created for National Ocean Service tide gauges located in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina and Fort Pulaski, Georgia. Trends from the data show that coastal flooding is occurring more frequently with time at both tide gauges, particularly over the last five to ten years. Because of the increased frequency and worsening impacts of tidal flooding, a tide forecast tool is implemented operationally in an effort to improve deterministic tide forecasts. This study extends the dataset used in the Charleston Harbor forecast tool, expands the tool to Fort Pulaski, and compares the synoptic category forecast equations to an all-inclusive equation that does not differentiate by synoptic category. Results show that there is virtually no difference in the forecast accuracy between the all-inclusive forecast equation and the specific forecast equations based on synoptic category. Furthermore, the all-inclusive forecast equation can be implemented operationally, will help improve deterministic tide forecasts, and will likely aid in the decision-making process for Coastal Flood Watches, Warnings, and Advisories issued by the National Weather Service office in Charleston, South Carolina.

Charleston, City of Mourners: Anticipations of Civil War in the Cradle of Secession

Charleston, City of MournersAnticipations of Civil War in the Cradle of Secession Michael E. Woods (bio) On Saturday morning, January 19, 1861, a Northern journalist steamed into Charleston Harbor aboard the Columbia. Skirting the “massive, commanding, and formidable” hulk of Fort Sumter, the ship docked at the nascent republic of South Carolina. The unnamed correspondent stayed ten days, taking the pulse of a citizenry energized, and yet divided, by the prospect of war. Everywhere, Charlestonians discussed “those two eternal subjects, Secession and Fort Sumter.” Secession was electrifying; Sumter was vexing. Perched on an island three miles from downtown, the fortress defied armchair strategists, whose schemes for seizing it ranged from frontal attacks to stink bombs that would drive the garrison back to Yankeedom. “Young and thoughtless” hotspurs craved war, but many of their elders gagged at the idea of risking their genteel lives against the “gang of Irishmen, Germans, British deserters, and New York roughs” manning the fort. Excruciating anxiety united white Charlestonians: how long would they teeter on the verge of combat? Locals postponed clothing purchases, lest Sumter’s guns rake the city and compel them to wear mourning black. They flinched when doors slammed and quivered when cannons fired, even to celebrate Louisiana’s secession on the twenty-sixth. And always, their conversations circled back to the awaited assault. One impatient soldier loudly berated a civilian friend: “‘Why, good Heaven, Jim! do you want that place to go peaceably into the hands of Lincoln?’” Jim emphatically denied the charge, but added a warning. “‘I tell you, Fred, when the fort is attacked, it will be the bloodiest day,—the bloodiest day!—the bloodiest—!!’” Suddenly speechless, [End Page 7] Jim “flung his arms wildly about, ground his tobacco with excitement, spit on all sides, and walked away, shaking his head . . . in real grief of spirit.”1 Three themes pervade the journalist’s account: Fort Sumter’s strength, dread of a costly assault, and anticipations of an even bloodier civil war. Since late December 1860, secessionists had coveted the fort, the last Federal stronghold in the Palmetto State. But white Charlestonians differed over the expediency of an assault. Many envisioned appalling short- and long-term consequences. Would Charleston Harbor run red with the blood of Carolina’s finest? Would the resulting war claim even more lives? Despite Charleston’s reputation for fire-eating politics and military ardor, these questions plagued the city’s diverse white population during the secession winter of 1860–61. Charlestonians did not rush blindly into a catastrophe, in part because Fort Sumter constantly reminded them of war’s grim costs. Yet, their candid forecasts of a bloody and protracted conflict did not foster an organized peace movement, largely because the meanings of “bloody war” talk varied widely. As Elizabeth R. Varon has shown, antebellum Americans used “disunion” discourse to predict the future, threaten rivals, and tar opponents as traitors.2 After South Carolina seceded, anticipations of war played similarly diverse roles in Charlestonians’ public and private discussions of the future. Ardent secessionists, reluctant disunionists, and unionists appealed to the prospect of bloodshed for their own purposes. Forebodings of violence at Fort Sumter and beyond did not uniformly point toward moderation or compromise. This emphasis on powerful but diverse anticipations of bloodshed cuts against the grain of Civil War historiography. Often, the bombardment of Fort Sumter serves as an ironic interlude between secessionist vitriol and Civil War carnage or as a milestone on Americans’ impulsive rush to war. That Sumter’s defenders capitulated after an artillery duel that killed no one is, in retrospect, ironic, given the slaughter soon to come. According to one oft-repeated phrase, the bombardment was “a bloodless opening to the bloodiest war in American history.”3 That Sumter was undermanned and unfinished after three decades of [End Page 8] fitful construction enhances its symbolic significance. Like the incomplete US Capitol dome or the half-built Washington Monument, Sumter’s unmounted guns and empty embrasures readily represent the nation’s political and military immaturity. Dismissed by one historian as “unfit for service,” Fort Sumter provides an ideal setting for tales of naïfs plunging into the abyss.4 Embedded in these narratives...

Moral Contagion: Black Atlantic Sailors, Citizenship, and Diplomacy in Antebellum America by Michael A. Schoeppner

Reviewed by: Moral Contagion: Black Atlantic Sailors, Citizenship, and Diplomacy in Antebellum America by Michael A. Schoeppner Christopher James Bonner (bio) Negro Seamen Acts, Black mobility, Black sailors, Quarantine laws, Citizenship Moral Contagion: Black Atlantic Sailors, Citizenship, and Diplomacy in Antebellum America. By Michael A. Schoeppner. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2019. Pp. 252. Cloth, $59.99; paper, $32.99.) Early in the 1820s, reports placed Denmark Vesey at the head of a conspiracy to dismantle South Carolina's racial power structure. Michael Schoeppner notes a revealing thread in these narratives: the idea that Vesey came to Charleston after having inhabited the fluid society of the Atlantic world. In response, Charleston authorities tried to prevent other black people deemed foreign and dangerous from entering through the city's ports. Schoeppner explores the Negro Seamen Acts enacted across the South in the early republic, laws intended to suppress the spread of revolutionary ideas and to curtail the black mobility that threatened southern racial hierarchy. Moral Contagion examines critical questions these laws raised about federalism and citizenship, and the negotiation over these concepts in state, national, and international politics. A vigilante group known as the South Carolina Association played a key role in the early implementation of the state's Negro Seamen Act. First enacted in 1822, the measure required black soldiers on ships that entered Charleston Harbor to be jailed, or quarantined, until their ships departed. Members of the Association, including some prominent and [End Page 313] powerful white Charlestonians, petitioned for strict enforcement of the law, helped craft more stringent arrest policies, and policed the docks themselves. By the late 1820s, the Association became "a publicly recognized, private policing agency" (60), endorsed by the state government to arrest black sailors. The group's actions offer a compelling story about people engaging with the flexible legal order in the early republic, a point Schoeppner makes by building on work such as Laura Edwards's The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-revolutionary South (Chapel Hill, NC, 2009). The South Carolina Association worked to make the legal order more rigid, not only by arresting hundreds of black sailors in the 1820s but also by securing a state law that levied a hefty fine on any sheriff who failed to enforce the Seaman Acts. A combination of legal and extralegal activity ensured that state government operated to uphold racial order. Schoeppner also looks outward from South Carolina. In the 1830s, lawmakers across the coastal South enacted similar quarantine laws. These laws responded in part to anxieties over British abolition in the West Indies. And the laws produced tensions with authorities in both the northern United States and in Britain who sought to protect black sailors from the indignity and brutality of southern imprisonment. Quarantine laws intersected often with early U.S. diplomacy. When British authorities insisted on free mobility for black British subjects, they challenged the Seamen Acts and questioned the entire legal system that marginalized black Americans. In response, state legislators, attorneys general, and U.S. Supreme Court justices solidified their commitment to securing slavery and insisted on a constitutional right to restrict people from bringing "moral pestilence" (106) into American communities. In 1837 Spain enacted its own law restricting black sailors from colonial ports like Havana. Initially, U.S. Consul Nicholas Trist contested the policy, claiming it restricted commerce, but ultimately he acquiesced. Schoeppner suggests Spanish authorities swayed Trist by telling him a black British sailor had been arrested in Cuba carrying antislavery literature. Even as it troubled Anglo–American diplomacy, the threat of moral contagion felt real enough to unite some Atlantic empires. Given this, it is surprising when Schoeppner aligns Trist with the opponents of quarantine laws, such as black newspaper editors who argued black sailors were citizens entitled to free movement. Schoeppner suggests both parties envisioned citizenship as a status that might obligate a government to protect individuals, but it's important that Trist considered [End Page 314] yet declined to make public an argument that black men were citizens. Most American authorities would have found it unacceptable for a U.S. diplomat to claim that black men were entitled...

Parameterization Framework and Quantification Approach for Integrated Risk and Resilience Assessments.

ABSTRACTA growing challenge for risk, vulnerability, and resilience assessment is the ability to understand, characterize, and model the complexities of our joint socioecological systems, often delineated with differing natural (e.g., watershed) and imposed (e.g., political) boundaries at the landscape scale. To effectively manage such systems in the increasingly dynamic, adaptive context of environmental change, we need to understand not just food web interactions of contaminants or the flooding impacts of sea level rise and storm surges, but rather the interplay between social and ecological components within the inherent and induced feedforward and feedback system mechanisms. Risk assessment, in its traditional implementation, is a simplification of a complex problem to understand the basic cause‐and‐effect relationships within a system. This approach allows risk assessors to distill a complex issue into a manageable model that quantifies, or semiquantifies, the effects of an adverse stressor. Alternatively, an integrated risk and resilience assessment moves toward a solution‐based assessment with the incorporation of adaptive management practices as 1 of 4 parts of system resilience (i.e., prepare, absorb, recover, and adapt), and directly considers the complexities of the systems being modeled. We present the Multilevel Risk and Resilience Assessment Parameterization framework for the systematic parameterization and deconstruction of management objectives and goals into assessment metrics and quantifiable risk measurement metrics and complementary resilience measurement metrics. As a proof‐of‐concept, the presented framework is paired with the Bayesian Network–Relative Risk Model for a human‐focused subset of a larger risk and resilience assessment of climate change impacts within the Charleston Harbor Watershed of South Carolina. This new parameterization framework goes beyond traditional simplification and embraces the complexity of the system as a whole, which is necessary for a more representative analysis of an open, dynamic complex system. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:131–146. © 2020 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC)

Past, present, and future nuisance flooding on the Charleston peninsula.

A forecast of nuisance flooding of Charleston peninsula is presented, based on an analysis of tide records from Charleston Harbor, SC. The forecast was based on past trends in local sea level and tidal harmonics, including the 18.6-yr lunar nodal and annual cycles. The data document an exponential rise in mean sea level. Extrapolating to year 2060 shows that the sea-level trend already is equivalent to the RCP4.5 scenario and on track to exceed NOAA’s intermediate low sea-level rise scenario of 0.5 m this century. If the trend continues, MSL will have risen by 0.22 m in 50 yr at an annual rate of 0.5 cm/yr in 2069. Simulations to 2064–2068, based on an empirical relationship between the annual number of flood events, defined as a water level exceeding 1.17 m NAVD (North American Vertical Datum of 1988), and the annual sum of monthly mean high water (r2 = 0.84), predict annual flood events will rise to the 60 to 75 range. Application of the hourly tidal harmonics to the long-term sea-level trend provided estimates of total land area flooded and duration of flooding. Flood duration is expected to rise to 6.5% by 2046–2050 and 8.2% of time by 2064–2068. The area exposed to flooding will be 4.23 km2 in 2046–2050 and 4.46 km2 in 2064–2068, corresponding to about 20–21% of peninsular area on what was formerly marshland and creeks, filled in earlier centuries. Finally, the estimated cost of defending the city and a proposal for a climate tax are discussed.

Toxicological effects of micronized tire crumb rubber on mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas)

Recent studies on the distribution of microplastics in the Charleston Harbor, SC, USA revealed that a large part of the microplastic particles that are found in the intertidal sediments are tire wear particles. These particles originate from the wear of tire treads on roadways, and wash into the estuary during rain events. The abundance of these particles has raised questions about potential toxicity to aquatic organisms that ingest these particles. The synthetic rubber in car tires consists of a large variety of chemicals, which can vary between manufacturers, but usually contains styrene-butadiene rubber, carbon black and zinc. To investigate the potential toxicity of tire wear particles, both mummichogs (Fundulus heteroclitus) and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) were exposed to different concentrations of crumb rubber particles (38-355 µm) in a 7-day static renewal exposure. Dissection of the fish revealed that crumb rubber was ingested and accumulated in the intestinal tract. At the highest concentration tested (6 g/L) partial mortality was observed in the fathead minnow, which came close to the assumed LC50. To investigate if polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were leaching from the particles, bile fluorescence was measured, together with potential induction of cytochrome P450-1A through the ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) assay. Elevated levels of 2-, 4-, and 5-, ring structures representative of PAHs were detected in the bile of exposed animals. Bile fluorescence indicated that 4-ring PAH compounds were the most bioavailable from the crumb rubber particles. Induction of EROD activity was observed in exposed animals at environmentally relevant concentrations of the crumb rubber particles (<1-2 g/L), and this elevated EROD activity indicated that PAH compounds from the crumb rubber particles were being metabolized in both mummichogs and fathead minnow.