DOI: 10.5061/dryad.c2fqz61hw
title: 2021 NSF Research Master File

description: Our primary objective is to demonstrate a method that uses marine
 processes, principally seafloor scour, to broadly expose prehistoric
 landforms and associated localities. Too often, the loss of prehistoric
 strata to scour processes such as ravinement during broad-scale,
 continental shelf transgressions, are decried without the recognition of
 the potential for erosion at the local scale and can expose those same
 strata for systematic study. The analysis of seafloor erosional features
 formed around artificial reefs by turbulent flows in the Georgia Bight
 have used interferometric side-scan sonar (SSS), Remotely Operated
 Vehicles (ROVs), ultra-high-definition videography (UHD), and
 sedimentological, palynological, paleontological, archaeological
 analytical techniques. These techniques were integrated within a
 geoarchaeological methodology focused on exploring the Continental Shelf
 for preserved evidence of prehistoric landforms, flora, and fauna once
 thereon. A stepwise protocol was developed to first gather interferometric
 side-scan sonar data to be then processed by commercial software packages
 such as HYPACK Hydrographic and HYSWEEP together with HYSCAN and SONAR Wiz
 software. The sonar mosaics were imported to ArcGIS/QGIS software to
 characterize scour features/targets around artificial reefs that had
 exposed paleo-land surfaces previously obscured by the modern palimpsest
 sand sheet. Analysis of scours and depressions - “moats and comets” -
 adjacent to reef structures were evaluated using the profile tool within
 the HYPACK-HYSWEEP editor package. Symbology for the bathymetric raster
 layers was edited to provide a clear contrast and measurement at scour
 features. Measured GIS images were then classified as to scour extent and
 depth with respect to prevailing current directions responsible for
 producing turbulence. A ranking of the artificial reefs by factors such as
 scour depth and extent was used to guide subsequent investigation by ROVs.
 Sediment cores and grab samples were collected, and those samples
 underwent particle size analysis (PSA), macro-and micro-botanical
 analyses. All data – geophysical, GIS, video and geological – were
 collated and synthesized to produce an assessment of the potential of sea
 floor scour features to expose previously buried
 geomorphological/geological, paleontological and/or archaeological
 features of interest.
description: Methods involved: Geophysics, GIS, ROV, sediment grabs and cores,
 diving PSA, pollen analysis, DNA, UV/blue light, loss
 on ignition, XRD, SEM-EDS, photogrammetry
description: # 2021 NSF Research Master File HP Ping Viewer, Lab videos, Reef KC-B
 videos, Reef KC-Motherlode videos, Reef L videos, and Wilmington River
 videos ## Description of the data and file structure SP MS70 drive -
 Master file of all years 2021-2024 activities linked to publication,
 "Scouring for Prehistory" - An Opportunistic Methodology for Sea
 Floor Archaeology, Atlantic continental shelf, Georgia USA.
 [https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7070161](https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7070161) All datasets related to this research, split by year: 2021: [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c2fqz61hw](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.c2fqz61hw) 2022: [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j6q573np8](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.j6q573np8) 2023: [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zkh1893jk](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.zkh1893jk) 2024: [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kkwh70sd4](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.kkwh70sd4) Linked to Articles: [https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7070161](https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7070161) (opens in new window) - "Scouring for Prehistory" & [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108725](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108725) (opens in new window) - "Moats & Comets" HP Ping Viewer has .txt and .bin file formats and uses PING Viewer software. The number sequences in the titles of these files indicate date-time. Lab videos has .mkv file format. Reef KC-B has .mp4 file format. Reef KC-Motherlode has .mp4 file format. Reef L has .mp4 file format. Wilmington River has .mp4 file format.