Winyah Bay is a coastal estuary that is the confluence of the Waccamaw River , the Pee Dee River , the Black River , and the Sampit River in Georgetown County , in eastern South Carolina . Its name comes from the Winyaw , who inhabited the region during the eighteenth century. The historic port city of Georgetown is located on the bay, and the bay generally serves as the terminating point for the Grand Strand .
15-411: The bay is evidence of a drowned coastline , created by a rise in sea level in recent geologic time. It was a prime site for fishing by generations of Native American cultures. This area was developed by English colonists as a seaport and center of rice culture and timbering . The entrance to the bay is flanked by North Island, South Island and Cat Island. Today, the first two islands and most of
30-434: A month Ayllón moved the colony to what is now Georgia, where it failed in a few months, the enslaved Africans may have escaped to live with the local Native Americans, and the 100 other survivors returned to Santo Domingo. 33°17′28″N 79°16′32″W / 33.2912°N 79.2756°W / 33.2912; -79.2756 Submergent coastline Submergent coastlines or drowned coastlines are stretches along
45-665: Is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley . It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Typically rias have a dendritic , treelike outline although they can be straight and without significant branches. This pattern is inherited from the dendritic drainage pattern of the flooded river valley. The drowning of river valleys along a stretch of coast and formation of rias results in an extremely irregular and indented coastline. Often, there are naturally occurring islands, which are summits of partly submerged, pre-existing hill peaks. (Islands may also be artificial, such as those constructed for
60-560: Is flooded by the sea when a fjord is formed. Dalmatian coasts composed of long narrow islands running parallel to the coastline and separated from the coast by narrow sea channels called sounds. Dalmatian coasts are named after the Dalmatia region of Croatia which displays the common features of a dalmatian coast. Notable and illustrative examples of submergent coastlines include: Ria A ria ( / ˈ r iː ə / ; Galician : ría , feminine noun derived from río , river)
75-436: Is thermal expansion. Thermal expansion occurs when water gets warmer and so the volume of water increases, this therefore causes global sea level rise forming submergent coastlines. Features of a submergent coastline include: Rias , a drowned river valley . They are a section of a river valley flooded by the sea, making them much wider than would be expected based on the river flowing into it. Many rias were formed by
90-540: The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel .) A ria coast is a coastline having several parallel rias separated by prominent ridges, extending a distance inland. The sea level change that caused the submergence of a river valley may be either eustatic (where global sea levels rise), or isostatic (where the local land sinks). The result is often a very large estuary at the mouth of a relatively insignificant river (or else sediments would quickly fill
105-470: The bay. They then enslaved 60 Native Americans and took them back to Santo Domingo . One of these, Francisco de Chicora , went to Spain and was interviewed at length by court historian Peter Martyr who published detailed reports. De Quejo returned to Winyah Bay in 1525 and explored from Amelia Island , Florida to Chesapeake Bay , Maryland. His findings and place names were published on a 1526 map by Juan Vespucci. The first African slaves in what would become
120-554: The coast that have been inundated by the sea by a relative rise in sea levels from either isostacy or eustacy . Submergent coastline are the opposite of emergent coastlines , which have experienced a relative fall in sea levels. Many submergent coastlines were formed by the end of the Last Glacial Period (LGP), when glacial retreat caused both global sea level rise and also localised changes to land height. Submergent coastlines form either when sea level rises or
135-521: The land level fall. This can be caused by isostatic or eustatic change. Both isostatic and eustatic change can be caused by a variety of reasons. Isostatic change could be due to post-glacial adjustment . Another common cause of isostatic change that can result in a submergent coastline is tectonic action. Events such as earthquakes or volcanic eruptions may cause land subsidence therefore causing isostatic sea level increases. Eustatic sea level rise can also be caused by many reasons. One common reason
150-545: The present day United States of America arrived August 9, 1526, in Winyah Bay, when Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón brought 600 colonists to start a colony. Records say the colonists included enslaved Africans, without saying how many. This arrival was almost 100 years before the first enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia in 1619. Francisco de Chicora returned as a translator with this group and escaped back to his family. After
165-609: The ria). The Kingsbridge Estuary in Devon , England, is an extreme example of a ria forming an estuary disproportionate to the size of its river; no significant river flows into it at all, only a number of small streams. The word ria comes from Galician ría which comes from río (river). Rias are present all along the Galician coast in Spain . As originally defined, the term was restricted to drowned river valleys cut parallel to
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#1732766183732180-421: The rise in sea level after the melting of vast continental glaciers. Rias commonly have a widening funnel shape and gradually increasing depth as they move towards the coast. The widening and deepening of the ria towards the sea usually causes an exaggerated tidal effect within the estuary . Fjords , which are drowned glaciated valleys ( Also known as U-shaped valleys) . A section of a glacially eroded valley
195-440: The structure of the country rock that was at right angles to the coastline. However the definition of ria was later expanded to other flooded river valleys regardless of the structure of the country rock. For a time European geomorphologists considered rias to include any broad estuarine river mouth, including fjords . These are long narrow inlets with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity . In
210-833: The third comprise the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center, as the islands were willed to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources by Tom Yawkey , former owner of the Boston Red Sox . Winyah Bay is the fourth-largest estuary on the US East Coast, when classified by discharge rate. It is home to many aquatic and terrestrial species, including sturgeon, sharks, dolphins, red drum, stingrays, star drum, white shrimp, blue crabs, pelicans, bald eagles, cormorants, and various species of seagulls. The first European contact with Winyah Bay
225-589: Was June 24, 1521, when two ships commanded by Pedro de Quexós and Francisco Gordillo arrived. The original name for Winyah Bay given by the Spaniards was San Juan Bautista , as they arrived on St. John the Baptist's Day . The local indigenous tribes called the area chicora or some close equivalent to this word. The Spaniards traded with the Native Americans for a month and explored north and south of
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