The North Carolina oceanfront beach system varies in sedimentary characteristics, with the beaches in one part of the state often looking distinctly different than other beaches in the state.  The characteristics of the beach sediments are an important engineering and ecological parameter for dredge and fill projects such as beach nourishment.  No systematic survey and analysis of  natural beach sediments has been performed to characterize the diversity of sediments of North Carolina beaches, requiring site-specific surveys and analyses for proposed dredge and fill projects.   The Raleigh ES Field Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife completed a geographic survey of the available data in July 2003.  The report and its database are provided below for download (please note that the database is a work in progress).

The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the availability of sedimentary data for North Carolina oceanfront beaches; (2) compile the available data in a uniform format and database; (3) determine the variability of sedimentary characteristics within North Carolina; and (4) identify any variability of sedimentary characteristics between different regions within the state.
 
Study Report (July 2003)

The database is available in Excel 97 or better format or QuattroPro 10 format.  Please note that some data have been omitted from the database pending publication by the individual contributors.

Note that Adobe Acrobate Reader software is required to read the report.