700 yr sedimentary record of intense hurricane landfalls in southern new england five intense category 3 or greater hurricanes occurring in 1635 1638 1815 1869 and 1938 have made landfall on the new england coast since european settlement historical records indicate that four of these hurricanes 1635 1638 1815 and 1938 and hurricane carol a strong category 2 storm in 1954 produced significant storm surges 3 m in southern rhode island storm surges of this magnitude can overtop barrier islands removing sediments from the beach and nearshore environment and depositing overwash fans across back barrier marshes lakes and lagoons in a regime of rising sea level accumulation of marsh lake or lagoon sediments on top of overwash deposits will preserve a record of overwash deposition we examined the record of overwash deposition at succotash salt marsh in east matunuck rhode island and tested the correlation with historical records of intense storms aerial photographs taken after hurricanes in 1954 and 1938 show overwash fans deposited at the site analysis of 14 sediment cores from the back barrier marsh confirmed the presence of these fans and revealed that 4 additional large scale overwash fans were deposited within the marsh sediments the four overwash fans deposited since the early seventeenth century at succotash marsh matches the historical record of significant hurricane induced storm surge these fans were most likely deposited by hurricanes in 1954 1938 1815 and either 1638 or 1635 radiocarbon dating of two prehistoric overwash fans indicated that these were deposited between a d 1295 1407 and 1404 1446 and probably represent intense hurricane strikes in the past 700 yr at least 7 intense hurricanes struck the southern rhode island coast and produced a storm surge that overtopped the barrier at succotash marsh

a 1200 year proxy record of hurricanes and fires from the gulf of mexico coast testing the hypothesis of hurricane fire interactions abstract we present here the first high resolution pollen record of vegetation response to interactions of hurricane and fire disturbances over the past 1200 yr from a small lake in alabama on the gulf of mexico coast the paleotempestological record inferred from the overwash sand layers suggests that the alabama coast was directly struck by saffir simpson category 4 or 5 hurricanes twice during the last 1200 yr around 1170 and 860 cal yr bp suggesting an annual landfall probability of 0 17 for these intense hurricanes the charcoal data suggest that intense fires occurred after each of these hurricanes the pollen data suggest that populations of halophytic plants chenopodiaceae and heliophytic shrubs myrica expanded after the hurricane strikes probably due to saltwater intrusion into the marshes and soil salinization caused by overwash processes populations of pines pinus sp decreased significantly after each intense hurricane and the ensuing intense fire suggesting that repeated hurricane fire interactions resulted in high tree mortality and probably impeded recruitment and recovery our data support the hypothesis that the likelihood and intensity of fire increased significantly after a major hurricane producing responses by vegetation that are more complex and unpredictable than if the disturbance agents were acting singly and independently

lake sediment record of late holocene hurricane activities from coastal alabama coastal lake sediments contain a stratigraphically and chronologically distinct record of major hurricane strikes during late holocene time frederic a category 3 hurricane that struck the alabama coast on the gulf of mexico in 1979 left a distinct sand layer in the nearshore sediments of lake shelby as a result of storm tide overwash of beaches and dunes sediment cores taken from the center of lake shelby contain multiple sand layers suggesting that major hurricanes of category 4 or 5 intensity directly struck the alabama coast at ca 3 2 3 0 2 6 2 2 1 4 and 0 8 ka 14 c yr with an average recurrence interval of 600 yr the alabama coast is likely to be struck by a category 4 or 5 hurricane within the next century

basement hydrogeology and fortification of the channel islands legacies of british and german military engineering the islands of jersey guernsey alderney and sark lie close to the normandy coast of france they expose a largely precambrian crystalline basement of metamorphic and igneous rocks jersey and alderney also expose some early palaeozoic clastic sediments and all have a thin but widespread quaternary sedimentary cover the three largest islands were progressively fortified by the british between the early 13th and mid 19th centuries and by german forces during occupation in world war ii a legacy illustrated by the castles forts and numerous german coastal fortifications that still adorn them a german military geologist based on jersey from mid 1941 to mid 1944 and a military geological team on guernsey and alderney during 1942 generated hydrogeological maps and reports that were then in advance of understanding of crystalline basement aquifers elsewhere in the british isles all the major documents have now been found in germany the usa and uk although none survived on the islands themselves geological mapping and hydrogeological studies postwar under the auspices of the british geological survey were completed without access to german data however german and british data together now facilitate an appraisal of the heavily stressed aquifers on these small hard rock islands over an unusually long 65 year timespan

reconstructing relative flooding intensities responsible for hurricane induced deposits from laguna playa grande vieques puerto rico extreme coastal flooding primarily during hurricane strikes has deposited sand rich layers in laguna playa grande a back barrier lagoon located on the island of vieques puerto rico silici clastic grain size distributions within these overwash deposits fine landward away from the barrier and toward the mainland a simple advective settling model can explain this pattern of lateral sorting and is used to constrain the relative magnitude of past flooding events a deposit associated with the a d 1928 san felipe hurricane is used as a modern analogue to test the technique which produces reasonable estimates for wave heights that exceed the barrier during the event a 5000 yr reconstruction of local flooding intensity is developed that provides a measure of the competence for each overwash event to transport coarser grained sediment a fixed distance into the lagoon this reconstruction indicates that although the laguna playa grande record exhibits large scale changes in hurricane frequency on centennial to millennial time scales the magnitude of these events has stayed relatively constant over the last 5000 yr no evidence exists for an anomalously large hurricane or tsunami event with a competence for sediment transport greater than historical hurricane events

spatio lateral continuity of hurricane deposits in back barrier marshes sedimentological and micropaleontological analysis of fifteen 3 m gouge auger cores revealed a lack of spatio lateral continuity for paleohurricane deposits from the back barrier marshes of folly island south carolina the offshore indicative calcareous microfossil content of some storm deposits was taphonomically altered or destroyed and in many cases cores taken 10 m apart provided significantly different storm records in several low marsh cores where bioturbation is more intense storm deposits were completely unrecognizable using foraminifer or sedimentological analyses in nearly all cores the sedimentary record of storm deposits was more extensive than the record produced using foraminifers and as a result the sedimentary proxy produced shorter hurricane return periods while offshore indicative foraminifers in the salt marshes behind folly island are good indicators of their original source and mode of deposition storm current transport from the shelf by overwash storm inlet or via lighthouse inlet their susceptibility to destruction from bioturbation and dissolution suggests that they provide a less accurate or less complete record of storm frequency than previously thought

sedimentary evidence of intense hurricane strikes from new jersey nine vibracores from the backbarrier marsh at whale beach new jersey reveal three large scale overwash deposits associated with historic and prehistoric storms the uppermost and smallest overwash fan was deposited in the ash wednesday northeaster of march 5 8 1962 a second more substantial overwash fan between 100 and 35 cm depth dates to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century this fan was most likely deposited during the 1821 hurricane the only intense hurricane to make landfall in new jersey in the past 350 yr a third larger overwash fan between 200 and 300 cm depth was deposited between a d 1278 and 1438 and is likely the result of a prehistoric intense hurricane strike the combination of historical and stratigraphic evidence indicates that two intense hurricanes winds 50 ms 21 have likely made landfall on the southern new jersey coast in the past 700 yr resulting in an annual landfall probability of 0 3

quantitative considerations of dissolved barium as a tracer in the arctic ocean 1 dissolved barium ba was measured along transects across fram and denmark straits as part of the 1998 ark xiv 2 polarstern expedition results are combined with other available tracer observations to analyze water mass composition at fram strait a combination of pacific water and eurasian river runoff dominated 80 and 10 of the total mass respectively the upper east greenland current egc while the remainder of the section was dominated by north atlantic water a much smaller contribution of pacific water to the egc 50 at fram strait in 1987 suggests that this component can be quite variable in time north american river water was not detectable at fram strait in 1998 presumably the eurasian river water we observed at fram strait transited eastward along shelf within the arctic mixed with pacific water in the vicinity of the east siberian sea and was borne by the transpolar drift across the arctic ocean in the absence of significant net ice formation along the way such a pathway can be expected to produce more pronounced freshening of the egc than when eurasian river water mixes more directly off shelf into salty atlantic waters and pacific water is diverted largely through the canadian archipelago existing measurements at the main arctic gateways were used to construct a ba budget for the arctic ocean under conditions of simultaneous mass heat and salt conservation this preliminary budget is statistically consistent with the steady state hypothesis on the arctic basin scale ba appears to be conservative

a backbarrier overwash record of intense storms from brigantine new jersey abstract analysis of aerial photographs and historic charts indicates that the barrier beach at brigantine nj has migrated landward 300 to 400 m since 1869 primarily as a result of overwash during hurricanes and winter storms a series of vibracores from the backbarrier salt marsh reveals a millennial scale stratigraphic record of overwash deposition carbon 14 c 14 and cesium 137 cs 137 radioisotopic methods were used to date overwash deposits washovers the ages of recent washovers are consistent with deposition during intense storms in 1938 1944 1950 and 1962 an additional overwash deposit recovered in five of the sediment cores was likely deposited by an intense hurricane strike in 1821 or possibly in 1788 two prehistoric overwash fans were likely deposited by intense storms striking the new jersey coast in the 7th to 14th centuries and 6th to 7th centuries a d the landward barrier migration indicates that the older overwash sediments were likely transported a considerably greater distance than the more recent overwash fans the greater distance of transport may indicate that the prehistoric storms that deposited overwash fans across the study site were more intense than the most intense storm to strike this coast in the historic period the hurricane of 1821 the spatially variable occurrence of overwash deposition at this site points to a need for multisite stratigraphic surveys of extensive stretches of the coast in order to develop reliable records of past intense storm frequency from backbarrier environments

coarse clast ridge sequences as suitable archives for past storm events case study on the houtman abrolhos western australia prehistoric storm records are relatively scarce in most parts of the world this article presents storm records derived from coral rubble based geological archives of the houtman abrolhos archipelago located off the west coast of australia where the southernmost coral reefs of the indian ocean are found winter storm swell from the circum antarctic brave westerlies as well as tropical cyclone waves have left numerous ridge systems on dozens of islands of the archipelago all composed of coral rubble from adjacent reefs at three islands seven ridge systems were dated by three different methods u series 68 dates radiocarbon 64 dates electron spin resonance 7 dates 139 radiometric dates span the last 5500 years of the holocene in contrast to the geomorphological interpretation the age sequences show inversions hiatuses and different ages for the same ridge all pointing to complicated ridge formation processes time gaps some exceeding 1000 years are interpreted as phases of erosion and not as phases without storm activity

reconstruction of prehistoric landfall frequencies of catastrophic hurricanes in northwestern florida from lake sediment records abstract sediment cores from western lake provide a 7000 yr record of coastal environmental changes and catastrophic hurricane landfalls along the gulf coast of the florida panhandle using hurricane opal as a modern analog we infer that overwash sand layers occurring near the center of the lake were caused by catastrophic hurricanes of category 4 or 5 intensity few catastrophic hurricanes struck the western lake area during two quiescent periods 3400 5000 and 0 1000 14 c yr b p the landfall probabilities increased dramatically to ca 0 5 per yr during an hyperactive period from 1000 3400 14 c yr b p especially in the first millennium a d the millennial scale variability in catastrophic hurricane landfalls along the gulf coast is probably controlled by shifts in the position of the jet stream and the bermuda high

hurricane signatures and landforms toward improved interpretations and global storm climate chronology abstract the correct understanding of the geological and geomorphic evolution of paralic basins and coastal barriers is a prerequisite for establishing holocene hurricane archives worldwide detection and documentation of hurricane signatures in coastal deposits are becoming instrumental in attempts to reconstruct mid and late holocene storm climate history subsurface exploration and field studies on the ne gulf coast and data gleaned from the literature suggest the need for a complex approach that provides well documented details of coastal landscape evolution until recently prehistoric hurricanes and their intensity levels have been automatically interpreted from the frequency and thickness of sand layers in muddy paralic deposits however in addition to wind velocity several hydro aerodynamic and other factors a wide range of stratigraphic conditions topographic setting and sand sources also determine variations in the extent and intensity of storm flooding erosion transfer and deposition of sand layers in small paralic basins inherent limitations in these sedimentary records and their interpretation must be overcome in order to improve local hurricane chronologies and establish interregional correlations before sedimentary and chemical signatures are accepted as diagnostic indicators of overwash especially by catastrophic hurricanes alternative causes must also be considered a parallel scale of storm flood level stages should supplement the saffir simpson hurricane categories the relationship between storm intensities and flooding elevations is highly complex changes in sea level shore positions formation and extinction of preexisting incised valley networks the impact of transgression and regression processes on estuaries and their deposits play determining roles in setting the stage for overwash processes strandplain progradation followed by erosive shore retreat played a key role in framing certain paralic lakes without overwash sand layers and marine microfossils may be also emplaced by storm driven currents that enter unobstructed estuaries inlets and storm breaches bioturbation also distorts the storm record significant lateral variations in the number and thickness of intercalated sand layers at closely adjacent sites suggest the importance of local differences in sources transport and preservation processes in the dimensions relative positions and accessibility of sand resources inside and adjacent to coastal basins variations in the number thickness and ages of sand laminae may not be related to the number of storms and their intensities this may impair correlations between regionally interpreted calm and intensive phases in partial overlap with an assumed quiescent storm phase stable isotope ratios in lacustrine muds impacted by salt water influx reveal frequent hurricane activity during the last 1 5 ka as well by mimicking effects of reduced storminess the fewer and thinner sand laminae deposited between 7 0 and 3 4 ka b p may be attributed to greater distances of estuarine landward transport by storm tidal currents at times of lower sea levels

sedimentary evidence of hurricane strikes in western long island new york 1 evidence of historical landfalling hurricanes and prehistoric storms has been recovered from backbarrier environments in the new york city area overwash deposits correlate with landfalls of the most intense documented hurricanes in the area including the hurricanes of 1893 1821 1788 and 1693 a d there is little evidence of intense hurricane landfalls in the region for several hundred years prior to the late 17th century a d the apparent increase in intense hurricane landfalls around 300 years ago occurs during the latter half of the little ice age a time of lower tropical sea surface temperatures multiple washovers laid down between 2200 and 900 cal yr b p suggest an interval of frequent intense hurricane landfalls in the region our results provide preliminary evidence that fluctuations in intense hurricane landfall in the northeastern united states were roughly synchronous with hurricane landfall fluctuations observed for the caribbean and gulf coast suggesting north atlantic wide changes in hurricane activity

phytolith assemblages as indicators of coastal environmental changes and hurricane overwash deposition we demonstrate that phytolith assemblages are a useful proxy for reconstructing coastal environmental changes and for validating the overwash origin of sand layers in palaeotempestology studies phytolith analysis was conducted on 50 topsoil or surface sediment samples collected from a variety of coastal plant communities or depositional environments in the southeastern usa the data suggest that different coastal subenvironments can be distinguished by their modern phytolith assemblages for example coastal marsh samples contain a diverse phytolith assemblage dominated by smooth elongate and square morpho types and maritime forest samples are dominated by phytoliths from palms and broadleaf dicotyledonous plants remarkably the phytolith assemblages from sand dunes are characterized by high percentages of two horned tower flat tower spool horned tower and short saddle types phytolith analysis of three prehistoric sand layers in a sediment core from western lake northwestern florida shows that they contain a phytolith assemblage similar to those characteristic of sand dunes and interdune meadows these observations are confirmed by the results of principal components analysis and discriminant analysis on the modern and fossil phytolith data sets our study results support the interpretation that the sand layers in western lake were indeed formed by the erosion of sand dunes during overwash processes caused by landfalling catastrophic hurricanes