Catastrophic hurricane history revealed by organic geochemical proxies in coastal lake sediments: a case study of Lake Shelby, Alabama (USA)

Lambert, William J.; Aharon, Paul; Rodriguez, Antonio B.

doi:10.1007/s10933-007-9101-6

Cited by 65 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…These proxies can be categorized into two main types: isotope-based proxies that rely on the detection of tropical cyclone rainfall signatures preserved in corals (Cohen 2001, Hetzinger et al 2008, tree rings (Miller et al 2006), and speleothems (Frappier et al 2007, Nott et al 2007, and sediment-based proxies such as cyclone surge-constructed beach ridges Hayne 2001, Nott et al 2009) and overwash deposits preserved in back barrier lagoons (Donnelly 2005, Donnelly and Woodruff 2007, Woodruff et al 2008a, Woodruff et al 2008b, Wallace and Anderson 2010, coastal lakes (Liu and Fearn 1993, Liu and Fearn 2000, Liu and Fearn 2002, Lambert et al 2003, Lambert et al 2008, and marshes (Donnelly et al 2001a, Donnelly et al 2001b, Donnelly et al 2004, Scileppi and Donnelly 2007, Boldt et al 2010. Isotope-based proxies have in some cases provided exceptional, sub-annual resolution; however, such records often span only a relatively short interval of time.…”

Section: Review and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A decadally-resolved paleohurricane record archived in the late Holocene sediments of a Florida sinkhole

Lane¹,

Donnelly²,

Woodruff³

et al. 2011

Marine Geology

139

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A 4500-year record of hurricane-induced storm surges is developed from sediment cores collected from a coastal sinkhole near Apalachee Bay, Florida. Recent deposition of sand layers in the upper sediments of the pond was found to be contemporaneous with significant, historic storm surges at the site modeled using SLOSH and the Best Track, post-1851 A.D. dataset. Using the historic portion of the record for calibration, paleohurricane deposits were identified by sand content and dated using radiocarbon-based age models. Marine-indicative foraminifera, some originating at least 5 km offshore, were present in several modern and ancient storm deposits. The presence and long-term preservation of offshore foraminifera suggest that this site and others like it may yield promising microfossil-based paleohurricane reconstructions in the future. Due to the sub-decadal (~ 7 year) resolution of the record and the site's high susceptibility to hurricane-generated storm surges, the average, local frequency of recorded events, approximately 3.9 storms per century, is greater than that of previously published paleohurricane records from the region. The high incidence of recorded events permitted a time series of local hurricane frequency during the last five millennia to be constructed. Variability in the frequency of the largest storm layers was found to be greater than what would likely occur by chance alone, with intervals of both anomalously high and low storm frequency identified. However, the rate at which smaller layers were deposited was relatively constant over the last five millennia. This may suggest that significant variability in hurricane frequency has occurred only in the highest magnitude events. The frequency of high magnitude events peaked near 6 storms per century between 2800 and 2300 years ago. High magnitude events were relatively rare with about 0-3 storms per century occurring between 1900 to 1600 years ago and between 400 to 150 years ago. A marked decline in the number of large storm deposits, which began around 600 years ago, has persisted through present with below average frequency over the last 150 years when compared to the preceding five millennia.

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Section: Review and Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A decadally-resolved paleohurricane record archived in the late Holocene sediments of a Florida sinkhole

Lane¹,

Donnelly²,

Woodruff³

et al. 2011

Marine Geology

139

221

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Phytoliths, another proposed evidence for hurricanes (Lu and Liu, 2005;Liu et al, 2008), may have been eroded from dune soils by common surface processes as well. Conversely, absence of sand laminae from lake muds does not disprove major hurricane strikes (Lambert et al, 2003(Lambert et al, , 2008. 2.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Representing significant depositional regression in SE Alabama and NW Florida, an extensive late Holocene strandplain complex prograded over transgressive nearshore and estuarine deposits (Otvos, 1999(Otvos, , 2005. After separation of the developing Lake Shelby basin from the Gulf, a thin sapropel (gyttja) interval has been accumulating in its interior for the last 800 yr (Lambert et al, 2003(Lambert et al, , 2008). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Introducing major errors, the published raw dates of estuarine and lacustrine sand layers, supposed evidence for cyclicity, were uncorrected for sapropel TOC and marine and lacustrine shells. While a sand layer in Lake Shelby's sapropel unit dated AD 1250 (Liu and Fearn, 1993), subsequent reservoir correction conclusively linked it to the AD 1717 hurricane (Lambert et al, 2003(Lambert et al, , 2008. New raw dates 1250-920 14 C yr BP of sand layers from the sapropel of adjacent Little Lake (Liu et al, 2008) also fail to document cyclicity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Discussion of “A 1200-year proxy record of hurricanes and fires from the Gulf of Mexico coast…” (Liu et al., 2008)

Otvos¹

2009

Quat. res.

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“…We welcome the recent study by Lambert et al (2008) proposing the use of organic geochemical proxies as a new tool in paleotempestology. It should be noted, however, that different proxies detect different aspects of a hurricane's impacts and have different sensitivity thresholds to hurricane impact magnitudes.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Some fundamental misconceptions about paleotempestology

2009

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Catastrophic hurricane history revealed by organic geochemical proxies in coastal lake sediments: a case study of Lake Shelby, Alabama (USA)

Cited by 65 publications

References 30 publications

A decadally-resolved paleohurricane record archived in the late Holocene sediments of a Florida sinkhole

A decadally-resolved paleohurricane record archived in the late Holocene sediments of a Florida sinkhole

Discussion of “A 1200-year proxy record of hurricanes and fires from the Gulf of Mexico coast…” (Liu et al., 2008)

Some fundamental misconceptions about paleotempestology

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