Paleohurricane Reconstruction on Sediment Core from Merritt's Harbour, Newfoundland
Abstract/Description/Artist Statement
Hurricanes can cause severe damage to infrastructure and even loss of human life, making it crucial to predict them accurately. Our current generation of climate models offer differing predictions of future hurricane frequency, even proposing opposing trends. This uncertainty is due in part to the lack of long-term historical hurricane data. The strong winds and waves generated by hurricanes transport sediment from beaches into back-barrier environments such as the study site, Merritt’s Harbour in Newfoundland, Canada. These transported sediments are coarser than the surrounding material and create distinct overwash layers in the sediment record, serving as evidence of past storm events and allowing us to extend the hurricane record. The objective of this research project was to analyze a 127 cm sediment core from Merritt's Harbour to identify coarse-grained layers associated with past storms and to compare this data with a longer core collected from the same location. I sampled the core at 1 cm intervals, and each sample was dried, burned to remove organic material, and sieved at 63 µm to determine the percentage of coarse sediment present. My results show 3 coarse-grained layers, with values ranging from 55 to 80%, that correspond to modern hurricanes known to have impacted the area. Overall, this study establishes a baseline record of sediment coarseness for Merritt's Harbour that can support the identification of past hurricanes and help refine long-term trend assessments.
Faculty Advisor/Mentor
Elizabeth Wallace
Faculty Advisor/Mentor Email
ejwallac@odu.edu
Faculty Advisor/Mentor Department
Ocean & Earth Sciences
College/School Affiliation
College of Sciences
Student Level Group
Undergraduate
Presentation Type
Poster
Paleohurricane Reconstruction on Sediment Core from Merritt's Harbour, Newfoundland
Hurricanes can cause severe damage to infrastructure and even loss of human life, making it crucial to predict them accurately. Our current generation of climate models offer differing predictions of future hurricane frequency, even proposing opposing trends. This uncertainty is due in part to the lack of long-term historical hurricane data. The strong winds and waves generated by hurricanes transport sediment from beaches into back-barrier environments such as the study site, Merritt’s Harbour in Newfoundland, Canada. These transported sediments are coarser than the surrounding material and create distinct overwash layers in the sediment record, serving as evidence of past storm events and allowing us to extend the hurricane record. The objective of this research project was to analyze a 127 cm sediment core from Merritt's Harbour to identify coarse-grained layers associated with past storms and to compare this data with a longer core collected from the same location. I sampled the core at 1 cm intervals, and each sample was dried, burned to remove organic material, and sieved at 63 µm to determine the percentage of coarse sediment present. My results show 3 coarse-grained layers, with values ranging from 55 to 80%, that correspond to modern hurricanes known to have impacted the area. Overall, this study establishes a baseline record of sediment coarseness for Merritt's Harbour that can support the identification of past hurricanes and help refine long-term trend assessments.