scholarly journals Severe Cyclones May Have Played a Role in the Maya Collapse

Eos ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lakshmi Supriya
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Blue Hole ◽  
Maya Collapse

Sediment cores from the Great Blue Hole reveal that a series of extreme storms hit the region after 900. The storms may have irreparably damaged an already stressed Maya population.

scholarly journals Revising evidence of hurricane strikes on Abaco Island (The Bahamas) over the last 700 years

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler S. Winkler ◽  
Peter J. van Hengstum ◽  
Jeffrey P. Donnelly ◽  
Elizabeth J. Wallace ◽  
Richard M. Sullivan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Activity Levels ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
Stochastic Forcing ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Blue Hole ◽  
Stratigraphic Record ◽  
Hurricane Activity ◽  
Observational Record

Abstract The northern Bahamas have experienced more frequent intense-hurricane impacts than almost anywhere else in the Atlantic since 1850 CE. In 2019, category 5 (Saffir-Simpson scale) Hurricane Dorian demonstrated the destructive potential of these natural hazards. Problematically, determining whether high hurricane activity levels remained constant through time is difficult given the short observational record (< 170 years). We present a 700-year long, near-annually resolved stratigraphic record of hurricane passage near Thatchpoint Blue Hole (TPBH) on Abaco Island, The Bahamas. Using longer sediment cores (888 cm) and more reliable age-control, this study revises and temporally expands a previous study from TPBH that underestimated the sedimentation rate. TPBH records at least 13 ≥ category 2 hurricanes per century between 1500 to 1670 CE, which exceeds the 9 ≥ category 2 hurricanes per century within 50 km of TPBH since 1850 CE. The eastern United States also experienced frequent hurricanes from 1500 to 1670 CE, but frequency was depressed elsewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. This suggests that spatial heterogeneity in Atlantic hurricane activity since 1850 CE could have persisted throughout the last millennium. This heterogeneity is impacted by climatic and stochastic forcing, but additional high-resolution paleo-hurricane reconstructions are required to assess the mechanisms that impact regional variability.

Water-quality trends using sediment cores from White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas

Fact Sheet ◽  
1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter C. Van Metre ◽  
Larry F. Land ◽  
C.L. Braun
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Water Quality Trends ◽  
Rock Lake

Spectrophotometry Measurement of Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Hamilton Harbour Sediments

1991 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.P. Murphy ◽  
H. Brouwer ◽  
M.E. Fox ◽  
E. Nagy
Keyword(s):  
Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Total Concentration ◽  
Coal Tar ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽  
Mass Spectrometry Analysis ◽  
Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Spectrometry Analysis ◽  
Hamilton Harbour

Abstract Eighty-one sediment cores were collected to determine the extent of coal tar contamination in a toxic area of Hamilton Harbour. Over 800 samples were analyzed by a UV spectrophotometric technique that was standardized with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. The coal tar distribution was variable. The highest concentrations were near the Stelco outfalls and the Hamilton-Wentworth combined sewer outfalls. The total concentration of the 16 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 48,300 m3 of near-surface sediments exceeded 200 µg/g.

An Assessment of Environmental Changes in Three Lakes from King's County (Nova Scotia, Canada) Using Diatom-Based Paleolimnological Techniques

2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 85-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua R. Thienpont ◽  
Brian K. Ginn ◽  
Brian F. Cumming ◽  
John P. Smol
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Lake Management ◽  
River System ◽  
210Pb Dating ◽  
Hydroelectric Power ◽  
Diatom Assemblages ◽  
Shoreline Development ◽  
Before And After

Abstract Paleolimnological approaches using sedimentary diatom assemblages were used to assess water quality changes over the last approximately 200 years in three lakes from King's County, Nova Scotia. In particular, the role of recent shoreline development in accelerating eutrophication in these systems was assessed. Sediment cores collected from each lake were analyzed for their diatom assemblages at approximately 5-year intervals, as determined by 210Pb dating. Analyses showed that each system has changed, but tracked different ecosystem changes. Tupper and George lakes recorded shifts, which are likely primarily related to climatic warming, with diatom assemblages changing from a preindustrial dominance by Aulacoseira spp. to present-day dominance by Cyclotella stelligera. In addition to the recent climatic-related changes, further diatom changes in the Tupper Lake core between approximately 1820 and 1970 were coincident with watershed disturbances (farming, forestry, and construction of hydroelectric power infrastructure). Black River Lake has recorded an increase in diatom-inferred total phosphorus since about 1950, likely due to impoundment of the Black River system for hydroelectric generation and subsequent changes in land runoff. Before-and-after (i.e., top-bottom) sediment analyses of six other lakes from King's County provided further evidence that the region is being influenced by climatic change (decreases in Aulacoseira spp., increases in planktonic diatom taxa), as well as showing other environmental stressors (e.g., acidification). However, we recorded no marked increase in diatom-inferred nutrient levels coincident with shoreline cottage development in any of the nine study lakes. Paleolimnological studies such as these allow lake managers to place the current limnological conditions into a long-term context, and thereby provide important background data for effective lake management.

Distribution of Mercury in Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River Sediments

1989 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alena Mudroch ◽  
K. Hill
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
River Sediments ◽  
Size Fraction ◽  
Mineralogical Composition ◽  
Recent Sediment ◽  
Geochemical Composition ◽  
Visual Appearance ◽  
Decaying Wood ◽  
Relationship Of

Abstract Sediment cores were collected in Lake St. Clair in 1985 and in the St. Clair River in 1986 to investigate the horizontal and vertical distribution and association of Hg in the sediments. A layer of recent sediment up to about 35 cm thick was differentiated by the geochemical composition and visual appearance from the underlying glacial-lacustrine deposits. The concentration of Hg in the surficial sediments in Lake St. Clair was lower in 1985 (&lt;0.025 to 1.200 µg/g) than that found in 1974 (&lt;0.20 to 3.00 µg/g). Up to 8.30 µg/g of Hg were found in the sediments collected from the nearshore area at Sarnia, Ontario, in the St. Clair River in 1986. The concentrations of Hg ranged from 5.05 to 16.00 µg/g in different sand-sized fractions (0.063 to 0.350 mm) of the sediment. The concentration of Hg was 17.80 µg/g in the silt-clay size fraction (&lt;0.063 mm). No relationship was found between the concentration of organic matter and Hg, and the concentration of silica and Hg in the St. Clair River sediments. The results indicated a relationship of Hg with particles of different mineralogical composition. Up to 3.72 µg/g Hg was found in the surface sediment in Chenal Ecarte. The greatest concentration of Hg (13.15 µg/g) existed in the 0.350 mm particle size fraction, which consisted mainly of small pieces of decaying wood. A good relationship was found between the concentration of Hg and organic matter in the sediment at this area.

RESILIENCE AGAINST PERTURBATION: RESPONSE OF MOLLUSCAN COMMUNITIES TO SEA LEVEL RISE IN AN INLAND BLUE HOLE, ELEUTHERA, BAHAMAS

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Kerr ◽  
◽  
Lisa E. Park Boush ◽  
Dana Michelle Yakabowskas ◽  
Amy Myrbo
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Blue Hole
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