Knowra Paleotempestology Paleotempestology Paleotempestology reconstructs prehistoric tropical cyclones and other severe storms from geological evidence, including storm deposits preserved in coastal and lake sediments.
Storm surge : An abnormal rise of coastal water driven mainly by a storm’s winds and low pressure. Surge waters carry marine sediment inland, creating deposits that can preserve evidence of past storms.
Sedimentology : The study of sediment, its formation, transport, deposition, and transformation into rock. Its methods explain how storm-driven sediment moves and becomes preserved in geological layers.
Hurricane climatology : The study of the patterns, frequency, intensity, and distribution of hurricanes over time. Paleotempestology extends hurricane records beyond the historical and instrumental periods.
Lake sediment archive : A sequence of lake-bottom sediments that preserves evidence of environmental change through time. Inland lakes can trap overwash layers and extend storm records beyond exposed coastal deposits.
Sediment reworking : The erosion, transport, and redeposition of sediment after its initial deposition. Later storms can erase, mix, or shift earlier layers, obscuring event counts and ages.
Overwash deposit : A sediment layer formed when waves or surge carry material over a beach or coastal barrier. These layers are among the clearest geological traces used to identify prehistoric coastal storms.
Proxy (climate science) : An indirect measurement used to infer past environmental conditions that were not directly observed. Storm deposits are proxies whose meaning must be inferred from their physical and biological features.
Atlantic hurricane reanalysis : The reassessment of historical Atlantic hurricanes using modern methods and historical records. Reanalysis improves recent records, while geological evidence can reach much farther into the past.
Great Bahama Bank : A broad carbonate platform in the Bahamas, bordered by deep ocean basins and shallow banks. Its sedimentary records have been used to investigate past intense hurricanes in the western Atlantic.
Chronology (geology) : The ordering and dating of events and materials in Earth’s history. Age uncertainties can make separate storm layers appear simultaneous or distort recurrence estimates.
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