HOME

Paleotempestology - “a new field that studies past hurricane activities by means of geological proxy techniques” (Liu and Fearn, 1998)

The field of Paleotempestology is a young branch of science that determines the frequency of prehistoric hurricanes by sedimentological and geochemical proxies (Liu and Fearn, 1993).  This emerging field has few published studies yet the amount of interest and studies is quickly increasing.  Liu and Fearn began the first study of this type at Lake Shelby, AL in 1993.  They demonstrated that preserved overwash sand layers found within quiet coastal environments can be used as a proxy for intense hurricane events.  Their second study site Western Lake, FL provided a 7000 year record of hurricane events for the Gulf coast of western Florida.  With this new record they were able to forecast future landfall probabilities of intense hurricane events, category 4 or higher, for this Gulf Coast area (Liu and Fearn 1998).   

Collins et al (1999) chose two study sites in South Carolina, Murrell’s and Price’s Inlets.  They used the presence of marine foraminifera found within sand layers as a proxy for overwash events.  They attributed a recent sand layer to hurricane Hugo, 1989 by the presence of multiple foraminifera species, organic carbon content and x-radiography.  Donnelly and Webb, 2001a-b have several study sites in New Jersey and throughout New England.  They use the presence of preserved overwash sand layers found within back barrier marshes as a proxy for intense hurricane events.  Their study at Succotash marsh yielded an 700 year record of intense hurricane events for the New England area (Donnelly and Webb, 2001).