Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Geosciences Theses Department of Geosciences Fall 11-21-2013 A Hurricane Record of Jekyll Island, Georgia Daniel McCartha Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/geosciences_theses Recommended Citation McCartha, Daniel, "A Hurricane Record of Jekyll Island, Georgia." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2013. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/geosciences_theses/66 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Geosciences at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Geosciences Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A HURRICANE RECORD OF JEKYLL ISLAND, GEORGIA by DANIEL MCCARTHA Under the Direction of Dr. Lawrence Kiage ABSTRACT Jekyll Island, Georgia is located within the Georgia Bight, on the Atlantic coast of the United State. In recent history, the Georgia Bight has been less frequently hit by hurricanes compared to other areas along the Atlantic coast. To determine if Jekyll Island has had a more active hurricane past, a paleohurricane record was obtained from the northern tip of the island, within Waterfall Marsh. A 500 year old hurricane record was inferred from the sediment layers obtained from the marsh. In core JE-4, a sandy shell layer containing nearshore foraminifera was observed, providing evidence of a hurricane event. A radiocarbon date of 406 a BP was ob- tained for the sandy shell layer, providing a minimum age for the hurricane event. A hurricane return interval of one major hurricane per 500 years was also determined for the study area. INDEX WORDS: Paleotempestology, Hurricanes, Jekyll Island, Georgia Coast A HURRICANE RECORD OF JEKYLL ISLAND, GEORGIA by DANIEL MCCARTHA A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Masters of Science in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2013 Copyright by Daniel Herbert McCartha 2013 A HURRICANE RECORD OF JEKYLL ISLAND, GEORGIA by DANIEL MCCARTHA Committee Chair: Lawrence Kiage Committee: Daniel Deocampo Dajun Dai Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University December 2013 iv DEDICATION I’d like to dedicate my thesis to my mother and father, June and Larry McCartha. It would have not been possible for me to make it through college and graduate school without their support and encouragement. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to show my deepest appreciation for my thesis advisor Dr. Lawrence Kiage, for all of his time, support, and guidance. To the committee members Dr. Daniel Deocampo and Dr. Dajun Dai, thank you for your efforts and contributions. I would also like to extend a special thank you to Dr. Terry McClosky (Louisiana State University) and Amber Keller for all of their help in the field and in the lab. I would like to thank Georgia Sea Grant and NOAA for providing funding that supported this study. I would also like to thank the Geosciences department of Georgia State University for the graduate assistantships that made my education possible. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... 3 LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... 4 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 5 1.1 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................... 10 1.2 Study Area ................................................................................................... 10 1.3 Historical Hurricanes within Proximity of the Study Area .............................. 12 1.4 Geology of the Study Area ........................................................................... 13 2 METHODS……………………………………….. ................................................................. 15 2.1 Fieldwork and Sample Collection ................................................................. 15 2.2 Sample Preparation ..................................................................................... 17 2.2.1 Loss on Ignition Analyses ......................................................................... 17 2.2.2 X–Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis ........................................................... 19 2.2.3 Foraminifera Identification ...................................................................... 19 2.2.4 Radiocarbon Dating ................................................................................. 20 3 RESULTS…………………………………………… ................................................................ 21 3.1 Stratigraphy, Loss on Ignition, and X-Ray Fluorescence ................................. 21 3.1.1 Loss on Ignition and X-Ray Fluorescence of Core JE-3 ............................... 23 3.1.2 Loss on Ignition, X-Ray Fluorescence, and Radio Carbon Dates of Core JE-4 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….27 3.1.3 Loss on Ignition and X-Ray Fluorescence of Core JE-5 ............................... 31 2 3.2 Foraminifera Analysis .................................................................................. 34 3.2.1 Foraminifera Analysis of Core JE-3 ........................................................... 36 3.2.2 Foraminifera Analysis of Core JE-4 ........................................................... 38 4 DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 40 5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 47 6 FUTURE STUDIES.......................................................................................................... 48 7 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 50 3 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Radiocarbon dates of core JE-3. ................................................................... 25 Table 2. Radiocarbon dates of core JE-4. ................................................................... 29 4 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Creation of an overwash fan. ........................................................................ 6 Figure 2. A map of Georgia showing the location of the study area, Jekyll Island. ...... 11 Figure 3. Image of Waterfall Marsh, Jekyll Island, GA. ............................................... 11 Figure 4. Hurricane paths within proximity of Jekyll Island, Georgia .......................... 13 Figure 5. Erosion at Driftwood Beach, on Jekyll Island. .............................................. 14 Figure 6. Transect showing the locations of cores JE-3, JE-4, and JE-5 within the study area ......................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 7. Image of a Livingstone corer being used in the field (Left), and a Russian Peat core taken in the field (Right). .................................................................................. 17 Figure 8. Splitting cores using a table saw. ................................................................ 19 Figure 9. Stratigraphic correlation of cores JE-3, JE-4, and JE-5. ................................. 22 Figure 10. Photographic log, loss on ignition (LOI), chemostratigraphy, and radiocarbon dates of core JE-3. ................................................................................. 26 Figure 11. Photographic log, loss on ignition (LOI), chemostratigraphy, and radiocarbon dates of core JE-4. .................................................................................................... 30 Figure 12. Photographic log, loss on ignition, and chemostratigraphy of core JE-5. .... 33 Figure 13. Images of near shore foraminifera found within Core JE-4. ....................... 34 Figure 14. Images of lagoonal foraminifera found within cores JE-3 and JE-4. ............ 35 Figure 15. Foraminifera assemblage of core JE-3. ...................................................... 37 Figure 16. Foraminifera assemblage of core JE-4. ...................................................... 39 Figure 17. Suggested future transects within Waterfall Marsh. ................................. 49 5 1 INTRODUCTION Paleotempestology is a relatively new science coined in the 1990s focusing on the study of past hurricanes and other storm events. Paleotempestology utilizes proxy techniques to create paleohurricane records that extend from hundreds to thousands of years ago (DaiDu and Kam- biu, 2008). As the most frequent of all natural disasters, hurricanes, also referred to as ty- phoons, cause the largest amount of loss of insured property and death worldwide (Cheung, et al., 2007). It has been suggested that there could be an increase in the frequency and the de- structiveness of hurricanes resulting in the loss of life and property due to an increase in the population living along the coast and erratic climate mechanisms associated with climate change (Kiage, et al., 2011). To help mitigate the issues of loss of life and property due to hurri- canes, paleohurricane records