Widespread Deposition in a Coastal Bay Following Three Major 2017 Hurricanes (Irma, Jose, and Maria).

ABSTRACT: In 2017, three major hurricanes (Irma, Jose, and Maria) impacted the Northeastern Caribbean within a 2-week span. Hurricane waves can cause physical damage to coastal ecosystems, re-suspend and transport antecedent seafloor sediment, while the associated intense rainfall can yield large influxes of land-derived sediment to the coast (e.g. burial of ecosystems). To understand sedimentation provenance (terrestrial or marine) and changes induced by the hurricanes, we collected bathymetry surveys and sediment samples of Coral Bay, St. John, US Virgin Islands in August 2017, (pre-storms) and repeated it in November 2017 (post-storms). Comparison reveals morphologic seafloor changes and widespread aggradation with an average of ~25 cm of sediment deposited over a 1.28 km² benthic zone

SUBMITTER: Browning TN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6506513 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature