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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 35, L14705, doi:10.1029/2008GL033950, 2008

A 1,000-year, annually-resolved record of hurricane activity from Boston, Massachusetts

Mark R. Besonen

Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA


Raymond S. Bradley

Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA


Manfred Mudelsee

Climate Risk Analysis, Hannover, Germany


Mark B. Abbott

Department of Geology and Planetary Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA


Pierre Francus

Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Québec, Canada


Abstract

The annually-laminated (i.e., varved) sediment record from the Lower Mystic Lake (near Boston, MA), contains a series of anomalous graded beds deposited by strong flooding events that have affected the basin over the last millennium. From the historic portion of the record, 10 out of 11 of the most prominent graded beds correspond with years in which category 2–3 hurricanes are known to have struck the Boston area. Thus, we conclude that the graded beds represent deposition related to intense hurricane precipitation combined with wind-driven vegetation disturbance that exposes fresh, loose sediment. The hurricane signal shows strong, centennial-scale variations in frequency with a period of increased activity between the 12th–16th centuries, and decreased activity during the 11th and 17th–19th centuries. These frequency changes are consistent with other paleoclimate indicators from the tropical North Atlantic, in particular, sea surface temperature variations.

Received 12 March 2008; accepted 18 June 2008; published 24 July 2008.

Keywords: paleotempestology; varve record; graded beds.

Index Terms: 1817 Hydrology: Extreme events; 1616 Global Change: Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513); 3344 Atmospheric Processes: Paleoclimatology (0473, 4900); 1821 Hydrology: Floods; 4239 Oceanography: General: Limnology (0458, 1845, 4942).

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Citation: Besonen, M. R., R. S. Bradley, M. Mudelsee, M. B. Abbott, and P. Francus (2008), A 1,000-year, annually-resolved record of hurricane activity from Boston, Massachusetts, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L14705, doi:10.1029/2008GL033950.