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A multiproxy analysis of extreme wave deposits in a tropical coastal lagoon in Jamaica, West Indies

Author

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  • Suzanne E. Palmer

    (The University of the West Indies)

  • Michael J. Burn

    (The University of the West Indies)

  • Jonathan Holmes

    (University College London)

Abstract

The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Caribbean Region are vulnerable to natural hazards including earthquakes, tsunamis and tropical cyclones that can cause widespread devastation. Sedimentary archives of these hazards are often well-preserved in coastal lagoons; however, few studies in the Caribbean have adopted a multiproxy approach to their reconstruction. Here, we present a 1200-year multiproxy record of extreme washover events deposited within a coastal mangrove lagoon on the south coast of Jamaica. Manatee Bay lagoon is a permanent fresh-brackish-water mangrove lagoon separated from the Caribbean Sea by a low-elevation carbonate beach. Fifteen sediment cores recovered along five shore-normal transects contain ostracod-rich authigenic carbonate lake muds interspersed with beds of organic lake mud and mangrove peat. The cores contain evidence of multiple palaeo-washover deposits that are readily distinguished by their sedimentology, geochemistry and microfossil assemblages. Hypersaline conditions dominated the early part of the record (~ 800 to 900 CE), and we infer a freshening of lagoonal waters and the subsequent expansion of the mangrove community following an extreme wave event that occurred some time before ~ 1290 to 1400 CE. We constrain the primary historical-washover deposit to 1810–1924 CE (2σ; 71% probability), a period characterised by extreme tectonic and meteorological events, which include the Great Kingston Earthquake of 1907 and a local episode of enhanced hurricane activity. Whilst the balance of circumstantial evidence indicates that the deposit was probably emplaced during the tsunami generated by the 1907 earthquake, we are currently unable to differentiate between tectonically and meteorologically driven washover events based on their sedimentological characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Suzanne E. Palmer & Michael J. Burn & Jonathan Holmes, 2020. "A multiproxy analysis of extreme wave deposits in a tropical coastal lagoon in Jamaica, West Indies," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 104(3), pages 2531-2560, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:104:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11069-020-04284-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-020-04284-2
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. G. Shanmugam, 2012. "Process-sedimentological challenges in distinguishing paleo-tsunami deposits," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 63(1), pages 5-30, August.
    2. Jeffrey P. Donnelly & Jonathan D. Woodruff, 2007. "Intense hurricane activity over the past 5,000 years controlled by El Niño and the West African monsoon," Nature, Nature, vol. 447(7143), pages 465-468, May.
    3. Brian Atwater & Uri ten Brink & Mark Buckley & Robert Halley & Bruce Jaffe & Alberto López-Venegas & Eduard Reinhardt & Maritia Tuttle & Steve Watt & Yong Wei, 2012. "Geomorphic and stratigraphic evidence for an unusual tsunami or storm a few centuries ago at Anegada, British Virgin Islands," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 63(1), pages 51-84, August.
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    1. Lucy R. Roberts & Jonathan A. Holmes & David J. Horne & Melanie J. Leng & Carl D. Sayer & Rhys G. O. Timms & Katy Flowers & Simon P. M. Blockley & Andrea Kelly, 2022. "Reconstruction of short-term storm surge-driven increases in shallow coastal lake salinity using ostracod shell chemistry," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 114(2), pages 2059-2085, November.

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