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Hurricanes produce large amounts of precipitation with distinctly lower (by as much as 10-20 ‰ ) ?18O values than typical low-latitude thunderstorms. This isotopically-depleted precipitation may persist in surface and soil waters for several weeks after a large event, until ameliorated through evaporation or addition of normal precipitation. Therefore, an isotopic signal of the hurricane can be incorporated into cellulose during tree growth, or into the calcium carbonate of stalagmites in limestone caves, or into the aragonite carbonate of corals, capturing an isotopic record of tropical cyclone activity.

Co-PI Claudia Mora will use tree-ring oxygen isotope compositions to define an annual record of hurricane activity for three to four sites in the pan-Caribbean region (Dominican Republic highlands; Belize or eastern Costa Rica; Pensacola FL, Houston TX). One extra-Caribbean site (near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina) will be used to establish a record for the U.S. Atlantic coast that is hypothesized to be in anti-phase with Caribbean and Gulf coast hurricane activity.

Co-PI Amy Frappier will develop a new d18O-based paleohurricane archive from speleothems (cave mineral deposits such as stalagmites) in the Caribbean. This new record will be used to replicate the recently published speleothem paleotempestology record from Belize, to calibrate a more robust storm signal extraction model against the Caribbean storm database, and to validate the speleothem proxy by comparison to nearby paleotempestological records generated by other co-PIs at sites in Belize and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

Co-PI Anne Cohen will undertake pioneer work to develop accurate, datable and lengthy records of past hurricane activity from the aragonitic skeletons of massive reef corals with sub-seasonal resolution. She will use solution-phase Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP MS) to analyze the chemical composition of live corals from sites where the recent history of hurricane events is well documented (i.e., a calibration study) to validate the proxies. Short coral samples from St Croix, USVI will be used for this calibration study.