U.S. - Thailand Collaboration: Geologic Records of Tropical Cyclone Strikes on the Gulf of Thailand Coast.

University Of North Texas, Denton TX

Investigators

Abstract

This research project is a US-Thailand collaborative study with the objective of establishing long-term records of tropical cyclone strikes for the Gulf of Thailand coast. The devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. highlighted the need for a better understanding of tropical cyclone risk and impacts for vulnerable coastlines around the world. In Thailand, historical records of tropical cyclone strikes are short, extending back only 50 or 60 years. The study will employ the new science of paleotempestology (study of ancient storms) to obtain much longer prehistorical records derived from geologic and biologic proxies of tropical cyclone strikes. Currently, very little paleotempestological research has been conducted in this region, even though this coastline is subject to intense tropical cyclone strikes, including the 1989 Category 3 Typhoon Gay ? one of the deadliest tropical cyclones in Thailand?s history, generating 11-m-high swells and causing 800 fatalities in and around the Gulf of Thailand. Field sites have already been selected in preliminary field reconnaissance conducted jointly by researchers from the University of North Texas and Chulalongkorn University. The methods employed will be a combination of trenching and coring of coastal marshes, with the aim of identifying and dating anomalous sand beds that record prehistoric tropical cyclone washover deposits. These deposits will be identified based on sediment texture, organic content, stratigraphy and marine microfossils. The proposed project has important societal benefits because development of long-term records of tropical cyclone strikes improves assessment of recurrence intervals of large, damaging typhoons, such as Typhoon Gay. This project will catalyze future research collaborations between the U.S. and Thailand by representing a first step towards a regional database of paleotempestological records for Southeast Asia, and by integrating research and education, through participation of Chulalongkorn and UNT students.