COLLABORATIVE: RUI: Reconstructing the History of Hurricane Landfalls in Southwest Florida over the Past Five Thousand Years

Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers FL

Investigators

Abstract

Funds are provided to reconstruct the history of hurricane landfalls in southwest Florida over the past five thousand years. The proxy record will be developed from hurricane overwash deposits preserved in backbarrier lagoons and marshes, and correlated with a compilation of climatological, meteorological, and oceanographic data for the region. The chronology of the overwash deposits will be constrained by radiometric dating, and SLOSH model results will facilitate the correlation of overwash deposits with the tropical cyclones that created them. A site-specific hurricane database will be developed for southwest Florida to better understand the characteristics of storms that produce overwash deposits. Results of this research may have implications for coastal planning and management in the region. The project will support an early-career female investigator, and will involve high school, undergraduate, and graduate students.