Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T14:23:28.998Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rapid Holocene coastal change revealed by high-resolution micropaleontological analysis, Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Candace Grand Pre ,
Stephen J. Culver ,
David J. Mallinson ,
Kathleen M. Farrell ,
D. Reide Corbett ,
Benjamin P. Horton ,
Caroline Hillier ,
Stanley R. Riggs ,
Scott W. Snyder  and
Martin A. Buzas
Candace Grand Pre
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA Sea Level Research Laboratory, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Stephen J. Culver*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
David J. Mallinson
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
Kathleen M. Farrell
Affiliation:
North Carolina Geological Survey, Raleigh Field Office and Core Repository, MSC 1620, Raleigh, NC 27699, USA
D. Reide Corbett
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA Institute for Coastal Science and Policy, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
Benjamin P. Horton
Affiliation:
Sea Level Research Laboratory, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Caroline Hillier
Affiliation:
Argos Ecology Ltd, Annfield Plain, Durham, DH9 7XN, UK
Stanley R. Riggs
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
Scott W. Snyder
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
Martin A. Buzas
Affiliation:
Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 20560, USA
*
⁎Corresponding author. Fax: + 1 252 328 4391. E-mail address:culvers@ecu.edu (S. J. Culver).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Foraminiferal analyses of 404 contiguous samples, supported by diatom, lithologic, geochronologic and seismic data, reveal both rapid and gradual Holocene paleoenvironmental changes in an 8.21-m vibracore taken from southern Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. Data record initial flooding of a latest Pleistocene river drainage and the formation of an estuary 9000 yr ago. Estuarine conditions were punctuated by two intervals of marine influence from approximately 4100 to 3700 and 1150 to 500 cal yr BP. Foraminiferal assemblages in the muddy sand facies that accumulated during these intervals contain many well-preserved benthic foraminiferal species, which occur today in open marine settings as deep as the mid shelf, and significant numbers of well-preserved planktonic foraminifera, some typical of Gulf Stream waters. We postulate that these marine-influenced units resulted from temporary destruction of the southern Outer Banks barrier islands by hurricanes. The second increase in marine influence is coeval with increased rate of sea-level rise and a peak in Atlantic tropical cyclone activity during the Medieval Climate Anomaly. This high-resolution analysis demonstrates the range of environmental variability and the rapidity of coastal change that can result from the interplay of changing climate, sea level and geomorphology in an estuarine setting.

Keywords

ForaminiferaDiatomsHolocenePaleoenvironments
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 76 , Issue 3 , November 2011 , pp. 319 - 334
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abbene, I.J., Culver, S.J., Corbett, D.R., Buzas, M.A., and Tully, L.S. Foraminifera of Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, over the past century. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 36, (2006). 135–151.Google Scholar
Bé, A.W.H., and Hamlin, W.H. Ecology of recent planktonic foraminifera, Part 3, Distribution in the North Atlantic during the summer of 1962. Micropaleontology 13, (1967). 87–106.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. OxCal Program, v. 3. (2005). Google Scholar
Buzas, M.A. Another look at confidence limits for species proportions. Journal of Paleontology 64, (1990). 842–843.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cronin, T., Colman, S., Willard, D., Kerhin, R., Holmes, C., Karlson, A., Ishman, S., and Bratton, J. Interdisciplinary environmentqal project probes Chesapeake Bay down to the core. Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union 80, 237 (1999). 240–241.Google Scholar
Cronin, T., Willard, D., Karlson, A., Ishman, S., Verardo, S., McGeehin, J., Kerhin, R., Holmes, C., Colman, S., and Zimmerman, A. Climatic variability in the eastern United States over the past millennium from Chesapeake Bay sediments. Geology 28, (2000). 3–6.Google Scholar
Culver, S.J., and Buzas, M.A. Distribution of Recent Benthic Foraminifera off the North American Atlantic Coast. Smithsonian Contributions to the Marine Sciences 6, (1980). 1–512.Google Scholar
Culver, S.J., Ames, D.V., Corbett, D.R., Mallinson, D.J., Riggs, S.R., Smith, C.G., and Vance, D.J. Foraminiferal and sedimentary record of late Holocene barrier island evolution, Pea Island, North Carolina. Journal of Coastal Research 22, (2006). 836–846.Google Scholar
Culver, S.J., Grand Pre, C.A., Mallinson, D.J., Riggs, S.R., Corbett, D.R., Foley, J., Hale, M., Metger, L., Ricardo, J., Rosenberger, J., Smith, D.G., Smith, C.W., Snyder, S.W., Twamley, D., Farrell, K., and Horton, B.P. Late Holocene barrier island collapse: Outer Banks, North Carolina, USA. The Sedimentary Record. 5, (2007). 4–8.Google Scholar
Culver, S.J., Farrell, K.M., Mallinson, D.J., Horton, B.P., Willard, D.A., Thieler, E.R., Riggs, S.R., Snyder, S.W., Wehmiller, J.F., Bernhardt, C.E., and Hillier, C. Micropaleontologic record of Late Pliocene and Quaternary paleoenvironments in the northern Albemarle Embayment, North Carolina, USA. Palaeogeography, Palaeoecology, Palaeoclimatology 264, (2008). 54–77.Google Scholar
Cumming, W.P. North Carolina in Maps. (1966). North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Raleigh, NC.Google Scholar
Denys, L. A check-list of the diatoms in the Holocene deposits of the western Belgian coastal plain with a survey of their apparent ecological requirements. 1, Introduction, ecological code and complete list. Belgische Geologische Dienst, Professional Paper 1991/2, 246 (1991). 1–41.Google Scholar
Ellison, R.L., and Nichols, M.M. Estuarine Foraminifera from the Rappahannock River, Virginia. Contributions from the Cushman Foundation for Foraminiferal Research 21, (1970). 1–17.Google Scholar
Foley, J., Culver, S.J., Corbett, D.R., Mallinson, D.J., and Riggs, S.R. Sedimentological and foraminiferal indications of Holocene environmental change in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs 38, 3 (2006). 16 Google Scholar
Folk, R.L. Petrology of Sedimentary Rock. (1980). Hemphill Publishing Company, Austin, Texas.Google Scholar
Gibson, T.G., and Buzas, M.A. Species diversity: patterns in modern and Miocene foraminifera of the eastern margin of North America. Geological Society of America Bulletin 84, (1973). 217–238.Google Scholar
Gonzalez, J.L., and Tornqvist, T.E. A new late Holocene sea-level record from the Mississippi Delta: evidence for a climate/sea level connection?. Quaternary Science Reviews 28, (2009). 1737–1749.Google Scholar
Grossman, S., and Benson, R.H. Ecology of Rhizopodea and Ostracoda of southern Pamlico Sound region, North Carolina. Kansas University, Paleontology Contributions 44, (1967). 1–82.Google Scholar
Hale, M., Culver, S.J., Mallinson, D., and Riggs, S.R. Late Holocene back-barrier evolution of Ocracoke Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs 39, 2 (2007). 96 Google Scholar
Hartley, B. A check-list of the diatoms of the freshwater, brackish and marine diatoms of the British Isles and adjoining coastal waters. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 66, (1986). 531–610.Google Scholar
Hayek, L.C., and Buzas, M.A. Surveying Natural Populations. (1997). Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Hendey, N.I. An introductory account of the smaller algae of British Coastal Waters, Bacillariophyceae (Diatoms). Fishery Investigation Series N. (1964). HMSO, London.Google Scholar
Horton, B.P., Peltier, W.R., Culver, S.J., Drummond, R., Engelhart, S.E., Kemp, A.C., Mallinson, D., Thieler, E.R., Riggs, S.R., Ames, D.V., and Thomson, K.H. Holocene sea-level changes along the North Carolina coastline and their implications for glacial isostatic adjustment models. Quaternary Science Reviews 28, (2009). 1725–1736.Google Scholar
Hudstedt, F. Die systematik der Diatomeen in ihren Beziehungen zur Geologie und Okologie nebst einer Revisions des Halobian-systems. Svensk Botanical Tidskrifter 47, (1953). 509–519.Google Scholar
Hudstedt, F. Die diatomeenflora des Fluss-systems der Weser im Gebiet der Hansestadt Bremen. Abhandlungen der Naturwissenschatflichen Bremen 34, (1957). 181–440.Google Scholar
Hughen, K.A., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Burr, G., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks, R.G., Friedrich, M., Guilderson, T.P., Kromer, B., McCormac, F.G., Manning, S., Bronk Ramsey, C., Reimer, P.J., Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, M., Talamo, S., Taylor, F.W., van der Plicht, J., and Weyhenmeyer, C.E. Marine04 marine radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46, (2004). 1059–1086.Google Scholar
IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Soloman, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K.B., Tignor, M., and Miller, H.R. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovermnmental Panel on Climate Change. (2007). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York.Google Scholar
Karlson, A.W., Cronin, T.M., Ishman, S.E., Willard, D.A., Kerhin, R., Holmes, C.W., and Marot, M. Historical trends in Chesapeake Bay dissolved oxygen based on benthic foraminifera from sediment cores. Estuaries 23, (2000). 488–508.Google Scholar
Kemp, A.C., (2009). High resolution studies of late Holocene relative sea-level change (North Carolina, USA). Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, .Google Scholar
Kemp, A.C., Horton, B.P., Culver, S.J., Corbett, D.R., Van de Plassche, O., Gehrels, R., and Douglas, B. The timing and magnitude of recent accelerated sea-level rise. Geology 37, (2009). 1035–1038.Google Scholar
Kemp, A.C., Horton, B.P., and Culver, S.J. Distribution of modern salt-marsh foraminifera in the Albemarle–Pamlico estuarine system of North Carolina, USA: implications for sea-level research. Marine Micropaleontology 72, (2009). 222–238.Google Scholar
Kemp, A.C., Horton, B.P., Donnelly, J.P., Mann, M.E., Vermeer, M., and Rahmsdorf, S. Climate related sea-level variations over the past two millennia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2011). doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1015519108 6 pp.Google Scholar
Knutson, T.R., McBride, J.L., Chan, J., Emanuel, K., Holland, G., Landsea, C., Held, I., Kossin, J.P., and Srivastava, A.K. Tropical cyclones and climate change. Nature Geoscience 3, (2010). 157–217.Google Scholar
Leorri, E., Martin, R.E., and McLaughlin, P.P. Holocene environment and parasequence development of the St. Jones estuary, Delaware (USA); foraminifera as proxies of natural climatic and anthropogenic environmental change. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology. Palaeoecology 241, (2006). 590–607.Google Scholar
Mallinson, D.J., Riggs, S.R., Thieler, E.R., Culver, S.J., Farrell, K., Foster, D.S., Corbett, D.R., Horton, B., and Wehmiller, J.F. Late Neogene and Quaternary evolution of the northern Albemarle Embayment (mid-Atlantic continental margin, USA). Marine Geology 217, (2005). 97–117.Google Scholar
Mallinson, D.J., Burdette, K., Mahan, S., and Brook, G. Optically stimulated luminescence age controls on late Pleistocene and Holocene lithosomes, North Carolina, USA. Quaternary Research 69, (2008). 97–109.Google Scholar
Mallinson, D.J., Culver, S.J., Riggs, S.R., Thieler, E.R., Foster, D., Wehmiller, J., Farrell, K., and Pierson, J. Regional seismic stratigraphy and controls on the Quaternary evolution of the Cape Hatteras region of the Atlantic passive margin, USA. Marine Geology 268, (2010). 16–33.Google Scholar
Mallinson, D.J., Smith, C.W., Culver, S.J., Riggs, S.R., and Ames, D.V. Geological characteristics and spatial distribution of paleo-inlet channels beneath the Outer Banks barrier islands, North Carolina, USA. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 88, (2010). 175–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mallinson, D.J., Smith, C.W., Mahan, S., Culver, S.J., and McDowell, K. Barrier island processes and response to late Holocene climate patterns: outer banks barrier islands, North Carolina, USA. Quaternary Research 76, (2011). 46–57.Google Scholar
Mann, M.E., Woodruff, J.D., Donnelly, J.P., and Zhang, Z. Atlantic hurricanes and climate over the past 1,500 years. Nature 460, (2009). 880–883.Google Scholar
Mayewski, P.A., Rohling, E.E., Stager, J.C., Karlen, W., Maasch, K.A., Meeker, L.D., Meyerson, E.A., Gasse, F., van Kreveld, S., Holmgren, K., Lee-Thorp, J., Rosqvist, G., Rack, F., Staubwasser, M., Schneider, R.R., and Steig, E.J. Holocene climate variability. Quaternary Research 62, (2004). 243–255.Google Scholar
McDowell, K.L., Mallinson, D.J., Culver, S.J., and Walsh, J.P. Holocene geologic development of the central Hatteras Flats and Buxton beach ridges, Outer Banks, North Carolina. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs 41, 1 (2009). 51 Google Scholar
Mello, J.F., and Buzas, M.A. An application of cluster analysis as a method for determining biofacies. Journal of Paleontology 42, (1968). 747–758.Google Scholar
Metger, L., Culver, S., Mallinson, D., and Riggs, S. Holocene paleoenvironmental change in southern Pamlico Sound, North Carolina. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs 40, 4 (2008). 22 Google Scholar
Munsterman, D., and Kerstholt, S. Sodium polytungstate, a new non-toxic alternative to bromoform in heavy liquid separation. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 91, (1996). 417–422.Google Scholar
Otvos, E.G., and Carter, G.A. Hurricane degradation–barrier development cycles, northeastern Gulf of Mexico: landform evolution and island chain history. Journal of Coastal Research 24, (2008). 463–478.Google Scholar
Parham, P.R., Riggs, S.R., Culver, S.J., Mallinson, D., and Wehmiller, J.F. Quaternary depositional patterns and sea-level fluctuations, northeastern North Carolina. Quaternary Research 67, (2007). 83–99.Google Scholar
Pietrafesa, L.J., Janowitz, G.S., and Witman, P.A. Physical oceanographic processes in the Carolina Capes. Atkinson, L.P., Menzel, D.W., and Bush, K.A. Oceanography of the Southeastern Continental Shelf. (1985). American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C.. 23–32.Google Scholar
Pietrafesa, L.J., Janowitz, G.S., Chao, T.Y., Weisberg, R.H., Askari, F., and Noble, E. The Physical Oceanography of Pamlico Sound: UNC Sea Grant Publication No. UNC-WP-86-5. (1986). Google Scholar
Pilkey, O.H., Neal, W.J., Riggs, S.R., Webb, C.A., Bush, D.M., Pilkey, D.F., Bullock, J., and Cowan, B.A. The North Carolina shore and its barrier islands: restless ribbons of sand. Living with the shore. (1998). Duke University Press, Durham.Google Scholar
Pruitt, R.J., Culver, S.J., Buzas, M.A., Corbett, D.R., Horton, B.P., and Mallinson, D.J. Modern foraminiferal distribution and recent environmental change in Core Sound, North Carolina, USA. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 40, (2010). 344–365.Google Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Burr, G., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks, R.G., Friedrich, M., Guilderson, T.P., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, F.G., Manning, S., Bronk Ramsey, C., Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, M., Talamo, S., Taylor, F.W., van der Plicht, J., and Weyhenmeyer, C.E. IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46, (2004). 1029–1058.Google Scholar
Riggs, S.R., and Ames, D.V. Drowning the North Carolina Coast: Sea-Level Rise and Estuarine Dynamics: North Carolina Sea Grant Program, Publication No. UNC-SG-03-04, Raleigh, NC. (2003). Google Scholar
Riggs, S.R., Cleary, W.J., and Snyder, S.W. Influence of inherited geologic framework on barrier shoreface morphology and dynamics. Marine Geology 126, (1995). 213–234.Google Scholar
Robinson, M.M., and McBride, R.A. Benthic foraminifera from a relict flood-tide delta along the Virginia/North Carolina Outer Banks. Micropaleontology 52, (2006). 67–80.Google Scholar
Rosenberger, J.E., Culver, S.J., Corbett, D.R., Mallinson, D.J., and Riggs, S.R. Late Holocene back-barrier development of Portsmouth Island, Outer Banks, North Carolina. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs 38, 3 (2006). 15 Google Scholar
Schnitker, D. Distribution of foraminifera on the North Carolina continental shelf. Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology 8, (1971). 169–215.Google Scholar
Shaw, J., Amos, C.L., Greenberg, D.A., O'Reilly, C.T., Parrott, D.R., and Patton, E. Catastrophic tidal expansion in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Science 47, (2010). 1079–1091.Google Scholar
Smith, C.G., Culver, S.J., Riggs, S.R., Ames, D., Corbett, D.R., and Mallinson, D. Geospatial analysis of barrier island width of two segments of the Outer Banks, North Carolina, USA: anthropogenic curtailment of natural self-sustaining processes. Journal of Coastal Research 24, (2008). 70–83.Google Scholar
Smith, C.G., Culver, S.J., Mallinson, D.J., Riggs, S.R., and Corbett, D.R. Recognizing former flood tidal delta deposits in the Holocene stratigraphic record from the Outer Banks, North Carolina, USA. Stratigraphy 6, (2009). 61–78.Google Scholar
Southon, J., Kashgarian, M., Fontugne, M., Metivier, B., and Yim, W.W.S. Marine reservoir corrections for the Indian Ocean and southeast Asia. Radiocarbon 44, (2002). 167–180.Google Scholar
Twamley, D.F., Culver, S.J., Mallinson, D.J., Rigs, S.R., and Corbett, D.R. Holocene geologic development of the Hatteras Village area, Outer Banks, North Carolina. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs 38, 3 (2006). 15 Google Scholar
Vance, D.J., Culver, S.J., Corbett, D.R., and Buzas, M.A. Foraminifera in the Albemarle estuarine system, North Carolina: distribution and recent environmental change. Journal of Foraminiferal Research 36, (2006). 15–33.Google Scholar
Van der Werff, H., and Huls, H. Diatomeenflora van Nederland. (1958–1966). De Haef, The Netherlands. Published privately Google Scholar
Vos, P.C., and de Wolf, H. Diatoms as a tool for reconstruction of sedimentary environments in coastal wetlands: methodological aspects. Hydrobiologica 269, 270 (1993). 285–296.Google Scholar
Wehmiller, J.F., Thieler, E.R., Miller, D., Pellerito, V., Bakeman Keeney, V.R., Riggs, S.R., Culver, S., Mallinson, D., Farrell, K., York, L.L., Pierson, J., and Parham, P. Aminostratigraphy of surface and subsurface Quaternary units, Coastal Plain of North Carolina, USA. Quaternary Geochronology 5, (2010). 459–492.Google Scholar
Wells, J.T., and Kim, S.Y. Sedimentation in the Albemarle–Pamlico lagoonal system: synthesis and hypothesis. Marine Geology 88, (1989). 263–284.Google Scholar
Zong, Y., and Horton, B.P. Diatom-based tidal-level transfer functions as an aid in reconstructing Quaternary history of sea-level movements in Britain. Journal of Quaternary Science 14, (1999). 153–167.Google Scholar