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Can beach dune ridges of the Texas Gulf Coast preserve climate signals?

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Abstract

A study of the evolution of North Padre Island (southern Texas Gulf Coast) dunes was carried out using LIDAR topographic data, dune vibracores through the center of the dunes, and grab samples of shoreface sand at four locations along a cross-shore profile. Grain-size analyses of the vibracores show vertical variations in shoreface sand deposition over decimeter depth intervals. A dune ridge growth model is introduced that describes the dune vertical accretion rate as a function of island progradation and freshwater lens expansion. This model allows indirect dating of the dune core samples based on a known island progradation rate (1 m/year), and height and spacing of the dunes calculated from the topographic data. A sand provenance model is also proposed that links the sand deposition in the dunes with sand sourced from various depths along the shoreface profile, depending on storm activity. We present evidence linking the changes in storm-sand deposition in the dune cores with yearly climatic fluctuations in the Gulf of Mexico associated with landfalling tropical storm activity in the period from 1942–1965. This record of storm-induced sand variability is negatively correlated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (Pacific) sea surface temperature variability, and positively correlated with North Atlantic decadal sea surface temperature variability.

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Acknowledgements

The beach shoreface data were provided by D. Williams from the Division of Nearshore Research of the Conrad Blucher Institute for Surveying and Science, the LIDAR data by J. Gibeaut of the Harte Research Institute, and the Wadden Sea island dune topographic data by B. Arens. Mustang Island State Park samples were collected with permission of Texas Parks and Wildlife. This study was conducted under Padre Island National Seashore research permits PAIS-2008-SCI-0002 and PAIS-2009-SCI-0001 to J. Garrison. K. Deppe, J. Hardell, and J. Polasek assisted with vibracore acquisition, K. Deppe and E. Weber with grain-size analyses, and R. Hay with LIDAR data analysis. L. Lumb was supported in part by NSF Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology grant #0602783, TAMUCC, and A. Mestas-Nuñez by NSF grant ATM-0631677. Two anonymous reviewers and the journal editors B.W. Flemming and M.T. Delafontaine provided valuable comments. This paper is Contribution No. 1222 from the Department of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Dallas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Lithospheric Studies, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Road, Richardson, TX, 75080, USA

    James R. Garrison Jr.

  2. Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi, TX, 78412, USA

    Alberto M. Mestas-Nuñez & Luz M. Lumb

  3. Coastal Geology Laboratory, Department of Marine Sciences, Texas A&M University at Galveston, 705 Sea Aggie Center, 1001 Texas Clipper Road, Galveston, TX, 77553, USA

    Joshua R. Williams

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  1. James R. Garrison Jr.
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  2. Alberto M. Mestas-Nuñez
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  4. Luz M. Lumb
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Correspondence to James R. Garrison Jr..

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Garrison, J.R., Mestas-Nuñez, A.M., Williams, J.R. et al. Can beach dune ridges of the Texas Gulf Coast preserve climate signals?. Geo-Mar Lett 32, 241–250 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-011-0263-x

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