HR: 0800h
AN: PP21C-1597    [Abstracts]
TI: Reconstruction of Major Hurricane Activity
AU: * Nyberg, J
EM: johan.nyberg@sgu.se
AF: Geological Survey of Sweden, Box 670, Uppsala, SE-751 28 Sweden
AU: Winter, A
EM: awinter@ucsd.edu
AF: Department of Marine Sciences, University of Puerto Rico, P.O. Box 9013, Mayaguez, PR 00681-9 Puerto Rico
AU: Malmgren, B A
EM: bjorn-malmgren@marine-geology.gu.se
AF: Department of Earth Sciences-Marine Geology, Goteborg University, Box 460, Goteborg, SE- 405 30 Sweden
AB: We present here a record of Atlantic major hurricane activity back to the early 18th century. We use a reconstruction technique based on the two principle factors that control the formation of major hurricanes: 1) the magnitudes of the vertical wind shear and, 2) sea-surface temperatures in the tropical and subtropical North Atlantic. The vertical wind shear is derived from luminescence in hermatypic corals and abundance of a planktonic foraminifer species. The sea-surface temperatures are derived from a multiproxy network. Our reconstruction correlates significantly with the reliable observed record back to 1944 and reveals five periods averaging 3-5 major hurricanes per year and lasting 40-60 years, and six other averaging 1.5-2.5 major hurricanes per year and lasting 10-20 years. These periods are associated with the Atlantic multi-decadal oscillation. Throughout, a decadal oscillation related to solar irradiance was responsible for enhancing/dampening the number of major hurricanes by 1-2 per year.
DE: 4999 General or miscellaneous
SC: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology [PP]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005