HR: 09:40h
AN: PP51A-06 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Paleo-Hurricanes in the North Eastern Pacific (NEP): A Proposal for the Reconstruction and Analysis Based on Proxy Records Covering the Last Millennium
AU: * Sánchez-sesma, J
EM: jsanchez@tlaloc.imta.mx
AF: Instituto Mexicano de Tecnología delAgua, 8532 Paseo Cuahunahuac, Jiutepec, Mor 62550, Mexico
AB: Hurricanes are one of the most destructive natural disasters, causing extensive damage to coastal regions such as the North Eastern Pacific (NEP) each year. Although the prediction of hurricanes has improved greatly in recent years, our understanding of the natural range of hurricane characteristics such as severity and frequency, and the atmospheric controls on hurricanes, is incomplete, in part because of the limited length of the instrumental record. This aspect is especially critical in the NEP where no more than 40 years of reliable records are available. However, knowledge about NEP hurricanes can be greatly augmented with paleoclimatic proxy data from both local and large-scale processes (ENSO, PDO, AMO, etc.). A variety of sources of paleoclimatic proxy data have been used to investigate paleo-hurricanes. One of the most promising sources of paleo-hurricanes data appears to be archived in historical documents. The Spanish Colonial Archives represent a wealth of information with records going back to the late 15th century. Chronicles of Aztec history contain numerous references of climatological disasters as droughts and famines. Other sources of high resolution (annual to monthly) paleo- hurricanes data may be obtained from tree rings and caves. In the NEP changes in isotopic signature can be used to document hurricane events. Rainfall from hurricanes has been found to have a distinct oxygen and hydrogen isotopic signature which can be detected in tree ring, cave, and ostracoda carapaces chemistry. In addition, sources of lower resolution at long time scales are lake and marsh sediments which provide chronologies of the most severe NEP hurricane events. On the other hand, a hypothesis about a possible teleconnection between PDO and NEP hurricanes could be tested with proxy information. A better understanding of the low frequency characteristics of NEP hurricanes and what influences low- frequency changes must come from the development and interpretation of paleo-hurricane records. This proposed project focuses on the reconstruction of paleo-hurricanes. This project addresses hurricanes, forcing factors, teleconnections, reconstructions of hurricane events from historical documents, hurricane chronologies from lake sediments, the potential for documenting hurricane events from tree rings, caves, and lakes and the practical applications of this work. One of the main results of this project will be an international and interdisciplinary research team where the possibility of sharing experiences, plans, procedures and information on this subject will be promoted.
DE: 1615 Biogeochemical cycles, processes, and modeling (0412, 0414, 0793, 4805, 4912)
DE: 1616 Climate variability (1635, 3305, 3309, 4215, 4513)
DE: 1637 Regional climate change
DE: 3344 Paleoclimatology (0473, 4900)
DE: 4920 Dendrochronology
SC: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology [PP]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly