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Historically unprecedented Northern Gulf of Mexico hurricane activity from 650 to 1250 CE Historically unprecedented Northern Gulf of Mexico hurricane activity from 650 to 1250 CE

Hurricane Michael (2018) was the first Category 5 storm on record to make landfall on the Florida panhandle since at least 1851 CE (Common Era), and it resulted in the loss of 59 lives and $25 billion in damages across the southeastern U.S. This event placed a spotlight on recent intense (exceeding Category 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) hurricane landfalls, prompting...
Authors
Jessica Rodysill, Jeffrey Donnelly, Richard Sullivan, Philip Lane, Michael Toomey, Jonathan Woodruff, Andrea Hawkes, Dana MacDonald, Nicole d’Entremont, Kelly McKeon, Elizabeth Wallace, Peter van Hengstum

Ryder Glacier in northwest Greenland is shielded from warm Atlantic water by a bathymetric sill Ryder Glacier in northwest Greenland is shielded from warm Atlantic water by a bathymetric sill

The processes controlling advance and retreat of outlet glaciers in fjords draining the Greenland Ice Sheet remain poorly known, undermining assessments of their dynamics and associated sea-level rise in a warming climate. Mass loss of the Greenland Ice Sheet has increased six-fold over the last four decades, with discharge and melt from outlet glaciers comprising key components of this...
Authors
Martin Jakobsson, Larry Mayer, Johan Nilsson, Christian Stranne, Brian Calder, Matthew O’Regan, J. Farrell, Thomas Cronin, Volker Bruchert, Julek Chawarski, Bjorn Eriksson, Jonas Fredriksson, Laura Gemery, Anna Glueder, Felicity Holmes, Kevin Jerram, Nina Kirchner, Alan Mix, Julia Muchowski, Abhay Prakash, Brendan Reilly, Brett Thornton, Adam Ulfsbo, Elizabeteh Weidner, Henning Akesson, Tamara Handl, Emelie Stahl, Lee-Gray Boze, Sam Reed, Gabriel West, June Padman

Investigation of suitable habitat for the endangered plant Ptilimnium nodosum (Rose) Mathias (harperella) using remote sensing and field analysis—Documentation of methods and results Investigation of suitable habitat for the endangered plant Ptilimnium nodosum (Rose) Mathias (harperella) using remote sensing and field analysis—Documentation of methods and results

Ptilimnium nodosum (Rose) Mathias (harperella) is an endangered plant species found in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well as in other locations throughout the southeastern United States. The narrow range of habitat characteristics for areas in which harperella has been found makes locating potential occurrence sites difficult and attempts at reintroduction of the plant...
Authors
Jessica DeWitt, Kelsey O’Pry, Peter Chirico, John Young

Geologic and mineral map (modified from the 1975 original map compilation by A.S. Shadchinev and others) and hyperspectral surface materials maps of the Ghorband, Salang, and Panjsher River Basins; Kapisa, Panjsher, Parwan, and Baghlan Provinces, Afghanis Geologic and mineral map (modified from the 1975 original map compilation by A.S. Shadchinev and others) and hyperspectral surface materials maps of the Ghorband, Salang, and Panjsher River Basins; Kapisa, Panjsher, Parwan, and Baghlan Provinces, Afghanis

Introduction The geologic map and cross sections are a redrafted and modified version of the Geologic map and map of mineral resources of the basins of Ghorband, Salang, and Panjsher; located in the Kapisa, Panjsher, Parwan, and Baghlan Provinces, Afghanistan. The original map and cross sections are contained in an unpublished Soviet report no. 1162A (Shadchinev and others, 1975)...

Dendritic reidite from the Chesapeake Bay impact horizon, Ocean Drilling Program Site 1073 (offshore northeastern USA): A fingerprint of distal ejecta? Dendritic reidite from the Chesapeake Bay impact horizon, Ocean Drilling Program Site 1073 (offshore northeastern USA): A fingerprint of distal ejecta?

High-pressure minerals provide records of processes not normally preserved in Earth’s crust. Reidite, a quenchable polymorph of zircon, forms at pressures >20 GPa during shock compression. However, there is no broad consensus among empirical, experimental, and theoretical studies on the nature of the polymorphic transformation. Here we decipher a multistage history of reidite growth...
Authors
Aaron Cavosie, Marc Biren, Kip Hodges, Jo-Anne Wartho, J. Wright Horton,, Christian Koeberl

Memorial to Jack B. Epstein 1935-2020 Memorial to Jack B. Epstein 1935-2020

Jack Burton Epstein, a career geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) passed away in May 2020 at his home in Great Falls, Virginia. His career and contributions to the USGS spanned more than 60 years from his time as a summer field assistant while attending college, through 40 years as a research geologist, and more than 15 years as an emeritus scientist. Jack was born December...
Authors
Randall Orndorff, David Weary, Peter Lyttle

Photoluminescence imaging of whole zircon grains on a petrographic microscope—An underused aide for geochronologic studies Photoluminescence imaging of whole zircon grains on a petrographic microscope—An underused aide for geochronologic studies

The refractory nature of zircon to temperature and pressure allows even a single zircon grain to preserve a rich history of magmatic, metamorphic, and hydrothermal processes. Isotopic dating of micro-domains exposed in cross-sections of zircon grains allows us to interrogate this history. Unfortunately, our ability to select the zircon grains in a heavy mineral concentrate that records...
Authors
Ryan McAleer, Aaron M. Jubb, Paul Hackley, Gregory Walsh, Arthur Merschat, Sean P. Regan, William Burton, Jorge Vazquez

Climate, sea level, and people - Changing South Florida's mangrove coast Climate, sea level, and people - Changing South Florida's mangrove coast

South Florida’s coast is a land of contrasts that appeals to almost everyone, whether they seek out quiet natural environments along the mangrove waterways and in the wilderness of the Everglades or vibrant international culture in Miami. Yet this paradise is threatened by a number of forces – changing climate, rising sea level, and too many people, to name a few. Florida’s past is...
Authors
G. Wingard

High sensitivity of Bering Sea winter sea ice to winter insolation and carbon dioxide over the last 5,500 years High sensitivity of Bering Sea winter sea ice to winter insolation and carbon dioxide over the last 5,500 years

Anomalously low winter sea ice extent and early retreat in CE 2018 and 2019 challenge previous notions that winter sea ice in the Bering Sea has been stable over the instrumental record, although long-term records remain limited. Here, we use a record of peat cellulose oxygen isotopes from St. Matthew Island along with isotope-enabled general circulation model (IsoGSM) simulations to...
Authors
Miriam Jones, Max Berkelhammer, Katherine Keller, Kei Yoshimura, Matthew Wooller

Large stocks of peatland carbon and nitrogen are vulnerable to permafrost thaw Large stocks of peatland carbon and nitrogen are vulnerable to permafrost thaw

Over many millennia, northern peatlands have accumulated large amounts of carbon and nitrogen, thus cooling the global climate. Over shorter timescales, peatland disturbances can trigger losses of peat and release of greenhouses gases. Despite their importance to the global climate, peatlands remain poorly mapped, and the vulnerability of permafrost peatlands to warming is uncertain...
Authors
Gustaf Hugelius, Julie Loisel, Sarah Chadburn, Robert Jackson, Miriam Jones, Glen MacDonald, Maija Marushchak, David Olefeldt, Maara Packalen, Matthias Siewert, Claire Treat, Merritt Turetsky, Carolina Voigt, Zicheng Yu

Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long‐term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA Sediment dynamics and implications for management: State of the science from long‐term research in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, USA

This review aims to synthesize the current knowledge of sediment dynamics using insights from long‐term research conducted in the watershed draining to the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the U.S., to inform management actions to restore the estuary and its watershed. The sediment dynamics of the Chesapeake are typical of many impaired watersheds and estuaries around the world...
Authors
Gregory Noe, Matthew Cashman, Katherine Skalak, Allen Gellis, Kristina Hopkins, Douglas Moyer, James Webber, Adam Benthem, Kelly Maloney, John Brakebill, Andrew Sekellick, Michael Langland, Qian Zhang, Gary Shenk, Jennifer Keisman, Cliff Hupp
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