Sedimentary records of coastal storm surges: Evidence of the 1953 North Sea event

Graeme T. Swindles; Jennifer Galloway; Andrew Macumber; Ian Croudace; Andy R. Emery; Claire Woulds; Mark Bateman; Lauren  Parry; Julie M. Jones; Katherine Anne Selby; Greg Rushby; A. J. Baird; Sarah  Woodroffe; Natasha L M Barlow

doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2018.06.013

Sedimentary records of coastal storm surges: Evidence of the 1953 North Sea event

Graeme T. Swindles, Jennifer Galloway, Andrew Macumber, Ian Croudace, Andy R. Emery, Claire Woulds, Mark Bateman, Lauren Parry, Julie M. Jones, Katherine Anne Selby, Greg Rushby, A. J. Baird, Sarah Woodroffe, Natasha L M Barlow

Environment and Geography

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The expression of storm events in the geological record is poorly understood; therefore, stratigraphic investigations of known events are needed. The 1953 North Sea storm surge was the largest natural disaster for countries bordering the southern North Sea during the twentieth century. We characterize the spatial distribution of a sand deposit from the 1953 storm surge in a salt marsh at Holkham, Norfolk (UK). Radionuclide measurements, core scanning x-ray fluorescence (Itrax), and particle size analyses, were used to date and characterise the deposit. The deposit occurs at the onset of detectable 137Cs - coeval with the first testing of nuclear weapons in the early 1950s. The sand layer is derived from material eroded from beach and dunes on the seaward side of the salt marsh. After the depositional event, accumulation of finer-grained silt and clay materials resumed. This work has important implications for understanding the responses of salt marshes to powerful storms and provides a near-modern analogue of storm surge events for calibration of extreme wave events in the geological record.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	262-270
Journal	Marine Geology
Volume	403
Early online date	23 Jun 2018
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2018.06.013
Publication status	Published - Sept 2018

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10.1016/j.margeo.2018.06.013

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Cite this

@article{777de05661f44b579632953effef2255,

title = "Sedimentary records of coastal storm surges: Evidence of the 1953 North Sea event",

abstract = "The expression of storm events in the geological record is poorly understood; therefore, stratigraphic investigations of known events are needed. The 1953 North Sea storm surge was the largest natural disaster for countries bordering the southern North Sea during the twentieth century. We characterize the spatial distribution of a sand deposit from the 1953 storm surge in a salt marsh at Holkham, Norfolk (UK). Radionuclide measurements, core scanning x-ray fluorescence (Itrax), and particle size analyses, were used to date and characterise the deposit. The deposit occurs at the onset of detectable 137Cs - coeval with the first testing of nuclear weapons in the early 1950s. The sand layer is derived from material eroded from beach and dunes on the seaward side of the salt marsh. After the depositional event, accumulation of finer-grained silt and clay materials resumed. This work has important implications for understanding the responses of salt marshes to powerful storms and provides a near-modern analogue of storm surge events for calibration of extreme wave events in the geological record.",

author = "Swindles, {Graeme T.} and Jennifer Galloway and Andrew Macumber and Ian Croudace and Emery, {Andy R.} and Claire Woulds and Mark Bateman and Lauren Parry and Jones, {Julie M.} and Selby, {Katherine Anne} and Greg Rushby and Baird, {A. J.} and Sarah Woodroffe and Barlow, {Natasha L M}",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2018 The Authors. ",

year = "2018",

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doi = "10.1016/j.margeo.2018.06.013",

language = "English",

volume = "403",

pages = "262--270",

journal = "Marine Geology",

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T1 - Sedimentary records of coastal storm surges

T2 - Evidence of the 1953 North Sea event

AU - Swindles, Graeme T.

AU - Galloway, Jennifer

AU - Macumber, Andrew

AU - Croudace, Ian

AU - Emery, Andy R.

AU - Woulds, Claire

AU - Bateman, Mark

AU - Parry, Lauren

AU - Jones, Julie M.

AU - Selby, Katherine Anne

AU - Rushby, Greg

AU - Baird, A. J.

AU - Woodroffe, Sarah

AU - Barlow, Natasha L M

PY - 2018/9

Y1 - 2018/9

N2 - The expression of storm events in the geological record is poorly understood; therefore, stratigraphic investigations of known events are needed. The 1953 North Sea storm surge was the largest natural disaster for countries bordering the southern North Sea during the twentieth century. We characterize the spatial distribution of a sand deposit from the 1953 storm surge in a salt marsh at Holkham, Norfolk (UK). Radionuclide measurements, core scanning x-ray fluorescence (Itrax), and particle size analyses, were used to date and characterise the deposit. The deposit occurs at the onset of detectable 137Cs - coeval with the first testing of nuclear weapons in the early 1950s. The sand layer is derived from material eroded from beach and dunes on the seaward side of the salt marsh. After the depositional event, accumulation of finer-grained silt and clay materials resumed. This work has important implications for understanding the responses of salt marshes to powerful storms and provides a near-modern analogue of storm surge events for calibration of extreme wave events in the geological record.

AB - The expression of storm events in the geological record is poorly understood; therefore, stratigraphic investigations of known events are needed. The 1953 North Sea storm surge was the largest natural disaster for countries bordering the southern North Sea during the twentieth century. We characterize the spatial distribution of a sand deposit from the 1953 storm surge in a salt marsh at Holkham, Norfolk (UK). Radionuclide measurements, core scanning x-ray fluorescence (Itrax), and particle size analyses, were used to date and characterise the deposit. The deposit occurs at the onset of detectable 137Cs - coeval with the first testing of nuclear weapons in the early 1950s. The sand layer is derived from material eroded from beach and dunes on the seaward side of the salt marsh. After the depositional event, accumulation of finer-grained silt and clay materials resumed. This work has important implications for understanding the responses of salt marshes to powerful storms and provides a near-modern analogue of storm surge events for calibration of extreme wave events in the geological record.

U2 - 10.1016/j.margeo.2018.06.013

DO - 10.1016/j.margeo.2018.06.013

M3 - Article

SN - 0025-3227

VL - 403

SP - 262

EP - 270

JO - Marine Geology

JF - Marine Geology

ER -