UNCOVERING THE PALEOCLIMATE AND PALEOPRODUCTIVITY OF A SOUTH TEXAS INCISED BAY AND ESTUARY

Abstract:

Sediment cores collected from the Nueces Estuary, an incised bay/estuary system located in Southern Texas, were used to reconstruct the paleoclimate, salinity and biological productivity in this water body over the last millennium. The sediment cores were analyzed using microfossil analysis, and other non-destructive and destructive methods in order to provide a long-term perspective about the baseline environmental conditions existing for these systems prior to significant human impact. This work documents the natural variability in these systems as related to climatic events such as periods of drought, high precipitation, and runoff.

This work was designed to produce the first, well-dated, high-resolution paleosalinity and paleoproductivity records for the coastal water body mentioned above. Some pre-existing paleo records are available for the system, however, the dating is very limited, or they focus on a significantly different timescale. This work focuses on salinity and biological productivity in this water body as a background to anthropogenic impacts.