Browsing by Author "Costas, S."
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- A 12,000-yr pollen record off Cape Hatteras — Pollen sources and mechanisms of pollen dispersionPublication . Naughton, F.; Keigwin, L.; Peteet, D.; Costas, S.; Desprat, S.; Oliveira, Dulce; de Vernal, A.; H L Voelker, Antje; Abrantes, FatimaIntegrating both marine and terrestrial signals from the same sediment core is one of the primary challenges for understanding the role of ocean-atmosphere coupling throughout past climate changes. It is therefore vital to understand how the pollen signal of a given marine record reflects the vegetation changes of the neighboring continent. The comparison between the pollen record of marine core JPC32 (KNR178JPC32) and available terrestrial pollen sequences from eastern North America over the last 12,170 years indicates that the pollen signature off Cape Hatteras gives an integrated image of the regional vegetation encompassing the Pee Dee river, Chesapeake and Delaware hydrographic basins and is reliable in reconstructing the past climate of the adjacent continent. Extremely high quantities of pollen grains included in the marine sediments off Cape Hatteras were transferred from the continent to the sea, at intervals 10,100-8800 cal yr BP, 8300-7500 cal yr BP, 5800-4300 cal yr BP and 2100-730 cal yr BP, during storm events favored by episodes of rapid sea-level rise in the eastern coast of US. In contrast, pollen grains export was reduced during 12,170-10,150 cal yr BP and 4200-2200 cal yr BP, during episodes of intense continental dryness and slow sea level rise episodes or lowstands in the eastern coast of US. The near absence of reworked pollen grains in core JPC32 contrasts with the high quantity of reworked material in nearby but deeper located marine sites, suggesting that the JPC32 record was not affected by the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) since the end of the Younger Dryas and should be considered a key site for studying past climate changes in the western North Atlantic.
- Assessment of Overwash-induced flooding at two beaches along the Southwest Algarve, PortugalPublication . Kupfer, S.; Ferreira, Oscar; Costas, S.At the Algarve south coast overwash-induced floods are a frequent and destructive phenomenon. In this study return periods for overwash potentials are estimated for two beaches located at the southwest coast of the Algarve (Carvoeiro and Salema) based on runup calculations for the period 1995-2017 after applying two well validated empirical formulations. Results show that overwash potentials are high even for small return periods. Additionally, the suitability of two different indicators (overwash potential and overwash depth) has been tested to represent the flood extent. Results suggest that the flood extent derived from the overwash depth presents several limitations and cannot realistically represent observations, while the flood extent given by the overwash potential (using a simple bathtub approach) fairly represents the overwash-induced flood, even though it can over/underestimate the flood extent for gentle/steep inland slopes. Flood extents derived from the overwash potential, for return periods of 10- and 100-year, show that occupied areas are potentially flooded for both return periods. It is therefore necessary to define appropriate adaptation measures for both beaches, preferably based on detailed risk assessment.
- Coupled ocean and atmospheric changes during Greenland stadial 1 in southwestern EuropePublication . Naughton, F.; Costas, S.; Comes, S. D.; Desprat, S.; Rodrigues, Teresa; Goni, M. F. Sanchez; Renssen, H.; Trigo, R.; Bronk-Ramsey, C.; Oliveira, Dulce; Salgueiro, Emilia; Voelker, Antje H L; Abrantes, FatimaPaleoclimate reconstructions suggest that the complex variability within the Greenland stadial 1 (GS-1) over western Europe was governed by coupled ocean and atmospheric changes. However, few works from the North Atlantic mid-latitudes document both the GS-1 onset and its termination, which are often considered as single abrupt transition events. Here, we present a direct comparison between marine (alkenone-based sea surface temperatures) and terrestrial (pollen) data, at very high resolution (28 years mean), from the southwestern Iberian shelf record D13882. Our results reveal a rather complex climatic period with internally changing conditions. The GS-1 onset (GS-1a: 12890-12720 yr BP) is marked by a progressive cooling and drying GS-1b (12720-12390 yr BP) is the coldest and driest phase; GS-1c (12390-12030 yr BP) is marked by a progressive warming and increase in moisture conditions; GS-1 termination (GS-1d: 12030-11770 yr BP) is marked by rapid switches between cool wet, cold dry and cool wet conditions. Although hydroclimate response was very unsteady throughout the GS-1 and in particular during its termination phase, the persistence of an open temperate and Mediterranean forest in southwestern Iberia during the entire episode suggests that at least some moisture was delivered via the Westerlies. We propose coupled ocean and atmospheric mechanisms to reproduce these scenario. Changes in the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) as well as variations in the North Atlantic sea-ice growth have favoured the displacement of the polar jet stream's latitudinal position and contributed to a complex spatial pattern and strength of the Westerlies across western Europe. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Lagoon water-level oscillations driven by rainfall and wave climatePublication . Gonzalez-Villanueva, R.; Perez-Arlucea, M.; Costas, S.Barrier breaching and subsequent inlet formation represent critical processes that ensure the temporary or permanent connection and transference of water, nutrients, or living organisms between a lagoon and the open sea. Here, we investigate the conditions inducing natural barrier breaching through a 34 months monitoring program of water-level oscillations within a shallow lagoon and the adjacent nearshore, at the Northern coast of the Iberian Peninsula, Louro lagoon. Seven natural openings were identified to have occurred during the three monitored wet seasons, from the 2009 to 2012, (Wet1, Wet2 and Wet3); four in the Wetl, two in the Wet2 and one in. the Wet3. The openings were grouped in three types depending on the observed relation between the lagoon water-level (L-wl), the estimated berm height (B-h) and the water-level at the beach (B-wl): (i) openings by lagoon outflow, which include those characterized by L-wl higher than B-h and lower B-wl; (ii) openings by wave inundation, including those induced by B-wl higher than B-h, and (iii) mixed openings, which result from a combination of the two previous conditions. We observed that L-wl is modulated by the rainfall regime (R-f) and can be explained by the accumulated precipitation. We estimated applying runup equations to obtain B-h and B-wl which depend on the wave climate and tidal level. The inlet lifespan was found to be regulated by the wave climate and rainfall regime; in particular barrier sealing was associated with a sudden increase in wave period and a reduction in precipitation. This work proves that the natural openings could be predicted successfully with support to medium term water-level monitoring programs, which in turn may significantly contribute to strategic decision making for management and conservation purposes.
- The role of climate, marine influence and sedimentation rates in late-Holocene estuarine evolution (SW Portugal)Publication . Costa, Ana Maria; Freitas, Maria da Conceicao; Leira, Manel; Costas, S.; Costa, Pedro J. M.; Andrade, Cesar; Bao, Roberto; Duarte, Joao; Rodrigues, Aurora; Cachao, Mario; Araujo, Ana Cristina; Diniz, Mariana; Arias, PabloEstuaries are sensitive to changes in global to regional sea level, to climate-driven variation in rainfall and to fluvial discharge. In this study, we use source and environmentally sensitive proxies together with radiocarbon dating to examine a 7-m-thick sedimentary record from the Sado estuary accumulated throughout the last 3.6 kyr. The lithofacies, geochemistry and diatom assemblages in the sediments accumulated between 3570 and 3240 cal. BP indicate a mixture between terrestrial and marine sources. The relative contribution of each source varied through time as sedimentation progressed in a low intertidal to high subtidal and low-energy accreting tidal flat. The sedimentation proceeded under a general pattern of drier and higher aridity conditions, punctuated by century-long changes of the rainfall regime that mirror an increase in storminess that affected SW Portugal and Europe. The sediment sequence contains evidence of two periods characterized by downstream displacement of the estuarine/freshwater transitional boundary, dated to 3570-3400 cal. BP and 3300-3240 cal. BP. These are intercalated by one episode where marine influence shifted upstream. All sedimentation episodes developed under high terrestrial sediment delivery to this transitional region, leading to exceptionally high sedimentation rates, independently of the relative expression of terrestrial/marine influences in sediment facies. Our data show that these disturbances are mainly climate-driven and related to variations in rainfall and only secondarily with regional sea-level oscillations. From 3240 cal. BP onwards, an abrupt change in sediment facies is noted, in which the silting estuarine bottom reaches mean sea level and continued accreting until present under prevailing freshwater conditions, the tidal flat changing to an alluvial plain. The environmental modification is accompanied by a pronounced change in sedimentation rate that decreased by two orders of magnitude, reflecting the loss of accommodation space rather than the influence of climate or regional sea-level drivers.
- Towards assessing the resilience of complex coastal systems: examples from Ria Formosa (South Portugal)Publication . Kombiadou, Katerina; Matias, Ana; Carrasco, Rita; Ferreira, Oscar; Costas, S.; Vieira, G.The present paper contributes to assessing the resilience of a complex barrier island environment, namely of the Ria Formosa multi-inlet system in southern Portugal. The long-term morphologic evolution of four study areas during the last 60 years (1947 to 2014) is analysed based on aerial photographs, including the environments of oceanic and backbarrier beaches, dunes and salt marshes. The results show that each study area responded to external drivers (inlet stabilisation works, storms, etc.) differently, evolving in distinct patterns during the study period. All four study areas appear resilient to external pressures and/or forcing conditions, since they are either transforming (Barreta and Culatra islands), or adapting (Cabanas island and Cacela peninsula) or remaining stable at a near-equilibrium state (Tavira island). Based on the analysis of the multi-decadal evolution of the sites, four resilient barrier states are identified, related to the maturity and growth of the barrier. In the next stages, the research will focus on the relation between medium to short-term changes, aiming at understanding the response and feedbacks of the environments to specific drivers of change and relating them to resilience indicators.