Publications by authors named "Andrew C Kemp"

Article Synopsis
  • Sediment cores from Staten Island’s salt marsh reveal multiple historical oil spills that negatively affect ecological health.
  • A bioassay indicated moderate to high levels of toxicity, with spikes in total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and PAH coinciding with known oil spills.
  • High levels of specific metals were found in the sediment, exceeding safety guidelines, which could harm sensitive organisms; thus, careful management of the sediment is advised to prevent the release of harmful contaminants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Identifying the causes of historical trends in relative sea level-the height of the sea surface relative to Earth's crust-is a prerequisite for predicting future changes. Rates of change along the eastern coast of the USA (the US East Coast) during the past century were spatially variable, and relative sea level rose faster along the Mid-Atlantic Bight than along the South Atlantic Bight and the Gulf of Maine. Past studies suggest that Earth's ongoing response to the last deglaciation, surface redistribution of ice and water and changes in ocean circulation contributed considerably to this large-scale spatial pattern.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Identifying physical processes responsible for historical coastal sea-level changes is important for anticipating future impacts. Recent studies sought to understand the drivers of interannual to multidecadal sea-level changes on the United States Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Ocean dynamics, terrestrial water storage, vertical land motion, and melting of land ice were highlighted as important mechanisms of sea-level change along this densely populated coast on these time scales.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

To thrive in a time of rapid sea-level rise, tidal marshes will need to migrate upslope into adjacent uplands. Yet little is known about the mechanics of this process, especially in urbanized estuaries, where the adjacent upland is likely to be a mowed lawn rather than a wooded natural area. We studied marsh migration in a Long Island Sound salt marsh using detailed hydrologic, edaphic, and biotic sampling along marsh-to-upland transects in both wooded and lawn environments.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We assess the relationship between temperature and global sea-level (GSL) variability over the Common Era through a statistical metaanalysis of proxy relative sea-level reconstructions and tide-gauge data. GSL rose at 0.1 ± 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In a changing climate, future inundation of the United States' Atlantic coast will depend on both storm surges during tropical cyclones and the rising relative sea levels on which those surges occur. However, the observational record of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic basin is too short (A.D.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We present new sea-level reconstructions for the past 2100 y based on salt-marsh sedimentary sequences from the US Atlantic coast. The data from North Carolina reveal four phases of persistent sea-level change after correction for glacial isostatic adjustment. Sea level was stable from at least BC 100 until AD 950.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF