A record of intense New England hurricanes preserved in kettle ponds near Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts

New England is susceptible to destructive tropical cyclones. Since European settlement, numerous hurricanes have visited the region's now densely populated coast with damaging winds (> 50 meters per second) and large storm surges (> 4 meters). Historical records indicate that though these events are less frequent and often less intense than in the tropical Atlantic, they can generate comparable destruction as they move rapidly out of the lower latitudes. Buzzards Bay is made particularly vulnerable by its south-north orientation and geometry that can magnify hurricane storm surges. Kettle ponds around the Bay preserve these enhanced surge events as detectible sedimentary layers. Sediment cores from Miles Pond and Cedar Lake reveal a record of historical and pre-colonial paleohurricanes affecting the Buzzard's Bay area. Grain size, organic content, x-ray radiographs, x-ray fluorescence geochemical data, and radiocarbon dates were obtained from the cores in order to detect and date hurricane surge layers. High-resolution x-ray fluorescence analyses of the cores yielded geochemical signatures related to regional climate shifts and/or possibly to periods of varying hurricane activity. This record elucidates the region's long-term susceptibility to large storm surges by complementing existing hurricane proxy records and extending the brief observational record.