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J. Harold Hudson

Publications and source records attributed to J. Harold Hudson.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2021

Climate and the latitudinal limits of subtropical reef development

Climate plays a central role in coral-reef development, especially in marginal environments. The high-latitude reefs of southeast Florida are currently non-accreting, relict systems with low coral cover. This region also did not support the extensive Late Pleistocene reef development observed in many other locations around the world; however, there is evidence of significant reef building in southeast Florida during the Holocene. Using 146 radiometric ages from reefs extending ~ 120 km along Florida’s southeast coast, we test the hypothesis that the latitudinal extent of Holocene reef development in this region was modulated by climatic variability. We demonstrate that although sea-level changes impacted rates of reef accretion and allowed reefs to backstep inshore as new habitats were flooded, sea level was not the ultimate cause of reef demise. Instead, we conclude that climate was the primary driver of the expansion and contraction of Florida’s reefs during the Holocene. Reefs grew to 26.7° N in southeast Florida during the relatively warm, stable climate at the beginning of the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) ~ 10,000 years ago, but subsequent cooling and increased frequency of winter cold fronts were associated with the equatorward contraction of reef building. By ~ 7800 years ago, actively accreting reefs only extended to 26.1° N. Reefs further contracted to 25.8° N after 5800 years ago, and by 3000 years ago reef development had terminated throughout southern Florida (24.5–26.7° N). Modern warming is unlikely to simply reverse this trend, however, because the climate of the Anthropocene will be fundamentally different from the HTM. By increasing the frequency and intensity of both warm and cold extreme-weather events, contemporary climate change will instead amplify conditions inimical to reef development in marginal reef environments such as southern Florida, making them more likely to continue to deteriorate than to resume accretion in the future.

Florida↗
USGS2019

Improving estimates of coral reef construction and erosion with in-situ measurements

The decline in living coral since the 1970s has conspicuously slowed reef construction on a global scale, but the related process of reef erosion is less visible and not often quantified. Here we present new data on the constructional and deconstructional side of the carbonate-budget equation in the Florida Keys, U.S.A. We documented Orbicella spp. calcification rates at four offshore reefs and quantified decadal-scale rates of Orbicella-reef erosion at a mid-shore patch reef. Using Orbicella coral heads fitted with permanent markers in 1998, we measured reef-elevation loss at 28 stations over 17.3 years to estimate a mean erosion rate of -5.5 (± 3.2, SD) mm yr-1. This loss equates to an erosion rate of -8.2 (± 4.8, SD) kg m-2 yr-1 on dead Orbicella colonies, or -6.6 kg m-2 yr-1 when adjusted reef-wide. Calculating net carbonate production using a census-based approach on the same patch reef in 2017, we estimated a reef-wide bioerosion rate of -1.9 (± 2.0, SD) kg m-2 yr-1, and a net carbonate production rate of 0.5 (± 0.3, SD) kg m-2 yr-1. Substituting the erosion rate we estimated with the markers would suggest that net carbonate production at this patch reef was lower and negative, -4.2 kg m-2 yr-1. This divergence could be a function of high erosion rates measured on the tops of Orbicella colonies, which may be preferentially targeted by parrotfish. Nonetheless, our study suggests the need for new field data to improve estimates of reef-structure persistence as coral reefs continue to degrade.

Florida↗
USGS2014

A century of ocean warming on Florida Keys coral reefs: historic in situ observations

There is strong evidence that global climate change over the last several decades has caused shifts in species distributions, species extinctions, and alterations in the functioning of ecosystems. However, because of high variability on short (i.e., diurnal, seasonal, and annual) timescales as well as the recency of a comprehensive instrumental record, it is difficult to detect or provide evidence for long-term, site-specific trends in ocean temperature. Here we analyze five in situ datasets from Florida Keys coral reef habitats, including historic measurements taken by lighthouse keepers, to provide three independent lines of evidence supporting approximately 0.8 °C of warming in sea surface temperature (SST) over the last century. Results indicate that the warming observed in the records between 1878 and 2012 can be fully accounted for by the warming observed in recent decades (from 1975 to 2007), documented using in situ thermographs on a mid-shore patch reef. The magnitude of warming revealed here is similar to that found in other SST datasets from the region and to that observed in global mean surface temperature. The geologic context and significance of recent ocean warming to coral growth and population dynamics are discussed, as is the future prognosis for the Florida reef tract.

Florida↗
USGS2000

Last interglacial reef growth beneath Belize barrier and isolated platform reefs

We report the first radiometric dates (thermal-ionization mass spectrometry) from late Pleistocene reef deposits from offshore Belize, the location of the largest modern reef complex in the Atlantic Ocean. The results presented here can be used to explain significant differences in bathymetry, sedimentary facies, and reef development of this major reef area, and the results are significant because they contribute to the knowledge of the regional geology of the eastern Yucatán. The previously held concept of a neotectonically stable eastern Yucatán is challenged. The dates indicate that Pleistocene reefs and shallow-water limestones, which form the basement of modern reefs in the area, accumulated ca. 125–130 ka. Significant differences in elevation of the samples relative to present sea level (>10 m) have several possible causes. Differential subsidence along a series of continental margin fault blocks in combination with variation in karstification are probably the prime causes. Differential subsidence is presumably related to initial extension and later left-lateral movements along the adjacent active boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates. Increasing dissolution toward the south during Pleistocene sea-level lowstands is probably a consequence of higher precipitation rates in mountainous southern Belize.

Geology↗
USGS1996

The stable oxygen and carbon isotopic record from a coral growing in Florida Bay: a 160 year record of climatic and anthropogenic influence

A 160 year record of skeletal δ 13 C and δ 18 O was examined in a specimen of the coral Solenastrea bournoni growing in Florida Bay. Variations in the δ 18 O of the skeleton can be correlated to changes in salinity while changes in the δ 13 C reflect cycling of organic material within the Bay. Based on the correlation between salinity and skeletal δ 18 O, we have concluded that there has been no long term increase in salinity in this area of Florida Bay over the past 160 years. Using salinity correlations between the various basins obtained from instrumental data, we have been able to extend our interpretations to other parts of Florida Bay reaching similar conclusions. In contrast to current ideas which have focused on changes in Florida Bay water quality over the past 20-yr history of the Bay as causative in its decline, we have determined that changes in water quality in this basin were already set in motion between 1905 and 1912 by the construction of the Florida East Coast Railway from Miami to Key West. The construction of the railway resulted in the restriction of the exchange of water between the Florida reef tract and the Gulf of Mexico causing Florida Bay to become more eutrophic. Evidence of this process is observed in the sudden shift to relatively lower δ 13 C values coincident with railway construction. Natural events also appear to have influenced the water in the Bay. Between 1912 and 1948 frequent hurricanes had the effect of increasing exchange of water between the Bay and reef tract and removing large quantities of organic rich sediments. However, since 1948 the number of hurricanes affecting the area has decreased and the products of the oxidation of organic material have been increasingly retained within the basin promoting the initiation of eutrophic conditions.

Florida↗
USGS1994

Environmental implications of growth rate changes in Montastrea Annularis : Biscayne National Park, Florida

Long-term annual growth rates were determined for 25 Montastrea annularis colonies at eight reef sites in Biscayne National Park, Florida. X-radiographs of slabbed coral cores revealed chronologies that averaged 113.5 years in length with a range of 40 to 242 years. A total of 2,837 annual growth increments were identified and measured. Dating of density bands was verified by visually crossdating fluorescent bands within the coral skeleton. Average accretion rates of individual colonies varied from 5.0 mm·yr −1 in the northernmost sector of the Park to 11.3 mm·yr −1 in the southernmost sector. Long-term growth rates of most corals in this study were greatest prior to about 1950 except for a major, 3–5 year, decline in the growth record of older corals centered around 1878. Waxing and waning coral growth rates are discussed in relation to natural and anthropogenic perturbations that impact this high latitude reef ecosystem. Attention is drawn to nutrients from sewage outfalls as a possible contributing factor to observed growth rate decline since 1950.

Florida↗
USGS1977

Limestone compaction: an enigma

Compression of an undisturbed carbonate sediment core under a pressure of 556 kg/cm 2 produced a “rock” with sedimentary structures similar to typical ancient fine-grained limestones. Surprisingly, shells, foraminifera, and other fossils were not noticeably crushed, which indicates that absence of crushed fossils in ancient limestones can no longer be considered evidence that limestones do not compact.

Geology↗
USGS1977

Pleistocene barrier bar seaward of ooid shoal complex near Miami, Florida

An ooid sand barrier bar of Pleistocene age was deposited along the seaward side of an ooid shoal complex southwest of Miami, Florida. The bar is 35 km long, about 0.8 km wide, elongate parallel with the trend of the ooid shoal complex and perpendicular to channels between individual shoals. A depression 1.6 km wide, interpreted as a back-barrier channel, isolates the bar from the ooid shoals. During sea-level fall and subaerial exposure of the bar, the ooid sand was cemented in place, preventing migration of the barrier. No Holocene analogue of this sand body is recognized, perhaps because of the relative youthfulness of Holocene ooid shoals. This Pleistocene ooid shoal complex, with its reservoir-size barrier bar, may serve as a refined model for exploration in ancient ooid sand belts.

Florida↗
USGS1976

Sclerochronology: a tool for interpreting past environments

X-radiographs of stony coral slabs reveal two types of annual density bands. Detailed studies of these bands in relation to known variations in air temperatures indicate that sclerochronology is a valid tool for documenting time sequences and changing environmental conditions on a coral reef.

Geology↗