Sedimentary evidence of intense hurricane strikes from New Jersey

Nine Vibracores from the backbarrier marsh at Whale Beach, New Jersey, reve al three large-scale overwash deposits associated with historic and prehist oric storms. The uppermost and smallest overwash fan was deposited in the A sh Wednesday northeaster of March 5-8, 1962, A second more substantial over wash fan between 100 and 35 cm depth dates to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. This fan was most likely deposited during the 1821 hurr icane, the only intense hurricane to make landfall in New jersey in the pas t 350 yr, A third, larger overwash fan between 200 and 300 cm depth was dep osited between A.D. 1278 and 1438 and is likely the result of a prehistoric intense hurricane strike. The combination of historical and stratigraphic evidence indicates that two intense hurricanes (winds > 50 m s(-1)) have li kely made landfall on the southern New Jersey coast in the past 700 yr, res ulting in an annual landfall probability of 0.3%.