Caribbean Blue Holes

Example Project: Caribbean Blue Holes

Dalio Foundation sponsored ACGL for the collection of sediment cores in the Caribbean Sea. In collaboration with WHOI, Texas A&M Galveston, and the University of North Carolina Wilmington, the research aimed to develop paleo-storm records from sediment cores in Caribbean blue holes. Paleo-storm records from blue holes have the potential to preserve high-resolution records of environmental change that go back thousands of years. The M/V Alucia collected over 300 m of sediment cores during the summer of 2016 field work. These records elucidate whether recent increase in hurricane activity are anomalous in the geologic record. They also aid in accurate risk assessments for the future.

RESEARCH AT TURTLE POND BLUE HOLE

Chris Maio, from Alaska, attempted to find shade from the scorching Caribbean sun under the umbrella while lowering the coring system through the M/V Alucia‘s A-frame in Honduras

C. Maio and R. Sullivan retrieved a core containing a record of ancient hurricane activity in Lane’s Delight Blue Hole in the Bahamas.   The 12 m core spanned from the upper right of the photo with Maio holding the bottom of the core barrel to the bottom left of the photo with Sullivan’s line going into the water.