Research Interests/Expertise
- Coastal Geology and Geomorphology (e.g., barrier island evolution, estuarine dynamics, shoreline dynamics)
- Paleotempestology (Proxy records of storm events - my focus is in sediments and trees )
- Geochronology (Developing accurate age models in sediment using Pb-210, Cs-137, Be-7 and C-14)
- Paleochronology (Using both dendrological and sedimentological records to develop accurate age models of events)
- Sedimentology
- Paleoclimatology
- Environmental Geology
Current Projects
Multi-Proxy Records of Tropical Cyclone Activity - Northern Gulf of Mexico
This project involves the testing and calibration of sediment and dendrologic paleotempestite proxies, including the use of isotopic analysis of long-lived tree species, to develop millennial length, high-resolution multi-proxy records of tropical cyclone frequency and intensity throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. This project is highly collaborative and involves the research expertise of my collaborators Dr. Clay Tucker (UA Geography), Dr. Jesse Pearl (USGS) and Josh Bregy (Ph.D. Candidate, USIC).
Building Coastal Resiliency through Paleorecords of Ecosystem Response to Extreme Events
This work is being conducted in collaboration with researchers across UA departments and at multiple institutions, including Dr. Lisa Davis (UA Geography), Dr. Rebecca Minzoni (UA Geological Sciences), Dr. Matthew Waters (Auburn), and Dr. Davin Wallace (USM). This collaborative project focuses on understanding paleo-tropical cyclone and flood records throughout the Southeastern United States. We seek to combine marine and terrestrial records of storms, floods and anthropogenic influence to better understand the impact these have on estuarine ecosystems, specifically ecosystem disturbances (i.e., HABs, salinity changes) throughout the Holocene.
Offshore Sediment Resources - BOEM Project
Collaborative work with Dr. Rebecca Minzoni and Dr. Davin Wallace on a funded research project through the Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM) to use microfossil assemblage analysis in support of the Mississippi offshore sediment resources inventory.
Streamflow Reconstructions throughout the Southeastern U.S.
In this work, funded by both NSF and EPA, collaborators Dr. Matthew Therrell (UA Geography), Dr. Glenn Tootle (UA Engineering - CCE), Dr. Clay Tucker and myself are developing high-resolution tree-ring reconstructions of long-term (~500–1000 yr) streamflow variability throughout the Southeast U.S. This work will be integrated into predictive streamflow models for the region, enhancing our understanding of past, present, and future streamflow variability and the role of regional and large-scale climate forces. This project will provide highly relevant findings that can be usefully applied in the management and policy arena. By characterizing past and present streamflow conditions and forecasting future risk of water scarcity and extreme events in Southeast U.S. watersheds, this project is set to advance knowledge of how to protect and sustain riparian zones, coastal watersheds and surrounding lands.
Publications
Therrell, M.D., Elliott, E.A., Meko, M.D., Bregy, J.C., Tucker, C.S., Harley, G.L., Maxwell, J.T. and Tootle, G.A., (2020), Streamflow Variability Indicated by False Rings in Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.). Forests, 11(10), 1100.
Minzoni, R.T., Parker, L., Wallace, D.J., Lambert, J.W., Elliott, E.A., Andrus, C.F.T., Lehrmann, A.A., (2020), Evaluating natural and anthropogenic nutrients in a protected coastal estuary: A 7,000-year record of floods and ecological feedbacks in Weeks Bay, Alabama, USA. Science of the Total Environment, 140052. Sadeghi, S., Tootle, G., Elliott, E.A., Lakshmi, V., Therrell, M.D., Kalra, A., (2019), Impacts of the 2015-2016 El Niño on Coastal Alabama – Mississippi Agriculture, Hydrology, 6(4): 96. Sadeghi, S., Tootle, G., Elliott, E.A., Lakshmi, V., Therrell, M., Kam, J., Bearden, B., (2019), Atlantic Ocean Sea Surface Temperatures and Southeast United States Streamflow Variability: Associations with the Recent Multi-decadal Decline. Journal of Hydrology. 576:422-429. Elliott, E.A., Monbureau, E., Walters, G.W., Elliott, M.A., McKee, B.A., Rodriguez, A.B., (2017), A novel method for sampling the suspended sediment load in the estuarine environment using bi-directional Time-Integrated Mass-Flux Sediment (TIMS) samplers. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science. 199: 14-24 Elliott, E.A., McKee, B.A., Rodriguez, A.B. (2015). The utility of estuarine settling basins for constructing multi-decadal, high-resolution records of sedimentation. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science. 164: 105-114 Timmons, E.A., Rodriguez, A.B., Mattheus, C.R., and DeWitt, R. (2010). Transition of a regressive to a transgressive barrier island as a function of back-barrier erosion, climate change, and low sediment supply, Bogue Banks, North Carolina, USA. Marine Geology. 278: 100-114. Timmons, E.A., Fisher, T.G., Hansen, E.C., Eisaman, E., and Daly, T. (2007). Elucidating aeolian dune history from lacustrine sand records in the Lake Michigan coastal zone USA. The Holocene. 17 (6): 789-801. |
Selected Presentations
2019
“Legacy of the Storm: Paleo-perspective on tropical cyclone activity along the northern Gulf of Mexico region and associated impacts on ecosystem health”. December 13, 2019, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
“Stirring things up: Estuarine sediment dynamics during non-equilibrium conditions”. November 7, 2019, 25th Biennial Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation Conference, Mobile, Alabama.
“Hurricanes and Coastal Response: Building a Longer History of Storms and Associated Ecosystem Response for the Alabama and Mississippi Coasts”. September 5, 2019, Alabama Water Resources Conference and Symposium, Orange Beach, Alabama.
“Stirring things up: Estuarine sediment dynamics during non-equilibrium conditions”. November 7, 2019, 25th Biennial Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation Conference, Mobile, Alabama.
“Hurricanes and Coastal Response: Building a Longer History of Storms and Associated Ecosystem Response for the Alabama and Mississippi Coasts”. September 5, 2019, Alabama Water Resources Conference and Symposium, Orange Beach, Alabama.
2018
“Panel Discussion: Past, Present and Future SE US Streamflow”. September 6, 2018, Alabama Water Resources Conference and Symposium, Orange Beach, Alabama.
2017
“Estuarine facies model revisited: Conceptual model of estuarine sediment dynamics during non-equilibrium conditions”. December 12, 2017, 2017 American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana.
“Going with the Flow: A novel, inexpensive method for collection of suspended sediment in the coastal environment”. September 9, 2017, Alabama Water Resources Conference, Orange Beach, Alabama.
“Understanding estuarine ravinement processes at monthly to decadal timescales through high-resolution geochronologies”. April 5, 2017, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention, Houston, Texas.
“Going with the Flow: A novel, inexpensive method for collection of suspended sediment in the coastal environment”. September 9, 2017, Alabama Water Resources Conference, Orange Beach, Alabama.
“Understanding estuarine ravinement processes at monthly to decadal timescales through high-resolution geochronologies”. April 5, 2017, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Annual Convention, Houston, Texas.
2016 and earlier
“Estuarine sedimentation 210Pb and age models in a changing world – The right fit makes all the difference”. November 2, 2015, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland.
“Utilizing small coastal mini-basins for multi-decadal, high-resolution estuarine geochronologies”. December 15-19, 2014, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.
“New method of suspended sediment flux collection in the estuarine environment using bi-directional time-integrated mass-flux samplers (TIMs)”. December 15-19, 2014, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.
“Assessing coastal estuarine sediment erosion through basin sedimentation: Cape Lookout Bight, NC”. November 5, 2012, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Shifting Sands – Exploring Coastal Sediment Erosion and Transport in a Changing World”. December 2, 2011, Hope College Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Invited Speaker, Holland, Michigan.
“Skinny Beaches: Understanding Barrier Development and Erosion in North Carolina”. April 6, 2011, UNC Graduate Education Advancement Board Impact Award Research Poster Presentation, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
“Transitioning from a regressive to transgressive barrier: discussing threshold response and the mechanisms of change”, November 2, 2010, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.
“Barrier transition from regressive to transgressive with decelerating sea-level rise, Bogue Banks, North Carolina”, December 16, 2009, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.
“Underlying paleochannels facilitate barrier progradation: Bogue Banks, North Carolina”, October 5, 2008, Joint Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Houston, Texas.
“Geomorphic history of a dune complex along the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan”, May 28 – June 1, 2007, International Association for Great Lakes Research Conference, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania. Abstract published in International Association for Great Lakes Research Conference on Great Lakes Research Book of Abstracts 195.
“Using sediments from small dune lakes to reconstruct the history of Lake Michigan coastal dune complexes”, May 2006, Council for Undergraduate Research Posters on the Hill, Washington D.C.
“Chronology of Eolian activity in a coastal dune complex near Holland, Michigan” March 7-11, 2006, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Chicago, Illinois.
“The record of Eolian activity in the sediments from a small lake within a coastal dune complex, southeastern shore of Lake Michigan”, May 19-20, 2005, 39th Annual Meeting of North-Central Section of The Geological Society of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“The record of dune growth and migration preserved in small lakes within a Lake Michigan coastal dune complex”, October 16-19, 2005, Annual Meeting of Geological Society of America, Salt Lake City, Utah. Abstract published in Abstracts with Programs: The Geological Society of America 2005 Annual Meeting and Exposition 462
“Utilizing small coastal mini-basins for multi-decadal, high-resolution estuarine geochronologies”. December 15-19, 2014, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.
“New method of suspended sediment flux collection in the estuarine environment using bi-directional time-integrated mass-flux samplers (TIMs)”. December 15-19, 2014, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.
“Assessing coastal estuarine sediment erosion through basin sedimentation: Cape Lookout Bight, NC”. November 5, 2012, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Shifting Sands – Exploring Coastal Sediment Erosion and Transport in a Changing World”. December 2, 2011, Hope College Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Invited Speaker, Holland, Michigan.
“Skinny Beaches: Understanding Barrier Development and Erosion in North Carolina”. April 6, 2011, UNC Graduate Education Advancement Board Impact Award Research Poster Presentation, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
“Transitioning from a regressive to transgressive barrier: discussing threshold response and the mechanisms of change”, November 2, 2010, Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.
“Barrier transition from regressive to transgressive with decelerating sea-level rise, Bogue Banks, North Carolina”, December 16, 2009, American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.
“Underlying paleochannels facilitate barrier progradation: Bogue Banks, North Carolina”, October 5, 2008, Joint Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Houston, Texas.
“Geomorphic history of a dune complex along the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan”, May 28 – June 1, 2007, International Association for Great Lakes Research Conference, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania. Abstract published in International Association for Great Lakes Research Conference on Great Lakes Research Book of Abstracts 195.
“Using sediments from small dune lakes to reconstruct the history of Lake Michigan coastal dune complexes”, May 2006, Council for Undergraduate Research Posters on the Hill, Washington D.C.
“Chronology of Eolian activity in a coastal dune complex near Holland, Michigan” March 7-11, 2006, Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Chicago, Illinois.
“The record of Eolian activity in the sediments from a small lake within a coastal dune complex, southeastern shore of Lake Michigan”, May 19-20, 2005, 39th Annual Meeting of North-Central Section of The Geological Society of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“The record of dune growth and migration preserved in small lakes within a Lake Michigan coastal dune complex”, October 16-19, 2005, Annual Meeting of Geological Society of America, Salt Lake City, Utah. Abstract published in Abstracts with Programs: The Geological Society of America 2005 Annual Meeting and Exposition 462