North Carolina Coastline Research Articles

‘Candidatus Mellornella promiscua’ n. gen. n. sp. (Alphaproteobacteria: Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae): An intracytoplasmic, hepatopancreatic, pathogen of the flatback mud crab, Eurypanopeus depressus

Bacterial pathogens are a long-standing threat to the longevity and survival of crustacean hosts. Their presence and continuing emergence require close monitoring to understand their impact on fished, cultured, and wild crustacean populations. We describe a new bacterial pathogen belonging to the Anaplasmataceae family (Alphaproteobacteria: Rickettsiales), providing pathological, ultrastructural, phylogenetic, and genomic evidence to determine a candidate genus and species (‘Candidatus Mellornella promiscua’). This bacterium was found to infect the mud crab, Eurypanopeus depressus, on the North Carolina coastline (USA) at a prevalence of 10.8%.‘Candidatus Mellornella promiscua’ was often observed in co-infection with the rhizocephalan barnacle, Loxothylacus panopaei. The bacterium was only found in the hepatopancreas of the mud crab host, causing cytoplasmic hypertrophy, tubule necrosis, large plaques within the cytoplasm of the host cell, and an abundance of sex-pili. The circular genome of the bacterium is 1,013,119 bp and encodes 939 genes in total. Phylogenetically, the new bacterium branches within the Anaplasmataceae. The genome is dissimilar from other described bacteria, with 16S gene similarity observed at a maximum of 85.3% to a Wolbachia endosymbiont.We explore this novel bacterial pathogen using genomic, phylogenetic, ultrastructural, and pathological methods, discussing these results in light of current bacterial taxonomy, similarity to other bacterial pathogens, and the potential impact upon the surrounding disease ecology of the host and benthic ecosystem.

The amenity costs of offshore wind farms: Evidence from a choice experiment

We conduct a choice-experiment with individuals that recently rented a vacation property along the North Carolina coastline to assess the impacts of a utility-scale wind farm on their rental decisions. Visualizations were presented to survey respondents that varied both the number of turbines and their proximity to shore. Results indicate that there is not a scenario for which respondents would be willing to pay more to rent a home with turbines in view, as compared to the baseline view with no turbines in sight. Further, there is a substantial portion of the survey population that would change their vacation destination if wind farms were placed within visual range of the beach. The rental discounts required to attract the segment of the survey population most amenable to viewing wind farms still indicate that rental value losses of up to 10% are possible if a utility-scale wind farm is placed within 8 miles of shore.

Variability in Coastal Flooding predictions due to forecast errors during Hurricane Arthur

Storm surge prediction models rely on an accurate representation of the wind conditions. In this paper, we examine the sensitivity of surge predictions to forecast uncertainties in the track and strength of a storm (storm strength is quantified by the power dissipation of the associated wind field). This analysis is performed using Hurricane Arthur (2014), a Category 2 hurricane, which made landfall along the North Carolina (NC) coast in early July 2014. Hindcast simulations of a coupled hydrodynamic-wave model are performed on a large unstructured mesh to analyze the surge impact of Arthur along the NC coastline. The effects of Arthur are best represented by a post-storm data assimilated wind product with parametric vortex winds providing a close approximation. Surge predictions driven by forecast advisories issued by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) during Arthur are analyzed. The storm track predictions from the NHC improve over time. However, successive advisories predict an unrealistic increase in the storm's strength. Due to these forecast errors, the global root mean square errors of the predicted wind speeds and water levels increase as the storm approaches landfall. The relative impacts of the track and strength errors on the surge predictions are assessed by replacing forecast storm parameters with the best known post-storm information about Arthur. In a “constant track” analysis, Arthur's post storm determined track is used in place of the track predictions of the different advisories but each advisory retains its size and intensity predictions. In a “constant storm strength” analysis, forecast wind and pressure parameters are replaced by corresponding parameters extracted from the post storm analysis while each advisory retains its forecast storm track. We observe a strong correlation between the forecast errors and the wind speed predictions. However, the correlation between these errors and the forecast water levels is weak signifying a non-linear response of the shallow coastal waters to meteorological forcing.

Influence of Bulk Microphysics Schemes upon Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Version 3.6.1 Nor'easter Simulations.

This study evaluated the impact of five, single- or double- moment bulk microphysics schemes (BMPSs) on Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) simulations of seven, intense winter time cyclones impacting the Mid-Atlantic United States. Five-day long WRF simulations were initialized roughly 24 hours prior to the onset of coastal cyclogenesis off the North Carolina coastline. In all, 35 model simulations (5 BMPSs and seven cases) were run and their associated microphysics-related storm properties (hydrometer mixing ratios, precipitation, and radar reflectivity) were evaluated against model analysis and available gridded radar and ground-based precipitation products. Inter-BMPS comparisons of column-integrated mixing ratios and mixing ratio profiles reveal little variability in non-frozen hydrometeor species due to their shared programming heritage, yet their assumptions concerning snow and graupel intercepts, ice supersaturation, snow and graupel density maps, and terminal velocities lead to considerable variability in both simulated frozen hydrometeor species and radar reflectivity. WRF-simulated precipitation fields exhibit minor spatio-temporal variability amongst BMPSs, yet their spatial extent is largely conserved. Compared to ground-based precipitation data, WRF-simulations demonstrate low-to-moderate (0.217-0.414) threat scores and a rainfall distribution shifted toward higher values. Finally, an analysis of WRF and gridded radar reflectivity data via contoured frequency with altitude (CFAD) diagrams reveals notable variability amongst BMPSs, where better performing schemes favored lower graupel mixing ratios and better underlying aggregation assumptions.

The Political Ecology of Small-Scale Commercial Fishermen in Carteret County, North Carolina

Fishing communities along North Carolina's coastline struggle to maintain a viable fishing industry. No one points to any one thing contributing to the decline of the fishing industry, but to a collection of events and conditions that make it impossible for local commercial fishermen to sustain a livelihood. Drawing on the theoretical orientation of political ecology, we engaged in ethnographic research during the summer of 2006 in Carteret County. We interviewed fishermen, fish dealers, consumers, and restaurant owners to learn more about the political economy of the environment and the shared waters and fish. We learned from the research that regulations are in place that protect the waters and impose limits on who can fish when and the catch limits, but less protection is available for the fishermen and their families, who for many generations made their living by working in the fishing industry.

Long‐distance pine pollen still germinates after meso‐scale dispersal

Viability of long-distance pollen links ecological models to the genetic structure of forest tree populations, determining how forests will adapt to climate change and how far genes flow from genetically modified (GM) pine plantations. Addressing this landscape-scale inquiry is feasible when the pollen source, the delivery system, and the receiver field can be made explicit. To this end, I measured long-distance pollen germination along a 160-km transect along the North Carolina coastline, including 45000 ha of mature Pinus taeda plantations and barrier islands. Using this system, I tested three hypotheses: (1) pine pollen germinates after dispersal on meso-scale distances, (2) sodium chloride exposure reduces germination of pollen captured over open saltwater, and (3) viable pine pollen is present at high altitudes before local peak pollen shed. The experimental findings are as follows: pine pollen had germination rates of 2 to 57% after dispersal at distances from 3 to 41 km, sodium chloride solutions mildly reduced P. taeda pollen germination, and viable pine pollen grains were captured at an altitude of 610 m. GM pine plantings thus have a potential to disperse viable pollen at least 41 km from the source. Wind and rainfall, as integral parts of regional atmospheric systems, together exert a powerful influence on the genetic structure of forest tree populations.

Holocene sea-level changes along the North Carolina Coastline and their implications for glacial isostatic adjustment models

We have synthesized new and existing relative sea-level (RSL) data to produce a quality-controlled, spatially comprehensive database from the North Carolina coastline. The RSL database consists of 54 sea-level index points that are quantitatively related to an appropriate tide level and assigned an error estimate, and a further 33 limiting dates that confine the maximum and minimum elevations of RSL. The temporal distribution of the index points is very uneven with only five index points older than 4000 cal a BP, but the form of the Holocene sea-level trend is constrained by both terrestrial and marine limiting dates. The data illustrate RSL rapidly rising during the early and mid Holocene from an observed elevation of −35.7 ± 1.1 m MSL at 11062–10576 cal a BP to −4.2 m ± 0.4 m MSL at 4240–3592 cal a BP. We restricted comparisons between observations and predictions from the ICE-5G(VM2) with rotational feedback Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) model to the Late Holocene RSL (last 4000 cal a BP) because of the wealth of sea-level data during this time interval. The ICE-5G(VM2) model predicts significant spatial variations in RSL across North Carolina, thus we subdivided the observations into two regions. The model forecasts an increase in the rate of sea-level rise in Region 1 (Albemarle, Currituck, Roanoke, Croatan, and northern Pamlico sounds) compared to Region 2 (southern Pamlico, Core and Bogue sounds, and farther south to Wilmington). The observations show Late Holocene sea-level rising at 1.14 ± 0.03 mm year −1 and 0.82 ± 0.02 mm year −1 in Regions 1 and 2, respectively. The ICE-5G(VM2) predictions capture the general temporal trend of the observations, although there is an apparent misfit for index points older than 2000 cal a BP. It is presently unknown whether these misfits are caused by possible tectonic uplift associated with the mid-Carolina Platform High or a flaw in the GIA model. A comparison of local tide gauge data with the Late Holocene RSL trends from Regions 1 and 2 support the spatial variation in RSL across North Carolina, and imply an additional increase of mean sea level of greater than 2 mm year −1 during the latter half of the 20th century; this is in general agreement with historical tide gauge and satellite altimetry data.

Volumetric Analysis of Overwash Fans Resulting from Tropical Storms on North Hatteras Island, North Carolina

In 1999, Hurricanes Dennis, Floyd, and Irene affected the North Carolina coastline. Although none of these storms made landfall north of Cape Hatteras, the northern Hatteras Island shoreline suffered severe beach erosion and widespread overwash. The volume of three overwash fans located within a 3.75 km section of shoreline in Rodanthe was determined by measuring depth of deposition at selected locations on the fans. Fan area was determined from measurements taken from aerial photographs. The depths of deposition on the fans ranged from 0.2-1.2m, and 30-50m3 per meter length of fan were deposited at the sites. The volumes deposited exceed the amounts recorded during previous storms at locations along the U.S. East Coast. Subaerial sedimentation on barrier islands depends on high magnitude/low frequency events because their higher storm surge and wave heights produce dune breaching. Overwash is not widespread during lower magnitude storms because the water levels are not high enough to result in flow across the barrier. The total volume of overwash on North Hatteras Island was estimated from fan areas measured on aerial photographs in conjunction with the average depth of deposition measured on the Rodanthe fans. The total amount of sediment deposited was estimated to be 48 m3 per meter of fan length. Comparing these overwash volumes to amounts deposited by wind on the barrier island north of Hatteras Island shows that, on an annual basis, overwash far exceeds wind as a mechanism for transferring sediment inland. However, an extrapolation over a longer period to accommodate for temporal variations reveals that the volumes of sediment transferred by overwash and by wind are nearly balanced.

Surface Observations of Landfalling Hurricane Rainbands

Abstract This study examines the rainband-scale fluctuations of various meteorological parameters for Hurricanes Bonnie (1998) and Dennis (1999). Hurricane rainbands, identified by Next Generation Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (NEXRAD WSR-88D) data, are examined shortly after making landfall on the North Carolina coastline. Additionally, Wind Engineering Mobile Instrumented Tower Experiment (WEMITE) data are exploited to provide a unique look into the surface structure of the captured rainbands. The observed meteorological data suggest equivalent potential temperature minima and decreasing hurricane-relative inflow to be commonly associated with intensifying or mature landfalling hurricane rainbands. Available vertical thermodynamic profiles suggest the source of the lower equivalent potential temperature air to range anywhere from 750 to 869 m above the surface, assuming no entrainment. Additionally, no discernable trend in wind speed is found to accompany the rainband’s passage.

Utilizing DEMs derived from LIDAR data to analyze morphologic change in the North Carolina coastline

By using digital elevation model (DEM) data derived from light detection and ranging (LIDAR) data, an approximately 70-km stretch of the southern North Carolina coastline was studied. The coastline consists of five barrier islands located between Masonboro Island at the southern extent and Topsail Island at the northern extent. The high-resolution DEM data allowed for a comprehensive visual/quantitative investigation into the spatial patterns of morphologic change that occurred to the barrier islands' oceanfront beaches between 1997 and 2000. This study also demonstrated the usefulness of using laser altimetry to examine barrier islands' response to level of tropical activity, and showed that the coastal process of overwash was recognized as an integral component of barrier island landward migration. Means of net volumetric change per unit area (m 3/m 2) for study areas of different beach management practices, characterized as developed, undeveloped, and nourished beaches on a yearly basis for the period between 1997 and 2000 were derived. t-Test of the means has been conducted, and results showed that beaches differed statistically if different management practices were applied to them, and the differences were minimized or disappeared if sequential hurricanes or storms affected the beaches.

The Waterman's Song: Slavery and Freedom in Maritime North Carolina

This is not a run-of-the-mill, parochial, local study. Because North Carolina's African American community was connected so intimately to the Atlantic world, David S. Cecel-ski necessarily frames his study in ways that extend far beyond the North Carolina coastline. That Cecelski does so admirably makes this a fine book, refreshing in its scope even as it attends wonderfully to the details of local life. Cecelski sees his study as contributing toward a new scholarship that looks at slave labor and social life outside of the traditional venue of the southern cotton plantation, examining instead “the complex and important roles played by black watermen and sailors in the Atlantic maritime world.” Free and slave black laborers were integral to antebellum North Carolina's maritime economy and society, and they held a bewil-dering array of jobs. Slaves piloted vessels, fished waters, and guided tobacco from foothills to port. Black maritime life was characterized by its fluidity and complexity, which affected race relations and degrees of slave in dependence and, most important, linked black watermen to the political currents of the Atlantic world. These connections were important in shaping slave political culture, helping them escape during the antebellum period, and they were critical to Union military success during the Civil War.

Environmental Amenities as a Source of Market Power

Site-specific environmental amenities can provide a source of product-differentiating market power. Using estimates from hedonic-price equations and residual-demand models, our analysis recovers firm-specific estimates of price markups as measures of market power, and uses these markups to estimate the implied marginal value for access to coastal beaches. The application involves rental price and occupancy data for several thousand beach properties along a portion of the North Carolina coastline during the 1987 to 1992 rental seasons.

Potential for large-scale submarine slope failure and tsunami generation along the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast

The outer continental shelf off southern Virginia and North Carolina might be in the initial stages of large-scale slope failure. A system of en echelon cracks, resembling small-offset normal faults, has been discovered along the outer shelf edge. Swath bathymetric data indicate that about 50 m of down-to-the-east (basinward) normal slip has occurred on these features. From a societal perspective, we need to evaluate the degree of tsunami hazard that might be posed by a major submarine landslide, such as the nearby late Pleistocene Albemarle-Currituck slide, if it nucleated on the newly discovered crack system. Toward this goal, a tsunami scenario is constructed for the nearby coastal zone based on the estimated volume and nature of the potential slide. Although a maximum tsunami height of a few to several meters is predicted, the actual extent of flooding would depend on the tidal state at the time of tsunami arrival as well as the details of the hinterland topography. The Virginia–North Carolina coastline and lower Chesapeake Bay would be most at risk, being nearby, low lying, and in a direction opposite to potential slide motion.

Environmental Amenities as Sources For Product Differentiation and Market Power

This paper evaluates the importance of site-specific environmental amenities as a source of product differentiating market power. Using estimates from hedonic price equations and residual demand models, the analysis recovers firm-specific estimates of price markup and estimates of the marginal willingness to pay for access to coastal beaches. The application used in the analysis involves rental price and occupancy data for several thousand beach properties along a portion of the North Carolina coastline during the 1987 to 1992 rental seasons.

Seastroke: a new entity?

Three previously healthy young male patients had brain stem infarction (stroke) after swimming or wading in shallow water along the southeastern North Carolina coastline. Each patient remembered an unusual encounter with something in the water. None sustained any obvious local envenomation. Although these cases may be a highly unusual coincidence, I believe they represent a previously unidentified entity--"seastroke." I speculate that the injuries could be caused by contact with a toxic marine animal.

Sealevel changes associated with hurricane “Gloria”

Abstract Gloria was a fast-moving, intense hurricane that grazed the North Carolina coastline in September, 1985. The resulting storm surge was measured remotely using a telephone-linked wave data system as well as a local tide gage. The surge was hindcast using the model of Jelesnianski (1967) which was developed for shore-parallel storm tracks. The agreement with measurement was quite satisfactory. The data suggest extremely rapid rise times for the peak surge of hurricanes moving at high speed along the coast.

Phytoplankton Distribution Off the North Carolina Coast

The spatial distribution of phytoplankton was studied along transects directed south and east of the North Carolina coastline. Water samples were taken over the continental shelf, in the Gulf Stream, and the Sargasso Sea, to 300 m. A distinct and predominantly diatomaceous flora existed at the coastal stations and in waters over the shelf. The phytoplankton composition changed seaward in the Gulf Stream and the Sargasso Sea to predominantly flagellate forms composed of dinophyceans and coccolithophores. The concentration and distribution of individual phytoplankters are further discussed along each transect. INTRODUCTION Hulburt (1967) has described the surface phytoplankton between Jacksonville, Florida, and Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. He sampled three different water types extending from the coast seaward: the shallow water over the continental shelf, the Gulf Stream, and waters from the western limit of the Sargasso Sea. His results indicated that the major change in phytoplankton composition off Jacksonville occurred between the shallow water and the Gulf Stream. There were lesser, but definite, differences between the Gulf Stream and the Sargasso Sea flora. This paper discusses the phytoplankton composition and vertical distribution in waters over and beyond the continental shelf. Stations were established along two transects, one directed southward and one eastward, from the North Carolina coastline. Samples were taken from coastal waters over the shelf, in the Gulf Stream, and from the northwest Sargasso Sea. The spatial distribution of the phytoplankton was 'studied to 300 m. METHODS Phytoplankton and hydrography data were obtained during cruises on 16-18 August 1965 and 8-9 May 1967 (Fig. 1). The station locations are given in Table 1. Nansen bottles were used to obtain water samples at the surface, 10, 30, 75, 100, 150, 200 and 300 m. A 500-ml water sample was preserved immediately with neutralized formalin for phytoplankton analysis. After a settling period of six weeks, a 10-40 ml concentrate was obtained by a siphoning procedure. Two different examination procedures were used for the samples. Five 0.1-ml portions of the concentrate from each sample of the E-42-65 cruise were placed in a Palmer-Maloney counting cell and examined 1 This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant GB-3406. The writer thanks Duke University Marine Laboratory for the use of the facilities of the R/V EASTWARD on cruises E-42-65 and E-21-67 in the Cooperative Oceanographic Program supported through National Science Foundation Grant G17669.

Photo interpretation of shoreline changes between capes Hatteras and Fear (North Carolina)

Sandy barrier islands of the Outer Banks of North Carolina form one of the coasts in the United States most exposed to modification by hurricanes and other major storms. Changes in coastal outline have been determined from: ( 1) aerial photographs dated 1945, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962; ( 2) U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey charts and field sketches back to 1852; and ( 3) topographic maps. Areas chosen for detailed study are capes Hatteras, Lookout, and Fear; the coast near Ocracoke and Snow Marsh; and Hatteras and Beaufort inlets. During the period of aerial photography the shoreline has retreated at all three capes, but earlier capes Fear and Hatteras retreated, while Cape Lookout was extended seaward. The outlines of spits at the southern ends of the capes frequently change orientation in response to non-tidal currents produced by gale-force winds. Major storms are most important in modifying the configuration of the North Carolina coastline, but normal shore processes during periods of calm weather tend to redevelop the original smooth outline of the coast. Hurricanes caused erosion of the seaward side of the beaches and deposition of washover fans in the bays, so that the barriers migrated landward. During storms a part of the sediment is transported across the beaches to the bays; at other times it is moved southward by littoral currents (net drift direction); and some is lost permanently by being moved into deeper water at the cape points. Storm waves from the ocean side break across the low parts of sandy barrier islands to form washouts and inlets. At some times strong winds pile up lagoonal waters in one area so that they overtop the barrier, and drain across it to the sea. Inlets migrate southward in the direction of net littoral drift, and are often closed due to the shifting of the balance between littoral drift and tidal currents. Major inlets, such as Hatteras Inlet, migrate because of breaches in the downdrift side of the barrier and further erosion of the small detached islets formed thereby.