Minkin, Brian

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    Mangroves and lagoons of the last 6000 years in northwest Vieques, Puerto Rico
    (2022-12-19) Minkin, Brian; López Venegas, Alberto; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Huérfano, Victor; Simms, Alex; Atwater, Brian; Department of Geology; Lugo Ortiz, José E.
    Mangrove forests are vital to coastal communities, providing buffers from the impacts and inundation from extreme storms. Mangrove roots serve as sediment traps, stabilizing shorelines, and have played a key role in the progradation of coastlines during the Holocene. In this study we explore the effects that rising relative sea level (RSL), extreme hurricane events, regional and local tectonics, and shifting climatic conditions had on the geomorphology of the mangrove forests and three coastal lagoons; Lagunas Arenas, Kiani, and Pobres in the El Buey Ecologic Reserve, Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. A multi-proxy study of three sediment cores extracted in December 2018 and May 2019 utilized sedimentological, geochemical, and Foraminifera analysis, constrained by radiocarbon dating, to reconstruct an ~5800-year paleoenvironmental history of the reserve. The paleoenvironmental history can be divided into three phases: The establishment of a Paleo-Mangrove Mangrove/Lagoon within present day Laguna Kiani prior to ~5400 BP; 2) The disappearance of the Paleo-Mangrove/Lagoon from between after ~4600 and until ~2300 BP; and 3) The reestablishment of the modern Mangrove/Lagoon at Laguna Kiani after ~2300 BP, with continued progradation of the shoreline forming Lagunas Arenas and Pobres. Rising RSL met with a paleo-shoreline in Puerto Rico after ~5600 BP and is identified within the record as the initiation of the mangrove forest and lagoonal conditions at Laguna Kiani. A facies shift to an estuarine environment by ~ 4600 BP appears to have occurred after a sudden die off of the mangrove forests and inundation of Laguna Kiani. The reestablishment of lagoonal conditions at Kiani after ~2100 BP harkens a period of shoreline advancement that led to the establishment of Lagunas Pobres and Arenas after ~700 and 550 BP, respectively.