Lack of Impact of Hurricane Michelle on Tidal Flats, Andros Island, Bahamas: Integrated Remote Sensing and Field Observations

Major storms commonly are cited as important geomorphic and sedimentologic
agents, and their significance is perhaps most emphatically noted in
interpretations of modern and ancient tidal flats. The purpose of this study
was to assess the impact of Hurricane Michelle on the carbonate tidal flats of
Andros Island, Bahamas, by coupling remote-sensing data and field observations.
Although regional MODIS remote-sensing data reveal that the passage of
Hurricane Michelle suspended sediments across the shallow bank, integrating
ultra-high-resolution remote-sensing data with field observations demonstrates
that the hurricane had almost no impact the Andros Islands tidal flats. This
lack of impact is surprising because the storm still had hurricane- force winds
as it passed immediately over some of the focal areas. With this hurricane,
storm strength and intra-storm interval probably were not limiting factors.
Instead, several influences combined to minimize the storm's impact on both
sediment and erosion, including the low level of water on the bank resulting
from ebb tides and, in the northwestern area, from offshore storm winds, and
the short duration of the storm resulting from its high forward velocity. Given
the apparent prevalence of widespread storm effects on ancient tidal flats, but
the spatially limited major geomorphic impacts of storms on many modern
systems, we suggest that the geologic evolution and preservation of ancient
tidal-flat successions may have been shaped by mega-storms that simply cannot
form in the present global climate. Nonetheless, understanding tidal-flat
dynamics and changes on human timescales will require continued monitoring and
assessment of low-impact storms such as Michelle, as well the more sensational
hurricanes that produce widespread death, destruction, and deposition. The
purpose of this study was to assess the impact of Hurricane Michelle on the
carbonate tidal flats of Andros Island, Bahamas, by coupling remote-sensing
data and field observations.

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