Surf’s Up

The storm surge from the Great New England Hurricane of 1938, which made landfall as a category 3 storm on Long Island battered the shore of Woods Hole, Mass. In addition to destroying infrastructure and threatening lives, large waves from hurricanes can erode shorelines and transport coastal sediment into nearby ponds and marshes, preserving a record of the storms. Led by WHOI scientist Jeff Donnelly, a new study of sediment cores from Salt Pond in Falmouth, Mass., revealed historically unprecedented hurricane activity along the northern East Coast. The findings could help scientists better predict the frequency and intensity of future hurricanes. (Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)