Ecosystem impacts of three sequential hurricanes (Dennis, Floyd, and Irene) on the United States' largest lagoonal estuary, Pamlico Sound, NC

Three sequential hurricanes, Dennis, Floyd, and Irene, affected coastal North Carolina in September and October 1999. These hurricanes inundated the region with up to 1 m of rainfall, causing 50- to 500-year flooding in the watershed of the Pamlico Sound, the largest lagoonal estuary in the United States and a key West Atlantic fisheries nursery. We investigated the ecosystem-level impacts on and responses of the Sound to the floodwater discharge. Floodwaters displaced three-fourths of the volume of the Sound, depressed salinity by a similar amount, and delivered at least half of the typical annual nitrogen load to this nitrogen-sensitive ecosystem. Organic carbon concentrations in floodwaters entering Pamlico Sound via a major tributary (the Neuse River Estuary) were at least 2-fold higher than concentrations under prefloodwater conditions. A cascading set of physical, chemical, and ecological impacts followed, including strong vertical stratification, bottom water hypoxia, a sustained increase in algal biomass, displacement of many marine organisms, and a rise in fish disease. Because of the Sound's long residence time (≈1 year), we hypothesize that the effects of the short-term nutrient enrichment could prove to be multiannual. A predicted increase in the frequency of hurricane activity over the next few decades may cause longer-term biogeochemical and trophic changes in this and other estuarine and coastal habitats.

Dennis Franklin, UM Football, vs Ohio State, 1973

[Dennis Franklin #9, Gil Chapman, #24, Ed Shuttlesworth, #31]

Dennis Fitzgerald, UM football, 1961, in leather helmet

[Fitzgerald was last Michigan player to wear a leather helmet. Pictured holding the model worn by other players, says leather helmet fits better and gives him more freedom of movement. (from note in neg. envelope.)]

University of Michigan Men's Basketball Team, 1965

Back Row: coach Dave Strack, Cazzie Russell, Daniel Brown, Martin Slebodnik, Oliver Darden, asst. coach James Skala

Middle Row: John Clawson, George Pomey, Lawrence Tregoning, Bill Buntin, Craig Dill, James Myers

Front Row: Douglas Herner, Dennis Bankey, Horace Thomas Ludwig, Odell Handcox

University of Michigan Men's Basketball Team, 1966

Back Row: coach Dave Strack, asst. coach Tom Jorgenson, Martin Slebodnik, John Clawson, Craig Dill, Cazzie Russell, asst. coach James Skala

Middle Row: Mark Fritz, Van Walter Tillotson, James Myers, Daniel Brown, Marc Delzer

Front Row: Gerald Peaks, James Pitts, Oliver Darden, John Thompson, Dennis Bankey

University of Michigan Men's Basketball Team, 1967

Back Row: coach Dave Strack, Clarence Adams, Willie Lee Edwards, Craig Dill, Dennis Stewart, ass't coach George Pomey, mngr. Rick Stern

Middle Row: David McClellan, James Pitts, Mark Fritz, Michael Maundrell, Dennis Bankey, Robert Sullivan

Front Row: Kenneth Maxey, Gerald Peaks, Timothy Hayes, Cedric Dawson, Marc Delzer