Relative sea-level change in northeastern Florida (USA) during the last ~8.0 ka

An existing database of relative sea-level (RSL) reconstructions from the U.S. Atlantic coast lacked valid sea-level index points from Georgia and Florida. This region lies on the edge of the collapsing forebulge of the former Laurentide Ice Sheet making it an important location for understanding glacio-isostatic adjustment and the history of ice-sheet melt. To address the paucity of data, we reconstruct RSL in northeastern Florida (St. Marys) over the last ∼8.0 ka from samples of basal salt-marsh sediment that minimize the influence of compaction. The analogy between modern salt-marsh foraminifera and their fossil counterparts preserved in the sedimentary record was used to estimate paleomarsh surface elevation. Sample ages were determined by radiocarbon dating of identifiable and in-situ plant macrofossils. This approach yielded 25 new sea-level index points that constrain a ∼5.7 m rise in RSL during the last ∼8.0 ka. The record shows that no highstand in sea level occurred in this region over the period of the reconstruction. We compared the new reconstruction to Earth-ice models ICE 6G-C VM5a and ICE 6G-C VM6. There is good fit in the later part of the Holocene with VM5a and for a brief time in the earlier Holocene with VM6. However, there are discrepancies in model-reconstruction fit in the early to mid Holocene in northeastern Florida and elsewhere along the Atlantic coast at locations with early Holocene RSL reconstructions. The most pronounced feature of the new reconstruction is a slow down in the rate of RSL rise from approximately 5.0 to 3.0 ka. This trend may reflect a significant contribution from local-scale processes such as tidal-range change and/or change in base flow of the St. Marys River in response to paleoclimate changes. However, the spatial expression (local vs. regional) of this slow down is undetermined and corroborative records are needed to establish its geographical extent

The Belated Autopsy and Identification of an Eighteenth Century Naval Hero—The Saga of John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones, the “Father of the American Navy,” is known for the battletime assertion that he had “not yet begun to fight.” His central role in a triumph of scientific forensic identification more than a century after his death is less known. John Paul Jones died in 1792 and was buried in Paris, France. The location of his grave was lost over time and a search for his corpse began in 1899. Remains matching his physical characteristics and circumstance of burial were discovered in 1905 and returned to the United States for a hero\u27s burial. Some questioned the identification at the time and the major source of identifying information (17) has since been shown to contain false information. The published forensic literature fails to address existing critiques of the identification. We provide a substantive analysis and conclude that the available evidence supports the identification of the unknown remains as those of John Paul Jones

The Belated Autopsy and Identification of an Eighteenth Century Naval Hero—The Saga of John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones, the “Father of the American Navy,” is known for the battletime assertion that he had “not yet begun to fight.” His central role in a triumph of scientific forensic identification more than a century after his death is less known. John Paul Jones died in 1792 and was buried in Paris, France. The location of his grave was lost over time and a search for his corpse began in 1899. Remains matching his physical characteristics and circumstance of burial were discovered in 1905 and returned to the United States for a hero\u27s burial. Some questioned the identification at the time and the major source of identifying information (17) has since been shown to contain false information. The published forensic literature fails to address existing critiques of the identification. We provide a substantive analysis and conclude that the available evidence supports the identification of the unknown remains as those of John Paul Jones