Geology Photographs - Great Lakes Dunes

One more post for the week focusing on geology.  Here are some photographs of Great Lakes dune habitats from around the state of Michigan.  The dunes are created by the actions of water and wind.  Waves and currents in the Great Lakes bring sand from the bottom of the lakes and deposit it on beaches.  Wind then blows the sand inland, depositing it in dunes. In Michigan, major dunes can be found along shore of Lake Michigan from the the Indian Border to the Straits of Mackinaw and along the south shore of the Upper Peninsula.  Lesser dune complexes can be found in areas along the Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair shorelines.

Sometimes dunes are created atop bluffs.  These dunes are known as perched dunes.  In the Great Lakes, perched dunes can be found along the south shore of Lake Superior near Grand Marais, MI and along the Lake Michigan shoreline on the northwest side of Michigan's Lower Peninsula


Tower Hill - Warren Dunes State Park near Sawyer, MI

Grand Sable Dunes - these perched dunes are located on the shore of Lake Superior near Grand Marais, MI

Grand Sable Dunes - perched on the Grand Sable Banks near Grand Marais, MI



Grand Sable Dunes

 

From left to right: beach, foredune, interdunal swale, back dune - P.H. Hoeft State Park near Rogers City, MI

 

Vegetation stabilizes the backdune, interdunal swales, and foredune at P.H. Hoeft State Park



Forested backdune - P.H. Hoeft State Park

Perched dunes - Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Empire, MI

Perched dunes at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore - perched dunes on South Manitou Island are visible in the background

Bedding in the dunes at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Empire, MI

Interdunal wetland and foredune on North Manitou Island with perched dunes on South Manitou Island in the background - Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore near Leland, MI

Small foredune and perched backdune on North Manitou Island - Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore