Hemispheric ENSO Cycling and Lake Michigan Coastal Dune Evolution:

A Relationship?

Alan F. ArbogastDepartment of GeographyMichigan State University

G. William MonaghanIndiana Geological Survey

William A. LovisDepartment of AnthropologyMichigan State University

South Africa Australia

EnglandNew Zealand

1) westerly winds

2) long fetch (~ 110 km)across Lake Michigan

3) Lot’s of sand!

America’s North Coast

Lake Superior

Canada

U.S.

Mississippi River

Nipissing Dunes

Formed in a SingleContinuous Event

But No Dates!!

Photo: Ed Hanson Van Buren, 1999

A horizon

C horizon

Most dunes contain 4 or 5Entisols like this one. Thissoil represents a brief periodof landscape stability (i.e.,no growth) as the duneevolved.

A

E horizon

Bs horizon

Most dunes also contain onerelatively well developed soilwith Spodic-like characteristics.This soil is usually found inthe upper part of the dunesandrepresents a relativelylong period of landscapestability (i.e., no growth) asthe dune evolved.

Sleeping Bear Dunes

Sand dunes

Reconstructing Dune Chronology

• Radiocarbon (C-14):soil organics

• Optically StimulatedLuminescence (OSL):burial age of sand in dunes

6005 - 4960

3726 - 3362

464 - 129

2183 - 1868313 - 0

159 - 0

4424 - 4063

Lake Sediments

Dune Sand

* all ages are calibrated to the tree-ring curve

Van Buren State Park

B

Torch Bay Transect

PDD of OSL ages around Lake Michigan

Ho

llan

dIn

terv

al

A

E horizon

Bs horizon

Most dunes also contain onerelatively well developed soilwith Spodic-like characteristics.This soil is usually found inthe upper part of the dunesandrepresents a relativelylong period of landscapestability (i.e., no growth) asthe dune evolved.

PDD of OSL ages for dunes around Lake Michigan

• What are the drivers and forcing variables that promotebasin-wide cycles of dune growth?

• We can look at a cuple of different obvious drivers ofdune growth and stabilization?• For example, water lever changes in Lake Michigan or

broad temperature variation

175

m18

0m

Monaghan andLovis (2005)

historic mean water-level

Thompson,et al. (2004)

Lake Michigan hydrographs(corrected for uplift at Port Huron)

-du

nebu

ildin

g+

Great Lakes (162)

01 ka5 ka6 ka 2 ka3 ka4 ka

0.4-0.4

0

warmer

cooler

mid-latitude temp.anomaly (C)

1) Dunes appear to have grown mostly (5x) during transgressive events (but not always)

2) Dunes stabilized when lake levels subsequently fell.

Medieval Warm Period

What Does the Very Recent Past Tell Us?

Photo: Ed Hanson Van Buren, 1999

Van Buren, 2008

Van Buren, 2014

Dunes Are Stabilizing

Nu

mb

er

of

Even

ts

Year

Dunes Stabilizing

Source: State of Michigan Climate Center

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

19801982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 19941996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 20082010 2012 2014

Days With Average Winds > 30 Knots

Dunes Stabilizing

Questions:

1) What role do lake-level fluctuations play in dune evolution?

2) How do local site conditions influence dune evolution?

3) Storminess (strong winds) certainly plays a role,but in what way?

-dun

ebu

ildin

g+

Great Lakes (162)

• What are the drivers and forcingvariables that promote (basin-wideor world-wide) dune growth,

• Can we integrate the large-scalecycles & hemisphericteleconnections by comparing dunecycles from the mid-continent/northeast North Americawith northern European coastaldunes.

GreatLakes Cape

Cod

N. Europe-British Isles

Cape Cod (27)

01 ka5 ka6 ka 2 ka3 ka4 ka

-dun

ebu

ildin

g+

-dun

ebu

ildin

g+

N. Europe (79)H

olla

ndPa

leos

ol?

Linked dune cyclessince ~2000 ya?

Even Broader Linkages??

4 ka 3 ka 2 ka 1 ka 0

15

30

5

<5 eventsEl Nino events/century

N. Europe

(n=79) Cape Cod

(n=27)

Dune OSLPDD (5000-

200 ya)

LIA During the lateHolocene, majorhemispheric-scaleddrivers apparentlybecome connectedacross the atlanticand drive dunebuilding in Europeand NorthAmerica. Whilethese are probablyrelated to ENSO,NAO, PNA, etc.the why and howremain unclear

El Niño summer

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)describes fluctuating ocean temperatures in equatorialPacific. Warmer waters oscillate back and forth across thePacific, controlling North American (and global)variations climate patterns because of wind (jet stream)flow patterns. Two main phases are:

El Nino (warm pacific) and La Nina (cold pacific)

La Niña winter La Niña summer

In the Great Lakes/Northeast:

El Nino are oftencharacterized by mild andwarm winters with fewerwinter storms

La Nina are oftencharacterized by colderwinters and more commonautumn and winter storms,particularly low pressuresystems that originate in theSW USA and track into theGreat Lakes region

El Niño winter

Current Conditions

& LessStormy!

Acknowledgments

Antrim County ParksFederal Highway AdministrationFriends of Sleeping Bear Dunes National LakeshoreHiawatha National ForestIndiana Geological SurveyMichigan Department of Environmental QualityMichigan Department of Natural ResourcesMichigan Department of TransportationMichigan State UniversityNational Science FoundationTorch Bay Township

& Many Individual Property Owners

Thanks for Listening!