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Paleo-Storminess in the Southern Lake Michigan Basin, as Recorded by Eolian Sand Downwind of Dunes

Hanes, Barbara E.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1282151347

Abstract Details

2010, Master of Science, University of Toledo, Geology.
Eolian sand deposited in lakes downwind of coastal sand dunes record a history of paleoclimatic fluctuations. Studies from embayed lakes along the east-central coast of Lake Michigan indicate that peaks in eolian sand within lake sediments correspond to climatic, sunspot, and lake-level fluctuations. The hypothesis tested herein is that the eolian sand signals from sediment within the Grand Mere Lakes, MI, which are downwind of sand dunes along southeastern coastal Lake Michigan, record the same climate history and lake-level fluctuations observed along the east-central Lake Michigan coastline. Sediment cores were extracted from the Grand Mere Lakes in Berrien County, MI, and analyzed for variations in weight percentage of sand with depth, the sand signal, at 1-cm sampling intervals. Radiocarbon dates obtained from terrestrial macrofossils within the cores were used to develop an age-depth model, from which sedimentation rates were derived, both for the varying lithologies and the entire core. Spectral analyses of the sand signal data using both the multi-taper and REDFIT methods indicate multiple periodicities that correspond to those from other regional and global studies, including Lake Michigan lake-level fluctuations, Lake Michigan coastal dune formation, and solar cycles. The tested hypothesis is accepted, and the common periodicities between the Grand Mere Lakes sand data and other studies suggest that this new dataset is not random, and is best explained as a record of paleodune mobility. The dataset is a paleorecord of wind or storminess experienced in the southern Lake Michigan basin and beyond, from the mid to late Holocene, and thus may be an effective proxy for paleoclimate in the southern Lake Michigan basin.
Timothy Fisher, PhD (Committee Chair)
Richard Becker, PhD (Committee Member)
David Krantz, PhD (Committee Member)
James Martin-Hayden, PhD (Committee Member)
176 p.
Geology
Lake Michigan; lake-level fluctuations; Grand Mere; eolian; coastal dunes; paleoclimate; solar cycles; sunspots; spectral analysis

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hanes, B. E. (2010). Paleo-Storminess in the Southern Lake Michigan Basin, as Recorded by Eolian Sand Downwind of Dunes [Master's thesis, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1282151347

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hanes, Barbara. Paleo-Storminess in the Southern Lake Michigan Basin, as Recorded by Eolian Sand Downwind of Dunes. 2010. University of Toledo, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1282151347.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hanes, Barbara. "Paleo-Storminess in the Southern Lake Michigan Basin, as Recorded by Eolian Sand Downwind of Dunes." Master's thesis, University of Toledo, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1282151347

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2010, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.