A new study has created the first detailed map of Michigan’s coastal sand dunes.
The study shows there are twice as many acres of Michigan sand dunes than had been previously recognized.
Alan Arbogast, Chairperson for the Department of Geography, Environment and Spatial Science at Michigan State University, said in the past, there was about 70,000 acres of sand dunes mapped at a detailed level.
According to Arbogast, the last effort to extensively map dune fields took place in the 1980s under the Michigan’s Critical-Dune statute.
He said with new technology such as high-resolution radar imagery, his team was able to map an additional 80,000 acres.
Arbogast said the new map now includes 230,000 acres of sand dunes, including along the coast of Lake Huron.
“To be clear, I think a lot of folks knew that there were dunes in those places but they didn't know how large of an area that was, they didn’t know the details of it was and that’s what we have done,” Arbogast said.
Arbogast said the goal was not to compare acreage, but to create the first detailed map of every coastal dune field in Michigan.
“We actually sought to map all of the dunes, as they are, identifying where the boundaries of all the dune fields are and determining how much acreage of that landscape that actually exists,” Arbogast said. “That had never been done before.”
Arbogast said the new map also highlights the east coast sand dunes that aren’t as geographically extensive or as tall as the ones on the west coast.
“The west coast of lower Michigan faces the prevailing westerly winds that blow across the lake and there’s a lot of sand that’s left from the ice ages that can be blown into sand dunes,” Arbogast said. “When that wind that flows across the lake, once it encounters the shore it blows the sand.”
He said the west coast is typically known for the sand dunes because of the prevailing winds and high supply of sand, however, dunes can be found on the eastern coast as well.
