SLEEPING BEAR DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE

This research reviews the geological characteristics of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, a component of the United States National Park Service. The Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is located in Michigan, and stretches along approximately 35 miles of the northeastern coastline of Lake Michigan.

The most prominent features of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore are the massive sand dunes from which the park derives its name. The dunes were created through the actions of geological forces over thousands of years (Barnhardt, Jaffe, Kayen, & Cochrane, 2004). The geological forces that created the dunes, together with the geological forces that continue to affect the dunes at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore are discussed in the remainder of this paper, along with identifications of rock type found in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the composition of the dunes.

Bedrock is the solid rock that lies beneath soil and other loose surface materials. The dunes at the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore comprise a part of the soil and surface materials at the park. The dunes were created by glacial and other actions on the bedrock in the park area. Between the bedrock and the dunes on the surface of the park lie several layers of rocky materials that were deposited by glacier movements and water flow. There is a large variety of risk types included in the bedrock and th

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s of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore consist of Pleistocene glacial deposits from a continental ice sheet, and post-glacial Holocene materials deposited by the actions of flowing rivers, and wind. The character of the land and surface materials in the park also are due to the actions of landslides. The glacial activity was especially important in the development of the geological character of the land encompassed by the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The ice sheet that extended southward over the Michigan peninsula was more than 5,000 feet thick. The weight of the ice sheet was capable of digging trenches and re-shaping existing features of the earthÆs surface. The last glacial advance onto the Michigan is called the Greatlakean sub-stage. The glacial advance created land features through (a) pushing the terrain ahead of the ice and (b) forcing the terrain beneath the ice downward. Most of the geological feathers within the area of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore were created by the downward pressures exerted by the ice sheet. The areas of the park that were formed by the ice sheet pushing the terrain ahead are characterized by outwash deposits. The out-wash deposits consist of is stratified and l
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Approximate Word count = 1425
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)