PHOTOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENT OF SAND MOVEMENT IN GIGAPIXEL PANORAMAS REVEALS SHORT TERM VARIABILITY IN GEOMORPHOLOGICALLY SIMILAR LAKE MICHIGAN DUNES

We measured sand movement in open-sand environments exposed on the interiors of parabolic dunes at two sites along the eastern shoreline of Lake Michigan, at Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area (SHNA) in Saugatuck, Michigan and the Kitchel Lindquist Hartger Dunes (KLH) in Grand Haven, Michigan. Both sites are isolated from the Lake Michigan shoreline. The SHNA site is a blowout at the nose of a stabilized, dissected, 11.5 m high parabolic dune located behind an established dune ridge, 360 m from the beach. The KLH site is the northern of two adjacent, 14 m high parabolic dunes 400 m from the beach, with an intervening row of houses and roadway. The SHNA dune axis has a bearing of 75°, while the dune axis at KLH has a bearing of 70°