Slight and extremely short-terra lake level changes occur in the form of 

 astronomical tides and seiches. Both have periods of from a few hours to a 

 day but are generally not factors in coastal processes because of their low 

 amplitude. Storm surge or storm tides caused by intense weather systems 

 and associated winds piling up water along the coast may be of significance. 

 Such phenomena have been monitored with magnitudes in excess of 1 foot on 

 eastern Lake Michigan (Fox and Davis, 1970b). 



During the past few decades there have been periods of rather extreme 

 lake level conditions at both ends of the spectrum. In the early 1950' s, 

 levels almost reached the alltime recorded high of the 1880's; the alltime 

 low occurred during 1964. Since the alltime low there has been an abrupt 

 increase in lake level so that the high level of 1952 has been surpassed. 

 The rapid increase and its associated erosion are now coupled with much 

 greater monetary losses because of the expanding use of the coast for pri- 

 vate, public, and industrial development. As a result, millions of dollars 

 are being lost each year. Much of this economic loss could be avoided 

 through wise regulation of coastal zone utilization. This cannot be accom- 

 plished without a thorough understanding of the process-response mechanisms 

 that are operating along the coast. This study should aid in achieving 

 this goal. 



3. Previous Studies . 



Investigations of the eastern coast of Lake Michigan have been con- 

 ducted for many years although the rate of activity has shown considerable 

 variation. The dune areas in the southeastern corner of the lake which 

 extend into Indiana were studied by Cressey (1928) who concluded that the 

 longshore transport was predominantly to the south in that area. Beach 

 sediments were analyzed by Pettijohn (1931) and Hough (1935) . Coastal and 

 nearshore morphology, particularly the longshore bars and troughs, was 

 studied by Evans (1939, 1940). 



With the exception of a geomorphologic study (Powers, 1958) and engi- 

 neering investigations (Brater, 1950; Brater, Billings, and Granger, 1952) , 

 there was little research effort along the eastern coast during the next 

 20 years until the detailed analysis of nearshore sediments by McGeary 

 (1964) and Cote (1967). In addition, there was concurrent work on the 

 morphology and stability of the longshore bars and troughs (Davis, 1964; 

 Davis and McGeary, 1965). More recent work on the geometry, sedimentary 

 characteristics, and long-term motion of the longshore bars has been pub- 

 lished by Saylor and Hands (1970) and Hands (1976). 



A glaring omission from these research efforts has been the study of 

 coastal erosion. There had been essentially none along this coast until 

 the systematic survey of three sites in Van Buren and Allegan Counties be- 

 gan in June 1968 (Davis, 1970, 1972). The study of these three sites was 

 expanded to produce the work by Davis, Fingleton, and Pritchett (1975) 

 and the work described in this report. 



