USGS · 70016751
Bluff recession rates along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois
Abstract
For two time periods, 1872-1937 and 1937-1987, rates of retreat vary from 10 to 75 cm/yr between discrete segments of bluffs (defined by lithology) and between time periods for a given bluff segment. The average retreat rates for the entire area, however, do not vary significantly between the two time periods and are approximately 20-25 cm/yr. The temporally constant regional retreat rates and the regular shape of the local shoreline indicate that a long-term uniform rate of retreat prevails and that local variations in rates balance out through time to produce long-term parallel (in map view) bluff retreat in the area.
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R.W. Jibson, J.-M. Staude. 1992. Bluff recession rates along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois. https://doi.org/10.2113/gseegeosci.xxix.2.103
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