Klode Park

We are at Klode Park on the 16th of December overlooking the beach area (movie)

The low lake levels are evident because the beach levels go right out to the rock piles which are normally separated by water.

Klode Park is really a rebuilt shoreline. A major slump occurred here in 1989. The remains of which are seen in the bowl shaped hillside that now has a switch-back walking path on it.

This slope was reshaped, replanted and several drains installed to reduce the chances of future slumps. If you look to the north, past the grassy slope you will see the original slope where the trees start.

	Slumping took place at this location as it frequently does along the lakeshore of Lake Michigan because we're dealing with about 120 feet of glacial till which in this case is a mixture between sand layers and clay layers. Why does slumping occur most frequently during the spring?
	The shoreline near Klode beach both north and south shows the evidence of perpetual down-slope movement. Notice the tilting tree with the white bark.
	Because it is unstable glacial till, the lake waves undercut the bottom of it and material on top slides down.
	When there is high water it cuts more away and the result is that people are continually building stuff out to hold it in place.

The beach was reconstructed from blocks of dolostone from local quarries, and dolostone chips from the deep tunnel project. The "Rock Islands" seen here are usually off shore by some distance. Why do they build these dolostone islands?

It's a pretty steep surface at this point because the waves usually come in and undercut it pretty tightly here.

At the time these pictures were taken, lake level was very low, and so the beach goes all the way to the rocks. Also, the rocks and metal groins have trapped a lot of sand, resulting in a protected beach area and to build a small beach area were people can actually do some bathing and wading in the water.

Significant amounts of sand which is dominant on the beach is unusual because normally the waves come in and take the sand away rapidly.

The concrete abutments are out there to act to keep the beach in place, to keep the longshore waves from actually moving the sand down the beach.

	This year lake levels are down probably pretty close to their all-time levels. You can see there's actually sand at the base of the beach.
	Usually it is just coarse dolomite chips or a gravel on the south side of this beach.
	The warm fall weather that we have has brought about significant growth in algae so the result is that anyplace you have a small bay area to collect algae you might find clumps of algae on the shore.

Compare the steepness of the actual beach here with what you see to the north and south. Also look at the bluff to the north and south.