Bayfield County Land Records Shoreline Profiles


Lake Superior Shoreline Profile Analysis

Over the past two years, the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program and researchers from UW-Madison have been working to characterize the current erosion status of Wisconsin's Lake Superior shoreline. The researchers created descriptions of the bluffs from Wisconsin Point to the Montreal River by 1-mile section, including areas that have never before been evaluated for erosion hazards. The shoreline descriptions include a characterization of bluff height, bluff materials, type and extent of failure taking place, location and type of shore protection structures, beach width, beach sediments, vegetation, and overall stability recommendations.

For more information on shoreline erosion, read the
Quick Guide to Lake Superior Shoreline Erosion

You may use the ShoreViewer web application to examine each of the profile locations. Below is a description of the fields accompanying each profile description:

Profile	Profiles are identified by their position using the township/range/section format, with profile number appended.
Year Measured	Year profile data was measured.
Latitude	Location from Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
Longitude	Location from Global Positioning Systems (GPS).
Bluff Height (ft)	Height of bluff from base of toe, in feet.
Nearshore Material	Material present on nearshore (about 5 feet offshore).
Beach Material	Material present on beach.
Seep Present?	Indicates presence of groundwater leaving bluff.
Seep Location	Location of an identified seep.
Bluff Material	Glacial deposit material.*
Vegetation Amount (%)	Percentage of ground that vegetation covers.
Vegetation Type	Type of ground vegetation present at profile site

*The composition of the southeastern Lake Superior bluff was studied in detail during the summer of 1979. During this study, three till (glacial deposit) units, deposited by a minimum of three glacial advances and retreats, were identified and named (Need, et al., 1980).

Jardine Creek Till is the oldest of the three tills. It is a dark reddish-brown, sandy clay till. It can be distinguished from the other two tills by its more sandy appearance and the presence of a few pebbles.

Hanson Creek Till was the second till deposited. It is reddish brown with very little sand and no pebbles. In places, Hanson Creek Till incorporates thin veins of light gray clay.

Douglas Till is the youngest till unit in the area. It is reddish brown with little sand and no pebbles. The upper two tills (Douglas and Hanson Creek) are very similar in appearance. The main visual difference between Douglas and Hanson Creek tills is that Hanson Creek till is composed of less sand, and often has gray clay veins present.

In addition to the till units, the bluff is composed in places of unconsolidated sand, silts, and gravel, and sandstone bedrock.