Survey of Warnimont Bluff, Wisconsin, February 2020

High lake levels are reducing beach area along the Lake Michigan coastline and allowing wave action to erode the bases of coastal bluffs at the highest rate of the past 30 years. Sediment budget calculations have shown that bluff erosion is the dominant source of sand and gravel-sized particles that are mobilized into beaches and the nearshore system. Researchers have found that the leading cause of bluff erosion is shallow to intermediate depth translational landslides. Therefore, estimating lake sediment budgets depends on an understanding of the mechanisms that lead to landslide failure. This study will provide a comprehensive analysis of bluff stability for bluffs affected by landslide failure coupled with an analysis of bluff composition to determine the composition of sediment contributions of coastal bluffs to the southeast Lake Michigan sediment budget.