Accurately reconstructing the rate of movement and extent of eolian dunes over thousands of years is a challenging endeavor. In this paper, we refine the methodology for utilizing lakes and bogs downwind of dune fields as precise recorders of past eolian activity. Sediment cores from two Allegan County lakes and one bog associated with dunes were studied to evaluate the importance of the various sand transport pathways into lakes and bogs. Goshorn Lake's western edge directly abuts a large parabolic dune. Sand concentrations decrease in cores away from the dunes, possibly reflecting avalanching into the lake followed by sediment gravity flows along the lake bottom. Sand input from stream flow was minor. The Allegan Bog core records a fen-emergent bog transition coincident with a decrease in the sand influx. Poorly understood shoreline processes may have contributed sand to the basin's center before the bog's emergence. Sand in Gilligan Lake cores is texturally similar to adjacent dune sand and the eolian activity history derived from this sand is nearly identical to the history derived from the dune's paleosols and optically stimulated luminescence ages. A proposed lake and bog sampling strategy includes choosing sites in the lee of large dunes edged with emergent vegetation and away from steep slopes or stream inlets. The lake's bathymetry should also be considered. Distinguishing between grain fall sedimentary structures and mass movement or sediment gravity flows is important. This strategy provides relatively high resolution, continuous eolian activity histories that can be correlated with paleoenvironmental proxies from the same cores.

This study investigates the impacts of extratropical cyclones on Lake Michigan dune complexes by integrating field measurements and meteorological data from sites along the southeastern shore. Surface changes and wind velocities were monitored at Hoffmaster State Park, Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area, and Mount Baldy at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore from October to April in 2010–2011 and 2011–2012. Over 70% of the events with wind speeds at least two standard deviations above the mean were associated with extratropical cyclones. The wind directions depended on the cyclone path, with westerly or southerly components most common. Local conditions moderated the effects of storm winds on surface change. The greatest surface changes measured in a trough blowout at Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area were associated with regional winds with a component blowing up the lee slope that produced bifurcated windflow within the trough. While the orientation of a given dune strongly influences the amount of surface change, it does not always follow a simple pattern deduced from dune geometry. Surface changes at Hoffmaster State Park and Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area during a normal winter (2010–2011) and an unusually warm winter (2011–2012) suggest that colder weather conditions inhibited net transfer of sand from the beach but had less impact away from the shore. Moisture also inhibited sand transport, but strong storm winds moved wet sand, sometimes over long distances at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Overall our results show that winds associated with extratropical cyclones play a vital role in the development of Lake Michigan dune complexes.