Recurved Spit, Secor Metropark

Figure 27: Crescent-shaped topographic highs in the Oak Openings sand belt formed when prevailing winds mobilized sand as lake levels dropped.

Figure 28: Timeline interpretation of Secor Metropark’s recurved spit and subsequent delta development.

Summary: The Oak Openings sand belt developed as a barrier island when lake levels were rising, probably during the Warren III phase as pulses of sand were transported by longshore currents and deposited as a submerged bar.  As Lake Warren regressed, this bar became subaerial and a recurved spit formed in what today is Secor Metropark.  Regression continued and a stream incised through the spit and spread sand in a fluvial-dominated delta that prograded toward the southeast.  Prevailing winds mobilized sand into dunes that stabilized once vegetation became established.

Future studies will probe the barrier island and associate features northeast into Michigan toward the source of this sand and southwest toward the widest section of the Oak Openings sand belt.  The enormous mass of this sand, the irregular surface on which it rests and direction of transport raise some interesting questions

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