Erin worked closely with Indiana Dunes National Park rangers to update their talking points for the ranger-led hike of Mount Baldy. Erin\u2019s research on Mount Baldy helps visitors understand:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mount Baldy is a dune on a dune. The base dune is 3,000 years old.<\/li>
Wind patterns in combination with wave action and a jetty affect sediment deposition, deprivation, and erosion.<\/li>
The wind lifts fine grains of sand from the shoreline, which rise over and fall down the back side of the dune. This has caused the footprint of Mount Baldy to expand.<\/li>
Accounts of holes in dunes have not previously been documented by scientists.<\/li>
When buried, some trees are vulnerable to fungi-induced decay.<\/li>
The wind can remove sand, exposing cavities that were once buried trees, creating hazardous \u201cdune decomposition chimneys\u201d (Argyilan et al., 2015).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n