A white sand beach complements the hills and bluffs of Fayette.
The town of Fayette on Michigan's upper peninsula has a history of significance for iron mining industry, scientific study and tourism. Located on the lower West side of Garden peninsula in what is now Fayette State park, the region is part of the outermost rim of the Michigan basin geological formation. While the park attracts many tourists with interest in the ghost town of Fayette, many go specifically to enjoy and study the land formations.
Geological History
The Michigan upper peninsula bedrock was formed during the Silurian period (440-416 MYA) when dolomite sediments were deposited in the shallow sea waters of what is now the Garden peninsula. Over the last two million years glaciers transgressed and regressed, scraping valleys, depositing sediment, reshaping the land and water bodies. The Greatlakean Glacial movement and melts which occurred from 10,000 to possibly as recent as 4,000 years ago carved the present land formations we see in Fayette today.
The Niagra Escarpment
The Niagra Escarpment consists of Burnt Bluff and Manistique groups of dolomite and dolomitic limestone. The escarpment runs in a semicircle from Wisconsin to Ontario, following the southern coast of the Upper Peninsula. The largest exposure of this escarpment is Burnt Bluff, the Hendricks Dolomite Formation, at Fayette which rises 140 feet above the water level of Lake Michigan. These dolomite layers can also be viewed in the quarries from the iron smelting operations which used the dolostone as fluxstone for smelting iron, as well as for blocks from which to build the company buildings.
White Sand Beaches and Drifts
Scattered intermittently among bluffs along the peninsula shorelines on both sides of Fayette are white sand beaches. These beaches were formed by the action of water and wind upon dolomitic glacial sediments. These beaches and the sand drift areas further inland cover bedrock. In some places it is several hundred feet deep, while in other areas it was shallow enough that bedrock has surfaced. The soil that covers the rock formations and supports the current forests in Fayette was created by the last ice age which killed vegetation which then mixed with the glacial sediments. As the area warmed again, the resulting soil became a good host for new plant life. Much of the forestry of the present age was burned as fuel for the iron smelters of Fayette.
Other Interesting formations
Glacial seepage and wave action has cut caves into the bluffs in the Fayette region. The caves can be viewed, but most caves of the area are closed to exploration. Snake Island can be seen in the bay just to the North of the snail-shell-shaped Fayette harbor. The island gets it name from the long winding snake-like Northern end. The Island is open to exploration and is accessible by boat. Hills and bluffs along the coastline and inland from Fayette shores contain outcroppings of rocks or small escarpments which sometimes contain fossils and chert nodules. Visitors may also find such prizes in the fallen rocks of coastal bluffs.
Tags: bluffs along, bluffs Fayette, Burnt Bluff, Fayette Michigan, Garden peninsula
