Historically, the Great Lakes, in addition to their lake ecology, were surrounded by various forest ecoregions (except in a relatively small area of southeast Lake Michigan where savanna or prairie occasionally intruded). The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.[126]. The Great Lakes are not only notable for their form, but also their functionthey're a crucial waterway contributing to the economy of the area, supporting over 50 million jobs and contributing $6 trillion to gross domestic product (GDP). Pleasure boats can enter or exit the Great Lakes by way of the Erie Canal and Hudson River in New York. This massive saline lake, which is nearly the same size as Japan, borders five countries: Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Iran. Using an Ohm Meter to test for bonding of a subpanel. [66] The population of giant freshwater mussels was eliminated as the mussels were harvested for use as buttons by early Great Lakes entrepreneurs. Caught in a 1679 storm while trading furs between Green Bay and Michilimacinac, she was lost with all hands aboard. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Canada borders approximately 5,200 miles (8,400km) of coastline, while the remaining 5,300 miles (8,500km) are bordered by the United States. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2019 passed as Public Law 116-294 on January 5, 2021. The glaciers undoubtedly scoured these valleys, widening and deepening them and radically changing the drainage of the area. The Great Lakes system includes five large lakes, one small lake, four connecting channels, and the St. Lawrence Seaway. [114] Several ferries currently operate on the Great Lakes to carry passengers to various islands. From a geological point of view, the two are very different. The average annual rainfall in the Lake Superior basin is 30 inches (760 millimeters), 31 inches in Lakes Huron and Michigan, and 34 and 36 inches in Lakes Erie and Ontario, respectively. As the slightly warmer, moist air passes over the colder land surface, the moisture often produces concentrated, heavy snowfall that sets up in bands or "streamers". [105] By 1848, with the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal at Chicago, direct access to the Mississippi River was possible from the lakes. Sailors of bulk freighters transferring cargoes from Lake Superior and northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to ports on Lake Erie or Ontario commonly refer to the latter as the lower lakes and Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior as the upper lakes. No, the Saint Lawrence River has. The greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies near Thunder Bay (Michigan), beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge. [68][69] According to the Inland Seas Education Association, on average a new species enters the Great Lakes every eight months. While enormous public investments such as the Deep Tunnel projects in Chicago and Milwaukee have greatly reduced the frequency and volume of these events, they have not been eliminated. Marine debris is a persistent pollution problem that reaches throughout the entire ocean and Great Lakes. For a discussion of the system east of Lake Ontario, see Saint Lawrence River and Seaway. Crater Lake, Oregon Winter Scene at Crater Lake, Oregon. By clicking Post Your Answer, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy. This is similar to the effect of warmer air dropping snow as it passes over mountain ranges. They are one of the great natural features of the continent and of the Earth. At least 13 wildlife species are documented as becoming extinct since the arrival of Europeans, and many more are threatened or endangered. In an incident at a Chicago dock in 1915, the SSEastland rolled over while loading passengers, killing 841. Studies in the Lake Superior region indicate that a river system and valleys formed by water erosion existed before the Ice Age. [11], Though the five lakes lie in separate basins, they form a single, naturally interconnected body of fresh water, within the Great Lakes Basin. It connects the Hudson River drainage to Lake Erie (actually the Niagara River upstream of the Falls): Just because the Caspian sea is named "sea" doesn't mean it's considered a sea. Under the U.S. "Water Resources Development Act",[128] diversion of water from the Great Lakes Basin requires the approval of all eight Great Lakes governors through the Great Lakes Commission, which rarely occurs. As the depth decreases, there might be some expansion of the surface area, but that's mostly temporary - it increases the evaporation rate without increasing the inflow, so water is lost over time. Some water is diverted through the Chicago River to operate the Illinois Waterway, but the flow is limited by treaty. [72] Five years after first being observed in the St. Clair River, the round goby can now be found in all of the Great Lakes. [14], Intensive human population growth began in the region in the 20th century and continues today. Lake Superior, bordered by Ontario, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, is the northernmost and . [citation needed] This describes when older sewerage systems, which combine storm water with sewage into single sewers heading to the treatment plant, are temporarily overwhelmed by heavy rainstorms. In the post-glacial period, evaporation, and drainage have generally been balanced, making the levels of the lakes relatively constant. But many species remain a mystery", Recovery of Lake Erie Walleye a Success Story, Historical Perspecivie Of The Phosphate Detergent Conflict, "Large Lake Erie algal bloom nearing Colchester tested for toxicity", "Lake Erie Water Quality Past Present and Future", "14th Biennial Report on Great Lakes Water Quality", New Report: Solving Region's Sewage Crisis Will Create Jobs, Restore Great Lakes, "Antidepressants are finding their way into fish brains", "U of T researchers discover microplastics in all samples of Great Lakes fish", "Industrial plastic is spilling into Great Lakes, and no one's regulating it, experts warn", "How a fleet of robots could help solve the Great Lakes plastic pollution problem", "Monitoring algal blooms in the Great Lakes Basin", "Evidence for early hunters beneath the Great Lakes", "Great Lakes Fleet Page Vessel Feature Burns Harbor", Lake Champlain, The Sixth Great Lake? Fish and Wildlife Service estimated in 2007 that the economic impact of the zebra mussel could be about $5billion over the next decade. [76], Scientists understand that the micro-aquatic life of the lakes is abundant but know very little about some of the most plentiful microbes and their environmental effects in the Great Lakes. I have no idea how this would rank up to other seas like the Mediterranean Sea in area but it would be one of the world's few freshwater seas (Joining the Sea of Galilee). As a chain of lakes and rivers, they connect the east-central interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. [14] At least two human water use activities have been identified as having the potential to affect the lakes' levels: diversion (the transfer of water to other watersheds) and consumption (substantially done today by the use of lake water to power and cool electric generation plants, resulting in evaporation). Although Lake Baikal in Russia has a larger volume of water, the combined area of the Great Lakessome 94,250 square miles (244,106 square kilometres)represents the largest surface of fresh water in the world, covering an area exceeding that of the United Kingdom. Can my creature spell be countered if I cast a split second spell after it? There are five Great Lakes in North America: Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Erie. So it would be more suited to call this the Great Freshwater Sea. The international boundary between the United States and Canada is also shown on the map - note how it crosses the lakes. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. Since 2000, the invasive quagga mussel has smothered the bottom of Lake Michigan almost from shore to shore, and their numbers are estimated at 900trillion. In the 21st century, mercury has become more apparent in water tests. In fact, some lakes, such as the Great Salt Lake in Utah, are saltier than the oceans. No list of Great Lakes beaches in Wisconsin is complete without mentioning North Beach. they have been logged before, changing their composition). [93] Plastics in the water break up into very small particles known as microplastics. Living in Geologic Time: Billion-year-old rifting events set the stage for Earth's greatest lakes. Dispersed throughout the Great Lakes are approximately 35,000 islands. [94] Microscopic pieces of plastic have also been found in drinking water coming from Great Lakes. This effect can be very localized and overridden by offshore wind patterns. The lakes drain roughly from west to east, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence lowlands. About 50million pounds (23kt) of fish is harvested each year from Great Lakes which has raised concerns on how this might affect human health. The depth of the Great Lakes, compared. [66], Since the 19th century, an estimated 160 new species have found their way into the Great Lakes ecosystem; many have become invasive; the overseas ship ballast and ship hull parasitism are causing severe economic and ecological impacts. Did the Golden Gate Bridge 'flatten' under the weight of 300,000 people in 1987? And one of the differences is the wave periods and steepness. Photosynthesis carried out by diatoms constitutes about one fifth of the total photosynthesis.[where?] Those living on the shore of Lake Superior often refer to all the other lakes as "the lower lakes", because they are farther south. A contemporary account by Methodist missionary John Evans describes the fish as resembling a "bright cloud moving rapidly through the water".[111]. [110], Alan B. McCullough has written that the fishing industry of the Great Lakes got its start "on the American side of Lake Ontario in Chaumont Bay, near the Maumee River on Lake Erie, and on the Detroit River at about the time of the War of 1812". Another operation cropped up in Georgian Bay, Canadian waters plentiful with trout as well as whitefish. In modern times, only about 1% of volume per year is "new" water, originating from rivers, precipitation, and groundwater springs. The East Antarctic Ice cap OTOH has about 60m of sea level rise in it; roughtly double what'd be needed to flood the Caspian basin. The weight of the ice sheet exerted enormous pressures on the Earths crust. The Great Lakes contain about 20% of the world's freshwater. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, described as "the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades",[132] was funded at $475million in the U.S. federal government's Fiscal Year 2011 budget, and $300million in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. the High German "See" means simply "large body of water", which is quite typical for cultures that didn't live close to the sea - they either used the same name, or imported/created a better name later, e.g. The Great Lakes Waterway connects all the lakes; the smaller Saint Lawrence Seaway connects the lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. While the organisms living on the bottom of shallow waters are similar to those found in smaller lakes, the deep waters contain organisms found only in deep, cold lakes of the northern latitudes. They are a dominant part of the physical and cultural heritage of North America. After railroads and surface roads developed, the freight and passenger businesses dwindled and, except for ferries and a few foreign cruise ships, have now vanished. Right now, the outflow, combined with evaporation both natural and man made, is larger than the inflow. Lakes Huron and Michigan are sometimes considered a single lake, called Lake MichiganHuron, because they are one hydrological body of water connected by the Straits of Mackinac. ", Explorer says Griffin shipwreck may be found, "L.R. It is a source of pride for both countries that there are no fortifications or warships along the boundary. Although a drop of lake water may contain 1million bacteria cells and 10million viruses, only since 2012 has there been a long-term study of the lakes' micro-organisms. [109] Following a small uproar, the Senate voted to revoke the designation on March 24 (although New York and Vermont universities would continue to receive funds to monitor and study the lake). They are in a place where rifting started to create a new ocean, but it never got connected to the ocean system (and flooded), and that was still the case when the rifting eventually stopped. rev2023.4.21.43403. During freezing weather with high winds, the "snowbelts" receive regular snow fall from this localized weather pattern, especially along the eastern shores of the lakes. This was, in order of volume: iron ore, grain and potash. [51] The Great Lakes coast measures approximately 10,500 miles (16,900km);,[14] but the length of a coastline is impossible to measure exactly and is not a well-defined measure. [87][86], Until 1970, mercury was not listed as a harmful chemical, according to the United States Federal Water Quality Administration. As part of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan provides families and the community with fresh drinking water, recreation and a beautiful landscape to enjoy. During World War II, the risk of submarine attacks against coastal training facilities motivated the United States Navy to operate two aircraft carriers on the Great Lakes, USSSable and USSWolverine. Storm-generated waves carve the lakes' ice sheet and create conical mounds through the eruption of water and slush. In the early 21st century, Lake Superior's shores are 91% forested, Lake Huron 68%, Lake Ontario 49%, Lake Michigan 41%, and Lake Erie, where logging and urbanization has been most extensive, 21%. [12] The largest among them is Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, the largest island in any inland body of water in the world. This beach has 2,500 feet of shoreline open to the public for swimming, fishing and picnics, and has been a designated Blue Wave Beach (America's first environmental certification for beaches) since 2004. There is also some shipping of liquid and containerized cargo. It is somewhat more detailed and protective, though its legal strength has not yet been tested in court. [70][needs update], The alewife first entered the system west of Lake Ontario via 19th-century canals. As erosion continues over the Saint Lawrence River, the outflow will probably increase, resulting in a drop in the water levels of the lakes. Other protective legislation was passed, but enforcement remained difficult. Use MathJax to format equations. The U.S. The first of 43 "Great Lakes Areas of Concern" to be formally "de-listed" through successful cleanup was Ontario's Collingwood Harbour in 1994; Ontario's Severn Sound followed in 2003. gulf, Endorheic? From the interior to the outlet at the Saint Lawrence River, water flows from Superior to Huron and Michigan, southward to Erie, and finally northward to Lake Ontario. The Erie Canal did not connect them to the St. Lawrence River (which was and is the natural outlet of the lakes to the sea). [36] The water level of Lake MichiganHuron had remained fairly constant over the 20th century[37] Recent lake levels include record low levels in 2013 in Lakes Superior, Erie, and Michigan-Huron,[38] followed by record high levels in 2020[39] in the same lakes.
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