Great Lakes Totally Explained

Everything about Great Lakes North America totally explained

The Laurentian Great Lakes are a chain of freshwater lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada-United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron (or Michigan-Huron), Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. They are sometimes referred to as inland seas or Canada and the United States' Third Coast.

Geography

The Great Lakes region contains not only the five main lakes themselves, but also numerous minor lakes and rivers, as well as approximately 35,000 islands.

Great Lakes

Lake	Lake Erie	Lake Huron	Lake Michigan	Lake Ontario	Lake Superior
Surface area
Water volume
Elevation
Average depth	Buffalo, NY Cleveland, OH Erie, PA Toledo, OH	Sarnia, ON Port Huron, MI Bay City, MI	Chicago, IL Gary, IN Green Bay, WI Milwaukee, WI	Hamilton, ON Kingston, ON Oshawa, ON Rochester, NY Toronto, ON Mississauga, ON	Duluth, MN Sault Ste. Marie, ON Thunder Bay, ON Marquette, MI

Relative elevations, average depths, maximum depths, and volumes of the Great Lakes.>

ImageSize = width:595 height:250 PlotArea = width:525 height:200 left:50 bottom:15 AlignBars = justify Period = from:-1000 till:600 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:500 start:-1000 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:100 start:-1000 Colors = id:blue1 value:rgb(0.0,0.0,0.75) id:blue2 value:rgb(0.1,0.1,0.8) id:blue3 value:rgb(0.2,0.2,0.85) id:blue4 value:rgb(0.3,0.3,0.9) id:blue5 value:rgb(0.4,0.4,0.95) id:textinbar value:yelloworange id:textoutsidebar value:redorange Define $elevation = shift:(0,15) mark:(line,textoutsidebar) textcolor:textoutsidebar Define $avgdepth = mark:(line,textinbar) textcolor:textinbar Define $maxdepth = shift:(0,-11) mark:(line,textoutsidebar) textcolor:textoutsidebar PlotData= align:center bar:Superior from:-732 till:600 width:194 color:blue1 $elevation at:600 text:"600 ft (183 m)" $avgdepth at:117 shift:(0,1) text:"483 ft (147 m)" $maxdepth at:-732 text:"1,332 ft (406 m)" bar:Michigan from:-348 till:577 width:113 color:blue5 $elevation at:577 text:"577 ft (176 m)" $avgdepth at:298 shift:(0,2) text:"279 ft (85 m)" $maxdepth at:-348 text:"925 ft (282 m)" bar:Huron from:-173 till:577 width:101 color:blue3 $elevation at:577 text:"577 ft (176 m)" $avgdepth at:382 shift:(0,1) text:"195 ft (59 m)" $maxdepth at:-173 text:"750 ft (229 m)" bar:Erie from:359 till:569 width:49 color:blue2 $elevation at:569 text:"569 ft (173 m)" $avgdepth at:507 align:left shift:(30,2) textcolor:textoutsidebar text:"62 ft (19 m)" $maxdepth at:359 text:"210 ft (64 m)" bar:Ontario from:-559 till:243 width:44 color:blue4 $elevation at:243 text:"243 ft (74 m)" $avgdepth at:-40 shift:(0,2) text:"283 ft (86 m)" $maxdepth at:-559 text:"802 ft (244 m)" align:left shift:(35,0) textcolor:green at:243 text:"surface~elevation" at:-40 text:"average~depth" at:-559 text:"maximum~depth"
Notes:	The area of each rectangle is proportionate to the volume of each lake. All measurements at Low Water Datum.
Source:	EPA

Lake Michigan-Huron

Lakes Michigan and Huron are hydrologically a single lake, sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron; they've the same surface elevation of , and are not connected by a river but by the deep Straits of Mackinac. when two tectonic plates fused and created the Midcontinent Rift, forming a valley that was the basis of Lake Superior. When a second fault line, the Saint Lawrence rift, formed approximately 570 million years ago,

Political issues

Great Lakes water use and diversions

The International Joint Commission was established in 1909 to help prevent and resolve disputes relating to the use and quality of boundary waters, and to advise Canada and the United States on questions related to water resources. Concerns over diversion of Lake water are of concern to both Americans and Canadians. Some water is diverted through the Chicago River to operate the Illinois Waterway but the flow is limited by treaty. Possible schemes for bottled water plants and diversion to dry regions of the continent raise concerns. Under the U.S. "Water Resources Development Act"(External Link

), diversion of water from the Great Lakes Basin requires the approval of all eight Great Lakes governors, which rarely occurs. International treaties regulate large diversions. In 1998, the Canadian company Nova Group won approval from the Province of Ontario to withdraw of Lake Superior water annually to ship by tanker to Asian countries. Public outcry forced the company to abandon the plan before it began. Since that time, the eight Great Lakes Governors and the Premiers of Ontario and Quebec have negotiated the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement (External Link

) and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact (External Link

) that would prevent most future diversion proposals and all long-distance ones. The agreements also strengthen protection against abusive water withdrawal practices within the Great Lakes basin. On December 13, 2005, the Governors and Premiers signed these two agreements, the first of which is between all ten jurisdictions. It is somewhat more detailed and protective, but can't be enforced in court because enforcement arrangements can be made only between the federal governments. The second is just between the U.S. states, which, if approved by all eight state legislatures which border the Great Lakes and the U.S. Congress, could be enforced in U.S. federal court.

Coast Guard live fire exercises

In 2006, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) proposed a plan to designate 34 areas in the Great Lakes, at least five miles (8 km) offshore, as permanent safety zones for live fire machine gun practice. In August, 2006 the plan was published in the Federal Register. The USCG reserved the right to hold target practice whenever the weather allowed with a two hour notice. These firing ranges would be open to the public when not in use. In response to requests from the public, the Coast Guard held a series of public meetings in nine U.S. cities to solicit comment. During these meetings many people voiced concerns about the plan and its impact on the environment.
A preliminary health risk assessment stated that the “proposed training will result in no elevated risks for a freshwater system such as the Great Lakes using ”realistic worst case” assumptions, and further investigation isn't recommended … if typical rather than worst case assumptions were used, the predicted risk would be even less.” However, the assessment was based on lead levels after five years, and so one could infer that lead levels could meet or exceed EPA safe levels for lead after fifteen years. The Coast Guard established an information page about their proposal at http://www.uscgd9safetyzones.com

On December 18, 2006, the Coast Guard announced its decision to withdraw the entire proposal. Officials said they'd look into alternative ammunition, modifying the proposed zones and have more public dialogue before proposing a new plan.

Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act

During the 109th United States Congress in 2006, the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act

(Bill HR5100) was introduced to enact the recommendations of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration

, an effort established in 2004 to produce a strategy for restoring and maintaining the Great Lakes. The bill was introduced by U.S. senators Mike DeWine and Carl Levin, along with representatives Vern Ehlers and Rahm Emanuel.
   The bill states that "the Great Lakes are on the brink of an ecologic catastrophe" and that "if the pattern of deterioration isn't reversed immediately, the damage could be irreparable". It cites the closing of over 1,800 beaches in 2003, the dead zone in Lake Erie, and the US$500 million damage each year due to the zebra mussel as evidences that "a comprehensive restoration of the system is needed to prevent the Great Lakes from collapsing".
   A press release states that the bill aims to stop the introduction and spreading of invasive species, prevent the Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, phase out mercury, restore animal habitats, and prevent sewage contamination.
   A coalition called Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives

was formed by several environmental groups and foundations in 2005 to educate and assist citizens in advocating for the cleanup of the Great Lakes.

Additions to the five Great Lakes

Lake Champlain, a lake on the border between upstate New York and northwestern Vermont that's part of the Saint Lawrence-Great Lakes Watershed, briefly became labeled by the U.S. government as the sixth "Great Lake of the United States" on March 6, 1998, when President Clinton signed Senate Bill 927. This bill, which reauthorized the National Sea Grant Program, contained a line penned by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) declaring Lake Champlain to be a Great Lake. Not coincidentally, this status allows neighboring states to apply for additional federal research and education funds allocated to these national resources. The claim was viewed with some amusement by other countries, particularly in the Canadian media, and the lake is small compared to other Canadian lakes (such as Great Bear Lake which has over 27 times more surface area). Following a small uproar (and several New York Times articles), the Great Lake status was rescinded on March 24, 1998 (although Vermont universities continue to receive funds to monitor and study the lake).
Similarly, there has been interest in making Lake St. Clair a Great Lake. In October 2002, backers planned to present such a proposal at the Great Lakes Commission annual meeting, but ultimately withheld it as it appeared to them to have too little support.

Ecology

Ecological challenges

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Great Lakes provided fish to the indigenous groups who lived near them. Early European settlers were astounded by both the variety and quantity of fishes; there were 150 different species in the Great Lakes According to the Inland Seas Education Association, on average a new invasive species enters the Great Lakes every eight months. The mollusk is an efficient feeder, competing with native mussels. It also reduces available food and spawning grounds for fishes. The zebra mussel also hurts utility and manufacturing industries by clogging or blocking pipes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the economic impact of the zebra mussel will be about $5 billion over the next decade.
Approximately 10 percent of nonindigenous aquatic species introduced into the Great Lakes have had significant impacts, both economic and ecological. The remaining 90 percent have potentially harmful impacts but are insufficiently researched and understood. Besides the zebra mussel, several other species have been particularly harmful. The invasion of the sea lamprey, a parasite that attaches to large fishes with a sucker mouth armed with teeth that consume flesh and fluid from its prey, has resulted in substantial economic losses to recreational and commercial fisheries. Protection of the Great Lakes fishery (both native and nonindigenous species) from sea lamprey predation has required annual expenditures of millions of dollars to finance chemical control programs. Alewife, introduced through the canal systems built in the Great Lakes, littered beaches each spring and altered food webs, causing increased water turbidity. These impacts subsided with the intentional introduction of salmonids that were stocked as predators to keep alewife populations under control. The ruffe, a small percid fish, became the most abundant fish species in Lake Superior's St. Louis River within five years of its detection in 1986. Its range, which has expanded to Lake Huron, poses a significant threat to the lower lake fishery. Five years after first being observed in the St. Clair River, the round goby can now be found in all of the Great Lakes. The goby is considered undesirable for several reasons: It preys upon bottom-feeding fishes, overruns optimal habitat, spawns multiple times a season, and can survive poor water quality conditions. (External Link

) Several species of water fleas have accidentally been introduced into the Great lakes such as Bythotrephes cederstroemi and the Fishhook waterflea potentially having an effect on the zooplankton population. Several species of crayfish have also been introduced that may contend with native crayfish populations An electric fence has been set up across the mouth of the Great Lakes across the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in order to keep several species of invasive Asian carps out of the area. These fast-growing planktivorous fishes are thought to have the potential to cause substantial ecological damage to the Great Lakes, through changes in the food chain and water quality. (External Link

)Further Information

Get more info on 'Great Lakes North America'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://great_lakes.totallyexplained.com">Great Lakes Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.