[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. Estimates range from 7,000 to 32,000 years of age. Implementation of secondary treatment of municipal sewage by major cities greatly reduced the routine discharge of untreated sewage during the 1970s and 1980s. Since the opening of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway System in 1959, large cargo vessels can travel from the Atlantic Ocean to Duluth, Minnesota, on Lake Superior-the farthest-inland . In contrast, the Great Lakes have an outflow into the ocean, which carries away a lot of the dissolved salts and sediment. :) Sounds far less interesting. Fresh water is different from salt. The Wisconsin Fisheries Commission noted a reduction of roughly 25% in general fish harvests by 1875. [104] During settlement, the Great Lakes and its rivers were the only practical means of moving people and freight. They hold about 90% of the freshwater in the United States and approximately 20% of the world's freshwater supply. [1] Though all of the lakes are naturally connected as a chain, water travel between the lakes was impeded for centuries by obstacles such as Niagara Falls and the rapids of the St. Marys River. The Erie Canal connects to the Great Lakes at the east end of Lake Erie (at Buffalo, New York) and at the south side of Lake Ontario (at Oswego, New York). It is somewhat more detailed and protective, though its legal strength has not yet been tested in court. For a discussion of the system east of Lake Ontario, see Saint Lawrence River and Seaway. The largest loss of life in a shipwreck out on the lakes may have been that of Lady Elgin, wrecked in 1860 with the loss of around 400 lives on Lake Michigan. The agreements strengthen protection against abusive water withdrawal practices within the Great Lakes basin. You are wrong WRT the Great Lakes. [78], The first U.S. Clean Water Act, passed by a Congressional override after being vetoed by U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1972, was a key piece of legislation,[79] along with the bi-national Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement signed by Canada and the U.S. A variety of steps taken to process industrial and municipal pollution discharges into the system greatly improved water quality by the 1980s, and Lake Erie in particular is significantly cleaner. Fluctuation of the water levels in the lakes has been observed since records began in 1918. [clarification needed][64], Overfishing has been cited as a possible reason for a decrease in population of various whitefish, important because of their culinary desirability and, hence, economic consequence. [40], The Great Lakes contain 21% of the world's surface fresh water: 5,472 cubic miles (22,810km3), or 6.01015 U.S.gallons, that is 6quadrillion U.S gallons, (2.31016 liters). Yes, tsunamis have been documented on all five of the Great Lakesat least, meteotsunamis, which have the same characteristics as tsunamis created by seismic events such as earthquakes and. Great Lakes Waterway - Wikipedia [65] By 1900, commercial fishermen on Lake Michigan were hauling in an average of 41million pounds of fish annually. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? 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). Removal of trees also destabilized the soil, with greater volumes washed into stream beds causing siltation of gravel beds, and more frequent flooding. Do lakes such as our Great Lakes have tides? The Sea of Galilee is not saline. About 10,000 years ago, the upper lakes evidently discharged through this area via the Ottawa River valley, and their levels were substantially reduced. Several species of exotic water fleas have accidentally been introduced into the Great Lakes, such as the spiny waterflea, Bythotrephes longimanus, and the fishhook waterflea, Cercopagis pengoi, potentially having an effect on the zooplankton population. The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.[126]. This effect can be very localized and overridden by offshore wind patterns. The Great LakesSuperior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontarioform the largest surface of freshwater in the world, comprising more than 94,250 square miles (244,106 square kilometers) of east-central North America. At the same time, Lake Duluth, in the western Lake Superior basin, also drained to the Mississippi. By janetcbl, Monday at 11:11 PM in Viking Ocean. Studies conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency have shown that when the mercury comes in contact with many of the bacteria and compounds in the fresh water, it forms the compound methyl mercury, which has a much greater impact on human health than elemental mercury due to a higher propensity for absorption. Running cut logs down the tributary rivers into the Great Lakes also dislocated sediments. "Chapter 1:Introduction to Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair River", "Movement Would Thrust Greatness on Lake St. Clair", "State of the Great Lakes 2009 Highlights (PDF)", "Lakes Michigan, Huron hit record low water level", "Lake Michigan-Huron Water Levels from Harbor Beach, MI - 9075014 2020 - 2021", "Genesee, Oakland counties adopt historic name for water group", "Ice Volcanoes of the Lake Erie Shore Near Dunkirk, New York, U.S.A.", "Origin and evolution of the Great Lakes", "Lake levels report weighs Great Lakes basin's glacial legacy", "Great Lakes Water Levels Sensitive To Climate Change", "Gobies up, alewives down in Lake Michigan", "Predicting Invasive Species in the Great Lakes", "Briefing Paper: Great Lakes Nonindigenous Invasive Species", "Risk Assessment for Asian Carps in Canada", "Deepwater demersal fish community collapse in Lake Huron", "Minuscule microbes wield enormous power over the Great Lakes. The answer is yes, our Great Lakes do have tides that occur twice each day, but they are much smaller in scale and barely noticeable unlike the ocean. [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. What is a sea lamprey? - National Ocean Service [82], Phosphate detergents were historically a major source of nutrient to the Great Lakes algae blooms in particular in the warmer and shallower portions of the system such as Lake Erie, Saginaw Bay, Green Bay, and the southernmost portion of Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes are undoubtedly our state's most famous bodies of water, but Michigan is home to plenty of great rivers and inland lakes, too! The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, as it's known, is visible from space, stretching like a sea monster across the ocean, with its nose in the Gulf of Mexico and its tail in the mouth of the Congo. This system extends generally eastward from the St. Louis River in Minnesota (which flows into Lake Superior), through the lakes and the St. Lawrence River, and empties into the Atlantic Ocean at the Gulf of St. Lawrence. As the ice sheet melted and receded about 14,000 years ago, the first segments of the Great Lakes were created. They are one of the great natural features of the continent and of the Earth. "Meer"). One such merchant was John P. Clark, a shipbuilder and merchant who began selling fish in the area of Manitowoc, Wisconsin where whitefish was abundant. [93], A number of self operating floating devices called Seabin, were put in the Great Lakes to capture plastic trash as part of the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup project. 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. 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). @Dan Neely: As I said, barring serious changes in human behavior (and assuming it's not already too late for those changes to have effects), sea level rise will eventually join the Caspian to the Black Sea. Page not found Instagram Earth Science Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for those interested in the geology, meteorology, oceanography, and environmental sciences. Those rifts were then further (much later) "excavated" by glaciers. This visualization compares the size of the Great Lakes | World There are limestone outcrops and large deposits of sand and gravel, usually near shore. Caught in a 1679 storm while trading furs between Green Bay and Michilimacinac, she was lost with all hands aboard. Even late in winter, the lakes often have no icepack in the middle. By the mid-1980s, most jurisdictions bordering the Great Lakes had controlled phosphate detergents. [120] In 2008, deep sea divers in Lake Ontario found the wreck of the 1780 Royal Navy warship HMSOntario in what has been described as an "archaeological miracle". 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. It is also one of the worlds largest bodies of fresh water. [50], The total surface area of the lakes is approximately 94,250 square miles (244,100km2)nearly the same size as the United Kingdom, and larger than the U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire combined. The Great Lakes receive their water supply from precipitation, which increases from west to east and from north to south. @Sean Humans might be able of doing a lot of things, yes. Lake Michigan is the largest lake that is entirely within one country. Many who see them for the first time say that just one actually looks like an ocean, they are so large across the horizon. Population centers on the peninsulas include Grand Rapids, Flint, and Detroit in Michigan along with London, Hamilton, Brantford, and Toronto in Ontario. 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. Rather large severe thunderstorms covering wide areas are well known in the Great Lakes during mid-summer; these Mesoscale convective complexes or MCCs[59] can cause damage to wide swaths of forest and shatter glass in city buildings. Particularly, the 1825 opening of the Erie Canal and the Welland Canal a few years later. Diatoms acquire inorganic carbon through passive diffusion of CO2 and HCO3, and use carbonic anhydrase mediated active transport to speed up this process. While the influx of fresh water has driven the salinity relatively low compared to the oceans, the sea now only loses water through evaporation - so there's no way for the (tiny amounts) of incoming salts and (relatively large amounts) of sediment to go. Laws, Robert R. Bidigare, John E. Dore, et al., Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, (1998), Effect of Phytoplankton Cell Geometry on Carbon Isotopic Fractionation, Vol. Through the program a coalition of federal agencies is making grants to local and state entities for toxics cleanups, wetlands and coastline restoration projects, and invasive species-related projects. According to the bi-national (U.S. and Canadian) resource book, The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book: "The largest Great Lakes fish harvests were recorded in 1889 and 1899 at some 67,000 tonnes (66,000 long tons; 74,000 short tons) [147million pounds]. [35] [119] The largest and last major freighter wrecked on the lakes was the SSEdmund Fitzgerald, which sank on November 10, 1975, just over 17 miles (30km) offshore from Whitefish Point on Lake Superior. [125] A few small cruise ships operate on the Great Lakes including some sailing ships. This designation is not universal. The lakes are divided among the jurisdictions of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. [127] 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. In 1884, the New York Fish Commission determined that the dumping of sawmill waste (chips and sawdust) had impacted fish populations. The names bodies of water have are historical, so what they are called is down to what somebody saw fit to call them in the past - not any modern taxonomy. The age of the Great Lakes is still not definitely determined. A wide range of rock types and deposits are found in the Great Lakes because of their broad area and glacial origin. [36], The lake levels are affected primarily by changes in regional meteorology and climatology. Will the Great Lakes Rise With Sea Level? - John Englander Located on Lake Michigan, this beach was named one of the 51 Great American Beaches by USA Today - and it's definitely deserving of the recognition. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Act of 2019 passed as Public Law 116-294 on January 5, 2021. In the late 1960s, the various state and federal governments began stocking several species of salmonids, including the native lake trout as well as non-native chinook and coho salmon; by the 1980s, alewife populations had dropped drastically. Concerns over diversion of Lake water are of concern to both Americans and Canadians. 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. [112] In the first half of the 20th century large luxurious passenger steamers sailed the lakes in opulence. The present configuration of the Great Lakes basin is the result of the movement of massive glaciers through the mid-continent, a process that began about one million years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch. Thanks for contributing an answer to Earth Science Stack Exchange! It is 350 miles (563 km) long (east to west), and at its greatest width it is 160 miles (258 km) from north to south. Photosynthesis carried out by diatoms constitutes about one fifth of the total photosynthesis.[where?] The Great Lakes Waterway connects all the lakes; the smaller Saint Lawrence Seaway connects the lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. The main business of many of the passenger lines in the 19th century was transporting immigrants. [63], On both sides of the CanadaUnited States border, the proliferation of dams and impoundments have multiplied, necessitating more regulatory efforts. From me looking at maps, excluding the Caspian sea and the Great Lakes, I see these in common for seas and lakes: So back to these 2 bodies of water in question. Great Lakes Collection excursions - Viking Ocean - Cruise Critic Community 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. Kppen climate classification Dfa (in southern areas) and Dfb (in northern parts)[57] with varying influences from air masses from other regions including dry, cold Arctic systems, mild Pacific air masses from the west, and warm, wet tropical systems from the south and the Gulf of Mexico. Microplastics can also come from synthetic clothing washed down our drains. A large bloom does not necessarily mean the cyanobacteria will produce toxins", said Michael McKay, of the University of Windsor. Corrections? 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. 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). [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. Pleasure boats can enter or exit the Great Lakes by way of the Erie Canal and Hudson River in New York. It is a source of pride for both countries that there are no fortifications or warships along the boundary. If you are interested in trying the voyage, read on to . [113] The Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company had several vessels at the time and hired workers from all walks of life to help operate these vessels. The North American Great Lakes are unique among the world's large lakes in that their basins are linked together and form one continuous drainage basin. These fast-growing planktivorous fish have heavily colonized the Mississippi and Illinois river systems. [28] The second-largest island is Isle Royale in Lake Superior. Roads closed because of Croatan National Forest fire At one high-water stage, the waters of the Huron and Michigan basin formed one large lakeLake Algonquin. Remember that old German project to dry up the Mediterranean? [1][2][3] The total surface is 94,250 square miles (244,106km2), and the total volume (measured at the low water datum) is 5,439 cubic miles (22,671km3),[4] slightly less than the volume of Lake Baikal (5,666cumi or 23,615km3, 2223% of the world's surface fresh water). Well, these lakes and rivers form when seawater seeps up through thick layers of salt, which are present beneath the seafloor. Snowbelts are found in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario. [116] The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve serves as an underwater museum to protect the many shipwrecks in this area. Native habitats and ecoregions in the Great Lakes region include: Logging of the extensive forests in the Great Lakes region removed riparian and adjacent tree cover over rivers and streams, which provide shade, moderating water temperatures in fish spawning grounds. An international ferry across Lake Ontario from Rochester, New York, to Toronto ran during 2004 and 2005 but is no longer in operation. [68][69] According to the Inland Seas Education Association, on average a new species enters the Great Lakes every eight months. [93] Plastics in the water break up into very small particles known as microplastics. There is also some shipping of liquid and containerized cargo. The glaciers undoubtedly scoured existing valleys, widening and deepening them and radically changing the drainage of the area. Under customary international law as reflected in the 1982 Law o Where does water in the Great Lakes originate? [92], Researchers have found more than 22million pounds (10.0kt) of plastic in the Great Lakes each year. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Both served as training ships to qualify naval aviators in carrier landing and takeoff. The U.S. Periodic mass die-offs result in vast numbers of the fish washing up on shore; estimates by various governments have placed the percentage of Lake Michigan's biomass which was made up of alewives in the early 1960s as high as 90%. The last glaciation in North America is called the Wisconsin Glacial Stage because it left many fresh landforms and sediments in that state. The Great Lakes are a chain of deep freshwater lakes in east-central North America comprising the lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Since that time, the eight Great Lakes Governors and the Premiers of Ontario and Quebec have negotiated the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement[129] and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact[130] that would prevent most future diversion proposals and all long-distance ones. As a chain of lakes and rivers, they connect the east-central interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. More recently an electric fence has been set up across the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in order to keep several species of invasive Asian carp out of the lakes. This temperature buffering produces areas known as "fruit belts", where fruit can be produced that is typically grown much farther south. The lakes drain a large watershed via many rivers and contain approximately 35,000 islands. [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 2002, 162million net tons of dry bulk cargo were moved on the Lakes. Most Great Lakes trade is of bulk material, and bulk freighters of Seawaymax-size or less can move throughout the entire lakes and out to the Atlantic. Commercial tug-and-barge traffic on these waterways is heavy.[33]. They are either endorheic or have a sea-level (tidally-influenced) connection to the ocean. Background Geology of the North Bay area. [49] This is enough water to cover the 48 contiguous U.S. states to a uniform depth of 9.5 feet (2.9m). In fact, two major suppliers of fish in the 1830s were the fur trading companies Hudson's Bay Company and the American Fur Company. Several rivers, tributaries, and manmade canals connect the lakes and provide a major transportation route that links the inland areas with the Atlantic Ocean.It is estimated that more than 85 million people reside in the Great Lakes Megalopolis region, including some human settlements along the St . 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%. Has the cause of a rocket failure ever been mis-identified, such that another launch failed due to the same problem? Storm-generated waves carve the lakes' ice sheet and create conical mounds through the eruption of water and slush. Is there a weapon that has the heavy property and the finesse property (or could this be obtained)? Great Lakes ecoregion - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Can You Sail From The Great Lakes To The Ocean? [83] Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria blooms,[84] have been problematic on Lake Erie since 2011. [65], The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book (1972) notes: "Only pockets remain of the once large commercial fishery. [11], Though the five lakes lie in separate basins, they form a single, naturally interconnected body of fresh water, within the Great Lakes Basin.