Lake Superior.
The Great Lakes make up 20 percent of the Earth’s available (not in the ice caps) surface fresh water and half of that water is stored by Lake Superior.
Superior is the cleanest and clearest of the Great Lakes.
Which is the most polluted of the Great Lakes?
DETROIT — Facing multiple threats — from zebra mussels to toxins to light pollution from brightly lit shoreline cities — Lakes Erie and Ontario are the most threatened of the five Great Lakes while the depths of Lake Superior remain the most pristine, according to an analysis of 34 stressors to the world’s largest
Which Great Lake is the most dangerous?
The Great Lakes are all dangerous, but Lake Michigan is the deadliest for one big reason. The dangerous secret behind Lake Michigan is the lake’s configuration. It is 307 miles in length north to south, with uninterrupted shores on east and west sides.
Which is the warmest of the Great Lakes?
Lake Erie is a warm 77 degrees, with an average of 75 degrees. Lake Ontario is actually the warmest Great Lake compared to its long-term average. Lake Superior is the only Great Lake with surface temperatures colder than average. Lake Superior has a lake-wide surface temperature of 56 degrees.
Which Great Lake is the least polluted?
Lake Superior has the largest volume of all the Great Lakes. It is the coldest and deepest and because it has a cooler climate and poor soil conditions it is the least polluted.
What great lake has the most shipwrecks?
Why is there a shipwreck museum at Whitefish Point? In all five Great Lakes, we know there are over 6,000 shipwrecks with over 30,000 lives having been lost. Lake Superior is perhaps one of the most dramatic, although it doesn’t have the highest concentration of shipwrecks.
Why is Lake Erie so dirty?
By the late 1960s, people were declaring that “Lake Erie is dead.” Heavy industry lined its shores in Cleveland and other cities, and factories dumped pollutants into the lake and the waterways that flowed into it (like the Cuyahoga River which caught on fire, multiple times) without much government oversight.
Which Great Lake is at the lowest elevation?
Bathymetry
| Lake Erie | Lake Superior | |
|---|---|---|
| Surface area | 9,910 sq mi (25,700 km2) | 31,700 sq mi (82,000 km2) |
| Water volume | 116 cu mi (480 km3) | 2,900 cu mi (12,000 km3) |
| Elevation | 571 ft (174 m) | 600.0 ft (182.9 m) |
| Average depth | 62 ft (19 m) | 483 ft (147 m) |
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Is it safe to swim in the Great Lakes?
Great Lakes Waters Can Take A Savage Toll On Swimmers High winds and dangerous rip currents make swimming in the Great Lakes unpredictable, and sometimes deadly — most beaches have no lifeguards, and hundreds drown in the lakes each year.
How many ships have sunk in the Great Lakes?
According to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, the lakes have caused the sinking of around 6,000 ships and the death of 30,000 people. However, historian Mark Thompson, the author of Graveyard of the Lakes has estimated that there are over 25000 shipwrecks on the bottom of the Great Lakes.
How warm does Lake Superior get?
While the temperature of the surface of Lake Superior varies seasonally, the temperature below 110 fathoms (660 ft; 200 m) is an almost constant 39 °F (4 °C). This variation in temperature makes the lake seasonally stratigraphic.
Is Lake Superior warm enough to swim in?
If you go swimming there in the hottest part of the summer, you’ll soon learn that Lake Superior is also the coldest of the Great Lakes – brrr, icy cold at an average temperature of 40° F (4°C). The water temperature sets the climate for the area, making winters warmer and summers cooler.
Is Lake Huron warmer than Lake Michigan?
The entire lake average surface temperature is 67.8 degrees. The long-term average is 61.9 degrees, making Lake Michigan 5.9 degrees warmer than the long-term average. Just above is the Lake Huron average surface water temperature. Lake Huron is 6.2 degrees (F) warmer than the long-term average.
Is Lake Ontario still polluted?
But of all the Great Lakes, Lake Ontario, which is furthest downstream, is almost certainly the most polluted. “Your fish warnings are more ominous in Lake Ontario,” says Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner, Gord Miller.
Are great lakes polluted?
The five Great Lakes, Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior have a total coastline of almost 11,000 miles. Concentrations of historic pollutants are still a concern, mercury levels in some species of Great Lakes fish are stable but are increasing in others.
Is Lake Michigan polluted?
Chicago filed suit Wednesday against U.S. Steel following two spills last year that dumped more than 300 pounds of highly toxic hexavalent chromium into a tributary of Lake Michigan, which provides drinking water for Chicago and more than 5 million Illinois residents.
Are there sharks in the Great Lakes?
It’s highly unlikely there would actually be a shark swimming around in Lake Michigan. For starters, the Great Lakes are freshwater lakes, but sharks live in saltwater. On top of that, Lake Michigan is about 2,000 miles from the nearest ocean.
Which Great Lake is the shallowest?
Lake Erie
Did anyone survive the Edmund Fitzgerald?
SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that sank in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. For 17 years, Edmund Fitzgerald carried taconite iron ore from mines near Duluth, Minnesota, to iron works in Detroit, Toledo, and other Great Lakes ports.
Are there any sharks in Lake Erie?
There have been reports of dead sharks apparently washed up on the beaches in Lake Huron, Erie and Ontario, but there’s no way to tell whether they came on their own or were planted there as pranks. A big sturgeon does have a healthy, shark-like dorsal fin and tail, and they have been known to swim near the surface.
Why is Lake Erie so high?
Water levels change very quickly on Lake Erie because it’s so small and shallow, Mackey said. High water intensifies a natural effect called a seiche, a change in water level across the lake because of wind or atmospheric pressure. Winds across Lake Erie can mean a 10-foot difference between Toledo and Buffalo.
Is Lake Erie water safe to drink?
Back in 2014, the City of Toledo, Ohio, issued a “do not drink” advisory when treated drinking water drawn from Lake Erie contained unsafe levels of a toxin called microcystin, produced by a bloom of harmful blue-green algae. To help public drinking water managers prepare for hypoxia events, a research team led by Drs.
Why are the Great Lakes so high?
And when the lake is already high, that may mean ferries to the islands can’t run because they can’t safely load cars or passengers. All the Great Lakes have high water levels right now. That’s because about 92 percent of the water in Lake Erie comes from the upper lakes, through the Detroit River, into Lake Erie.
Why is the Edmund Fitzgerald so famous?
One of the most famous ships ever to sail on the Great Lakes, the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was built in 1957 and early 1958 by Great Lakes Engineering Works. She sailed largely without incident until September 6, 1969, when she hit ground near the Soo Locks, causing internal and external damage to the ship.
Why did the Edmund Fitzgerald go down?
While the Coast Guard said the cause of the sinking could not be conclusively determined, it maintained that “the most probable cause of the sinking of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald was the loss of buoyancy and stability resulting from massive flooding of the cargo hold.
Can you swim in Lake Michigan?
The “swim risk” will help you assess the risk of swimming in Lake Michigan, and can help you avoid an unnecessary trip to the beach due to expected dangerous swim conditions. A Low Swim Risk implies that dangerous waves and currents are not expected at the beach.
Is it too cold to swim in Lake Michigan?
Lake water temperatures too cold to swim, despite warmer spring weather. SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. According to the National Weather Service, roughly 20 percent of the people who fall into cold water die in the first minute of immersion due to cold water shock.
What is a comfortable lake water temperature?
Younger children and the elderly generally need warmer temperatures ranging from 84 to 94 degrees Fahrenheit, while a comfortable pool temperature for adults is 85 to 89 degrees. If you are swimming for fitness, cooler temperatures of 78 to 84 degrees are recommended.
Which Great Lake has the coldest water?
Lake Superior
What’s the warmest Lake Michigan gets?
Rebounding from icy 32 degree values in late winter, August is usually the month when Lake Michigan’s water temperature reaches its highest level here. Readings usually top out in the upper 70s, but can reach the lower 80s in the warmest summers.
Where is the deepest point in Lake Michigan?
Answer and Explanation: While the majority of Lake Michigan averages a depth of around 280 feet/85 meters, there is a deep hole located east-northeast of Green Bay, Wisconsin. This hole plunges to a depth of 923 feet/281 meters.
Photo in the article by “Wikipedia” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indiana_state_symbols