Special Sub-Topic: The Great Lakes system Authored by: Maiguy Sub-topic of: North America

Which of the Great Lakes has the largest surface area?

Lake Superior. The Great Lakes are, in order of surface area; Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario.

Which is the shallowest of the Great Lakes?

Lake Erie. Lake Erie, with an average depth of 62 feet (19 m) and a maximum depth of 210 feet (64 m) is by far the shallowest of the five Great Lakes. Due to its shallowness, it's the only one of the five Great Lakes that regularly freezes over in winter.

Approximately how much of the world's fresh water is located in the Great Lakes system?

20%. The Great Lakes contain 5,472 cubic miles (22,812 km³)or 6 quadrillion U.S. gallons (22.81 quadrillion litres) of fresh water. This is about 1/5 of the entire world supply.

One of the features of the Great Lakes was the ability to access the lakes from ocean ports in the 19th century. In the 20th Century, ocean going ships could directly access the lakes. Which one of the following canal systems is/was not connected to the Great Lakes?

Caledonian Canal. The Caledonian Canal is located in Scotland and connects the North Sea with the Irish Sea. The Erie Canal, completed in 1819, connected Lake Erie with the Hudson Rive and the saltwater port of New York City. The Saint Lawrence Seaway was completed in 1959 and connects the navigable headwaters of the St. Lawrence River east of Montreal to Lake Ontario near Kingston, Ontario. The Great Lakes Waterway includes the Welland Canal, bypassing Niagara Falls between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, and the Soo Locks, bypassing the rapids of the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron at Sault Sainte Marie.

The Great Lakes is one of only a handful of areas in the world that creates lake effect snow. Which of the following towns surrounding the lakes does not regularly receive lake effect snowfall?

Chicago, Illinois. Lake effect snow is caused by cold arctic winds move across the expanses of warmer lake surface picking up water vapor which freezes and is deposited on the shores as snow. Syracuse, Cleveland, and Erie are all on the leeward (down wind) side of the lakes. Chicago is on the windward (upwind) side of the lakes and thus does not typically receive lake effect snow unless there is a change in the prevailing winds.

Which is the only one of the Great Lakes entirely within American borders?

Lake Michigan. It it believed that the word "Michigan" was comes from the Ojibwa Indian word "mishigami", meaning "great water."

Which is the deepest of the Great Lakes?

Lake Superior. Lake Superior has an average depth is 483 feet (147 m) with a maximum depth of 1,333 feet (406 m). Lake Superior contains 2,900 cu mi (12,100 km³) of water. There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover the entire land mass of North and South America with a 12 inches (30 cm) of water.

What small lake is located between Lake Huron and Lake Erie?

Lake St. Clair. Lake St. Clair is located about 6 miles NE of Detroit between the St. Clair River, which drains Lake Huron, and the Detroit River, which feeds into Lake Erie. It has an average depth of about 10 feet (3 m), and a maximum natural depth of 21 feet (6.4 m) (a modern 27 feet (8.2 m) navigation channel has been dredged for freighter passage). Lake Nipissing is located in northern Ontario and drains into Lake Huron via the French River. Lake Winnebago is located in Wisconsin and drains into Lake Michigan via the Fox River. Lake Champlain is located between New York state and Vermont and drains into the St. Lawrence River via the Richelieu River and is not part of the direct Great Lakes system.

The iron ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald, which sunk on November 10, 1975, is one of the most famous wrecks in Great Lakes history. In which lake did she founder?

Lake Superior. The ship went down in Canadian waters about 17 miles (15 nm or 27 km) west of the entrance to Whitefish Bay at the eastern end of Lake Superior. All 29 of her crew perished. She currently rests on the bottom in 530 feet (162 m) of water. The tragedy was the subject of the 1976 hit song "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" by Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot.

The Great Lakes have such a profound effect on weather patterns that they have actually been known to cause cyclones to form. Over which lake did a freak subtropical cyclone form in September 1996?

Lake Huron. The 1996 Lake Huron cyclone, also called Hurricane Huron, formed over the lake on September 11, 1996. Satellite images revealed that it had a resemblance of a tropical hurricane, complete with an 18 mile (30 km) wide eye.