The first of 43 "Great Lakes Areas of Concern" to be formally "de-listed" due to successful cleanup was Ontario's Collingwood Harbour in 1994; Ontario's Severn Sound followed in 2003. [83], The first U.S. Clean Water Act, passed by a Congressional override after being vetoed by US President Richard Nixon in 1972, was a key piece of legislation,[84] 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. To easily remember their names, think of the word HOMES - it is made up of the first letter of each lake. 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%. Periodic mass dieoffs 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%. [56] Traversing the shoreline of all the lakes would cover a distance roughly equivalent to travelling half-way around the world at the equator.[14]. Still missing are the two last warships to sink in the Great Lakes, the French minesweepers, Inkerman and Cerisoles, which vanished in Lake Superior during a blizzard in 1918. To learn more Great Lake place names, explore our map. The kids and I came up with a catchy mnemonic to memorize the location of the Great Lakes. Those living on the shore of Lake Superior often refer to all the other lakes as "the lower lakes", because they are farther south. They have a total area of approximately 246 050 km 2 and drop from 183 m above sea level at Lake Superior to 74 m at Lake Ontario - the most dramatic drop occurring at NIAGARA FALLS. Lake Superior Its name is merely a reflection of its huge size - 82,100 square km and 12,100 cubic km, but probably also of its posi [14], Intensive human population growth began in the region in the 20th century and continues today. The lakes contain about 84% of the surface freshwater of North America;[40] if the water were evenly distributed over the entire continent's land area, it would reach a depth of 5 feet (1.5 meters). Census Office 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. 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) [147 million pounds]. [113], 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". Commercial tug-and-barge traffic on these waterways is heavy.[39]. Water Diversions. In fact, two major suppliers of fish in the 1830s were the fur trading companies Hudson's Bay Company and the American Fur Company. Typhoid fever Michigan. In 1884, the New York Fish Commission determined that the dumping of sawmill waste (chips and sawdust) had impacted fish populations. [14] The source of water levels in the lakes is tied to what was left by melting glaciers when the lakes took their present form. Since general freight these days is transported by railroads and trucks, domestic ships mostly move bulk cargoes, such as iron ore, coal and limestone for the steel industry. pp. Dunbar. The Rush–Bagot Treaty signed in 1818, after the War of 1812 and the later Treaty of Washington eventually led to a complete disarmament of naval vessels in the Great Lakes. [107] Today, the Great Lakes fleet is much smaller in numbers than it once was because of the increased use of overland freight, and a few larger ships replacing many small ones. [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). Moreover, between 1879 and 1899, reported whitefish harvests declined from some 24.3 million pounds (11 million kg) to just over 9 million pounds (4 million kg). The entire crew of 23 drowned, except one, Charles Pitz, who floated on a life raft for almost seven hours.[127]. [123] The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve serves as an underwater museum to protect the many shipwrecks in this area. For instance, Western Michigan has apple and cherry orchards, and vineyards cultivated adjacent to the lake shore as far north as the Grand Traverse Bay and Nottawasaga Bay in central Ontario. These lakes are located in the upper mid-east area of North America – basically on Canada’s and … The lakes also moderate seasonal temperatures to some degree, but not with as large an influence as do large oceans; they absorb heat and cool the air in summer, then slowly radiate that heat in autumn. [124] Its wreck may have been found in 2004,[125] but a wreck subsequently discovered in a different location was also claimed in 2014 to be Le Griffon.[126]. This was, in order of volume: iron ore, grain and potash. The Great Lakes are five freshwater lakes located in the central-eastern part of North America. Sanson improved upon Champlain’s map (and dismantled the “Grand Lac” belief—aka the idea that Lake Michagan and Superior were cojoined and formed a massive lake) by using Jesuit accounts of the area, in addition to observations made by Aboriginals, Étienne Brûlé, and Jean Nicollet. Four of the Great Lakes are on the border between Canada and the United States of America. The rest are partially in Canada and the USA. 1 : 3700000 Gannett, Henry, 1846-1914; United States. Description: This map shows lakes, cities, towns, states, rivers, main roads and secondary roads in Great Lakes Area. A group of five large interconnected lakes in… Connected to the Atlantic Ocean by… The lake in the US only is Lake Michigan. These fast-growing planktivorous fish have heavily colonized the Mississippi and Illinois river systems. In 1872, a treaty gave access to the St. Lawrence River to the United States, and access to Lake Michigan to the Dominion of Canada. Rather large severe thunderstorms covering wide areas are well known in the Great Lakes during mid-summer; these Mesoscale convective complexes or MCCs[63] can cause damage to wide swaths of forest and shatter glass in city buildings. This led to the launch of the bi-national Great Lakes Fishery Commission. The names of the five Great Lakes are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Although the Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway make the Great Lakes accessible to ocean-going vessels,[37] shifts in shipping to wider ocean-going container ships—which do not fit through the locks on these routes—have limited container shipping on the lakes. All together, by volume, they are the largest group of fresh water lakes in the world. New York and Wisconsin's jurisdictions extend into two lakes, and each of the remaining states into one of the lakes. Particularly, the 1825 opening of the Erie Canal and the Welland Canal a few years later. In 1998, the Canadian company Nova Group won approval from the Province of Ontario to withdraw 158,000,000 U.S. gallons (600,000 m3) of Lake Superior water annually to ship by tanker to Asian countries. This is most noticeable along Lake Superior's shores. Only four bridges are on the Great Lakes other than Lake Ontario because of the cost of building structures high enough for ships to pass under. Within the past ten years mercury has become more apparent in water tests. Not coincidentally, this status allows neighboring states to apply for additional federal research and education funds allocated to these national resources. In June 2010, L.R. [10] The lakes have been a major source for transportation, migration, trade, and fishing, serving as a habitat to many aquatic species in a region with much biodiversity. [59] Since the glaciers covered some areas longer than others, this glacial rebound occurred at different rates. It is somewhat more detailed and protective, though its legal strength has not yet been tested in court. For rank-order lists, see List of lakes by area, List of lakes by depth, List of lakes by volume "Evolution of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement", Paul Muldoon and Lee Botts, Michigan State University Press, 2005, Burkhardt Steffen, Amoroso Gabi, Riebesell Ulf, Sültemeyer Dieter, (2001), CO. Brian N. Popp, Edward A. At least 13 wildlife species are documented as becoming extinct since the arrival of Europeans, and many more are threatened or endangered. Although the lakes contain a large percentage of the world's fresh water, the Great Lakes supply only a small portion of U.S. drinking water on a national basis. [72][73] According to the Inland Seas Education Association, on average a new species enters the Great Lakes every eight months. First we memorized the names of the Great Lakes (Superior, Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie) and then we used the mnemonic SHO ME (pronounced "show me") to remember their locations. The lakes are prone to sudden and severe storms, in particular in the autumn, from late October until early December. Meanwhile, exotic and invasive species have also been introduced. The names of the five Great Lakes are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Although Lake Baikal in Russia has a larger volume of water, the combined area of the Great Lakes—some 94,250 square miles (244,106 square kilometres)—represents the largest surface … great lakes The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater seas located in eastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. When the sailing ships gave way to steamships, they were called steamboats—the same term used on the Mississippi. The number of such overflow events in Ontario, for example, is flat according to the International Joint Commission. Doty, ship that sank in Lake Michigan 112 years ago, found largely intact near Milwaukee", "Federal Statute on Great Lakes. An alternate track is via the Illinois River (from Chicago), to the Mississippi, up the Ohio, and then through the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway (a combination of a series of rivers and lakes and canals), to Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the economic impact of the zebra mussel could be about $5 billion over the next decade. Despite their vast size, large sections of the Great Lakes freeze over in winter, interrupting most shipping from January to March. The greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies near Thunder Bay (Michigan), beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge. Vessels sailing north on Lake Michigan are considered "upbound" even though they are sailing toward its effluent current.[24]. The agreements strengthen protection against abusive water withdrawal practices within the Great Lakes basin. Grain exports are also a major cargo on the lakes. 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). [54], The total surface area of the lakes is approximately 94,250 square miles (244,100 km2)—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. [14] Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes that is entirely within the United States; the others form a water boundary between the United States and Canada. This temperature buffering produces areas known as "Fruit Belts", where fruit can be produced that is typically grown much farther south. Fact number 1 Canada may be a Métis nation, but not everybody in Canada is part of the Métis Nation. Some water is diverted through the Chicago River to operate the Illinois Waterway but the flow is limited by treaty. 69-77. [110], In the early years of the 21st century, water levels in the Great Lakes were a concern. [120] 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 process is only well-documented in the Great Lakes, and has been credited with sparing the southern shorelines from worse rocky erosion. Lake Erie ranks fourth in of the great lakes in size. Moreover, the portions and positions of the Great Lakes are more or less accurate. However, the names of other four lakes have Native American origins, to some degree. The other, Lake Michigan, is completely inside the United States. There is also some shipping of liquid and containerized cargo but most container ships cannot pass the locks on the Saint Lawrence Seaway because the ships are too wide. What I mean by “some degree” is that for example Lake Huron name comes from a French name of Native American Indian tribe inhabiting the area. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, described as "the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades",[135] was funded at $475 million in the U.S. federal government's Fiscal Year 2011 budget, and $300 million in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. Lake Erie - 9,910 square miles [citation needed], Blue-green algae, or Cyanobacteria blooms,[89] have been problematic on Lake Erie since 2011. A contemporary account by Methodist missionary John Evans describes the fish as resembling a "bright cloud moving rapidly through the water".[114]. [58] Because of the uneven nature of glacier erosion, some higher hills became Great Lakes islands. It has been estimated that the foundational geology that created the conditions shaping the present day upper Great Lakes was laid from 1.1 to 1.2 billion years ago,[14][57] when two previously fused tectonic plates split apart and created the Midcontinent Rift, which crossed the Great Lakes Tectonic Zone. Historically, evaporation has been balanced by drainage, making the levels of the lakes relatively constant. What Are the Names of the Five Great Lakes? Algae such as diatoms, along with other phytoplankton, are photosynthetic primary producers supporting the food web of the Great Lakes,[97] and have been effected by global warming. Water Resources Development Act", Agreement. The second, the Great Lakes Compact, has been approved by the state legislatures of all eight states that border the Great Lakes as well as the U.S. Congress, and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 3, 2008.[134]. Since many immigrants settled for a time in New England before moving westward, many areas on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes also have a New England feel, especially in home styles and accent. In fact, the Great Lakes are so large they are often referred to as inland seas. Hastings, D. and P.K. Vessel Registry: CANADA; Official Number: 318774; Rig: Fire Tug; Date Built: 1963-00-00 The names of the five Great Lakes are Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. [41] As a chain of lakes and rivers, they connect the east-central interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. Barges from middle North America were able to reach the Atlantic Ocean from the Great Lakes when the Welland canal opened in 1824 and the later Erie Canal opened in 1825. Both served as training ships to qualify naval aviators in carrier landing and takeoff. Nonetheless, both nations maintain coast guard vessels in the Great 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. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}45°N 84°W / 45°N 84°W / 45; -84. [121] Several ferries currently operate on the Great Lakes to carry passengers to various islands, including Isle Royale, Drummond Island, Pelee Island, Mackinac Island, Beaver Island, Bois Blanc Island (Ontario), Bois Blanc Island (Michigan), Kelleys Island, South Bass Island, North Manitou Island, South Manitou Island, Harsens Island, Manitoulin Island, and the Toronto Islands.