are the great lakes like an ocean
It is also one of the worlds largest bodies of fresh water. Surrounding the Great Salt Lake are salt flats, areas where the lake has evaporated, leaving only stretches of white salt. In the post-glacial period, evaporation, and drainage have generally been balanced, making the levels of the lakes relatively constant. In 2010, L.R. [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). In the 21st century, mercury has become more apparent in water tests. @Luaan: Also consider such "seas" as the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee, both of which are equivalent to medium-sized lakes. Hundreds of ships have met their end on the lakes. "[62], By 1801, the New York Legislature found it necessary to pass regulations curtailing obstructions to the natural migrations of Atlantic salmon from Lake Erie into their spawning channels. Although the Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway make the Great Lakes accessible to ocean-going vessels,[31] shifts in shipping to wider ocean-going container shipswhich do not fit through the locks on these routeshave limited container shipping on the lakes. New York and Wisconsin's jurisdictions extend into two lakes, and each of the remaining states into one of the lakes. There are limestone outcrops and large deposits of sand and gravel, usually near shore. 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. Doty was found in Lake Michigan by an exploration diving team led by dive boat Captain Jitka Hanakova from her boat Molly V.[122] The ship sank in October 1898, probably attempting to rescue a small schooner, Olive Jeanette, during a terrible storm. [112] In the first half of the 20th century large luxurious passenger steamers sailed the lakes in opulence. The Great Lakes are connected by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to the Gulf of Mexico via the Illinois River (from the Chicago River) and the Mississippi River. The biggest drop in elevation is the famous Niagara Falls. The Great Lakes could be considered a failed ocean. The Great Lakes receive their water supply from precipitation, which increases from west to east and from north to south. International treaties regulate large diversions. Major ports on the Great Lakes include Duluth-Superior, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Twin Harbors, Hamilton and Thunder Bay. [6][7][8][9], The Great Lakes began to form at the end of the Last Glacial Period around 14,000 years ago, as retreating ice sheets exposed the basins they had carved into the land, which then filled with meltwater. Because of the location of the coal fields in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and the general northeast track of the Appalachian Mountains, railroads naturally developed shipping routes that went due north to ports such as Erie, Pennsylvania and Ashtabula, Ohio. [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. [67] The last commercial fisherman left Milwaukee in 2011 because of overfishing and anthropogenic changes to the biosphere. Re: Stupid question about Great Lakes vs Ocean. The depth of the Great Lakes, compared. Lakes Huron and Michigan are sometimes considered a single lake, called Lake MichiganHuron, because they are one hydrological body of water connected by the Straits of Mackinac. At least 13 wildlife species are documented as becoming extinct since the arrival of Europeans, and many more are threatened or endangered. Public outcry forced the company to abandon the plan before it began. [93] Plastics in the water break up into very small particles known as microplastics. The unstable West Antarctic ice cap and Greenland ice caps combined would only get us about halfway there. Some lake freighters are too large to use the Seaway and operate only on the Waterway and lakes. [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. Viking Ocean ; Great Lakes Collection excursions Announcing Our 2023 Cruisers' Choice Award Winners! [63], On both sides of the CanadaUnited States border, the proliferation of dams and impoundments have multiplied, necessitating more regulatory efforts. Why typically people don't use biases in attention mechanism? In contrast, the Great Lakes have an outflow into the ocean, which carries away a lot of the dissolved salts and sediment. 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. While enormous public investments such as the Deep Tunnel projects in Chicago and Milwaukee have greatly reduced the frequency and volume of these events, they have not been eliminated. [14] Meanwhile, exotic and invasive species have also been introduced. Correction is in order here. The ships also have a distinctive design; ships that primarily trade on the lakes are known as "lakers". The East Antarctic Ice cap OTOH has about 60m of sea level rise in it; roughtly double what'd be needed to flood the Caspian basin. [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. One such spot boasts some of the bluest water in Michigan, and you might just want to spend all day unwinding along its shore. Particularly, the 1825 opening of the Erie Canal and the Welland Canal a few years later. There are five lakes, which are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario and are in general on or near the CanadaUnited States border. Canada borders approximately 5,200 miles (8,400km) of coastline, while the remaining 5,300 miles (8,500km) are bordered by the United States. The ancient rocks of the Canadian Shield cover part of the Superior and Huron basins, while Paleozoic sedimentary rocks make up the remainder of the basins. Durbin, E.G. How Lakes Are Formed All lakes fill bowl-shaped depressions in the Earth 's surface, called . Ocean waves can get square, though, usually in shallower water (less than 50 ft.), and when a new wind direction first picks up. Living in Geologic Time: Billion-year-old rifting events set the stage for Earth's greatest lakes. The entire crew of 23 drowned, except one, Charles Pitz, who floated on a life raft for almost seven hours. "Sea" versus "lake" versus "just part of the ocean" is a bit fuzzy, but there are two things that are universal about seas: They are saline. Concerns by the mid-19th century included obstructions in the rivers which prevented salmon and lake sturgeon from reaching their spawning grounds. If you are interested in trying the voyage, read on to . Foreign boats are known as "salties". [87][86], Until 1970, mercury was not listed as a harmful chemical, according to the United States Federal Water Quality Administration. 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. Land below the glaciers "rebounded" as it was uncovered. Are there any inland lakes in Michigan with ocean vibes? The Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States get pummeled by hurricanes every year, and after California finishes its transformation into a barren, sun-baked hellscape that will make the Dust. [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. The Great Lakes are a stunning feat of nature. [14], A notable modern phenomenon is the formation of ice volcanoes over the lakes during wintertime. Lake Michigan is the largest lake that is entirely within one country. Why does the salt in the oceans not sink to the bottom? 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. [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". The largest postglacial lake, Nipissing, occupied the basins of Huron, Michigan, and Superior. In fact, two major suppliers of fish in the 1830s were the fur trading companies Hudson's Bay Company and the American Fur Company. No, the Saint Lawrence River has. "[62] Water quality improvements realized during the 1970s and 1980s, combined with successful salmonid stocking programs, have enabled the growth of a large recreational fishery. The Great Loop is a continuous waterway that recreational mariners can travel that includes part of the Atlantic, Gulf Intracoastal Waterways, the Great Lakes, Canadian Heritage Canals, and the inland rivers of America's heartland. Also, strictly-speaking, the Caspian Sea is actually an. Dispersed throughout the Great Lakes are approximately 35,000 islands. However, unlike e.g. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. Right now, the outflow, combined with evaporation both natural and man made, is larger than the inflow. [56] Since the glaciers covered some areas longer than others, this glacial rebound occurred at different rates. The names of the five Great Lakes are Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. The Great Lakes Waterway ( GLW) is a system of natural channels and artificial canals which enable navigation between the North American Great Lakes. The Great Lakes are also in question, to me at least. By taking CO2 out of the water to photosynthesize, diatoms help to stabilize the pH of the water, as CO2 would react with water to produce carbonic acid. In fact, some lakes, such as the Great Salt Lake in Utah, are saltier than the oceans. In addition, the mussels may be a nuisance to industries by clogging pipes. 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. Also note that Ontario is separated from Erie (and hence the upper lakes) by the Niagara River and a 167 ft/51 m waterfall.