2011 2: Great Lakes Intro

Question 1

How big is a great lake

Answer 1

over 500 square km

Question 2

how many great lakes world wide

Answer 2

250

Question 3

How many of the GL are in Canada

Answer 3

1/3

Question 4

The Laurentiant great lakes are

Answer 4

named because they come from where the Laurentiant ice shield was: Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, Ontario

Question 5

Watershed

Answer 5

of the great lakes is 295,000 square miles or 764, 051 square km

Question 6

Shoreline

Answer 6

of the great lakes - shared with the US: 12, 100 miles (20,2007 km) in total
6850 miles in ON and Quebec, 5270 miles in 8 US states

Question 7

Drainage

Answer 7

The great lakes drain east from Lake Superior and Lake michigan, through Lake Huron and Lake St Clair, Lake Erie then over Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario to the St Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean

Question 8

Chicago River

Answer 8

once flowed into the very shallow Lake Michigan and it carries all of the crap from the cities waste and due to the long arm and constant waves the pollution built up rapid = problems. Flow was the reversed into the Mississippi as a sanitary cannel - a portion of the river is electrified because of the invasive species

Question 9

Agreement in the great lakes basin?

Answer 9

that the water should stay in the watershed that it was taken out of!

Question 10

What terms are interchangeable?

Answer 10

watershed and basin

Question 11

Characteristics of the GL

Answer 11

contain 23,000km^3 of water in an area of 244,000 square km, it is the largest system of fresh surface water, consists of 18% of the worlds fresh water supply

Question 12

Outflows (water leaving the system)

Answer 12

less than 1% a year, therefore pollutants that enter are retained in it for a long time!

Question 13

Salt water

Answer 13

97.5%

Question 14

Fresh water

Answer 14

2.5%

Question 15

Out of the 2.5% of fresh water

Answer 15

ground water 30% and polar regions and glaciers are 69%, and rivers and lakes are 0.12%

Question 16

What is the problem with the glaciers?

Answer 16

the glacier and polar regions are melting and melting the fresh water supply into salt water!

Question 17

Why is ground water concerning?

Answer 17

because we don’t know what it has picked up: we don’t know what pollutants it has / how clean it is

Question 18

fresh water

Answer 18

surface fresh water is rare and we have more of it than anyone

Question 19

How were the GL formed? Wisconsin Period

Answer 19

began 70,000 years ago, ice picked up clay/sand/gravel/boulders, as the ice melted it moved and shaped the landscape, it withdrew 14,000-15,000 years ago, the massive meltwater created the ancestral lakes
the clay/sand/gravel/bounders formed hills, ridges and moraines

Question 20

Evolution of the Great Lakes System

Answer 20

the shape of the great lakes is always changing and it has evolved due to: retreat of glaciers, topography surrounding the lakes, gradual tilting of the earths crust (major factor since glaciers retreat), also all the stuff that water natural does: erosion.etc

Question 21

ongoing evolution of the great lakes

what three things?

Answer 21

crustal tilting, shore erosion, climate change = these three things continue to alter the shape and size of the great lakes

Question 22

what happens when the weather is warmer

Answer 22

there is more evaporation in the summer and more in the winter if the lakes do not freeze over causing more movement of water

Question 23

what has a large impact on the lakes?

Answer 23

the land surrounding the lake

Question 24

depth?

Answer 24

superior = very deep, erie = in comparison is a puddle its so shallow!

Question 25

Welland Canal

Answer 25

how we get around Niagara Falls

Question 26

what are the dirtiest of the lakes

Answer 26

lake erie and ontario

Question 27

Lake Superior

Answer 27

worlds largest fresh water by area, largest/deepest/coldest of all the lakes, could contain all the other great lakes (+3 eries) retention time (measure based on volume of water in lake and the mean rate of outflow) = 191 years, forested, little agriculture, sparse population, VERY CLEAN , pulp and paper industry is the biggest concern for pollution

Question 28

Lake Michigan

Answer 28

Only lake entirely within the US, 99 year retention time, Northern part is in colder, less developed upper great lakes (sparsely populated except for green bay)
southern portion is in the more temperate part; much more urbanized: chicago

Question 29

Michigan: green bay

Answer 29

one of the most productive fisheries in the great lakes, worlds largest concentration of pulp and paper mills

Question 30

Michigan: Chicago River

Answer 30

doesn’t get a huge draw, its very flat, only use for sewage disposal. Chicago river flows OUT of lake michigan. the rednecks of the waterline video (fishing derby) they were trying to get those fish out

Question 31

Lake Huron

Answer 31

includes Georgian bay, home to 30,000 islands, including Manitoulin island, receives water flow from superior and michigan, 22 year retention time, characterized by ‘cottage country’ sandy shore of lake huron/rocky shores of georgian bay, heavy recreational use, most productive fisheries, saginaw river basin is intensively farmed, Flint and Saginaw bay city are metropolitan areas, lots of natural wetlands and biodiversity but they are depleting
there is active commercial fishing, not incredibly productive

Question 32

Lake Erie

Answer 32

o Exposed to the greatest effects from urbanization and agriculture
o Intensively farmed due to fertile soil
o Has 17 metropolitan areas with populations over 50,000
o Home to point pelee national park; Canada’s most southern point on the mainland
o Shallowest lake on average 19m or 62 feet
o Warms rapidly in the spring and summer; frequently freezes in the winter
o Shortest retention time 2.6 years
o You would think best place to swim/most souther = but its the most dangerous

Question 33

Lake Ontario

Answer 33

o Slightly smaller than lake Erie in area, larger in volume
o Much deeper than lake Erie
o Average depth of 86 meters (283 feet)
o Retention time of 6 years
o Niagara Falls on the west and the thousand islands on the east
o Major industrial areas; Hamilton, Toronto on the north shore
o USA on the south shore; less urbanized and not intensively farmed