Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan | |
---|---|
Coordinates | |
Basin countries | United States |
Max length | 307 miles (494 km) |
Max width | 118 miles (190 km) |
Surface area | 22,400 square miles (58,016 km²)[1] |
Max depth | 923 feet (282 m)[1] |
Water volume | 1,180 mi³ (4,918 km³) |
Residence time (of lake water) | 99 years |
Shore length1 | 1,638 miles (2,633 km) |
Surface elevation | 577 feet (176 m)[1] |
Islands | see list |
Settlements | Milwaukee Chicago See article for others. |
1 Shore length is an imprecise measure which may not be standardized for this article. |
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one in the group located entirely within the United States. It is bounded, from west to east, by the U.S. states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The word "Michigan" was originally used to refer to the lake itself, and is believed to come from the Ojibwa Indian word mishigami, meaning "great water." The lake is slightly larger than the nation of Croatia.
History
Clovis Point remnants are evidence of the earliest inhabitants of the region; the Old Copper Culture peoples left traces of their advanced coomunities from the copper pit mines of northern Lake Superior to the ancient forests now deep under the water of southern Lake Michigan. Up until about 1500 B.C.E. The landscape differed inother ways as well; the present-day Straits of Makinac was a 300 foot (1000 m) deep riverine canyon. The Woodland People who gradually claimed the region from the Old Copper Culture were agriculturalists who were widely dispersed throughout the area of the Great Lakes. These were the people, in the process of joining with the vast Iroquois Nation, encountered by the first European explorers in 1615. Jean Nicollet, under orders from Samuel de Champlain, was the first European to travel into Lake Michigan through the Mackinac Straits, in search of the fabled Norhtwest Passage. ref: http://www.greatlakes.org/facts/stats.asp
Geography
Lake Michigan (43°30'N, 87°30'W) is the only one of the Great Lakes wholly within the borders of the United States; the others are shared with Canada. It has a surface area of 22,400 square miles (58,016 km²)[1], making it the largest freshwater lake in the U.S., the largest lake entirely within one country, and the 5th largest lake in the world. It is 307 miles (494 km) long by 118 miles (190 km) wide with a shoreline 1,640 miles (2,633 km) long. The lake's average depth is 279 feet (85 m), while its greatest depth is 923 feet (281 m)[1]. It contains a volume of 1,180 cubic miles (4,918 cubic km) of water. Its surface averages 577 feet (176 m)[1] above sea level, the same as Lake Huron, to which it is connected through the Straits of Mackinac.
Geology
Geologically and hydrologically, Michigan and Huron are the same body of water (sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron), but are geographically distinct. Counted together, it is the largest fresh water body in the world by surface area. The Mackinac Bridge is generally considered the dividing line between them. Both lakes are part of the Great Lakes Waterway. In earlier maps of the region, the name "Lake Illinois" has been found in place of "Michigan."
Ecology
Lake Michigan has one of the longest water retention spans, nearly 100 years, of the Great Lakes. With a relatively small amount of water flowing out of the Lake, and the industrial complex stretching from Milwaukee, WI along the northern reaches of the Lake to Gary IN, at the southern tip, pollution from manufacturing and urban sources is of particular concern. www.seagrant.wisc.edu/communications/greatlakes/GlacialGift/textonly/lake_michigan.html
The dunes along the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan are the largest lake dunes in the world. originally marking the ancient terminal reaches of the ice age lake, the dunes are fed by southward currents robbing the northwestern shoreline. The Indiana Dunes complex is a remarkable ecological preserve of the beech-maple climax community. The modern study of ecology was devised through the study of the Dunes by Henry C. Cowles of the University of Chicago. His exacting longitudual observation of the dunes' plant communities led to a new undrstanding of the progression and interaction of plants and the environment over time. As dune grasses stabilized the dune, allowing for a steady build-up of organic material, larger plants could survive and thrive, eventually resulting in the forest complex anchoring the oldest of the dunes. ref:http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/projects/centcat/centcats/fac/facch14_01.html
The Indiana Dunes, and the dunes of the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, notably the Sleeping Bear Dunes, remain a living laboratory for the study of ineraction of plant and habitat, and human impacts on both.
Major cities
Some 12 million people live along Lake Michigan's shores. Many small cities in Northern Michigan are centered on a tourist base that takes advantage of the beauty and recreational opportunities offered by Lake Michigan. These cities have large seasonal populations that arrive from Chicago, Milwaukee and inland cities in Southern Michigan. The southern tip of the lake is heavily industrialized. Cities on the shores of Lake Michigan with populations larger than 30,000 include:
Illinois
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Indiana
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Michigan
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Wisconsin
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Beaches
Lake Michigan beaches, especially those beaches in Michigan and Northern Indiana, are known for their beauty and the region is often referred to as the "Third Coast" of the United States after those of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The sand is soft and off-white, known as "singing sands" because of the squeaking noise made when one walks across it (caused by high quartz content). There are often high sand dunes covered in green beach grass and sand cherries, and the water is usually clear and cold (between 55 and 70 °F/13 and 21 °C) [1], even in late summer. Lake Michigan beaches in Northern Michigan are the only place in the world where one can find Petoskey stones, the state stone, aside from a few inland lakes in that region.
The beaches of the western coast and the northernmost part of the east coast are rocky while the southern and eastern beaches are sandy and dune covered. This is partly because of the prevailing winds from the west which also cause thick layers of ice to build up on the eastern shore in winter.
Chicago annually imports fresh sand to replenish the popular city beaches but much of the city waterfront is covered by seawalls, harbors or developments. (Chicago beaches)
Steel mills are visible along the Indiana shoreline, and the pollution caused by these mills is believed to contribute to the color of sunsets.
The Chicago skyline can be seen from the Indiana shore, but when standing on the beaches in Wisconsin or Lower Michigan, it is impossible to see across the lake, providing a view similar to that found on ocean coasts.
Car ferries
Motorists can cross Lake Michigan by the SS Badger, a ferry that runs from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, to Ludington, Michigan. The Lake Express is another ferry, established in 2004, which carries motorists across the lake between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Muskegon, Michigan, at a much higher speed than the SS Badger.
Islands
- Beaver Island
- North Manitou Island
- South Manitou Island
- Washington Island
- Rock Island
Parks
The National Park Service maintains the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Part of the shoreline is within the Hiawatha National Forest and the Manistee National Forest. The Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge is within the lake.
There are numerous state parks located on the shores of the lake or on islands within the lake.
Lighthouses
- Illinois lighthouses
- Indiana lighthouses
- Michigan lighthouses
- Wisconsin lighthouses
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
Sources and Further Reading
- Armbruster, Ann. 1996. Lake Michigan. A true book. New York: Children's Press. ISBN 0516200135 and ISBN 9780516200132
- Ylvisaker, Anne. 2004. Lake Michigan. Fact finders. Mankato, Minn: Capstone Press. ISBN 0736822100 and ISBN 9780736822107
- Beckett, Harry. 1999. Lake Michigan. Vero Beach, Fla: Rourke Corp. ISBN 0865935246 and ISBN 9780865935242
- Mueller, Bruce, and Kevin Gauthier. 2006. Lake Michigan rock picker's guide. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472031504 and ISBN 0472031503
External links
- The Great Lakes An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book Chapter One - Introduction: The Great Lakes. United States Enviornmental Protection Agency. Retrieved May 25, 2007.
- Lake Michigan map. Official State of Michigan Portal. Retrieved May 25, 2007.
North American Great Lakes |
Lake Superior | Lake Michigan | Lake Huron | Lake Erie | Lake Ontario |
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