In the north-central region of North America, the Great Lakes are five major freshwater lakes connected with natural and artificial waterways. They are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. Created by glaciers from the past, they contain around 20% of the globe’s total surface freshwater source and the majority of fresh drinking water within the United States. It is believed that the Great Lakes water body is so massive that the Moon can observe its natural beauty.
Great Lakes Watershed
Native Americans were the original inhabitants of the Great Lakes basin. In the past, the Great Lakes played a significant part in Native American societies, and approximately 120 native bands have lived in this region over time. The most notable tribes in this Great Lakes region are the Chippewa, Fox, Huron, Iroquois, Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Sioux. These Native people played a crucial role in the early days when European explorations began in this region during the 1600s, especially in the growth and expansion of the trade with fur. The names associated with the Great Lakes come from either Native names of tribes or Native words that refer to the lakes.
The significance is that of the Great Lakes watershed.
The Great Lakes watershed, or Great Lakes basin, is defined by the watersheds that flow towards the Great Lakes. A watershed is a land in which all the water that flows through it flows through one outlet, such as a river, stream, or lake. This is why watersheds can also be referred to as drainage basins or catchments. A watershed consists of surface water (from streams, lakes, wetlands, and reservoirs) and all underlying groundwater. Streams and rivers can join larger lakes and eventually the ocean as water moves downwards and upwards.
Great Lakes Guide combines the watersheds of the five Great Lakes, the Ottawa River, and the St. Lawrence River to offer you the entire Great Lakes basin. The total basin area is 240,000 square kilometers (94,000 acres). The following diagram shows water flow through the channels connecting the Great Lakes, through the St. Lawrence seaway to the Atlantic Ocean.
Humans and the Great Lakes
Humans also form part is also the Great Lakes ecosystem. Commercial and sport fishing and recreation, agriculture tourism, manufacturing, and transport are crucial in the local area. These sectors provide jobs and supply the region with goods and services. The fishing industry takes millions of pounds of off-site link fish out of the lake each calendar year. Farmers in this watershed cultivate the following products: soybeans, corn, and hay, as well as milk and other food items. The region is also famous for its manufacturing industry, which produces chemicals, steel, and other items. Shipping opportunities within the Great Lakes played a critical part in the development of the area and the development of the industry. More than 200 million tons of freight travel through the waters of the Great Lakes each year.
Geography
An image that shows the Great Lakes Basin showing the five sub-basins. From left to right, they are Superior (magenta), Michigan (cyan), Huron (green), Erie (yellow), Ontario (red).
Although the five lakes are in different basins, they make up one natural, interconnected body of freshwater in the Great Lakes Basin. As a series composed of lakes and rivers, they link the eastern-central region and the interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. From the interior to the outlet on the Saint Lawrence River, water flows from Superior to Huron and Michigan to Erie, then southwards towards Erie, and finally northward towards Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario drains a vast area of the watershed through various rivers and comprises approximately 35,000 islands. Additionally, many smaller lakes are commonly referred to as “inland lakes,” within the basin. [14]
Facts and figures concerning the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are, from west to east: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. They constitute a major element of North America’s natural and cultural tradition.
Physical Features of the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes Atlas Third Edition 1995 is available at NSCEP the US. The EPA’s publication services.
Information and Map Floor Study of the Great Lakes from NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
Physiography of Great Lakes
The lakes drain approximately east to west, draining into the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence lowlands. Other than Lakes Michigan and Huron, which are both hydrologically one lake, Their altitudes decrease as they get bigger, typically creating a steady increase in flow.
Lake Superior, bordered by Ontario Lake Superior, which is bordered by Ontario Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, is the northernmost and the westernmost lake and is considered to be the primary water source of the whole system. Lake Superior is among the deepest (mean depth of 483 feet or 147 meters) located at 600 feet over sea level and releases into Lake Huron through the St. Marys River at an average above 75,600 cubic ft (2,141 cubic meters) every second. The enormous size of the lake (its deepest point is 732 feet below sea level) signifies that it has a retention period of 191 years.
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world based on the surface area.
Protecting the Great Lakes
Despite their huge dimensions, however, the Great Lakes are extremely vulnerable.
Every year, just 1 percent of the water that flows through the lakes is released through the St. Lawrence River. Since the water flows out of the system in such a slow manner, it is believed that this means that Great Lakes is essentially a closed system. Before European settlement in the area, the Great Lakes ecosystem was also classified as “ecologically ignorant,” meaning that historically the fragile species of animals and plants were kept in isolation. Today, they are vulnerable to stresses like the effects of pollution and invasive species, and habitat destruction.