Lake Huron

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Categories: Lakes of Ontario | Great Lakes | Great Lakes Waterway | Lakes of Michigan | International lakes

Lake Huron
Map of Lake Huron and the other Great Lakes
Coordinates	44.8° N 82.4° WCoordinates: 44.8° N 82.4° W
Lake type	Glacial
Primary sources	St. Marys River
Primary outflows	St. Clair River
Basin countries	Canada, United States
Max. length	206 mi (332 km)
Max. width	152 mi (245 km)
Surface area	23,010 sq miles (59,596 km²)^[1]
Average depth	195 ft (59 m)
Max. depth	750 feet (229 m)^[1]
Water volume	849 cu mi (3,540 km³)
Residence time (of lake water)	22 years
Shore length¹	3,825 mi (6,157 km)
Surface elevation	577 feet (176 m)^[1]
Islands	Manitoulin
Settlements	Bay City, Michigan Alpena, Michigan Cheboygan, Michigan St. Ignace, Michigan Port Huron, Michigan Goderich, Ontario Sarnia, Ontario
¹ Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Ipperwash Beach, Lake Huron.

Lake Huron, bounded on the west by the U.S. state of Michigan, and on the east by the province of Ontario, Canada, is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. The name of the lake is derived from early French explorers who named it based on the Huron people inhabiting the region.

1 Geography
2 Geology
3 History
4 Ecology
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Geography

Lake Huron is the second-largest of the Great Lakes, with a surface area of 23,010 square miles (59,596 km²)—nearly the size of West Virginia, making it the third largest fresh water lake on earth (4th largest lake if the saline Caspian Sea is included). It contains a volume of 850 cubic miles (3,540 km³), and a shoreline length of 3,827 miles (6,157 km).

The surface of Lake Huron is 577 feet (176 m) above sea level. The lake's average depth is 195 feet (59 m), while the maximum depth is 750 feet (229 m). It has a length of 206 miles (332 km) and a breadth of 183 miles (245 km).

Major cities on Lake Huron include: Bay City, Alpena, Rogers City, Cheboygan, St. Ignace, and Port Huron, Michigan; and Goderich, and Sarnia, Ontario Canada.

A notable feature of the lake is Manitoulin Island, which separates the North Channel and Georgian Bay from Lake Huron's main body of water. It is the world's largest freshwater island.

Geology

Lake Huron is separated from Lake Michigan, which lies at the same level, and connects by the narrow Straits of Mackinac, making them geologically and hydrologically the same body of water (sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron). Lake Superior is slightly higher than both. It drains into the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie which then flows southward into Lake Huron. The water then flows south to the St. Clair River, at Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.

The Great Lakes Waterway continues thence to Lake St. Clair; the Detroit River and Detroit, Michigan; into Lake Erie and thence--via Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River--to the Atlantic Ocean.

Like the other Great Lakes, it was formed by melting ice as the continental glaciers retreated.

History

Since its French discoverers knew nothing as yet of the other lakes, they called it La Mer Douce, the fresh-water sea. A Sanson map in 1656 refers to the lake as Karegnondi, which means simply 'Lake' in the Petan Indian language.^[2]

Lake Huron was generally labeled "Lac des Hurons" (Lake of the Huron Indians) on most early maps.

Ecology

Lake Huron has a lake retention time of 22 years.

Major industries that drain into Lake Huron include: iron and steel mills, automobile manufacturing, heavy machinery, paper mills, metalworking, and shipbuilding. Lake Huron is home to a variety of fish and plant life, many of them being home to the other Great Lakes such as carp, chinook salmon, a variety of panfish, bass, pike, and catfish. Lake Huron along with the other great lakes have suffered recently due the introduction of various invasive species.

Image:Lake Huron.jpg

Lake Huron viewed from Arch Rock at Mackinac Island

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Wright, John W. (ed.); Editors and reporters of The New York Times (2006). The New York Times Almanac, 2007, New York, New York: Penguin Books, 64. ISBN 0-14-303820-6.
^ Origin of names of the Great Lakes