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| Lake Michigan | |
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| Location | United States |
| Group | Great Lakes |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 307 mi (494 km) |
| Max. width | 118 mi (190 km) |
| Surface area | 22,400 sq mi (58,000 km2)1 |
| Average depth | 279 ft (85 m) |
| Max. depth | 923 ft (281 m)1 |
| Water volume | 1,180 cu mi (4,900 km3) |
| Residence time (of lake water) | 99 years |
| Shore length1 | 1,638 mi (2,636 km) |
| Surface elevation | 577 ft (176 m) 1 |
| Islands | see list |
| Settlements | Milwaukee, Chicago, see article for others |
| References | 1 |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one 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."2 The lake is slightly larger than the country of Croatia.
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History
Some of the earliest human inhabitants of the Lake Michigan region were the Hopewell Indians. Their culture declined after 800 A.D., and for the next few hundred years the region was the home of peoples known as the Late Woodland Indians. In the early seventeenth century, when western European explorers made their first forays into the region, they encountered descendants of the Late Woodland Indians: the Chippewa, Menominee, Sauk, Fox, Winnebago, Miami, Ottawa, and Potawatomi. It is believed that the French explorer Jean Nicolet was the first non-Native American to discover Lake Michigan in 1634 or 1638.3
After Louis Jolliet, Jacques Marquette, and Robert de LaSalle explored the area in the late 17th century, Lake Michigan became part of a line of waterways leading from the Saint Lawrence River to the Mississippi River and thence to the Gulf of Mexico.4 French coureurs des bois and voyageurs established small ports and trading communities, such as Green Bay, on the lake during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.5
The first permanent settlement on the Lake Michigan shoreline was made in 1779 at the site of present-day Chicago by Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, who had been born in Santo Domingo.6
Geography
Lake Michigan 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 lake entirely within one country by surface area (Lake Baikal, in Russia, is larger by water volume), and the fifth 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 km³) 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.
Cities
Twelve 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 nearby urban areas such as the Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit areas, as well as from humid southern states such as Florida and Texas. Some seasonal residents have summer homes along the lake shore, and return home for the winter. The southern tip of the lake is heavily industrialized. Cities on the shores of Lake Michigan include:
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Illinois |
Indiana |
Michigan |
Wisconsin |
Beaches
Lake Michigan beaches, especially those in Michigan and Northern Indiana, are known for their beauty. 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 (caused by high quartz content) made when one walks across it. 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. However, because prevailing westerly winds tend to move the surface water toward the east, there is a flow of warmer water to the Michigan shore in the summer.7 Lake Michigan beaches in Northern Michigan are the only place in the world, aside from a few inland lakes in that region, where one can find Petoskey stones, the state stone.
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.
Contrary to recent reports, Chicago annually imports fresh sand to replenish its popular city beaches (similar to Key West) but much of the city waterfront is parks, stone revetments, marinas or residential developments in the north or industrial sites in the south.
Some environmental problems still plague the lake. Steel mills are visible along the Indiana shoreline, and the pollution caused by these mills is believed to contribute to the color of sunsets. Also, the Chicago Tribune reported that BP is a major polluter, dumping thousands of pounds of ammonia and raw sludge into Lake Michigan every day from its Whiting, Indiana, oil refinery. 8
The Chicago skyline can be seen from the Indiana shore and lower Michigan (on a clear day), but when standing on the beaches in Wisconsin & Illinois it is impossible to see across the lake, providing a view similar to that of the ocean. A view across the lake is possible from many buildings in Chicago. It is possible from some of the taller building in Chicago to clearly make out points in Indiana and Michigan such as the cooling tower of the power plant in Michigan City, IN.
Car ferries
People can cross Lake Michigan by the SS Badger, a ferry that runs from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, to Ludington, Michigan. The Lake Express, established in 2004, carries motorists across the lake between Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Muskegon, Michigan.
Islands
- The Beaver Island archipelago in Charlevoix County, Michigan, includes Beaver Island, Garden Island, Grape Island, Gull Island, Hat Island, High Island, Hog Island, Pismire Island, Shoe Island, Squaw Island, Trout Island, and Whiskey Island.
- The Fox Islands in Leelanau County, Michigan, consist of South Fox Island and North Fox Island.
- The Manitou Islands, North Manitou Island and South Manitou Island, are in Leelanau County, Michigan.
- Islands surrounding the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin include Detroit Island, Hog Island, Pilot Island, Plum Island, Rock Island, and Washington Island.
- Northerly Island is a 91-acre a man-made island in Chicago. It is the home of the Adler Planetarium, the former site of Meigs Field, and the current site of the temporary concert venue Charter One Pavilion each summer.
Parks
The National Park Service maintains the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Parts of the shoreline are within the Hiawatha National Forest and the Manistee National Forest. The Lake Michigan division of 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. A partial list follows.
- Grand Haven State Park
- Grand Mere State Park
- Harrington Beach State Park
- Holland State Park
- Hoffmaster State Park
- Illinois Beach State Park
- Indiana Dunes State Park
- Ludington State Park
- Muskegon State Park
- Newport State Park
- Orchard Beach State Park
- Peninsula State Park
- Silver Lake State Park
- Terry Andrae State Park
Lighthouses
Hydrology
The Milwaukee Reef, running under Lake Michigan from Milwaukee to a point between Grand Haven and Muskegon, divides the lake into northern and southern pools. Each pool has a counterclockwise flow of water, deriving from rivers, winds, and the Coriolis effect. Prevailing westerly winds tend to move the surface water toward the east, producing a moderating effect on the climate of western Michigan. There is a mean difference in summer temperatures of 5 to 10 degrees between the Wisconsin and Michigan shores.7
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 is home to a variety of species of fish and other organisms. It was originally home to lake trout, yellow perch, panfish, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, carp, bowfin, as well as some species of catfish. In recent years overfishing has caused a decline in lake trout which ultimately caused an increase in the alewife population. As a result, coho and chinook salmon were introduced as a predator of alewives to decrease the alewife population. This program was so successful that the salmon population exploded and the states surrounding Lake Michigan promoted Salmon Snagging. This practice has since been made illegal in all of the great lakes states with the exception of a limited season in Illinois. Lake Michigan is now being stocked with several species of fish. However, several invader species introduced, such as lampreys, threaten the vitality of fish populations.
See also
- Chicago River
- Grand Traverse Bay
- Door Peninsula
- Green Bay
- Leelanau Peninsula
- Little Bay de Noc
- Little Traverse Bay
- Jardine Water Purification Plant 1 billion gal. of water/day
Great Lakes in General
- Great Lakes
- Great Lakes Areas of Concern
- Great Lakes census statistical areas
- Great Lakes Commission
- Great Recycling and Northern Development Canal
- Great Storm of 1913
- International Boundary Waters Treaty
- List of cities along the Great Lakes
- Seiche
- Sixty Years' War for control of the Great Lakes
- Third Coast
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g Wright, John W. (ed.); Editors and reporters of The New York Times (2006). The New York Times Almanac (2007 ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books. pp. 64. ISBN 0-14-303820-6.
- ^ "Superior Watershed Partnership Projects".
- ^ Bogue, Margaret Beattie (1985). Around the Shores of Lake Michigan: A Guide to Historic Sites, pp. 7-13. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0299100049.
- ^ Bogue (1985), pp. 14-16.
- ^ Shelak, Benjamin J. (2003). Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan p. 3. Big Earth Publishing. ISBN 1931599211.
- ^ Shelak (2003), p. 85.
- ^ a b Hilton, George Woodman (2002). Lake Michigan Passenger Steamers, pp. 3-5. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804742405.
- ^ Register - New
Further reading
- Hyde, Charles K., and Ann and John Mahan. The Northern Lights: Lighthouses of the Upper Great Lakes. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0814325548 ISBN 9780814325544.
- Oleszewski, Wes, Great Lakes Lighthouses, American and Canadian: A Comprehensive Directory/Guide to Great Lakes Lighthouses, (Gwinn, Michigan: Avery Color Studios, Inc., 1998) ISBN 0-932212-98-0.
- Penrod, John, Lighthouses of Michigan, (Berrien Center, Michigan: Penrod/Hiawatha, 1998) ISBN 9780942618785 ISBN 9781893624238
- Penrose, Laurie and Bill, A Traveler’s Guide to 116 Michigan Lighthouses (Petoskey, Michigan: Friede Publications, 1999). ISBN 0923756035 ISBN 9780923756031
- Wagner, John L., Michigan Lighthouses: An Aerial Photographic Perspective, (East Lansing, Michigan: John L. Wagner, 1998) ISBN 1880311011 ISBN 9781880311011
- Wright, Larry and Wright, Patricia, Great Lakes Lighthouses Encyclopedia Hardback (Erin: Boston Mills Press, 2006) ISBN 1550463993
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lake Michigan |
- EPA's Great Lakes Atlas
- Great Lakes Coast Watch
- Michigan DNR map of Lake Michigan
- Lake Michigan Fishing
- Bathymetry of Lake Michigan
- Lighthouses
- Bibliography on Michigan lighthouses
- Interactive map of lighthouses in area (northern Lake Michigan)
- Interactive map of lighthouses in area (southern Lake Michigan)
- Terry Pepper on lighthouses of the western Great Lakes
- Wagner, John L., Beacons Shining in the Night, Michigan lighthouse bibliography, chronology, history, and photographs, Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University]
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- This page was last modified on 23 December 2008, at 18:28.
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