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Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan - Landsat
Landsat
Location United States
Group Great Lakes
Coordinates 44°N 87°W / 44, -87Coordinates: 44°N 87°W / 44, -87
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.

Contents

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 and the other Great Lakes

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:

Illinois

Indiana

Michigan

Wisconsin

Beaches

Sand dune on Lake Michigan at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

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 Milwaukee Lakefront.

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

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.

Ludington State Park
Waugoshance Light in Lake Michigan

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. 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

Great Lakes in General

Notes

  1. ^ 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, New York, New York: Penguin Books, 64. ISBN 0-14-303820-6. 
  2. ^ "Superior Watershed Partnership Projects".
  3. ^ Bogue, Margaret Beattie (1985). Around the Shores of Lake Michigan: A Guide to Historic Sites, pp. 7-13. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0299100049.
  4. ^ Bogue (1985), pp. 14-16.
  5. ^ Shelak, Benjamin J. (2003). Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan p. 3. Big Earth Publishing. ISBN 1931599211.
  6. ^ Shelak (2003), p. 85.
  7. ^ a b Hilton, George Woodman (2002). Lake Michigan Passenger Steamers, pp. 3-5. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804742405.
  8. ^ 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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