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Message Subject: The Vault/Christmas Bonus Questions.

walleye express

Posted 12/15/2004 5:31 PM (#25277)
Subject: The Vault/Christmas Bonus Questions.

Member

Posts: 2680

Location: Essexville, MI./Saginaw Bay.

Back by popular demand, "Thanks to both of you guys :)" the very last Great Lakes Vault questions and answers segment.

Question 1. What minerals or rocks are found in the Great Lakes region?

Answer: The primary rock exposed along the shore of Lake Ontario on both the US and Canadian shores in that area is an Ordovician age limestone about 400 million years old. Locally, it may contain some fairly large orthocone cephalopod fossils (including some that measure 6 feet in length!). This limestone is quarried both near Kingston, Ontario and in the Watertown, New York areas for crushed stone to be used in construction. Rarely, it may contain small veins that hold calcite crystals.

Further to the northeast in the Thousand Islands region lies an extension of the Canadian Shield known as the Frontenac Axis. This rock is mostly granitic gneiss and is about 1 billion years old (that's 1,000,000,000 years!).

There are many interesting, but small, pockets of other minerals in both these areas as well as in associated rocks that are inland from the St. Lawrence River on both sides of the border. Many on the Canadian side were worked for mica and apatite in the past, but are of no economic importance today. The only major economically valuable deposits still being worked in the area today are in the Balmat, New York district, where talc, wollastonite, and zinc are currently being mined.

The principal minerals found throughout the Great Lakes region include: Coal
Natural gas
Oil
Uranium
Salt
Copper and zinc
Gold and silver
Iron ore
Nickel
Lead

Many of these minerals are useful for the production of energy (like uranium for nuclear power or the fossil fuels natural gas, oil, and coal) while others are more useful for heavy construction and other industries. Mining these minerals safely and efficiently so that we can benefit from them while safeguarding the Great Lakes and the environment of the region is a constant struggle.

Question 2.
Did Lake Champlain become a Great Lakes in March of 1998?

Answer: Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont proposed new legislation declaring Lake Champlain a Great Lake in 1998. The intent behind this proposal was to allow Vermont colleges to compete for the more than $50 million in research money under the National Sea Grant Program, which is run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

However, the "Great Lakes" designation for Lake Champlain was not passed and there remains only 5 Great Lakes: Michigan, Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario. Lake Champlain is not hydrologically part of the Great Lakes system, and in fact is much smaller area-wise than a number of other lakes in the region, such as Lake St. Clair (between lakes Huron and Erie) and Lake of the Woods (on the northern Minnesota border).

Question 3.
Which Great Lake is the only one completely within the U.S.? What states and provinces are touched by one or more of the Great Lakes?

Answer: Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake contained completely within the United States; all other Great Lakes share a border with Canada. Eight U.S. states border the Great Lakes: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin; and two Canadian provinces border the Great Lakes: Ontario and Quebec (Quebec borders the St. Lawrence River, which is a vital part of the Great Lakes system).

Question 4.
Why are the lake levels so low?

Answer: The primary reason for the current low levels is due mostly to evaporation during the warmer-than-usual temperatures of the past three years, a series of mild winters, and below-average snowpack in the Lake Superior basin.

Question 5.Which is the biggest Great Lake: Huron or Michigan?

Answer: The size of a lake is often determined by its volume; in this case, Superior would be the largest, with Michigan, Huron, Ontario, and Erie following, in that order. Take a look at TEACH's Facts & Figures page for the exact measurements.

Another twist to your question, however, is the fact that Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are hydrologically one lake! If you look at a map of the Great Lakes region, you'll see that a narrow waterway connects the two lakes. For political purposes, though, the lakes are considered separate entities, and Great Lakes agencies and researchers treat them as such.

Question 6.Is it true that a shark was once found in the Great Lakes?

Answer: According to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, a rumor circulated awhile back that a shark had been found in the Great Lakes. However, no evidence was found to support this rumor. Sharks sometimes enter rivers that empty into the ocean, such as the St. Lawrence River, but they don't stay for long because they can't survive in that environment.

Question 7.When was the first lighthouse built on Lake Superior? How many are there on Lake Superior today?

The original light at Whitefish Point on Lake Superior dates back to 1849, being one of the two earliest lights on the Great Lakes (the other being Copper Harbor, Michigan). Standing guard over an area of Lake Superior known as the "Graveyard of the Lakes," Whitefish Point was the lighthouse that failed to light for the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. Automated by the Coast Guard in 1970, the station no longer has a resident keeper, and the dwelling now houses the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.

As for the number of lighthouses on Lake Superior, many of the lists we found differed between active lights, standing lights, and decommissioned lights. The most comprehensive listing we found lists 39 lights, some that are now in ruins. Check out the list at the Internet Public Library.

Question 8. Do the Great Lakes have tides?

Answer: The same forces are at work on lakes as on oceans -- the moon pulls on inland lakes, too. However, you won't find large tides on lakes as you do on oceans; lakes just don't have enough water in them for large tides to occur.

Dr. David Hollander -- a specialist in lake systems at Northwestern University -- was asked about tides on inland lakes. He said that the Great Lakes sometimes experience slight changes in water levels over short time scales, and in spring, there's a substantial influx of water due to melting of winter snows farther north. Yet, none these changes in water level can be called a true tide.

However, there is some disagreement on the subject. According to the Canadian Hydrologic/Hydrographic Service, the Great Lakes experience tides from 1 to 4 cm, the strongest being on Lakes Superior and Erie. These tides are often masked out by meteorologically induced phenomena, such as a seiche (pronounced "sayshe"). When wind pushes down on one part of a lake, the water surface rises in another part, producing waves (most noticeable on Lake Erie because the lake is so shallow).

Read TEACH's segment, Great Lakes water levels, for more information; if you'd like a more in depth explanation, download the Great Lakes Commission's Living with the Lakes brochure.

Happy Holidays all you fish-heads.

sworrall

Posted 12/18/2004 11:21 AM (#25391 - in reply to #25277)
Subject: RE: The Vault/Christmas Bonus Questions.

Location: Rhinelander

Looks like another late freeze, milder than normal temps, and low precip from the NOAH longrange I saw. Another year of dropping water levels. I hope we get more snow than is forecast! ( but not enough, of course, to kill any of my deer...)

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