The lakes drainage basin is 49,300 square miles (127,700 square km), exclusive of its surface area of 31,700 square miles (82,100 square km). Twice per year, however, the water column reaches a uniform temperature of 39F (4C) from top to bottom, and the lake waters thoroughly mix. The Ojibwe name for the lake is gichi-gami (in syllabics: , pronounced gitchi-gami or kitchi-gami in different dialects),[14] meaning "great sea". [46] Joe MacInnis reported that in July 1994, explorer Frederick Shannon's Expedition 94 to the wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald discovered a man's body near the port side of her pilothouse, not far from the open door, "fully clothed, wearing an orange life jacket, and lying face down in the sediment". 4. A pasture in Ashland, Wisconsin. Duluth Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Lake Superior is fed by more than 200 rivers, including the Nipigon River, the St. Louis River, the Pigeon River, the Pic River, the White River, the Michipicoten River, the Bois Brule River and the Kaministiquia River. Wildlife It covers 82,000 sq km (31,700 sq mi) with an average depth of 147 metres or 483 feet. This variation in temperature makes the lake seasonally stratified. Given its expansive surface area that extends 160 miles (257 kilometers) wide and 350 miles (563 kilometers) long, it sure contains a massive volume of water. There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover all of North and South America with water one foot deep. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Lake Superior is the world's largest freshwater lake by surface area - 31,700 square miles (82,100 square kilometers) - and holds 10 percent of the world's surface freshwater. And the Netflix drama "Ozark," which has its own high body count, films . Please see our, Lake Superior Credit: Rob Stimpson, Lake Superior Credit: Rob Stimpson. Here is a smattering of my favorite books set along Lake Superior: A Cold Day in Paradise and other books in the Alex McKnight by Steve Hamilton. The average underwater visibility of Lake Superior is about 8 metresor 27 feet, making it the cleanest and clearest of the Great Lakes. Lake Superior Journal: Building Skiffs, Crafting a Life, Around the Circle This Week: The 300 (Cyclists). The principal ports along the lakes south shore are Ashland (Wisconsin), Hancock and Houghton (both on a 25-mile- (40-km-) long canal across the Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan), and Marquette. I hail from the area around Butte Montana where we call the pastry povitica. [19][20], Annual storms on Lake Superior regularly feature wave heights of over 20 feet (6m). Waterfalls surround Lake Superior like a spectacular liquid halo. Weather extremes fueled by. Mike Link In the late 1800s a small gold rush took place on its southern shore in Michigan. Around the lake is various water activities as expected. Freezing of the lakes is monitored because it affects hydropower generation, commercial shipping, the fishing industry and more, according to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Tweets by @lakesuperiormag !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)? The lake's name comes from the French word lac suprieur, which means "upper lake." New York, It called this because it is north of Lake Huron, which was discovered first by Brl. The lake is so massive and its volume so large that, were it to be emptied at its current rate (with no compensating additions of water), it would take 191 years. Relatively few pollutants enter Lake Superior, except through airborne transport, The shoreline and islands that rim the lake stretch 2,726 miles, Regents of the University of Minnesota ($500,000) for invasive species prevention. Lewisville Lake is located 15 minutes north . Officials have kept the find secret to prevent divers from disturbing the site before video and photo documentation is finished. 109 W. Superior St. #200 Duluth, MN 55802 218-722-5002 edit@LakeSuperior.com. The water temperatures during the summer months average about 55 F, but surface temperatures reached a record 68.7 F (20.4 C) in August 2010 and are affected by the amount of surface ice during the previous winter. As of July 28, 2019, the Great Lakes have had 51 fatalities from . If trends continue, Lake Superior, which freezes over completely once every 20 years, could routinely be ice-free by 2040[27] although more current data through 2021 does not support this trend. North Wind Books is a favorite of mine. Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). Table 1. Sled Dogs Marie I once had my protagonist hiding from the killer in an ice cave, but the ice break starts before she can get out. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Extensive forests, which dominate the watershed, are held in federal, state, provincial, and private timberlands. [12] Located in central North America, it is the northernmost and westernmost of the Great Lakes of North America, straddling the CanadaUnited States border with the Canadian province of Ontario to the north and east and the U.S. states of Minnesota to the west and Wisconsin and Michigan to the south. Lake Superior is among the world's fastest-warming freshwater bodies and has increasingly borne the force of what used to be considered once-in-a-lifetime storms. [37] Without the immense weight of the ice, the land rebounded, and a drainage outlet formed at Sault Ste. *measured at low water. The increase in the lake's surface temperature may be related to the decreasing ice cover. The man was found in the waters off Bay Mills Township following a search by boat of the area; Welcome to the Big Lake Marie in 1662. I like to say writing about this interesting place taught me how to bring a deeper sense of setting into my novels. In the summer, the sun sets more than 35 minutes later on the western shore of Lake Superior than at its southeastern edge. Lake Superior boasts extremely clear water, with an average underwater visibility of 27 feet (8.2 m). Vicious storms can rise up suddenly and sink a ship or a pleasure boat out for an afternoon sail. Wreckage of SSCyprusa 420-foot (130m) ore carrier that sank on October 11, 1907, during a Lake Superior storm in 77 fathoms (460ft or 140m) of waterwas located in August 2007. Rangers are currently working with the Keweenaw County Medical Examiner to determine a cause of death and to investigate the circumstances of the accident. Apostle Islands It has a surface area of 31,700 square miles (82,100 square km) and water volume of 2,900 cubic miles (12,100 cubic km). Ive read all Hamiltons books, and they have a great sense of place up in the U.P. Sign up now to get stories, news, and travel tips, We will never spam you and will never share your e-mail. Trade remained in the hands of the British until 1817, when John Jacob Astors American Fur Company took over south of the Canadian border. History The steamer broke down in heavy Lake Huron seas around 12:30 a.m. the morning of Sept. 26. There is also a walking path around the lake but it is 20+ kilometers. 20 incredible facts about the mighty Lake Superior. [b] The shoreline of the lake stretches 2,726 miles (4,387km) (including islands). June and July are calm months, while October and November are prone to storms. But its not really things that were studying; its people, Gray said. Best Western Plus Superior Inn108 E Highway 61 PO Box 456, Grand Marais, Minnesota 55604-3130 United States. ), 23. Ballards organization provided an autonomous surface vehicle designed for seafloor mapping. It was during the Penokean orogeny, part of the process that created the Great Lakes tectonic zone, that many valuable metals were deposited. They are known as the Plano, and they used stone-tipped spears to hunt caribou on the northwestern side of Lake Minong. After the arrival of Europeans, the Anishinaabe made themselves middle-men between the French fur traders and other Native peoples. But the lifeboat remains tethered to the bigger vessel, a poignant confirmation of witness accounts from 128 years ago. Blog Post You can buy the delicious meat pie just about everywhere. Iron ore is exported from Taconite Harbor and Two Harbors (Minnesota) and from Marquette (Michigan). Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Writing About the Origins of the British Secret Service, Jeffery Deaver's Guide to Writing Page-Turning Fiction, Seven Crime Novels Centered Around Musicians Out in 2023, An Author's Guide to Stealing from the Books You Love, The Many Levels of Mystery: Whodunnit? to Whydunnit? and Beyond, The Literary Film and TV You Need to Stream in March, Tracey Rose Peyton: Exploring Six Stories of Motherhood for Enslaved Women, The Day Explorers Finally Found One of the Worlds Great Lost Shipwrecks, What If? Perhaps the most famous Lake Superior shipwreck, the fated SS Edmund Fitzgerald freighter sank on November 10, 1975, killing all 29 crew members. Kids & Family Lake Superior, most northwesterly and largest of the five Great Lakes of North America and one of the worlds largest bodies of fresh water. Lake Superior Shipwreck Map - Historically accurate shipwreck posters, of Lake Superior, 24 x 30 inches, shipped rolled in a tube. In the 1600s it was called Le Lac Superior, or "upper lake," by the French missionaries, denoting its . Even for the Thunder Bay area, a perilous swath of northern Lake Huron off the Michigan coast that has devoured many a ship, the Ironton's fate seems particularly cruel. Anna has to go on a dive of her own to investigate a murder. JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. The first people to settle in the region arrived around 8000 B.C., after glaciers retreated, according to History of Lake Superior: A Timeline. Marie, becoming today's St. Mary's River. BRASILIA, Brazil The death toll from an accident in which a slab of cliff rock toppled onto pleasure boaters on a Brazilian lake has risen to 10, police said Sunday. Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, Twin Cities Pioneer Press: Spectacularly Intact 1897 Shipwreck Discovered in Lake Superior, The Travel Channel: The Great Lakes Video, EPA: Physical Features of the Great Lakes, In rare case, mother delivers two sets of identical twins, back to back. Some of the world's oldest rocks, formed about 2.7 billion years ago, can be found on the Ontario shore of Lake Superior. Today, tourism is another significant industry: the sparsely populated Lake Superior country, with its rugged shorelines and wilderness, attracts vacationers and adventurers. Extending through Canada and the United States, about 444,000 US residents and 229,000 Canadian residents live along the shores of Lake Superior. The deaths of four members of a Wisconsin family who died after their kayak capsized off the Apostle Islands was a harsh reminder of the hazards of paddling the unpredictable waters of Lake Superior. Heres how it works. Surfers enjoy the waves on Lake Superior, despite winter storm in Minnesota Tags Dcc Wire Cnn Latest video WA: TAKING PRECAUTIONS AMID RECORD COLD TEMPS CA: THOUSANDS WITHOUT POWER IN SANTA. HOUGHTON, MI - On Saturday, July 13, a recreational SCUBA diver exploring the Kamloops shipwreck at Isle Royale National Park was fatally injured in a diving accident. Because of its large size (relative to watershed area) and the porous "dam" at its outlet, long-term lake-level fluctuations are much lower than in any of the other Great Lakesgenerally less than 1 yard (1 metre). In addition, many fish species have been either intentionally or accidentally introduced to Lake Superior: Atlantic salmon, brown trout, carp, chinook salmon, coho salmon, freshwater drum, pink salmon, rainbow smelt, rainbow trout, round goby, ruffe, sea lamprey and white perch. The name Superior refers to its size and also designates the lake's position as the northernmost of all the Great Lakes. Winter Thousands of schooners, or sailing ships, and hundreds of steamers hauled cargo and passengers between bustling port cities such as Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland. The Windigo is a vengeful spirit in myth up in the U.P. The vessel is largely intact, Gray said. Updates? 19. Annual lake-level fluctuations are less than 12 inches (30 cm). Over 10,000 lives have been lost in her waters. Lake Superior has been an important link in the Great Lakes Waterway, providing a route for the transportation of iron ore as well as grain and other mined and manufactured materials. Duluth firefighters accompany the man surfer Darby Voeks rescued from Lake Superior on Wednesday, March 24, 2021. Amazingly, a single lake holds as much fresh water as all the Great Lakes combined - Lake Baikal. Its where the upbound and downbound shipping kind of crossed each other, Gray said. Lake Superior contains 2,900 cubic miles (12,100 km . Located above Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world. Small amounts of water are also diverted into the lake from two places otherwise outside of the watershedLong Lac and Ogokiin order to accentuate hydroelectric power generation at Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, and Niagara Falls. [38], The Anishinaabe people, which includes the Ojibwe or Chippewa, have inhabited the Lake Superior region for over five hundred years and were preceded by the Dakota, Fox, Menominee, Nipigon, Noquet and Gros Ventres. 3. The larger cities on Lake Superior include the twin ports of Duluth, Minnesota, and Superior, Wisconsin; Thunder Bay, Ontario; Marquette, Michigan; and the twin cities of Sault Ste. Less winter ice cover allows more solar radiation to penetrate and warm the water. Isle Royale contains several lakes, some of which also contain islands. As in all of Barrs books, the reader is totally immersed into the setting. 1334 Hotel Reviews. Though presently isolated, prehistorically the Caspian has been repeatedly connected to and then isolated from the Mediterranean via the Black Sea. Lake Superior is, by surface area, the world's largest freshwater lake. Lake Superior is a vast fresh water resource that has not experienced the same levels of development, urbanization and pollution as the other Great Lakes. Tall Ships The continental crust was later riven, creating one of the deepest rifts in the world. Right now, latex-gloved students are analyzing . Moose Thankfully, they'll all miss. Recognizing the unique qualities of this resource, the United States and Canada are working to restore and protect the Lake Superior Basin. [26] Summer surface temperatures in the lake appeared to have increased by about 4.5F (2.5C) between 1979 and 2007, compared with an approximately 2.7F (1.5C) increase in the surrounding average air temperature. But Lake Superior's water is cold enough year-round to inhibit bacterial growth, and bodies tend to sink and never resurface. Glacial meltwaters gathered in the Superior basin creating Lake Minong, a precursor to Lake Superior. The vast forests make things like that nearly impossible. And its not just the lake itself thats dangerous and mysterious. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Winter temperatures around the lake rarely fall below minus 30 F (minus 34 C), well above inland temperatures. One of the most well-known incidents occurred on November 10, 1975, when the Edmund Fitzgerald, a large cargo ship carrying iron ore, encountered a severe storm that killed the ship's 29 crew members. The water temperature hovers near freezing for most of the year. Ice Underwater visibility in some spots reaches 30 meters. Minnesota North Shore The Trans-Superior International Yacht Race is the world's longest freshwater sailboat race. and longshore currents can make it dangerous to swim near piers. Lightfoot sings that "Superior, they said, never gives up her dead". 5. It has a mean surface elevation of 600 feet (180 metres) above sea level and a maximum depth of 1,332 feet (406 metres). Its run by monks from a nearby monastery, and the thimbleberry jam is unique and delicious. Sand Point Beach. Many towns around the lake are current or former mining areas, or engaged in processing or shipping. 'Superior' describes not only its size and volume, but also its setting. ", 22. There have been about 350 shipwrecks recorded in Lake Superiorand Lake Superior is known to never give up her dead. Iron ore was mined and smelted locally from 1848, and the opening (1855) of the Soo Locks ship canal on the St. Marys River facilitated iron mining in the region by allowing regular shipment to the lower lakes. Around the Circle This Week Recognizing the unique qualities of this resource, the United States and Canada are working to restore and protect the Lake Superior Basin. [25] 2019 and 2020 set new high-water records in nearly every month. Lake Superior is a vast fresh water resource that has not experienced the same levels of development, urbanization and pollution as the other Great Lakes. Pitz. Those lyrics got across so much of the mystery and danger found in the lake. By the early 1600s, the Ojibway people had established a village of several thousand on Madeline Island. The French Jesuit missionary Claude-Jean Allouez circumnavigated and charted the lake in 1667. Largest of the Great Lakes of North America, largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area, International Lake Superior Board of Control, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park, Great Storms of the North American Great Lakes, List of shipwrecks of western Lake Superior, Great Recycling and Northern Development Canal, "Global Land One-Kilometer Base Elevation (GLOBE) v.1", "Tunnel Valleys, Glacial Surges, and Subglacial Hydrology of the Superior Lobe, Minnesota", "Great Lakes: Basic Information: Physical Facts", Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, "Superior Pursuit: Facts About the Greatest Great Lake", "Global Warming Is Shrinking the Great Lakes", "Lake Superior Warming Faster than Surrounding Climate", "Extensive Great Lakes Ice Coverage to Limit Severe Weather, Pose Challenges to Shipping Industry", "After Achieving 95 Percent Coverage, Lake Superior's Ice Breaking Up", "Environmental Climatology of Lake Superior", "NOAA Technical Memorandum ERL GLERL-29: Evaporation from Lake Superior", Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, "Ontario Amethyst: Ontario's Mineral Emblem", "Century-Old Shipwreck Discovered: Ore Carrier Went Down in Lake Superior on Its Second Voyage", "Increasing Stoichiometric Imbalance in North America's Largest Lake: Nitrification in Lake Superior", "Great Lakes Sensitivity to Climatic Forcing: Hydrological Models", "Rockin' the Rift, The Billion-Year-Old Split that Made Us", Lake Superior NOAA nautical chart #14961 online, Parks Canada - Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, Great Lakes Basin Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Program, Great LakesSaint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lake_Superior&oldid=1138275251, Articles with incomplete citations from February 2020, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles using infobox body of water without alt, Articles using infobox body of water without alt bathymetry, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 1,729mi (2,783km) plus 997mi (1,605km) for islands, This page was last edited on 8 February 2023, at 21:08. The Irontons captain and six sailors clambered into a lifeboat but it was dragged to the bottom before they could detach it from the ship. They picked up the other two Ironton men. Lake Superior has a surface area of 31,700 square miles (82,103km2),[7] which is approximately the size of South Carolina or Austria. 6. 29 inches and 10 pounds. Adam put the tape to the fish then released it back into the depths. [citation needed]. Coordinates: 47.90161354, -87.55004883. Kakabeka Falls, Ontario The 130-foot cascade of Kakabeka Falls (left) roars a short walk from an off-highway parking lot. Beargrease 1. [14], In the 17th century, the first French explorers approached the great inland sea by way of the Ottawa River and Lake Huron; they referred to their discovery as le lac suprieur (the upper lake, i.e., above Lake Huron). [25] Additionally, the entire first half of the year (January to June) included record low months. 11. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Researchers announced last Wednesday the discovery of the Nucleus, a surprisingly intact shipwreck found 40 miles off the coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. There are thriving bookstores to explore and small shops to wander. The latest-reported fatalities - seven in Lake County and two in Sumter - raise the area's COVID-related death toll to 817, including 574 in Lake and 243 in Sumter. [47], More than 80 species of fish have been found in Lake Superior. The lake is about 160 miles (257 kilometers) wide and about 350 miles (563 km) long. Theirfocus isthe entire Lake Superior ecosystem - air, land and water to restore degraded areas and protect this unique headwater lake for the people and wildlife that use it. [7] There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover the entire land mass of North and South America to a depth of 30 centimetres (12in). It contains as much water as all the other Great Lakes combined, plus three extra Lake Eries! Marie. Fish Outdoors. Duluth-Superior, at the western end of Lake Superior, is the most inland point on the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the most inland port in the world. Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world by surface area, and is the largest and deepest of the five Great Lakes. Authorities worked to. They used snowshoes, birch bark canoes and conical or domed lodges. Ojibwa natives called Lake Superior Gitche Gumee which means Big Sea Water. Lake Superior is the size of South Carolina; Lake Superior is so cold that growth of bacteria is inhibited, and bodies in Lake Superior do not float or surface. They are still much lower than levels considered dangerous to human health; but this steady, long-term rise is an unusual record of environmental nitrogen buildup. Lake Superior was featured in a songwritten by Gordon Lightfoot called "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. That story turned my whole novel around. St. Louis River Over 10,000 lives have been lost in her waters. There are so many fascinating things about Lake Superior that fuel the imagination. Bob Berg There are 78 different species of fish that call the big lake home. Ghost Stories Lake Superior continually shapes the Pictured Rocks shoreline. Marie locks). When launched on June 8, 1958, the Fitzgerald was the largest ship on North America's Great Lakes, and is the largest ship to have sunk there. [21] Waves well over 30 feet (9m) have been recorded.[22]. This is a result of the underdeveloped soils found in its relatively small watershed. Gale force winds up to 35 knots and waves occasionally reaching 7 feet proved too much for two kayakers at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore who swamped in the rough water and died. The Lake Mines 3 districts are: Portage Lake District; Keweenaw Point District; Ontonagon District; Including now the Marquette Iron Range Mines.. From 1855 to 1975 it is estimated there have been 2,000 mine related deaths for Keweenaw county, at . A blizzard can catch hikers unawares. 13. The mountains steadily eroded, depositing layers of sediments that compacted and became limestone, dolomite, taconite and the shale at Kakabeka Falls. The people of the Terminal Woodland period were evident in the area from AD 900 to 1650. offers more than just a great physical settingthe people and food are unique and special too.