Lake Superior

Overview

Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes in surface area and volume. Lake Superior could contain all the other Great Lakes plus three more lakes the size of Lake Erie.

Water flows into the lake from many small rivers and streams. The Long Lac and Ogoki diversions in Canada channel water into Lake Superior that would otherwise flow into Hudson Bay. By order of the International Joint Commission, the lake's level, controlled by gates on the St. Mary's River at Sault Ste. Marie, may not exceed 602 ft (183 m) above sea level. Each year a small percentage of the lake's water flows out through the St. Mary's River, and it takes almost two centuries for the water to be completely replaced (retention time).

Lake Superior is particularly known for its clear, cold water and agate beaches. In 1985, scientists using a submersible vessel descended for the first time to the deepest part (-1,333 ft./-405 m) of Lake Superior in Michigan waters, which is near the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

A circle tour guides highway travelers around the lakeshore. Many shipwrecks in Lake Superior are now protected in bottomland preserves and accessible to recreational divers. By boat, the view of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is literally breathtaking. Extending from the east channel outside of Munising, Michigan, the Pictured Rocks are met by woodlands, which flow into the sand dunes of Grand Marais, Michigan.

References: Lake Superior brochure, 1990, Michigan Sea Grant.

Facts and Figures

LENGTH: 350 miles / 563 km.

BREADTH: 160 miles / 257 km.

AVERAGE DEPTH: 483 ft. / 147 m.

MAXIMUM DEPTH: 1,332 ft. / 406 m.

VOLUME: 2,900 cubic miles / 12,100 cubic km.

WATER SURFACE AREA: 31,700 sq. miles / 82,100 sq. km.

DRAINAGE BASIN AREA: 49,300 sq. miles / 127,700 sq. km

SHORELINE LENGTH (including islands): 2,726 miles / 4,385 km.

ELEVATION: 600 ft. / 183 m.

OUTLET: St. Mary's River to Lake Huron

RETENTION/REPLACEMENT TIME: 191 years

NAME: The first French explorers approaching the great inland sea by way of the Ottawa River and Lake Huron referred to their discovery as le lac superior. Properly translated, the expression means "Upper Lake," that is, the lake above Lake Huron. Kitchi-gummi, a Chippewa Indian translation, signifies Great-water or Great-lake. A Jesuit name, Lac Tracy, was never officially adopted. (Read a story about fishing with dad on Gitchee Gummi).

References: Great Lakes Atlas, Environment Canada and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1995

National Data Buoy Center

Western Great Lakes Recent Marine Data

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