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Lake Location:
USA, Canada | Lake Area:
23,000 sq. miles | Lake Depth:
750 feet |
Lake Huron
Lake Huron, bounded on the west by the state of Michigan, USA, and on the east by the province of Ontario, Canada, is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. The name of the lake is derived from early French explorers who named it based on the Huron people inhabiting the region.
Lake Huron is the second-largest of the Great Lakes, with a surface area of 23,010 square miles (59,596 km2) -- nearly the size of West Virginia, making it the third largest fresh water lake on earth (4th largest lake if the saline Caspian Sea is included). It contains a volume of 850 cubic miles (3,540 km3), and a shoreline length of 3,827 miles (6,157 km).
The surface of Lake Huron is 577 feet (176 m) above sea level. The lake's average depth is 195 feet (59 m), while the maximum depth is 750 feet (229 m). It has a length of 206 miles (332 km) and a breadth of 183 miles (245 km).
Major cities on Lake Huron include: Bay City, Michigan; Alpena, Michigan; Cheboygan, Michigan; St. Ignace, Michigan; Port Huron, Michigan; Goderich, Ontario; and Sarnia, Ontario.
A notable feature of the lake is Manitoulin Island, which separates the North Channel and Georgian Bay from Lake Huron's main body of water. It is the world's largest freshwater island.
Lake Huron is separated from Lake Michigan, which lies at the same level, and connects by the narrow Straits of Mackinac, making them geologically and hydrologically the same body of water (sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron). Lake Superior is slightly higher than both. It drains into the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie which then flows southward into Lake Huron. The water then flows south to the St. Clair River, at Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.
The Great Lakes Waterway continues thence to Lake St. Clair; the Detroit River and Detroit, Michigan; into Lake Erie and thence--via Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River--to the Atlantic Ocean.
Like the other Great Lakes, it was formed by melting ice as the continental glaciers retreated.
Lake Huron has a lake retention time of 22 years.
Major industries that drain into Lake Huron include: iron and steel mills, automobile manufacturing, heavy machinery, paper mills, metalworking, and shipbuilding. Lake Huron is home to a variety of fish and plant life, many of them being home to the other Great Lakes such as carp, chinook salmon, a variety of panfish, bass, pike, and catfish. Lake Huron along with the other great lakes have suffered recently due the introduction of various invasive species. (Source)
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