The largest lake in the world is Lake Superior. Lake Superior

Upper (Lake Superior) – the most big lake in the Great Lakes system in North America(North America), the world's largest lake by area - excluding the Caspian Sea - and the world's third largest freshwater lake by volume of water. The maximum volume of Verkhny is 12,100 cubic kilometers. That's enough to fill all the other lakes in the system—Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario—and still have two left over in Lake Erie. Lake Superior is second in volume only to Russia's Lake Baikal, the deepest lake on the planet, and Africa's Lake Tanganyika, off the coast of which the borders of four countries meet.

The northern border of Lake Superior is shared by the Canadian province of Ontario and the American state of Minnesota (Minnesota, USA). The states of Wisconsin and Michigan meet on the southern borders of Superior.
The lake appeared about 4,000 years ago as a result of melting ice and today is located at an altitude of 183.5 meters above sea level. The lake is a giant reservoir with total area 82,400 square kilometers.
The maximum depth of Verkhny is 406 meters, the average is 147 meters, which makes it one of the deepest - and coldest! - lakes of North America, however, in the world list of the deepest lakes, Superior takes only 36th place. Maximum length Verkhny is 563 kilometers, maximum width- 257 kilometers. This area stores so much fresh water that it is enough to cover both Americas with a layer of water 30 centimeters deep. The coastline of Verkhniy is estimated at 4,387 kilometers, if you count its islands.

Lake Superior freezes from December to April. The most important ports on the lake are Ashland and Duluth in the USA and Thunder Bay in Canada. Clean fresh water is the reason why there are several national parks and protected areas, including Isle Royale Park, located on the island of the same name and owned by the state of Michigan, and the Canadian Pukaskwa National Park.

In the language of the Ojibwe Indians, the name of the lake sounds like “Gichigami”, which translates as “big water”. The first French explorers to reach the shores of this vast inland sea along the Ottawa River and Lake Huron in the 17th century, gave him modern name. True, in French “le lac supérieur” meant “the highest lake,” since Superior is located in the system above Lake Huron. Jesuit missionaries also called it "Lac Tracy". When the British established themselves in North America, the lake retained its French name, adapted to English.

More than 200 rivers feed the lake, and the largest among them are the Nipigon River, St. Louis River, Pigeon River, Pic River, White River and others.
Meanwhile, the lake's waters feed Huron through the St. Marys River. The largest of the islands in the lake is Isle Royale, and the island has several lakes, which, in turn, also have internal islands. Another large island, Madeline Island, belongs to the state of Wisconsin, and Michipicoten belongs to the province of Ontario.

There are many shipping routes through Verkhneye, and hundreds of sunken ships lie at its bottom, as strong storms are not uncommon on the lake. A particularly large number of ships were lost near Cape Whitefish, the area around which is known as the “Tomb of the Great Lakes.” In addition, locals say that Verkhneye rarely gives up its dead, meaning that the lake is very cold, and low temperature inhibits the growth of bacteria, as a result of which the body has no chance of floating to the surface.

One of the most priceless riches of Lake Verkhneye is considered to be its fish - more than 80 species of fish live in Verkhnye, including valuable commercial ones such as trout, whitefish, salmon, carp, sturgeon, freshwater herring and many others. Some of them are accidentally or specially bred in the lake.

Along the shores of Lake Verkhnee there are many places intended for recreation and tourist trips. One of them is a provincial park with the same name as the lake. The park covers approximately 600 square kilometers in Ontario and includes several bays where hundreds of campsites have been built. Most of the tourist sites are open only in the summer, but scientific research is carried out here all year round.

Lake Superior is a freshwater body of water with a maximum area. It is located in North America. Overall size The lake area is 82.4 thousand square kilometers. This lake ranks 3rd in terms of volume of fresh water on our land, with Baikal and Tanganyika in first and second place. The fresh water in the lake totals 11.6 thousand cubic kilometers. The average depth is 147 meters, the maximum is 406 meters. Lake Superior is located in the territory between Canada and the United States. (Find out at the same time). It is one of the Great Lakes, part of a chain of freshwater bodies of water located in the eastern part of North America between the United States and Canada. This system contains five lakes: Ontario, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Superior. And only Michigan belongs entirely to the USA. The remaining lakes are divided by a border.

On Canadian territory, the lake is located in a province called Ontario. On the western side of the lake is a state called Minnesota. From the southwestern part - Wisconsin. The southern part of the coast is located in Michigan.

Upper Lake is also united with a Canadian lake called Nipigon, and they are united by a small river. The appearance of Lake Bowl looks like a depression of tectonic origin. Due to frequent earthquakes, deep faults were formed. Glaciers were able to level the lake bottom. According to researchers, about 30,000 years ago in the eastern part of North America, all of it was under glaciers that came to these places from the north. Such glaciers were not permanent. The movement took place either to the North, leaving behind huge bowls, and then returned back again. Read about the waterfall here.

New formations

At the moment when the glaciers finally left the eastern territories of the continent, a lake was formed in this area, which is called modern science Algonquin. According to its area it was considered very huge and by all assumptions for a long time exceeded the size of Lake Baikal by 10 times. It could not exist for so long. By the end of time it was lost large number water that filled the St. Lawrence River. And when millennia passed, the Great Lakes were able to appear in this area.

These famous lakes are among the colossal wonders of the world. They are considered unique. These lakes form a hydrographic community within themselves. They were located 500 km from the Atlantic itself, and also 700 km. from the Hudson Strait. It is the largest lake system in North America and is located in the middle and upper part of the St. Lawrence River Basin. Sea Route - The Great Lakes are the most important shipping routes on eastern territory North America. In order to get from the port of Duluth, which is located on Lake Superior, to the upper reaches of the St. Lawrence River, you need to cover a path of more than 2000 km. The upper lake is the most high-mountainous in height, it has 183.6 m. This reservoir is fed by precipitation and water carried by rivers.

Is Lake Superior drainage or drainless? Let's look at this issue. This lake is a drainage lake, its flow goes through the St. Marys River. From December to April, ice freezes occur in coastal areas. The water level in the lake is getting lower. Precipitation is a rare occurrence during this period of time, with sufficient water volume to maintain the level in the lake. The lowest level is from March to April. After this, the air temperature becomes higher and the coastal snow thaws. The rivers quickly begin to fill with water, and thus this leads to a rise in its level in the lake itself. The most significant water volume in Lake Superior can be observed in summer time, it is during this period that heavy rainfall occurs.

Golden autumn on Lake Superior

October 2011

In Russian, the word “Superior” is correctly translated as “upper-supreme,” but here it is the name of one of the five Great American Lakes, and by this name they mean “the height of perfection, superior to the rest in everything.” And we were convinced of this when we went with Chicago photographer and artist Valery Kanevsky on a journey along the shores of this lake to capture the unusual splashes of the autumn palette in these places.

But first, a little information. Lake Superior is located in a basin formed by a glacier in ancient crystalline rocks, on the border, to the north, with the Canadian province of Ontario, to the west and south, with the United States (the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan). This is the largest and deep lake in the Great Lakes system. If Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume of water (23 thousand cubic km), then Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by area (82.7 thousand km²).

The lake received its name in the 17th century from French explorers. Before this there were Indian names, as well as others, since in these surroundings they find the presence of people who lived here many thousands of years ago.

And let me remind you of geography. The Great American Lakes are Lake Michigan, Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. They contain 1/5 of all the fresh water on Earth and supply water to about fifty countries of the world.

So, in the evening we arrived in Munising, Michigan and stopped at the Terrace Motel.

Our motel

The town of Munising is small, you can walk around it in half an hour, it’s a typical American town. But travel lovers come here from all over America, and not only. It’s wonderful here at all times of the year, you can have a good rest, hunt, fish, wander through the forests, swim in canoes and boats, in winter - skiing and snowmobiling, but most importantly, admire the natural beauty - the lake itself, countless waterfalls, fast rivers, geological sections of the Earth. A paradise for photographers, especially in autumn. More than 200 rivers carry their waters into Lake Superior, and only through a small strait does the lake give its waters to Lake Huron.

Munising

A local "sculpture" standing in front of one of the cafes

And here is Lake Superior itself with its unusually crystal clear water.

Cape "Miners Castle"

We began our acquaintance with the lake with a 3-hour boat excursion. Boat excursions along its shores have been organized for more than half a century, leaving unforgettable impressions in the memories of many thousands of visitors. The cruise route is more than thirty kilometers.

Pier for fishing and pleasure boats

View from the boat

World Famous steep banks lakes have been shaped by water, wind and ice over many centuries, creating masterpieces of sculptures and passages color range coastal cliffs, the only ones in the world.

"Miners Castle"

Lake Superior is relatively young, as it appeared after the retreat of glaciers, about 10 thousand years. For comparison, Lake Baikal is about 25 million years old. Around that time, the first human settlers appeared here, whose remains are still found today. The lake is an important link in the Great Lakes waterway.

Each rock formation has its own name and is associated with Indian legends who lived here before the arrival of Europeans. For example, Lovers Lear, Flower Vase, Grand Portal, Indian Head and others.

Indian Head

Pioneers discovered in these places, and later European settlers developed, numerous deposits of various minerals, incl. iron, copper, silver, gold, nickel, uranium, sulfur, etc., traces of which are visible on geological sections of the coast. At the end of the 19th century, there was the richest silver mine in the world, and iron was almost in its pure form. Hence these caves, shells and intricate burrows shown in the photographs.

The coloring of the rocks in these places is no less amazing. Here you can see brown, red, gray and green colors - traces of the above-mentioned metals.

Names of stones: jasper, amethyst, quartz, granite, agate, basalt and others. Some of the rocks found here are some of the oldest rocks in the world, over two billion years old.

Lovers Leap

The coastal cliffs are ancient glacial hills, volcanic diabases with magnificent canyons that arose after grandiose volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, reach a height of 60 meters above lake level and surprise with their unusual shapes, which resemble either the profile of a face, or fortress towers, or other bells and whistles drawn by the imagination.

The water in the lake is cold and clear. The temperature of the central part of the lake does not exceed 4 degrees even in summer, and in winter it does not freeze due to storms.

Since the water is super clear and in some places the bottom can be seen down to 15 meters, in the summer numerous diving enthusiasts gather here, but of course, you can’t do without a wetsuit, the water is cold. However, as in all lakes of this system. And for those who don’t want to dive, you can explore the depths of the lake in comfort, on special glass-bottomed boats in underwater reserves, or in specially found places where sunken ships of past centuries rest.

The lake is rich in fish. More than 70 species of fish live here, including whitefish, sturgeon, trout, pike perch, herring and others. When the first European explorers visited Lake Superior in the 17th century, they reported seeing giant sturgeons here - up to three meters in length, pike - more than two meters, and trout of extraordinary weight - 6.5 kg.

Amateur fishermen bring their boats and boats, even from far away, on trailers to their car. They park their cars and then sail on their boats. Fishing can be done by any tourist who comes here. There are piers where, for a certain fee, they will organize a fishing trip for you on a boat; they will give you all the equipment along with the license, i.e. fishing permit.

The lighthouse, pictured below, located on the island opposite the town of Munising, was built in 1869 and for a long time served as a shoal indicator in this area of ​​​​the reservoir. In 1913, its need was no longer necessary and the lighthouse was abandoned, however, it is protected by law, like everything in America that is connected with history. And Americans have their own very warm special respect for lighthouses, even for those that have ceased to operate due to the movement of the coastline, as for people who, having served honestly, have retired. They give names to almost all lighthouses.

Old East Channel Lighthouse

Lake Superior can be admired both from a boat and from its steep and high shores. The banks are hilly, covered with impenetrable forests, indented by mountain rivers. What I have never seen in such abundance in my life are waterfalls. There are all kinds - wide and narrow, high and low, sloping, some you can’t even get to with a camera, the banks are surrounded by thickets of trees and bushes. Its noise can be heard already a hundred meters away. You can’t take your eyes off the endless avalanche of falling, singing water.

It has long been said: you don’t want to look at anything for so long as at a burning fire, flowing water and floating clouds. All elements - fire, water, air - have always attracted and fascinated man. A person will always find beauty in what he is drawn to without any “benefit” and visible meaning and what directly impresses his senses.

And here is the first waterfall with the name “Wagner Falls”, near the city. Why with such a name? Don't know. Maybe because it creates powerful water music and therefore bears the name of the composer? Or maybe it bears the name of its discoverer, a Jew or German? All the local waterfalls have their own names. There is a sign for this on the highway. A short trail will take you to the waterfalls, which are a series of cascades stretching over a hundred meters. The mountain streams flowing into the river are also extremely interesting.

Wagner Falls

The next day our path lay to Tahquamenon Falls, which shares the same name with the river. Previously, since the 1870s, the river was used for timber rafting, but since the middle of the last century, these places are almost universally national parks. Both the forest and wildlife are under strict government control. Tahquamenon State Park opened in 1947, although it was visited by tourists long before its opening.

The National Park Service offers a variety of information. History, culture, science, fauna, flora... A lot of all kinds of information can be found in the “visitor center” available at each park or at the stands shown below. The totality of all the parks (USA and Canada) around the lake is the largest protected area in the world.

As shown on the stand, they live here gray wolves and coyotes, who live unfriendly with each other and their population is decreasing. But the park service is currently working to address the issue. Cases of attacks on people are extremely rare.

Naturally, there are plenty of other animals: deer, foxes, hares, raccoons, beavers, otters, martens and even bears. More than 250 species of birds live in coastal zone, and about 120 of them make nests here and raise their chicks.

Hawk (Red-tailed Hawk)

While exploring the coastal forest, we came across a farmer's home. I was attracted by the sight of an old decommissioned car, living out its life alone in the thicket of bushes and trees, in harmony with the colors of autumn.

Miners Falls

Waterfall on the Black River Falls

And where is golden autumn with her colors, promised in the title of the report? And here, and in the pictures below. You can’t drive without stopping near the beauty of forest lakes with the reflection of flaming red-yellow-violet flowers of maples, rowan trees, poplars, dark green spruce trees against the background of white birch trunks. The bright colors of the trees, their reflection and the blue sky in the water are a feast for the eyes, and in combination with the fresh northern air - a true autumn pleasure.

To suit the general mood, Valery read his poem, which exactly corresponded to the autumn beauty surrounding us:

Life is joy, no matter where you throw it,
And if there is a puddle, the sky is blue in it.
And someone will say that life is wormwood.
No - it's the sun and the blue of the sky.
Eyes wider and mouth open,
AUTUMN rejoices and the sky is blue!

The leaves turn yellow and red in different ways. Chlorophyll giving leaves green, with the arrival of autumn it turns into a red pigment - formic acid. This is what explains the redness of the leaves. On the other hand, based yellow lies the carotenoid pigment, which is initially contained in the leaves, but is invisible in spring and summer due to chlorophyll. And in the fall, when chlorophyll breaks down, yellow carotenoids appear and the leaves turn yellow.

My friend Valery is a photographer of a certain direction, rather an artist. He notices and films what others, including me, don’t even notice - either a bright autumn leaf, or wet mossy stones, or a forest stream, or a dried flower. The result is a real masterpiece that can decorate any interior, be it an apartment, office, store or bar.

Bond Falls, one of the most beautiful and visited waterfalls in this area. You can verify this by looking at the pictures below. It is not ignored by photographers who come here.

Such a picture can only be seen in golden autumn. On beautiful view a “flock” of photographers swooped in, and this happened almost every sunny day at this wonderful time of year.

How nice it is, after active work, to take a break at fresh air and discuss what you saw over a cup of coffee!!!

On the last day of our stay we visited Autrain Falls. This is also a series of beautiful waterfall cascades. His roar can already be heard from afar. The main one is about 15 meters high, and below are no less beautiful rapids.

Pleased with what we saw, but with a feeling of some sadness, we returned home. Just two hundred kilometers to the south and bright colors The autumns were already disappearing and were no longer so eventful. Perhaps the latitude is not the same, or perhaps there are other reasons - other trees grow, on different soil, not so saturated with deposits of various metals that give these unique colors of autumn colors. To the south you will no longer see such a riot of autumn landscapes.

If you ever happen to visit here, then try to visit these magnificent places in the fall, or more precisely in October.

The editors of the photo travel club website thanks Vladimir
for the initiative, interesting story and great photos

Lake Superior is the name given by the pioneers to the largest lake on the North American continent.

This body of water is the northernmost of the Great Lakes, ranks second in the world ranking in terms of area and third in terms of fresh water reserves.

Lake Superior is one of the most beautiful natural attractions in the United States and Canada.

Great lakes

A description of Lake Superior must begin with a description of the Great Lakes system. This is the name given to an extended and powerful chain of reservoirs located in the northern part of North America.

The huge chain consists of lakes such as Huron, Michigan, Ontario, Erie, Superior and smaller ones water bodies. Michigan belongs exclusively to the United States of America. The shorelines of the other four largest of the Great Lakes cross the US-Canadian border in one way or another. Lake Superior on the North American mainland is also no exception; it is also located on the border of two states.

The Great Lakes are an important part of the transport network of the two countries, as well as a place of pilgrimage for a huge number of tourists, primarily, of course, American and Canadian, because famous natural parks are located here. In addition to its critical importance in the modern economy, the Great Lakes played a large role in the history of the United States, in particular, it was here that the famous naval battles between the Americans and the British took place.

The original name of this gigantic body of water has survived to this day. The Ojibwe Indians, who inhabited the shores of the lake before the arrival of Europeans, gave it the name “Geechi Gami,” which can be translated as “big water.” This historical name suits this impressively sized body of water perfectly.

Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes system. In its longest part it reaches 616 meters, and in its widest part - 257 meters. The area of ​​Lake Superior is huge, it is approximately 82.4 thousand square kilometers of water surface. This fact makes it the second largest area on the entire planet after the Caspian Sea, which is now considered a lake.

Lake Superior has a total volume of more than 11.5 thousand cubic kilometers (the maximum volume is more than 12 thousand cubic kilometers). This allows hydrologists to say that the reservoir contains a tenth of the world's fresh water reserves (the third largest in the world after our Baikal and Tanganyika in Africa). To imagine how huge this figure is, we can cite the following fact: if you distribute all the water in Verkhniy, spilling it over a huge plane, the area of ​​which is equal to North and South America, you will get a layer of water of 0.3 meters. The volume of water in this reservoir exceeds the total volume of all other Great Lakes combined.

The Upper Lake, despite its name, does not belong to the alpine category. It is located at an altitude of only 183.5 meters above sea level.

Lake Superior is also outside the deepest category. In terms of its depth, the reservoir claims only 36th place in the world ranking. Its average depth is 147 km, and its maximum depth is 406 meters. For comparison, the depth of Baikal is 1642 meters.

On the shores of the lake there is the Canadian province of Ontario on one side, and the American states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin on the other. The coastline of Lake Superior stretches for more than 4,000 kilometers.

Hydrological regime

More than two hundred rivers and streams carry their waters into the lake. Among the largest are the Pigeon River, Nipigon, Peak, St. Louis, White and many others.

From Superior flows the large St. Marys River, which feeds Huron, the second of the Great Lakes chain.

Despite the fact that average annual temperature Upper water is 4 degrees above zero, thanks to great depth and strong and frequent waves (strong storms often occur here in autumn and winter), the water surface almost never freezes completely. The last case of complete freezing was noted in the 70s of the twentieth century. The rest of the time it is covered with an ice crust only coastal strip water. Period coastal ice lasts from December to April.

The geographic location of Lake Superior contributes to moderate fluctuations in water levels. Maximum level occurs during the summer months during periods of heavy rainfall, and the minimum during the winter months.

Geological history

Verkhneye is a relatively young American lake by geological standards. It was formed approximately 4-10 thousand years ago in ice age. A powerful glacier, which at that time covered quite large areas of the North American continent, managed to push through the rocks of the stable Canadian Shield, thus forming a powerful and extensive recess in earth's surface. According to geologists, the glacier subsequently melted, giving rise to a giant reservoir with its melt waters, which spread over the entire area where all the Great American Lakes now lie. The impressively sized reservoir gradually decreased, and the contours of the modern lake chain began to appear, including coastline Upper Lake.

Islands

The largest of the upper lake islands is Isle Royale. It lives up to its “royal” name and reaches a length of 72 and a width of 14 kilometers. An interesting fact is that this island is often called “matryoshka”.

Why, you ask? It's simple: there are quite a lot of large lake, which also has an island. On this relatively small island there is a small pond on which smaller islands are scattered. Such a bizarre natural “architecture”.

Attractions

Important attractions of the Lake Superior region include specially protected natural areas. They include the famous American national park Isle Royale, located on the island of the same name, and the equally famous Canadian Pukaskwa National Park. Tourists and travel lovers come here, because the lake, despite the fact that it has long been discovered by man, has retained its pristine beauty and comparative purity of water. Since Lake Superior is home to valuable fish species, this indicates the good ecological condition of the area.

Shipping

The largest and most important ports on the lake are the American ports of Ashland and Duluth, as well as the Canadian port of Thunder Bay.

The Verkhny region is the most important navigable territory for the two states.

Since the lake is characterized by a violent and restless temperament, severe storms and storms, a huge number of ships have been wrecked on it.

Cape White Fish, which is sometimes called the “tomb,” became especially notorious in this regard. It was here that many ships sank for certain reasons.

• Local residents claim that the lake is very reluctant to give up its drowned people, who almost never float to the surface. Apparently, this is due to the extremely low temperature of the water and the low content of microorganisms in it.
• Verkhny is home to several dozen valuable species of ichthyofauna, many of which are caught industrially (including sturgeon, smelt, salmon, trout, carp, whitefish, freshwater herring, pike perch and others). At the beginning of the 17th century, Europeans who visited here reported almost three-meter sturgeon and two-meter pike.
• About sixty species of orchids grow in the lake area.

Lake Superior is located in North America, on the border between Canada and the United States (Lake Superior) and belongs to the Great Lakes system. The largest freshwater lake in the world by water surface area. It occupies an area of ​​82,100 - 82,400 km2 and seriously surpasses the second largest lake in Africa, Victoria (69.5 thousand km2), which is in second place in this discipline.

Lake Superior is located at an altitude of about 180 meters above sea level and stretches approximately 560 kilometers in length and 260 kilometers in width. The maximum depth is 406 meters, and the volume of water contained almost never exceeds 12,000 km3.

The southern coast is more elevated, in the north, on the contrary, it is rocky, with heights reaching 400 meters. Therefore, the south is popular in terms of beach holiday, and on the northern Canadian coast, tourists go hiking. Lake Huron Superior is connected by the 112 km long St. Mary's River.

In winter, the lake never completely freezes, since the surface air temperature is almost always above 0 °C, and ice cover is possible near the coasts.

In winter, the ice in the Great Lakes system sometimes takes on a beautiful bluish tint. Michigan and Huron froze so beautifully in 2018. Moreover, the point is not the presence of any impurities in the water, but simply its exceptional purity.

Sunlight penetrates deeply into the ice structure, unlike snow cover, which is almost completely reflected by the edges of small crystals. The red part of the spectrum, the longest wavelengths, is mostly absorbed, while the blue part returns and is captured by the human eye.

• That's why it's so beautiful in Argentina

Perito Moreno, Patagonia, photo by Christof Berger

The lake owes its modern name to its more elevated location relative to the rest of the Great Lakes; as for the local Indians of the Ojibwe tribe, they called the reservoir simply and succinctly: “Gichigami” or “ Big water" Even, frankly speaking, it’s not very original: for some reason the Quichua Indians called a very large South American creature “Puma on the Rock.”