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Lake Erie

Southernmost, shallowest Great Lake with shortest water residence time.

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Lake Erie

via Wikipedia: Lake Erie · see source

Lake Erie is the fourth-largest of the five Great Lakes by surface area and the eleventh-largest globally.[1] Among the five Great Lakes, Lake Erie ranks fourth in surface area and eleventh globally, while being the southernmost, having the least volume, and being the shallowest.[1] The maximum depth of Lake Erie is 210 ft, and this depth is above sea level, a characteristic unique among the Great Lakes.[2]

Geography and history

Lake Erie's primary inlet is the Detroit River, and its main natural outflow is the Niagara River.[3] It has an average depth of 63 ft and a maximum depth of 35 fathoms.[4] During the War of 1812, a United States Navy squadron under Oliver Hazard Perry captured a smaller Royal Navy squadron at the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie.[5] Erie's shallowness makes it the warmest Great Lake and the one that freezes earliest in winter.[6]

Glacial ice carved out Lake Erie, and its present shape has existed for under 4,000 years.[7] The Iroquoian term erielhonan, which translates to "long tail", is the source of the name Erie.[8] The first European known to have seen Lake Erie was the French explorer Louis Jolliet in 1669.[9] For decades, Lake Erie's environmental condition has been a persistent worry, featuring problems like overfishing, contamination, algal blooms, and eutrophication.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Lake Erie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: State of Ohio, Division of Geological Survey, Lake Erie Facts , Accessed May 4, 2013; 10 Largest Lakes in the World . worldatlas.com.; "Lake Erie – Facts and Figures", Great Lakes Information Network; "Erie, Lake", Fact Monster (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Lake Erie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Great Lakes Profile", Vivid Maps, 2017-01-18 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Lake Erie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "From Honeymoon City to Hydro City", CBC Digital Archives, August 25, 1957 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Lake Erie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Physical Features of the Great Lakes", US Environmental Protection Agency, September 16, 2015; "Physical Features of the Great Lakes", US Environmental Protection Agency, September 16, 2015; "The New York Times Almanac", Penguin Books, 2006, p. 64; Water, "The Great Lakes by Depth", WorldAtlas, 2025-12-02 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Lake Erie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Peachman Lake Erie Shipwreck Research Center (PLESRC)", The Great Lakes Historical Society, January 26, 2011; "The lake erie hero.; a statue to commodore perry unveiled at newport.", The New York Times, 1884; Marchetti, "Circling Lake Erie by Bike", The New York Times, June 29, 1997; "League of Nations Monument on Lake Erie", The New York Times, May 11, 1919 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Lake Erie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Dr. Charles E. Herdendorf", Wkyc.com, February 26, 2008; "Lake Erie Heat Wave Threatens Nuclear Plants' Cooling Systems", Los Angeles Times, August 10, 1999; "Lake Erie Heat Wave Threatens Nuclear Plants' Cooling Systems", Los Angeles Times, August 10, 1999; "GLCFS-FVCOM Products" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Lake Erie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robbins, "Encyclopedia of Environment and Society: FIVE-VOLUME SET", SAGE Publications, 2007, p. 604 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Lake Erie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rayburn, "Dictionary of Canadian Place Names", Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 120; "Lake Erie", Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Lake Erie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ashworth, William (1987). The Late, Great Lakes: An Environmental History, p. 36. Detroit: Wayne State University Press. . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Lake Erie" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nancy Macdonald, "Canada's sickest lake", August 20, 2009; Michael Wines, "Spring Rain, Then Foul Algae in Ailing Lake Erie", The New York Times, March 14, 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Lake Erie (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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