Geographic Topic Within the State Illinois: Lake Michigan

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Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan was formed around 1, 000, 000 years ago whereby ice sheets of up to 6,500 feet thick formed in the Midwest. Subsequently, the ice arrangements formed and as the earth got warmer the ice sheets retreated, while gouging the earth out and creating the lake basins. The other Great Lakes were also formed in a similar manner. The documentation and mapping of the lake occurred when the Europeans arrived in the area, with French adventurers and brokers being the earliest Europeans to note down what they saw. For instance, Samuel De Champlain (1567-1635) referred to the lake as Lake Michigan the Grand Lac (Angel, James, and Kenneth 55). Other common names were the Pool of the Stinking Water" or "Pool of the Puan.
Lake Michigan divides the state of Michigan into the Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula had many hills and lakes compared to the Lower Peninsula. The forests mainly cover the north and western regions of the lake, while the sand dunes are found on the southern and eastern shores of the lake. The effect of wind waves caused the sand to pile, while the dunes change time. The formation and gathering of sand blocked some rivers with some also turning into the lakes.
The lake was later known as Lac de Illinois as it provided access to areas where the Indian nations lived. Claude-Jean Allouez a French Jesuit minister would later rename the lake Lac St. Joseph, while it was also known as Lac Dauphin. The Indian nations gave the lake various names depending, and at the Green Bay shore, the French who were welcomed by the Indians called it the Bay of Puans. According to Janssen, John and David (323), Lake Michigan was known as Lac de Illinois on map in 1688. Lake Michigan was known as Michi gami among the Indians. The five freshwater lakes cover a large area of 95,000 sq miles. The Great lakes link both the U.S and Canada as a hub of transportation, including the movement of industrial goods, cars and minerals, but also an important source of drinking water to more than 40 million people.
Currently Lake Michigan takes pride in superb salmon and trout angling. The various species found in the lake include the Chinook, Coho, and Atlantic salmon, Rainbow, Brown, and Lake Trout. Since Lake Michigan pours its waters to Lake Huron and the two are viewed as one hydrological lake. Numerous waterways stream into Lake Michigan, and there are three significant tributaries. Lake Michigan's circular drive development implies that water is entering the lake circles gradually and stays for some time before it leaves the bowl through Mackinac.
Lake Michigan is the third largest among the Great Lakes, compared to Lake Superior and Huron while it is the biggest source of New Water in the U.S and the 6th largest lake on earth. Lake Michigan covers 22,300 square miles rising 577 feet above the sea level, while it is 307 miles in length. The lake is also the second biggest Great Lake in terms of volume. The maximum depth is 923 feet compared to an average depth of 279feet, while the breadth is 118 miles. The Lake Michigan Basin also has a drainage area of 45,6000sq, miles and a shoreline of 1,640 miles.
Lake Michigan has poor biological production (oligotrophic) compared to more nutrient rich lakes (eutrophic). This phenomenon occurs in most deep and cold lakes since the light cannot reach the deeper parts of the water and photosynthesis only occurs near the b narrow surface of the water (euphotic) zone. The lake is a major producer of fish mainly because of its vast size rather than fertility. The settlement of Euro-Americans has affected the ecology of the lake because of fishing, pollution and introduction of nonnative species. Clear cutting of the surrounding forests has also been associated with increased erosion, influx of siltation and the elimination of shade. Nonetheless, the Lake Michigan basin still remains biologically diverse, with many of the significant species found within the lake’s shores. Incompatible agriculture, altered hydrology, fishing practices and forestry practices are other factors that threaten the biodiversity of the Lake Michigan basin.
According to Landhis and Keeler (4522) Lake Michigan releases water into Lake Huron at a rate that is influenced by the change of water over time, with the urban areas more polluted. Additionally, the Lake is connected to the east through the Atlantic Ocean south through the Chicago River, St. Lawrence Seaway, the Mississippi and then to Gulf of Mexico. More than 40% of the angling activities in the Great lakes have occurred in Lake Michigan while out of the 10,000 to have soaked in the Great Lakes, roughly 3,000 have done so on Lake Michigan.
To further highlight the importance of Lake Michigan is that there is high concentration of freshwater sand hills when compared to other lakes. As the largest firewater lake in the U.S it plays an important role in the lives of states where the lake passes through. The Sleeping Bear Plateau is a field of hills with the highest elevation being 440 feet above the lake. Nonetheless, the surrounding environment limits the lake, including the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.
The Petoskey Stone, Michigan's state stone, is made out of a fossilized coral, and the main spot on the planet it is found is on Lake Michigan shorelines in northern Michigan (Madenjian et al 735). Lake Michigan was shaped amid the last Ice Age as ice sheets progressed and later withdrew over the locale, making extensive icy lakes. The sand on Lake Michigan shorelines in southwestern Michigan is frequently known as “sugar sand” because of close resemblance to grains of sugar. Additionally, the sand has a squeaking that resulted from a quartz substance that can be found in parts of the lake.
The Hopewell tribe was among the earliest inhabitants of the area surrounding Lake Michigan, and the Late Woodland Tribe settled in the area later. During the times of exploration, The Europeans focused on the lake as the primary trader route in the U.S. the European traders’ encountered different Indian tribes among the way as the tra...