5 Great Lakes

The group of five freshwater lakes located at the northeastern border of the United States of America is referred to as the Great Lakes or Third Coast (colloquially though). The 5 lakes span the geographical boundaries of eight US states, namely Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. This region of North America, i.e., the eight US states and the Canadian province, is referred to as the Great Lakes Region.

5 Great Lakes Fact Sheet

The Great Lakes is the largest group of freshwater lakes on the planet, with a total surface area of 80,545 mi² and total volume of 5,412 mi³. Around 21 percent of the total freshwater available on the surface of our planet is stored in these five lakes, which makes them very important for the Great Lakes Region. More of such interesting facts about the geography of the Great Lakes are given below.

What are the Names of the 5 Great Lakes?

The Great Lakes, with its 9,402 mi long shoreline, has a catchment area of 295,200 sq mi. Other than the five lakes, the Great Lakes Region also has several small lakes and around 35,000 small islands to its credit. The five major lakes, which are also referred to as the 5 Great Lakes of USA and Canada, are the Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Eerie, and Lake Ontario.

Lake Superior is the largest of the five major lakes, with a total surface area of 31,700 mi² and total volume of 2,934 mi³. Lake Superior has an average depth 489 ft., with its deepest point at 1,335 ft.

Lake Huron is the second largest of the five Great Lakes, but has the longest shoreline of the five (including the 30,000 islands in it). It has a total surface area of 22,973 mi² and total volume of 850 mi³. While its average depth is 194 ft., the deepest point of lake Huron is 748 ft.

Lake Michigan is the third largest of the five Great Lakes with a total surface area of 22,278 mi² and total volume of 1,180 mi³. The average depth of lake Michigan is 279 ft., while its maximum depth is 925 ft.

Lake Eerie comes fourth in terms of size in the list. This lake also holds the distinction of being the warmest as well as the shallowest lake (with average depth of 62 ft., and maximum depth of 210 ft.) of the lot. Its total surface area is 9,906 mi², while its total volume is 116 mi².

Lake Ontario is the smallest of the five Great Lakes in North America, with a total surface area of 7,340 mi². The total volume of this lake is 393 mi³. In terms of depth, Lake Ontario has an average depth of 282 ft., and maximum depth of 804 ft.

Being two water bodies combined by the five mile wide Strait of Mackinac, Huron and Michigan are at times considered as a single water body and referred to as Lake Huron-Michigan. Going by this stipulation, Lake Huron-Michigan becomes the world's largest freshwater lake with a total surface area of 45,300 mi².

How Were these Lakes Formed?

The five Great Lakes were formed during the last ice age when whole of Canada and parts of northern United States were covered by the Laurentide ice sheet. As the ice sheet started receding, it pushed against the land and made huge hollow spaces in the Earth's crust. The water which was left behind as a result of glacier melting filled these hollow spaces and resulted in formation of the 5 Great Lakes of USA and Canada. That being said, some experts in the field of geology are of the opinion that the actual base for the formation of these lakes was laid billions of years ago with the formation of the Midcontinent Rift as a result of tectonic movement.

Lake Champlain (located within the US territories) was included as the sixth lake in the Great Lakes by the US administration for a brief period, but canceled the decision following a huge outcry from the Canadian media. The existence of these lakes is a boon for various territories of the United States of America and Canada as it provides drinking water to thousands of people from this region, and also facilitates fishing and transportation of humans as well as goods in this region.