Always the researcher - Matt and I were talking about the Great Lakes recently, and he was insistant that Michigan and Huron were actually ONE lake. Seems rather blasphemous to those of us raised to learn them as HOMES (Huron/Ontario/Michigan/Erie/ Superior). But here it is: His definitive proof, with citations worthy of any student....(he shares my passion of life-long learning - the eternal student.).
My response? No way, uh-uh, there's five, come on....
Hey Sis!
Love ya.
Michigan is the third largest Great Lake (although Lake Huron-Michigan, at 45,300 mi2 / 117,400 km2 is technically the world's largest freshwater lake. This is because what have traditionally been called Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are really giant lobes of a single lake connected by the five mile wide Strait of Mackinac.)
http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3313_3677-15926--,00.html
It soon became apparent, however, that data on outflow through the Straits of Mackinac was not readily available, if recorded at all, as the United States Army Corps of Engineers and most scientific bodies seem to consider Lake Michigan and Lake Huron a combined system. As our original intent for the project was to model just the Lake Michigan system, this necessitated a shift in the modelís architecture and the scope of our data to account for Lake Michigan and Lake Huron as a single entity (see Figure 2). This architectural shift allowed the St. Clair River (Lake Huron into Lake Erie via Lake St. Clair and Detroit River) to replace the Straits of Mackinac as an outflow but required the addition of the St. Maryís River (Lake Superior into Lake Huron) as inflow to the combined Lake Michigan*Lake Huron system.
http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/environmental_studies/stella2.html
Michigan and Huron: One Lake or Two?It is a widely accepted fact that Lake Superior, with an area of31,820 square miles, is the world's largest freshwater lake. However, this fact is based on a historical inaccuracy in the naming of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. What should have been considered one body of water, Lake Michigan-Huron with an area of 45,410 square miles, was mistakenly given two names, one for each lobe. The explorers in colonial times incorrectly believed each lobe to be a separate lake because of their great size.Why should the two lakes be considered one? The Huron Lobe and the Michigan Lobe are at the same elevation and are connected by the 120-foot-deep Mackinac Strait, also at the same elevation. Lakes are separated from each other by streams and rivers. The Strait of Mackinac is not a river. It is 3.6 to 5 miles wide, wider than most lakes are long. In essence, it is just a narrowing, not a separation of the two lobes of Lake Michigan-Huron.The flow between the two lakes can reverse. Because of the largeconnecting channel, the two can equalize rapidly whenever a water level imbalance occurs. Gauge records for the lakes clearly show them to have identical water level regimes and mean long-term behavior; that is, they are hydrologically considered to beone lake.Historical names are not easily changed. The separate names for the lake are a part of history and are also legally institutionalized since Lake Michigan is treated as American andLake Huron is bisected by the international boundary between the United States and Canada.
http://www.bubl.org/newsletters/FebruaryNewsletter2004.pdf#search='michigan%20huron%20one%20lake'
Lake Michigan-Lake Huron Water Level Study Report ( March 2005)
A recent report (January 2005) completed for the Georgian Bay Association by their consultants, W.F. Baird and Associates has concluded that the differences in water levels between the two Great Lakes (Lake Michigan-Huron and Lake Erie) are becoming smaller over time and that the causes of this change may be man made. The report, entitled ìRegime Change (Man Made Intervention) And Ongoing Erosion in the St. Clair River and Impacts on Lake Michigan-Huron Lake Levelsî studied the differences between the two lake levels over a number of years and concluded that the differences are becoming smaller. The report also concluded that the drop in Lake level differences between Lake Michigan-Huron and the St. Clair River and Lake Erie would be irreversible without implementation of compensation measures
http://seagrant.wisc.edu/CoastalHazards/Default.aspx?tabid=1444
Weekly Great Lakes Water Levels for April 15, 2005
Current Lake Levels:
All of the Great Lakes are 6 to 11 inches above last yearís levels. Lake Superior is at its long-term average, while Lake Michigan-Huron is 11 inches below its long-term average. Lake St. Clair is 1 inch above its long-term average. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are both 7 inches above their long-term averages.
http://www.great-lakes.org/Wkly_news/04-18-05.html
NOAA Great Lakes CoastWatch
Lake Michigan-Huron Visible Reflectance
[JD 075] 03-15-2004 19:00 GMT [NOAA-16]
Channel 1 minus Channel 2
Reflectance Range: 0.0 - 6.5 %
http://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/cwdata/mrf/c12-mrf.html
Author : Johnston, J.W.; Thompson, T.A.; Baedke, S.J.; Booth, R.K.; Argyilan, E.P.; Jackson, S.T.; Forman, S.L.; and Wilcox, D.A.
Date : 2004.
Title : The separation of Lake Superior from Lake Michigan/Huron.
Publication : 49th Annual Meeting of the Geological Association and the Mineralogical Association of Canada. May 12-14, 2004. Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario.
http://cgrg.geog.uvic.ca/abstracts/JohnstonTheThe.html
The increase in the level of Lake Superior is likely directly attributable to the addition, and the lack of a change in level of Lake Michigan-Huron probably reflects the withdrawal at Chicago and its larger surface area relative to Lake Superior. The decline in mean water level in Lakes Erie and Ontario is influenced by ship channel modifications and the control structure on
Lake Ontario.
http://www.glc.org/wateruse/biohydro/pdf/vicksburg/VicksburgReport.pdf#search='lake%20michiganhuron'
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