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Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

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Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#71

Post by lettergram »

godtoldmetodoit wrote: post #23
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #16

Seas or not, I love the lakes and the land around them, in the 20+ years since I moved myself here they've taken over my heart. I'm from the aspen parkland of central Alberta; thin trees, dry air, small muddy leach-infested kettle lakes, big skies, poplar and birch land. When I was 8 we did a trip across Canada, and I remember us camping by the shores of Superior when a massive thunderstorm came rolling in, and it le…

I grew up in south west Michigan and absolutely took them for granted. After almost 5 years in Austin we decided to come back to Michigan with the birth of our first child. I missed the lakes terribly, just totally took for granted that not everywhere has fresh water surrounding them on all sides. In this climate change age, being close to so much fresh water really helps calm my nerves knowing that I am in a spot th…

> In this climate change age

The Great Lakes only exist because the massive ice sheet melted and left the lakes as a deposit some 10-15,000 years ago.

I wouldn’t be surprised if in a few thousand years the lakes largely dissipate.

That said I grew up near the lake, definitely something that’s awesome to live near

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#72

Post by PopAlongKid »

Kon-Peki wrote: post #61
trylfthsk wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither do the Straits of Mackinac

A lot of people argue that the Straits of Mackinac is just a very narrow section of a single large lake - in other words that Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are a single lake, not two lakes.

Yes, there is just a single lake comprising Michigan and Huron.[0]

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straits_of_Mackinac

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#73

Post by hashamali »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #16

Seas or not, I love the lakes and the land around them, in the 20+ years since I moved myself here they've taken over my heart. I'm from the aspen parkland of central Alberta; thin trees, dry air, small muddy leach-infested kettle lakes, big skies, poplar and birch land. When I was 8 we did a trip across Canada, and I remember us camping by the shores of Superior when a massive thunderstorm came rolling in, and it le…

This is beautifully written.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#74

Post by sophacles »

andrew_ wrote: post #34

Grew up in Michigan and I always describe them to people as "inland oceans." People in the south understand what it means to be 30 miles offshore in the Atlantic or Gulf, and it blows their mind to know that the lakes are so big you can travel far enough out in them to lose sight of land. They're "Great" bodies of water indeed, disrespect them while on their waters at your own peril.

I grew up around Chicago and ever since I get mildly indignant when I can see the other side of lake people describe as "big".

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#75

Post by selectodude »

alanbernstein wrote: post #26
engineer_22 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Water from the Great Lakes cannot leave the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Compact prevents construction of any water withdrawal that will move water outside of the watershed. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_Compact

...According to current US law. Reading your comment, I wasn't sure if "compact" was a legal term or a geological one. Laws change much more quickly than geology.

And Canadian law. The Great Lakes Compact is an international treaty.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#76

Post by packetlost »

nemo44x wrote: post #32
cmrdporcupine wrote: post #16

Seas or not, I love the lakes and the land around them, in the 20+ years since I moved myself here they've taken over my heart. I'm from the aspen parkland of central Alberta; thin trees, dry air, small muddy leach-infested kettle lakes, big skies, poplar and birch land. When I was 8 we did a trip across Canada, and I remember us camping by the shores of Superior when a massive thunderstorm came rolling in, and it le…

I guess. I don’t miss them and always thought they were cold and smelly and didn’t make for great beaches. The weather around them is awful as well with long, bitter cold winters and summer days that are often extremely humid. You can’t really eat the fish out them either due to high levels of mercury. Additionally the land around the lakes is nice but not spectacular. At least not for North America. If I were to pla…

This is more my experience too. I've lived in the midwest my whole life and honestly cannot understand it why people actually like it here. Maybe if you're really into winter sports I guess. For me, I can barely stand going outside for more than a few minutes for 5+ months out of the year.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#77

Post by jamincan »

quietbritishjim wrote: post #53
technothrasher wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If anyone can point to a sea that's not salty, I'd be happy to know. Until then, these are just lakes! That feels a bit circular. If you define sea as having to contain saltwater, then how could anybody point you to a sea that isn't salty?

Because language is defined by usage, if there was a body of water that is freshwater but widely agreed to be a sea then the parent commenter is agreeing to revise their definition to match.

It seems like a no-true-scotsman problem. The examples of seas that are freshwater are dismissed as not actually seas since they're freshwater.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#78

Post by jamincan »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #16

Seas or not, I love the lakes and the land around them, in the 20+ years since I moved myself here they've taken over my heart. I'm from the aspen parkland of central Alberta; thin trees, dry air, small muddy leach-infested kettle lakes, big skies, poplar and birch land. When I was 8 we did a trip across Canada, and I remember us camping by the shores of Superior when a massive thunderstorm came rolling in, and it le…

It's funny, because having grown up near the Great Lakes, the wide open land of the prairies and tundra appeal to me in a way that the geography of S. Ontario just doesn't. I like to see the horizon, and you just can't do that here, unless you're right on one of the lakes.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#79

Post by JshWright »

crgwbr wrote: post #68
TecoAndJix wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been to a Great Lake one time (Lake Erie) and it made me sad. The shore had a bunch of dead fish all over it and it smelled very bad. The person i was with, an Erie, PA native, said that the water was pretty much "dead". Very antidotal but if left an impression on me.

I grew up in Erie—the invasive Zebra mussels have cleaned up Lake Erie a lot in the past couple decades. My understanding is that fish populations are doing much better now because of it.

Zebra mussels are actually quite destructive to the ecosystem, and quickly lead to waters that are choked with vegetation (because light can penetrate deeper into the water), and lacking the sorts of food consumed by filter feeders that form the base of the food chain.

There are some species of fish that prefer the thicker vegetation, but fish populations overall decline significantly when zebra mussels invade.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#80

Post by zdragnar »

sophacles wrote: post #74
andrew_ wrote: post #34

Grew up in Michigan and I always describe them to people as "inland oceans." People in the south understand what it means to be 30 miles offshore in the Atlantic or Gulf, and it blows their mind to know that the lakes are so big you can travel far enough out in them to lose sight of land. They're "Great" bodies of water indeed, disrespect them while on their waters at your own peril.

I grew up around Chicago and ever since I get mildly indignant when I can see the other side of lake people describe as "big".

You can still see the other side when they're big.

When you can't, then you start getting into great territory.

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