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Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

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Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#101

Post by cmrdporcupine »

skeeter2020 wrote: post #89
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 was born in Toronto but grew up on the west coast, then the interior of BC and now in Alberta, and I'll never leave the mountains, but I loved summers on Lake Erie. Ontario cottage life is very different from western cabin life. The recovery of Erie is a huge accomplishment and while humans should get some credit I believe most of it is due to the size and resiliency of the Great Lakes ecosystem. And if we're keepi…

I mean, honestly, I like both. And being a skier these days I just wish I lived out west, and near my family. But we've put our roots down here, and I fear for the climate future of BC and the political future for Alberta.

I was in Jasper 3 times in the last 8 months. Almost flew out there for a fourth this weekend (closing weekend @ Marmot Basin) but I have gardening to do :-)

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#102

Post by skeeter2020 »

jamincan wrote: post #78
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.

You take someone who grew up on the prairies and drop them in the mountains and they feel claustrophobic and constrained. I visit SK/MB and feel very uncomfortable because I can't ge tthe lay of the land without altitude.

We benefit & suffer from our infinite adaptability.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#103

Post by cmrdporcupine »

throwaway894345 wrote: post #92
lettergram wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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

If this is true ("only b/c of melting ice sheet; will dissipate in next few thousand years") then wouldn't we expect water levels to be continuously dropping? Seems more likely that they exist because rain/meltwater makes its way to the basin and keeps them filled (irrespective of whether or not they were originally filled with meltwater from the ice sheet 15kya).

I believe a lot of it is ultimately fed by hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of smaller lakes upstream. The Canadian Shield is dotted with gazillions of lakes, it's crazy to fly over it. And I think it's safe to assume most of those lakes are glacial remnant water, not sure if they're fully refreshed by rain and snow.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#105

Post by Naga »

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 live in Ottawa now, but I grew up in the GTA and spent most of my summers on Lake Ontario. You're right, there's something mystical about it.

Also, just wanted to share my favourite love letter to the lakes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqkWnnPjzv0

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#106

Post by slowmovintarget »

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…

For me, my favorite memories of childhood are around those lakes.

Fishing in a small row boat with my father near the break-water into Lake Superior, for example. My dad had to row furiously because we had drifted too close. It was a nervous couple of minutes as we inched away from rough water back to the inner lake. You don't take a rowboat out onto Lake Superior, Lake Superior takes your rowboat, and you.

I recall the stone beaches in Copper Harbor... No sand, just large rounded stones, smoothed by the constant beating of Lake Superior's icy water. In the summer, my sister and I would wade out on the stones and see what we could find in the water. It was freezing cold! But it was so cool to walk on stone instead of sand.

The sandy mini-peninsulas on the Northern tip of Michigan's lower peninsula also hold fond memories. Sleeping Bear Dunes, looking out across Lake Michigan. Clean air, seagulls hanging in the sky...

Lots of stories that remain like impressionist paintings and leave that taste of happy childhood memories behind.

Yes, the Great Lakes are pretty great.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#107

Post by throwaway894345 »

cmrdporcupine wrote: post #103
throwaway894345 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this is true ("only b/c of melting ice sheet; will dissipate in next few thousand years") then wouldn't we expect water levels to be continuously dropping? Seems more likely that they exist because rain/meltwater makes its way to the basin and keeps them filled (irrespective of whether or not they were originally filled with meltwater from the ice sheet 15kya).

I believe a lot of it is ultimately fed by hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of smaller lakes upstream. The Canadian Shield is dotted with gazillions of lakes, it's crazy to fly over it. And I think it's safe to assume most of those lakes are glacial remnant water, not sure if they're fully refreshed by rain and snow.

Then I would expect these upstream lakes to be shrinking as of the last 10-15kya.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#108

Post by suifbwish »

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…

You live in one of the states where there is no squatter law and where you can legally shoot and kill someone for trying to steal your car. There is no maximum rifle magazine size. Castle doctrine for the win. Michigan has some interesting demographics. About half of the population in Michigan is concentrated in about 4-5 cities, the other half of the population are spread across much more area and more spread apart. This explains why Michigan can be either a republican or democrat state, most of the votes for state are fairly tied.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#109

Post by bell-cot »

aurizon wrote: post #50
bell-cot wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Politically brighter Congressmen might see such a repeal not as a one-off special event, but instead as a precedent for further "inter-state resource raids". Some of which raids could target their own states. So - support for that repeal might prove scarcer than you'd think, from just looking at a map of drought-plagued areas of the U.S. Also - burning needs for water tend to be sudden & immediate things. Vs. designi…

The great lakes water is simply channelled to the Atlantic. It would take an engineering project to divert 10-20% to the west. No hard tasks, just the creation of a sloped canal. In desert areas you could cover it with solar cells - also land based ones, to provide the pump energy over hills/mountains etc. Tunnels can be drilled where mounts are high. This water added to the west would revive it from the death spiral…

With how quickly, on-time, and within-budget California is managing to build the few-hundred miles of its touted High-Speed Rail system - that "no hard tasks" engineering project might take a century or few to become operational.

Also, you note "water added to the west would revive it from the death spiral it is now in". Ah... 100% of the average discharge rate from the entire Great Lakes system - including Lake Ontario, elevation ~400' below the other lakes - is only about 2/3 of the discharge capacity of just the Hoover Dam spillway. I'm thinking you'll need to divert the Amazon River (~25X the discharge of the Great Lakes) to meet the need.

Re: Are the Great Lakes really inland seas?

#110

Post by cmrdporcupine »

skeeter2020 wrote: post #97
crystoloxy wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OT: So many folks find themselves moving “home” when kids arrive, for a variety of reasons. As someone considering doing the same I’d be curious to hear yours. I spent last summer in the Midwest (on a lake) and I found it first comforting (no fire season!) and then distressing as the rains failed to come and smoke eventually arrived instead. One of the driest summers I can recall. P

I think every economic migrant I've ever met (myself included) talks about moving home realtively soon "I'm only here for 2/5/ I'm lucky enough to have two sets of family still back home, close enough to visit easily but far enough to make it meaningful and intentional. The desire to move back has weakened every year.

Sure, but before I left Google last year, it was kind of crazy to see how many ex-pat Canadian Googlers transferred from Mountain View to the Waterloo office. Something something, Trump, something something, COVID.

Lots of people returning to their home country when things got a bit crazy.

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