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90-807: The escarpment is part of the Onondaga Escarpment and is geologically related to the Niagara Escarpment , and the Black River Escarpment . The rocks exposed in the escarpment date back to the Middle Ordovician to Early Devonian . In 1934 the Schenectady Gazette described how the Tory Cave , one of the limestone caves to be found in the escarpment, routinely had stalagmites of ice in

180-498: A Cleveland resident trying to measure the dock near his house became trapped but was rescued by a fire department diver from Avon Lake, Ohio : In a tug of war against the waves, the two were finally hauled out by rope. After being trapped for an hour-and-a-half, Baker was back on dry land, exhausted and battered but alive. Lake Erie is primarily fed by the Detroit River (from Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair ) and drains via

270-512: A change in Lake Erie's ecosystem make phosphorus pollution more intractable. Blue-green algae ( Cyanobacteria ) bloom, were problematic in August 2019. According to a news report in August, "scientists fully expect [it] to overwhelm much of western Lake Erie again this summer". By August 12, 2019, the bloom extended for roughly 50 kilometres (31 mi). A large bloom does not necessarily mean

360-409: A complex interaction of natural forces. As of the 2010s, much of the phosphorus in the lake comes from fertilizer applied to no-till soybean and corn fields, but washed into streams by heavy rains. The algal blooms result from growth of Microcystis , a toxic blue-green alga that the zebra mussels, which infest the lake, do not eat. Periodically, a dead zone , or region of low oxygen, occurs in

450-933: A high rock from Pelee Island. In 1669, Frenchman Louis Jolliet was the first documented European to sight Lake Erie, although there is speculation that Étienne Brûlé may have come across it in 1615. Lake Erie was the last of the Great Lakes to be explored by Europeans, since the Iroquois who occupied the Niagara River area were in conflict with the French, and they did not allow explorers or traders to pass through; explorers followed rivers out of Lake Ontario and portaged to Lake Huron . British authorities in Canada were nervous about possible expansion by American settlers across Lake Erie, so Colonel Thomas Talbot developed

540-565: A large unfrozen lake. Lake-effect snow makes Buffalo and Erie the eleventh and thirteenth snowiest cities in the entire United States respectively, according to data collected from the National Climatic Data Center . Since winds blow primarily west to east along the main axis of the lake, lake-effect snowstorms are more pronounced on the eastern parts of the lake. Buffalo typically gets 95 inches (240 cm) of snow each winter and sometimes ten feet (3.0 m) of snow;

630-427: A local TV station's Doppler weather radar detected millions of mayflies heading for Presque Isle in blue and green splotches on the radar in clouds measuring 10 mi (16 km) long. These insects were a sign of Lake Erie's move back to health, since the mayflies require clean water to thrive. Biologist Masteller of Pennsylvania State University declared the insects to be a "nice nuisance" since they signified

720-495: A location in Albany County, New York is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Onondaga Escarpment The Onondaga Limestone is a group of hard limestones and dolomites of Devonian age that forms geographic features in some areas in which it outcrops ; in others, especially its Southern Ontario portion, the formation can be less prominent as a local surface feature. In upstate New York and

810-459: A mean elevation of 571 feet (174 m) above sea level. It has a surface area of 9,990 square miles (25,874 km ) with a length of 241 statute miles (388  km ; 209  nmi ) and breadth of 57 statute miles (92 km; 50 nmi) at its widest points. It is the shallowest of the Great Lakes with an average depth of 10 fathoms 3 feet or 63 ft (19 m) and a maximum depth of 35 fathoms (210 ft; 64 m) Because Erie

900-462: A new harbor near Erie, Pennsylvania, in Elk Creek to accommodate shipments from its tube-plant site nearby. In 1913, a memorial to Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry was built on Put-in-Bay island featuring a Doric column. Steamships have operated on Lake Erie since the early 1800s. Large, opulent cruise liners carried passengers between Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo and other cities on the lake until

990-400: A serious problem to all who have given it close attention ... the fisheries are being exhausted by the wasteful methods which are now in vogue ... it is still the custom of the pound fishermen about Sandusky to take fish of all sizes, and if they are too small to be marketable they are turned over to a fertilizer factory. If left undisturbed for two or three years more, these little fish would be

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1080-484: A very valuable product ... Predictions of the lake being over-fished in 1895 were premature, since the fishery has survived commercial and sport fishing, pollution in the middle of the 20th century, invasive species and other ailments, but state and provincial governments, as well as national governments, have played a greater role as time went by. Business boomed; in 1901, the Carnegie Company proposed building

1170-493: A vessel about 12 miles [19 km] up, 2 miles [3.2 km] from the Canada shore, with three men clinging to the masts, which alone were visible above the water–heard their cries and screams ... There were reports of disasters usually from sea captains passing information to reporters; in 1868, the captain of the Grace Whitney saw a sunken vessel with "three men clinging to the masthead," but he could not help because of

1260-621: Is Cleveland , anchoring the third largest U.S. metro area in the Great Lakes region , after Greater Chicago and Metro Detroit . Other major cities along the lake shore include Buffalo, New York ; Erie, Pennsylvania ; and Toledo, Ohio . Situated below Lake Huron , Erie's primary inlet is the Detroit River . The main natural outflow from the lake is via the Niagara River , which provides hydroelectric power to Canada and

1350-613: Is a Dutch name meaning "clear mountain". The Open Space Institute and the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy are working to keep escarpment lands from being developed for housing or industrial uses. Farmers farming land near the escarpment can apply to sell their development rights, to help make sure that land is not developed. In 2003 the Ten Eyck family, owners of the Indian Ladder Farm just below

1440-414: Is less dense than cold air, the heated air rises. Rising air cools and water vapor condenses into cloud droplets ... the efficiency of snow production increases when the wind pushes the clouds over land. Friction with the ground causes air to pile up. This frictional convergence creates lift and enhances snowfall. Heavy lake-effect snowfalls can occur when cold air travels 60 miles (97 km) or longer over

1530-480: Is less than 4,000 years old, which is a short span in geological terms. Before this, the land on which the lake now sits went through several complex stages. A large lowland basin formed over two million years ago as a result of an eastern flowing river that existed well before the Pleistocene ice ages . This ancient drainage system was destroyed by the first major glacier in the area, while it deepened and enlarged

1620-479: Is of reasonably high-quality and which was highly valued by First Nations peoples, is often a common variety of chert recovered archaeologically from sites relatively adjacent to outcrops; for example, Onondaga-variety chert comprises 95% of all of the flint material from some sites in Milton, Ontario . The material has also been found as well at some distance from its original source; Onondaga chert has been recovered at

1710-502: Is one of the richest areas of Canada's fruit and vegetable production; this southernmost tip, particularly in the area around Leamington, is known as Canada's "tomato capital". The area around Port Rowan has special trees that grow because of the "tempering effect of the lake", and species include tulip trees , dogwood , sassafras , and sour gum . This area's many greenhouses produce a "variety of tropical plants rarely cultivated so far north", including some species of cacti, because of

1800-539: Is rich in nutrients and fish. Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes because the ice was relatively thin and lacked erosion power when it reached that far south, according to one view. As many as three glaciers advanced and retreated over the land, causing temporary lakes to form in the time periods in between each of them. Because each lake had a different volume of water, their shorelines rested at differing elevations. The last of these lakes to form, Lake Warren , existed between about 13,000 and 12,000 years ago. It

1890-447: Is the western basin where depths average only 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9.1 m); as a result, "the slightest breeze can kick up lively waves", also known as seiches . The "waves build very quickly", according to other accounts. The region around the lake is known as the "thunderstorm capital of Canada" with "breathtaking" lightning displays. Sometimes fierce waves springing up unexpectedly have led to dramatic rescues; in one instance,

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1980-475: Is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest average water residence time . At its deepest point, Lake Erie is 210 feet (64 m) deep, making it the only Great Lake whose deepest point is above sea level. Situated on

2070-829: Is the oldest biological field station in the United States. Stone Laboratory was donated to the Ohio State University by Julius Stone in 1925 as part of the university's Ohio Sea Grant College program. The Great Lakes Institute of the University of Windsor has experts who study issues such as lake sediment pollution and the flow of contaminants such as phosphorus . Other invasive species in Lake Erie include spiny water fleas , fishhook water fleas , sea lamprey , and white perch . The invasive plant species in Lake Erie consist mainly of Eurasian milfoil , Trapa natans and purple loosestrife . The shore of

2160-441: Is the shallowest, it is also the warmest of the Great Lakes, and in 1999 this almost became a problem for two nuclear power plants which require cool lake water to keep their reactors cool. The warm summer of 1999 caused lake temperatures to come close to the 85 °F (29 °C) limit necessary to keep the plants cool. Also because of its shallowness, it is the first to freeze in the winter. The shallowest section of Lake Erie

2250-605: Is time equivalent with the Floresta Formation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense , Colombia. Onondaga limestone was quarried as dimension stone for construction of limestone buildings. The following buildings contain structural Onondaga limestone: 43°N 79°W  /  43°N 79°W  / 43; -79 Loyalsburg Formation Lake Erie Lake Erie ( / ˈ ɪr i / EER -ee ; French : Lac Érié )

2340-574: The Windsor Star reported that the lake experienced record-breaking water temperatures, reaching 81 °F (27 °C) in mid-August and compared the lake to a "bath tub". Lake Erie has a complex ecosystem with many species in interaction. Human activity, such as pollution and maritime ship traffic, can affect this environment in numerous ways. The interactions between new species can sometimes have beneficial effects, as well as harmful effects. Some introductions have been seen as beneficial such as

2430-537: The British Colonial government . These primarily concerned political reforms and land allocation issues. Some of the rebels stationed themselves in the U.S. and crossed the ice from Sandusky Bay to Pelee Island wearing "tattered overcoats and worn-out boots", and carrying muskets, pitchforks, and swords, but the islanders had already fled. Later, there was a battle on the ice with the Royal 32nd Regiment, with

2520-538: The Cuyahoga River and into the lake. A report in Time magazine in 1969 described the lake as a "gigantic cesspool" since only three of 62 beaches were rated "completely safe for swimming". By 1975 the popular commercial fish blue pike had been declared extinct, although the declaration may have been premature. By the 1980s, there were about 130 fishing vessels with about 3,000 workers, but commercial fishing

2610-665: The International Boundary between Canada and the United States , Lake Erie's northern shore is the Canadian province of Ontario , specifically the Ontario Peninsula , with the U.S. states of Michigan , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and New York on its western, southern, and eastern shores. These jurisdictions divide the surface area of the lake with water boundaries. The largest city on the lake

2700-477: The Mary Stewart ... He first struck the water about 25 miles below Long Point ... During this time Mr. Steiner says he thinks his balloon bounded from the water at least twenty times. It would strike and then rebound, like a ball, going into the air from twenty to fifty feet, and still rushing down the lake at railroad speed ... Mr. Steiner then abandoned the balloon, leaping into the water and swimming towards

2790-606: The Neutrals (also known as Attawandaron) lived along the northern shore. The tribal name "erie" is a shortened form of the Iroquoian word erielhonan , meaning "long tail". The name may also come from the word eri , meaning "cherry tree". Near Port Stanley, there is an Indigenous village dating from the 16th century known as the Southwold Earthworks where as many as 800 Neutral Indigenous peoples once lived;

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2880-552: The Oak Openings Region in Northwest Ohio . There, the sandy dry lake bed soil was not sufficient to support large trees with the exception of a few species of oaks, forming a rare oak savanna . At the time of European contact, there were several Indigenous peoples living around the shores of the eastern end of the lake. The Erie tribe (from whom the lake takes its name) lived along the southern edge, while

2970-716: The Portage Escarpment lies about 35 miles (56 km) to the south, running along the southern ends of the Finger Lakes and forming Cascadilla, Ithaca and Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca . The Onondaga Escarpment contains significant outcrops of flint (a type of chert ) which bears the escarpment's name. This variety of chert was of great importance to First Nations peoples throughout Southern Ontario , who used it to make stone tools ( lithics ) such as projectile points and hide scrapers. This variety of chert, which

3060-672: The Tioga-B Bentonite layer, which was formed in a very short time period as the result of a large volcanic eruption in what is now the state of Virginia. Relative age dating of the Onondaga places its formation in the Eifelian to Givetian stage of the Middle Devonian period, or 391.9 to 383.7 Ma . Radiometric dating of a sample from the bentonite at the top of the Onondaga placed it at 390 ± 0.5 Ma. The formation

3150-578: The Tully valley, the Genesee River valley near Avon, New York , and at Port Colborne, Ontario , where the old valley forms a harbor on Lake Erie. The formation is broken by the only major fault line in western New York, the Linden Fault just east of Batavia, where the eastern side of the fault has dropped down and the ledge moved southward relative to the western side. On the western side of

3240-506: The late archaic Duck Lake archaeological site in northern Michigan, circa 400 kilometers from the nearest outcropping of the material. This wide distribution implies either a very large seasonal migration of ancient peoples or long-distance trade routes, with both likely being the case at different times throughout the prehistory of the Great Lakes region. The Onondaga Limestone is composed of four main subunits. In descending order: The Seneca and Moorehouse members are sharply divided by

3330-465: The wood warbler , which had population declines around 60% in 2008. Possible causes for declines in bird populations are farming practices, loss of habitats, soil depletion and erosion, and toxic chemicals. In 2006, concerns arose of possible avian influenza (bird flu) after two wild swans on the lake were found diseased, but they did not contain the H5N1 virus . Sightings of a magnificent frigatebird ,

3420-472: The Buffalo District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that the eutrophication was caused by point sources such as industrial outfalls and municipal sanitary and storm sewer outfalls, as well as diffuse sources, such as overland runoff from farm and forest land. All of these sources contribute nutrients, primarily phosphorus, to the lake. Growth of organisms in the lake is then spiked to

3510-479: The Canadian mainland, is located on a peninsula extending into the lake. Lake Erie has 31 islands ( 13 in Canada, 18 in the U.S. ), located generally in the western side of the lake. The largest of these is Pelee Island . Lake Erie has a lake retention time of 2.6 years, the shortest of all the Great Lakes. The lake's surface area is 9,910 square miles (25,667 km ). Lake Erie's water level fluctuates with

3600-856: The Detroit River Group, outcrops near Detroit and Windsor just north of the Lake Erie shoreline (as shown in the map on the right). The Detroit River Group is not topographically distinct west of Windsor in Michigan, but is noticeable as a steep hill just northwest of Leamington . In several spots it is breached by geologically young streams and spectacular waterfalls are formed, such as at Chittenango Falls just east of Syracuse, Buttermilk Falls at Le Roy, New York and Indian Falls west of Batavia . A few other breaches occur in older valleys, which likely once had waterfalls, but erosion eventually obliterated them. Such breaches occur at

3690-504: The Great Lakes Commission, the compact aims to prevent diversion of water from Great Lakes to distant states, as well as to set standards for use and conservation. It had support from both political parties, including United States Senator George Voinovich of Ohio and Governor Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, but is not popular in the southwestern states because of frequent drought conditions and water scarcity . Like

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3780-554: The Niagara River and Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario. Navigation downstream is provided by the Welland Canal, part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Other major contributors to Lake Erie include Grand River , Huron River , Maumee River , Sandusky River , Cuyahoga River , and Buffalo River . The drainage basin covers 30,140 square miles (78,100 km ). Point Pelee National Park , the southernmost point of

3870-596: The Niagara peninsula of southern Ontario the sedimentary rocks tend to dip downward in a generally a South direction. The Onondaga outcrops in a line that usually forms an escarpment (the steep face of a cuesta ), because of its resistance to erosion. The outcrop can be traced from the Hudson River valley westward along the southern rim of the Mohawk River valley, passing just south of Syracuse , and along

3960-710: The Ontario area around Port Rowan burning towns and villages. Generally, however, with the exceptions of the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812—which involved conflicts between the U.S. and the United Kingdom —relations between the U.S. and Canada have been remarkably friendly with an "unfortified boundary" and an agreement "that has kept all fleets of war off the Great Lakes." In 1837, rebellions broke about between Canadian settlers and

4050-553: The Purple Gang . The Coast Guard attempted to interdict the Canadian liquor with its Rum Patrol , and a casino operated on Middle Island . During the 20th century, commercial fishing was prevalent but so was the boom in manufacturing industry around the lake, and often rivers and streams were used as sewers to flush untreated sewage which ended up in the lake. Sometimes poorly constructed sanitary systems meant that when old pipes broke, raw sewage would spill directly into

4140-500: The Put-in-Bay Ice Yacht Club prints them on a map ... On a normal winter day, the ice is dotted with 2,000 fishing shanties. Strong winds have caused lake currents to shift sediment on the bottom, leading to shifting sandbars that have been the cause of shipwrecks. But winds can have a peaceful purpose as well; there have been proposals to place electricity–producing wind turbines in windy and shallow points in

4230-607: The Talbot Trail in 1809 as a way to stimulate settlement to the area; Talbot recruited settlers from Ireland and Scotland, and there are numerous places named after him in southern Ontario, such as Port Talbot , the Talbot River , and Talbotville . During the War of 1812 , Oliver Hazard Perry captured an entire British fleet in 1813 near Put-in-Bay, Ohio , despite having inferior numbers. American soldiers swept through

4320-713: The U.S. as it spins huge turbines near Niagara Falls at Lewiston, New York , and Queenston, Ontario . Some outflow occurs via the Welland Canal , part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway , which diverts water for ship passages from Port Colborne , Ontario, on Lake Erie, to St. Catharines on Lake Ontario , an elevation difference of 326 ft (99 m). Lake Erie's environmental health has been an ongoing concern for decades, with issues such as overfishing , pollution , algae blooms , and eutrophication generating headlines. Lake Erie (42.2° N, 81.2W) has

4410-564: The algal bloom heading toward Pelee Island. Two two-year, $ 2 million studies are trying to understand the "growing zone", which was described as a 10-foot-thick layer of cold water at the bottom, 55 feet (17 m) in one area, which stretches 100 miles [160 km] across the lake's center. It kills fish and microscopic creatures of the lake's food chain and fouls the water, and may cause further problems in later years for sport and commercial fishing. Algal blooms continued in early 2013, but new farming techniques, climate change, and even

4500-650: The archaeological remains include double earth walls winding around the grass-covered perimeter. Europeans named the tribe the Neutral Indians since these people refused to fight with other tribes. Both the Erie and Neutrals were colonized and assimilated by their hostile eastern neighbors, the Iroquois Confederacy , between 1651 and 1657 during the Beaver Wars . For decades after those wars,

4590-440: The area had "made it over the hump" in terms of enduring repeated snowfalls which required much shoveling. Being the shallowest of the Great Lakes, it is the most likely to freeze and frequently does. In contrast, Lake Michigan has never completely frozen over since the warmer and deeper portion is in the south, although it came close to being totally frozen during three harsh winters over the past century. In past years, lake ice

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4680-469: The asylum I sought," he once told an interviewer. "I was afraid to inquire where (Canada) was, lest it would betray such a degree of ignorance as to excite suspicion at once." Many fugitives also had to overcome fears instilled by their former masters ... Prior to modern radar and weather forecasting , merchant ships were often caught up in intense gales: A violent gale is blowing on Lake Erie ... The schooner Stranger came in this morning and reports seeing

4770-401: The boat, which speedily reached him ... In 1885, lake winds were so strong that water levels dropped substantially, sometimes by as much as two feet, so that at ports such as Toledo, watercraft could not load coal or depart the port. During the history of the lake as a fishery, there has been marked battling by opposing interest groups: The preservation of the fisheries of Lake Erie has become

4860-483: The clouds of mayflies have caused power outages and roads to become slippery with squashed insects. Zebra mussels filtering extra nutrients from the lake allows the mayfly larvae to thrive. Incidents of birds dying from botulism have occurred, in 2000 and in 2002. Birds affected included grebes , common and red-breasted mergansers , loons , diving ducks, ring-billed gulls , and herring gulls . One account suggests that bird populations are in trouble, notably

4950-544: The crest of the Algonquin Arch, the band of outcrop turns more northerly, and strikes north-northwest for about 140 km to the east shore of Lake Huron in the Kincardine area (as shown in the map on the right). These rocks continue northwestwards under Lake Huron, and reappear in the northern part of the southern peninsula of Michigan, north of Alpina (as shown in the map on the right). To the west, its equivalent,

5040-473: The cyanobacteria ... will produce toxins", said Michael McKay, executive director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research at the University of Windsor . "Not enough is being done to stop fertilizer and phosphorus from getting into the lake and causing blooms," he added. Water testing was being conducted in August. The largest Lake Erie blooms to date occurred in 2015, exceeding

5130-462: The eastern end of the lake. Storm-driven seiches can cause damage onshore. During one storm in November 2003, the water level at Buffalo rose by 7 feet (2.1 m) with waves of 10–15 feet (3.0–4.6 metres) for a rise of 22 feet (6.7 m). Meanwhile, at the western end of the lake, Toledo experienced a similar drop in water level. Lake Erie was carved out by glacier ice and in its current form

5220-448: The escarpment, sold the development rights to their farm for $ 848,000. Two real estate assessment were done, one on the value of the property as a working farm, the other on its value as a potential site for urban development. The Ten Eycks were paid the difference in return for agreeing to keep the property as a working farm. They were the first property owners to sell their development rights in Albany County . This article about

5310-500: The fault in Genesee County the escarpment achieves its greatest prominence. The New York State Thruway has a rock cut at Batavia which clearly shows the fault and is a popular point for geology class field trips. The fault , which runs from Attica, New York northward to Lake Ontario, is still active and periodically causes minor earthquakes in the area. The Onondaga Limestone also can be found in other areas where rocks of

5400-511: The gale and high seas. A balloonist named John Steiner of Philadelphia made an ambitious trip across the lake in 1857. His voyage was described in The New York Times : He arose to the height of about three miles, and started off at a slow but steady rate ... The lake could be seen from one end to the other nearly ... At one time Mr. Steiner counted 38 sail vessels, all in sight, and far below him. The hands on board several of

5490-492: The ice to clear before proceeding. Since slavery had been abolished in Canada in 1833 but was still legal in southern U.S. , a Lake Erie crossing was sometimes required for fugitive slaves seeking freedom: When Kentucky fugitive Lewis Clarke arrived in Cleveland, he had no idea how to find Canada. "I went out to the shore of the lake again and again, to try and see the other side, but I could see no hill, mountain, nor city of

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5580-499: The increased population and size of smallmouth bass in Lake Erie. In 2008, concerns arose that the "newest invader swarming in the Great Lakes", the bloody-red shrimp , might harm fish populations and promote algal blooms . Environmentalists and biologists study lake conditions via installations such as the Franz Theodore Stone Laboratory on Gibraltar Island . The lab, which was established in 1895,

5670-562: The introduction of Pacific salmon . Occasionally there have been mass die-offs of certain species of fish, sometimes for reasons unknown, such as many numbers of rainbow smelt in May 2010. The lake has been plagued with a number of invasive species , including zebra and quagga mussels, the goby , and the grass carp . One estimate was that 180 invasive species are in the Great Lakes, some having traveled in ballast water in international ships. Zebra mussels and gobies have been credited with

5760-589: The lake and along the coast. Steel Winds , a former steel mill site in Buffalo, has been developed as an urban wind farm housing 14 turbines capable of generating up to 35 megawatts of electricity. A plan by Samsung to build an offshore wind farm on the north shore of the lake, from Port Maitland to Nanticoke for a distance of 15.5 mi (24.9 km), has been met with opposition from residents. Canadians near Leamington and Kingsville have organized protest groups to thwart attempts to bring wind turbines to

5850-446: The lake in the 1970s. The conservation practices are not monitored and have not been kept up. One recent account suggests that the seasonal algal blooms in Lake Erie were possibly caused by runoff from cities, fertilizers, zebra mussels, and livestock near water. A second report focuses on the zebra mussels as being the cause of dead zones, since they filter so much sediment that this produces an overgrowth of algae. One report suggests

5940-558: The lake is also host to invasive species of the Phragmites reed genus. An ongoing concern is that nutrient overloading from fertilizers and human and animal waste, known as eutrophication , in which additional nitrogen and phosphorus enter the lake, will cause plant life to "run wild and multiply like crazy". Since fewer wetlands remain to filter nutrients, and greater channelization of waterways, nutrients in water can cause algal blooms to sprout, with "low-oxygen dead zones" in

6030-428: The lake's return to health after 40 years of absence. Each is 1.5 in (38 mm) long; the three main species of mayflies are Ephemera simulans , Hexagenia rigida , and H. limbata . The insects mate over a 72-hour period from June through September; they fly in masses up to the shore, mate in the air, then females lay up to 8,000 eggs each over the water; the eggs sink back down and the cycle repeats. Sometimes,

6120-463: The lake's tempering effect. Along the southeastern shore of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York is an important grape -growing region, as are the islands in the lake. Apple orchards are abundant in northeast Ohio to western New York. According to one estimate, 34 to 36 inches (860 to 910 mm) of water evaporate each year from the surface of the lake, which allows for rainfall and other precipitation in surrounding areas. Reports are conflicting about

6210-579: The lake, the location of which varies. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been studying the lake's blue-green algal blooms and trying to find ways to predict when they are spreading or where they might make landfall; typically, the blooms arrive late each summer. This problem was extreme in the mid- and late 1960s, and the Lake Erie Wastewater Management Study conducted by

6300-443: The lake. They also race iceboats , which resemble sailboats on skates ... Many people drive to other islands for dinner with friends. They ride in cars with the roofs and doors chopped off so they can escape if the vehicles fall through the ice. Islanders stab evergreen trees into the ice every 50 yards [46 m] to mark a route ... Even in the coldest winters, there are dangerous patches of thin ice. The cracks are so predictable that

6390-459: The lake; reasons against the turbines include spoiling lake views. Plans to install turbines in Pigeon Bay, south of Leamington were met with opposition as well. The notion that bird and bat migration may be hurt by the wind turbines has been used to argue against the wind turbines as well. The lake is responsible for microclimates that are important to agriculture. Along its north shore

6480-415: The land around eastern Lake Erie was claimed and utilized by the Iroquois as a hunting ground. As the power of the Iroquois waned during the last quarter of the 17th century, several other, mainly Anishinaabe , displaced them from the territories they claimed on the north shore of the lake. There was a legend of an Indigenous woman named Huldah, who, despairing over her lost British lover, hurled herself from

6570-419: The lowland areas, allowing water to settle and form a lake. The glaciers were able to carve away more land on the eastern side of the lowland because the bedrock is made of shale which is softer than the carbonate rocks of dolomite and limestone on the western side. Thus, the eastern and central basins of the modern lake are much deeper than the western basin, which averages only 25 feet (7.6 m) deep and

6660-604: The northern heads of the major Finger Lakes to Buffalo, New York . From Fort Erie, Ontario westward it runs along the north shore of Lake Erie for about 85 km and continues in a west-northwest direction inland for another ~90 km to about Ingersol and Woodstock, Ontario (as shown in the map on the right). To the west and north these rocks are known as the Amherstburg Formation of the Detroit River Group . Northwest of Ingersol and Woodstock, across

6750-418: The other Great Lakes, Erie produces lake-effect snow when the first cold winds of winter pass over the warm waters. When the temperatures of the relatively warm surface water and the colder air separate to at least 18 °F (10 °C) to 23 °F (13 °C) apart, then "lake-effect snow becomes possible:" As cold air flows over the warm water, the lake warms and moistens the air. Since warm, moist air

6840-427: The overall effect of global warming on the Great Lakes region, including Lake Erie. One account suggests that climate change is causing greater evaporation of lake water, leading to warmer temperatures, as well as thinner or nonexistent ice in winter, which is fueling concerns that "Erie appears to be shrinking" and is the most likely candidate among the five Great Lakes to "turn into a festering mud puddle." In 2010,

6930-433: The oxygen-poor zone began about 1993 in the lake's central basin and becomes more pronounced during summer, but is somewhat of a mystery why this happens. Some scientists speculate that the dead zone is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Another report cites Ohio's Maumee River as the main source of polluted runoff of phosphorus from industries, municipalities, tributaries and agriculture, and in 2008, satellite images showed

7020-429: The point that oxygen levels are depleted. Recommendations were made for reducing point-source outflows, and reducing farm contributions of phosphorus by changing fertilizer usage, employing no-till farming, and other conservative practices. Many industrial and municipal sources have since been greatly reduced. The improved farming practices, which were voluntary, were followed for a while, resulting in remarkable recovery of

7110-416: The rebels being driven to retreat. Settlers established commercial fisheries on the north coast of the lake around the 1850s. An important business was fishing. In the pre-Civil War years, railways sprouted everywhere, and around 1852 there were railways circling the lake. Maritime traffic picked up, although the lake was usually closed because of ice from December to early April, and ships had to wait for

7200-519: The rise of the automobile in the 1950s drastically cut demand for their services. The Detroit and Cleveland Navigation company was one of the largest and most renowned of these companies. During the Prohibition years from 1919 to 1933, a "great deal of alcohol crossed Erie" along with "mobster corpses" dumped into the Detroit River which sometimes washed up on the beaches of Pelee Island. Notable rum runners included Thomas Joseph McGinty and

7290-476: The same age outcrop, such as in western Pennsylvania and Michigan but they do not form prominent geographic features. A similar and more prominent outcrop known as the Niagara Escarpment runs parallel and about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the north through upstate New York, and similarly curves northwestward in southern Ontario toward Lake Huron and eventually into Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin's Door Peninsula . Another smaller outcrop known as

7380-532: The seasons as in the other Great Lakes. Generally, the lowest levels are in January and February and the highest in June or July, although there have been exceptions. The average yearly level varies depending on long-term precipitation. Short-term level changes are often caused by seiches that are particularly high when southwesterly winds blow across the length of the lake during storms. These cause water to pile up at

7470-506: The severity index at 10.5 and in 2011 at a 10, according to the NOAA. In early August, the 2019 bloom was expected to measure 7.5 on the severity index, but could range between 6 and 9. At that time, satellite images depicted a bloom stretching up to 1,300 square kilometres (500 sq mi) on Lake Erie, with the epicenter near Toledo, Ohio . The Lake Erie water snake, a subspecies of the northern water snake ( Nerodia sipedon ), lives in

7560-422: The snowiest city is Syracuse, New York , which can receive heavy snowfall from both the lake effect process and large coastal cyclones. A storm around Christmas in 2001 pounded Buffalo with 7 feet (2.1 m) of snow. The effects of the warmer lake water is reduced when the lake freezes over. In January 2011, for example, residents of Cleveland were glad when Lake Erie was "90 percent frozen" since it meant that

7650-489: The springtime. Most of the Capital District's television and FM radio stations installed their transmission towers at the escarpment to take advantage of its high ground. In 2003 a 499-foot (152 m) tower was built on the highest point of the escarpment, for transmitting digital television and FM radio signals. Dutch settlers first homesteaded the plateau above the escarpment in the 17th century. Helleberg

7740-410: The vessels saw him, and rightly apprehending that he was an aeronaut, cheered him heartily ... He neared the Canada shore a little below Long Point ... he was accordingly driven towards Buffalo ... Night was drawing on and it became apparent that he could not, with this current, get away from the water before dark, and after nightfall it would not be safe to come down. Seeing a propeller (powered boat) ...

7830-525: The vicinity of Ohio's Put-in-Bay Harbor and had been placed on the threatened species list. By 2010, the water snake population was over 12,000 snakes. While they have a nonvenomous bite, they are a key predator in the lake's aquatic ecosystem since they feed on mudpuppies , walleye , and smallmouth bass . The snake is helpful in keeping the population of goby fish in check. They mate from late May through early June and can be found in large mating balls with one female bunched within several males. In 1999,

7920-795: Was declining rapidly, particularly from the American side. In 2005, the Great Lakes states of Ohio , Michigan , New York , Pennsylvania , Illinois , Indiana , Wisconsin , and Minnesota and the Canadian Provinces of Ontario and Quebec endorsed the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Compact. It was signed into law by President George W. Bush in September 2008. An international water-rights policy overseen by

8010-509: Was deeper than the current Lake Erie, and its shoreline existed about eight miles (13 km) inland from the modern one. The shorelines of these lakes left behind high ground sand ridges that cut through swamps and were used as trails for Native peoples and later, pioneers. These trails became primitive roads which were eventually paved. U.S. Route 30 west of Delphos, Ohio , and U.S. Route 20 west of Norwalk and east of Cleveland were formed in this manner. The ancient sand dunes are visible in

8100-533: Was so thick that it was possible to drive over it or go sailing on iceboats . Many lake residents take advantage of the ice and travel; some drive to Canada and back: The first ice usually forms in late November, and by January it locks into place. For islanders in the Western Basin, it is the equivalent of summer vacation ... Once the lake freezes, islanders organize impromptu ice rallies. Families gather to drink hot wine and race all-terrain vehicles across

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