How deep is Lake Erie? How was it named? Facts about the Great Lake of Ohio and its cousins

Unless you’re someone with a deep fascination (pun intended) with the world’s bodies of water, it can be challenging to understand how far they can go.

You can fishing in the Great Lakesboating, swimming and practicing water sports, while enjoying the spectacular views they provide. But how deep is each one? You would have to dive hundreds of meters below the surface to get to the bottom of each one. But how many hundreds of feet? And how can we truly understand how deep?

And, as we all remember learning as children, they can be remembered by the acronym HOMES (Huron-Ontario-Michigan-Erie-Superior).

The Great Lakes:

• represent 94,250 square miles of water.

• represent 84% of North America’s surface freshwater.

• They hold 21% of the world’s supply of surface fresh water.

Lake Erie is in northern Ohio and is the 11th largest lake in the world. Here are some facts about the Great Lakes.

lake erie

• Medium depth: 62 feet

• Maximum depth: 210 feet

• Size: 9,910 square miles

• Coast: 871 miles including islands

• Nominated for: A nearby Native American tribe

Lake Erie is the 11th largest lake in the world and the fourth largest Great Lake by surface area, but the smallest by volume. About 95% of its flow comes through the Detroit River from the upper Great Lakes. It is the warmest and most biologically productive of the Great Lakes.

Interestingly, Lake Erie was just named the #1 best lake in 2024 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. “It may be the shallowest of the Great Lakes in North America, but Lake Erie has enormous potential when it comes to tourism and outdoor adventure,” said 10Best. “Buffalo, Cleveland and Toledo are just a few of the historic towns that can be explored along the Erie coast, while recreation opportunities range from fishing, bird watching and wreck diving.”

Lake Erie was also named the third most swimmable lake in another survey for 2024 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.

“With hundreds of miles of shoreline to explore between Canada and the United States, sprawling Lake Erie is filled with sandy beaches for swimming,” said 10Best. “Headlands Beach State Park [in Mentor] is a popular beach destination for Ohio residents, while Pennsylvanians can take a dip in the picturesque Presque Isle State Park (at least during the warmer months).”

Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and the smallest by volume, with 115.2 cubic miles of water.

It’s the shallowest and smallest of the Great Lakes, but more than 10 million U.S. residents live along its shores, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Status of the National Marine Ecosystem.

Lake Superior

• Medium depth: 483 feet

• Maximum depth: 1,332 feet

• Size: 31,700 square miles

• Coast: 2,726 miles including islands

• Nominated for: The French called it le la superior, which means “upper lake”.

With its size, Lake Superior could contain all of the other Great Lakes, plus three more lakes the size of Lake Erie.

It has all the superlatives: of the five Great Lakes, it is the largest, the deepest and the coldest. Its depth is a little less than the height of Chicago’s Willis Tower, about a hundred feet or so. It also contains by far the largest amount of water of the five lakes, with 2,903 cubic miles of water.

Lake Superior was just named third place in USA TODAY’s 2024 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Lake.

“Measuring a whopping 31,700 square miles, Lake Superior has the largest surface area of ​​any freshwater lake on planet Earth,” said 10Best. “This colossal body of water is home to a huge variety of native marine life, including lake sturgeon, yellow perch and walleye, while human settlements around the region range from Thunder Bay, Canada, to the picturesque town of Marquette , in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.”

Lake Superior was also named #5 in USA TODAY’s 2024 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for Swimming Lake.

Dive deeper: 8 Unknown Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes

“With 31,700 square miles of lake to explore, colossal Lake Superior is equipped with more than its fair share of swimming spots scattered along the shores of Canada and the United States,” said 10Best. “While each tends to swing on the cooler side, destinations like Agate Beach, Wisconsin Point and Wild Goose Beach offer welcome relief from the summer heat.”

Lake Michigan

• Medium depth: 279 feet

• Maximum depth: 925 feet

• Size: 22,300 square miles

• Coast: 1,638 miles including islands

• Nominated for: Originally named Grand Lac, Lac des Puants (Lake of the Smelly People after nearby Native American tribes), Lac des Illinois (named after nearby Native American tribe), Lac St.

Lake Michigan is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates its maximum depth at about 925 feet — roughly the height of Cleveland’s Key Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Ohio. Lake Michigan also contains 1,180 cubic miles of water, second of the five Great Lakes.

Lake Michigan is the third largest Great Lake by surface area and the sixth largest freshwater lake in the world. It is the only Great Lake entirely within the United States.

The northern portion of the lake is in the colder and less developed upper Great Lakes region, while its more temperate southern basin contains the metropolitan areas of Milwaukee and Chicago. The drainage basin, roughly twice as large as the 22,300 square miles of surface water, includes parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Lake Michigan was just named #4 in USA TODAY’s 2024 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Lake.

“Situated along the borders of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan, the aptly named Lake Michigan serves as the largest lake on Earth that only resides in one country,” 10Best said. “In addition to beautiful natural sites like Indiana Dunes National Park and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the Lake Michigan shore is lined with stunning cities like Green Bay, Milwaukee and Chicago, offering visitors the opportunity to combine outdoor adventure with urban exploration during your travels.

Lake Michigan was also named #6 in USA TODAY’s 2024 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for Swimming Lake.

“It’s always a little chilly, even in the height of summer, but for those who want to brave the low temperatures, Lake Michigan is perfect for a refreshing swim,” said 10Best. “For visitors to Chicago, North Avenue Beach is a particularly lively spot for swimming, while destinations outside the city range from Indiana Dunes National Park to Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.”

Lake Ontario

• Medium depth: 283 feet

• Maximum depth: 802 feet

• Size: 7,340 square miles

• Coast: 712 miles including islands

• Nominated for: It comes from French explorer Champlain, who called it Lac St. It later became known as Lac Frontenac. “Ontara” in Iroquois means “lake”. “Ontario” means “beautiful lake”.

The easternmost Great Lake, Lake Ontario, is the second smallest of the five by volume (about 390 cubic miles of water), but like the downstream lake, it is most affected by human activities occurring in Lakes Superior, Huron, Erie and Michigan, according to the EPA. The maximum depth of Lake Ontario is north of 800 feet.

Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the world, but the smallest of the Great Lakes by surface area. It lies 325 feet below adjacent Lake Erie at the base of Niagara Falls.

Lake Huron

• Medium depth: 195 feet

• Maximum depth: 750 feet

• Size: 23,000 square miles

• Coast: 3,827 miles including islands

• Nominated for: A nearby Native American tribe. A 1656 map called it Karegnondi.

Lake Huron is the second largest Great Lake by area and third largest by volume and has the longest shoreline on the list. As for its depth, Lake Huron is 750 feet deep – say, about 750 Subway sandwiches below sea level. It has 850 cubic miles of water.

Lake Huron is the fifth largest freshwater lake in the world. Canada’s Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron is the largest freshwater island in the world. Georgian Bay in Lake Huron, also on the Canadian side of the border, is large enough to be listed among the 20 largest lakes in the world.

Hydrologists, however, consider Lakes Michigan and Huron to be inseparable, as they are joined by the Straits of Mackinac.

This article originally appeared in the Detroit Free Press: Lake Erie and the Great Lakes: Sizes, Depths, Name Origins, More