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It has been suggested that this article be merged into Great Lakes. (Discuss) Proposed since September 2012.

Some sources have recognised the single body of Lake Michigan-Huron as the largest lake in the world,

Lake Michigan–Huron, sometimes Lake Huron–Michigan, is a body of water that consists of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, which join at the Straits of Mackinac. Physically it is a single body of water and it is studied as such, and some sources describe it as the largest lake in the world, but due to the relative narrowness of the connecting straits, and historical naming conventions, most authors describe lakes Michigan and Huron separately. The straits are 5 miles (8 km) wide and 120 feet (37 m) deep. Though this is small in comparison to the body of water as a whole, it is nonetheless sufficient for them to exist in equilibrium. They therefore lie on average at the same elevation, 577 feet (176 m), though at times their surfaces react differently to wind stress; the flow of water between them is generally eastward but at times reverses. The main inflow to the system is from Lake Superior through St. Mary's River, and the main outflow is through the St. Clair River.

David Lees in Canadian Geographic writes, "Contrary to popular belief, the largest lake in the world is not Lake Superior but mighty Lake Michigan–Huron, which is a single hydrological unit linked at the Straits of Mackinac." and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states, "Lakes Michigan and Huron are considered to be one lake hydraulically because of their connection through the deep Straits of Mackinac." According to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, "Lakes Michigan and Huron are considered to be one lake, as they rise and fall together due to their union at the Straits of Mackinac." The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality says, "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."

During the last ice age, what is now Michigan–Huron was clearly separated into two lakes, with what is now Lake Huron (known to geologists as Lake Stanley) separate from what is now Lake Michigan (Lake Chippewa). Before that Lake Chicago occupied the southern tip of the Lake Michigan basin, at the southern extent of the glaciers.

See also

• List of lakes by area
• List of lakes by volume

References

Notes

1. "Michigan and Huron: One Lake or Two?" Pearson Education, Inc: Information Please Database, 2007.
2. Grady, Wayne (2007). The Great Lakes. Vancouver: Greystone Books and David Suzuki Foundation. pp. 42–43. ISBN 978-1-55365-197-0.
3. Wright, John W. (ed.) (2006). The New York Times Almanac (2007 ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books. p. 64. ISBN 0-14-303820-6. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
4. ^ Mortimer 2000, p. 59 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFMortimer2000 (help)
5. Lees, David. "High and Dry" Canadian Geographic (May/June 2004) pp.94-108.
6. Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. "Great Lakes Sensitivity to Climatic Forcing: Hydrological Models." NOAA, 2006.
7. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "Hydrological Components" Record Low Water Levels Expected on Lake Superior. August 2007. p.6
8. Department of Environmental Quality, State of Michigan. (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/6AaQJIiTQ)

Further reading

• Burg, J. P. (1959). "Precipitation and the levels of Lake Michigan-Huron". Journal Geophysical Research. 64: 1591–1595.
• De Geer, Sten (1928). The American manufacturing belt. Volume 4 of Geografiska annaler. Svenska Sällskapet för Antropologi och Geografi.
• Mortimer, Clifford H. (2004). Lake Michigan in motion : responses of an inland sea to weather, earth-spin, and human activities. Madison, Wis.: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 59–78, 190–192, 300–309. ISBN 9780299178345. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Schaetzl, Randall J. (2000). "Postglacial Landscape Evolution of Northeastern Lower Michigan, Interpreted from Soils and Sediments". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 90 (3): 443–466. doi:10.1111/0004-5608.00204. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Schaetzl, Randall J. (2002). "Measurement, Correlation, and Mapping of Glacial Lake Algonquin Shorelines in Northern Michigan". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 92 (3): 399–415. doi:10.1111/1467-8306.00296. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Sellinger, Cynthia E. (2008). "Recent water level declines in the Lake Michigan–Huron system". Environ. Sci. Technol (42): 367–373. doi:10.1021/es070664+. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Shelton, William A. (1912). "The Lakes-to-the-Gulf Deep Waterway: I". Journal of Political Economy. 20 (6): 541–573.

External links

• Lake Iroquois
• Drifting Buoys Track Water Currents in the Great Lakes Straits of Mackinac
• Great Lakes water level observations

v t e Great Lakes of North America
Main lakes	Erie Huron Michigan Ontario Superior
Secondary lakes	Nipigon Nipissing Simcoe St. Clair Winnebago Couchiching
Bays and channels	Erie Maumee Bay Presque Isle Bay Sandusky Bay Huron Georgian Bay Nottawasaga Bay Lake George Munuscong Lake North Channel Potagannissing Bay Saginaw Bay St. Joseph Channel Thunder Bay Michigan Grand Traverse Bay Green Bay Big Bay de Noc Little Bay de Noc Porte des Morts Sturgeon Bay Manitou Passage Ontario Hamilton Harbour Humber Bay Sodus Bay Toronto Bay Wellers Bay Superior Au Train Bay Chequamegon Bay Huron Bay Keweenaw Bay Pokegama Bay Superior Bay Thunder Bay Whitefish Bay Batchawana Bay Goulais Bay St. Clair Anchor Bay
Waterways	Detroit River Erie Canal French River Great Lakes Waterway Chicago River Niagara River Falls Nipigon River St. Clair River St. Lawrence River St. Lawrence Seaway St. Marys River Sault Ste. Marie Canal Soo Locks Straits of Mackinac Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Trent–Severn Waterway Welland Canal First canal
Islands	Apostle Islands Detroit River Islands Isle Royale National Park Islands Isle Royale Lake Erie Islands Manitoulin Island Lake Kagawong Lake Manitou Lake Mindemoya Treasure Island Province of Ontario Islands State of Michigan Islands Lake Huron Islands Populated Potawatomi Islands
Historic geology	Lake Admiralty Lake Agassiz Lake Algonquin Lake Arkona Champlain Sea Lake Chicago Lake Chippewa Lake Coleman Lake Duluth Early Lake Erie Lake Frontenac Glacial Lake Iroquois Lake Maumee Nipissing Great Lakes Lake Saginaw Lake Stanley Lake Tonawanda Lake Warren Lake Wayne Lake Whittlesey Last Glacial Maximum Midcontinent Rift System Niagara Escarpment Scotch Bonnet Ridge Wisconsin glaciation
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