Lake Michigan-Huron

'''Lake Michigan-Huron''' is geologically the largest of the North American [[Great Lakes]]. Traditionally considered to be two separate lakes, [[Lake Michigan]] and [[Lake Huron]], it is hydrologically a single body of water connected at the [[Straits of Mackinac]]. The straits are {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} wide and {{convert|120|ft|m}} deep, small in comparison to the body of water as a whole. The two sections have thus long been considered distinct lakes. However, they lie at the same surface elevation, {{convert|577|ft|m|0}}, rise and fall together, and the flow of water between them at times reverses from eastward to westward. 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." When providing level information, The [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] says "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." At {{convert|45410|sqmi|km2}}, Lake Michigan-Huron is the largest of the Great Lakes in terms of surface area, being 48% of the total, and is the [[List of lakes by area|largest lake in the world]] after the [[Caspian Sea]]. (The Caspian is generally regarded as a [[saline lake]], but is also regarded as a sea; geologically it is oceanic.). [[Lake Superior]] holds more water, {{convert|3000|cumi|km3|-2|}} compared to Michigan-Huron's {{convert|2000|cumi|km3}}, which makes Michigan-Huron the fourth [[List of lakes by volume|largest lake by volume]] in the world after lakes [[Lake Baikal|Baikal]], [[Lake Tanganyika|Tanganyika]], and Superior. During the last [[ice age]], what is now Huron-Michigan was indeed 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. ==External links== *[http://www.fof-clarington.com/lakehist.html Lake Iroquois] {{Greatlakes}} {{coord missing|Ontario}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Michigan-Huron}}