Great Lakes Trivia

GREAT LAKES TRIVIA

1) How many Great Lakes are there?

The five Great Lakes--Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario--span a total surface area of 94,600 square miles and are all connected by a variety of lakes and rivers, making them the largest freshwater system in the world.

2) How were the Great Lakes formed?

BY ASTEROIDS BY EARTHQUAKES BY VOLCANOES BY GLACIERS

The Great Lakes began to form at the end of the last glacial period around 14,000 years ago, as retreating ice sheets exposed the basins they had carved into the land, which then filled with meltwater.

3) What percent of the world's freshwater is stored in the Great Lakes?

20%10%40%5%

The Great Lakes hold over 5,400 cubic miles of water, accounting for more than 20% of Earth's 24,000 cubic miles of surface freshwater.

4) How many islands are there in the Great Lakes?

35 35,000 3,500 350

There are about 35,000 islands scattered throughout Great Lakes. The largest of these is Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, which at 1,068 square miles (2,766 km²) is the largest lake island in the world and has a population of around 12,600.

5) Which lake contains an underwater Stonehenge?

ERIE HURON ONTARIO MICHIGAN

In 2007, while searching for the remains of sunken ships, scientists discovered a stone structure at a depth of 12 meters in Lake Michigan. The peculiar set of aligned stones are believed to be 9,000 years old, which is older than Stonehenge!

6) Niagara Falls is located between which two lakes?

ERIE & ONTARIO SUPERIOR & HURON HURON & ERIE MICHIGAN & HURON

Located on the Niagara River, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, Niagara Falls has the highest flow rate of any waterfall in North America, with 700,000 gallons of water traveling down the falls every second.

7) Which lake has massive sinkholes?

ONTARIO HURON MICHIGAN SUPERIOR

There are massive sinkholes in Lake Huron that have high amounts of sulfur and low amounts of oxygen, almost replicating the conditions of Earth's ancient oceans 3 million years ago.

8) Which of the Great Lakes is the largest?

MICHIGAN SUPERIOR ERIE ONTARIO

By surface area, Lake Superior is the second-largest lake in the world and the largest freshwater one. It holds about 3,000 cubic miles of water--enough to fill all the other Great Lakes plus Lake Erie three times over.

9) How long does it take for all the water in Lake Superior to replace itself?

3 YEARS 22 YEARS 191 YEARS 6 YEARS

The length of time that it takes for water in a lake to be completely replaced is called retention time. Each of the Great Lakes has a different retention time. Lake Superior's retention time is much longer than the others: 191 years compared to just 3 years for Lake Erie.

10) What is the largest fish found in the Great Lakes?

LAKE STURGEON FLATHEAD CATFISH GREAT LAKES MUSKELLUNGE LAKE TROUT

Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) are an awesome sight. The largest fish in the Great Lakes, they can grow up to nine feet long and weigh more than 300 pounds.