HURON'S Lake Levels at Mackinac Island Earthcache EarthCache
HURON'S Lake Levels at Mackinac Island Earthcache
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As an Earthcache there is no 'container' to find, instead you discover interesting things about the geology of the area. To receive a 'find' for this cache you will need to e-mail me the answers to the following questions. PLEASE SUBMIT THE ANSWERS SOON AFTER YOU LOG YOUR FIND OTHERWISE I MAY NEED TO DELETE.
REQUIREMENTS:
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2- What are some obvious visual high water marks?
3- How many feet has the lake receeded from the visual high water mark?
4- Lake Huron empties into what lake and through what river on its way to Lake Erie?
5- What are the lake level differences between Lake Huron and Lake Superior?
6- Submit a picture of your self and/or GPSr with the Mackinaw Bridge in the background.
FTF: cave-rat
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This Earthcache is located on Mackinac Island, the most famous of the many islands in Lake Huron. This cache is on the southwestern beach with an intentional grand view of the lake. You will also be able to notice physical evidences of the lakes water flucuations.
Lake Huron is the second largest of the five glacially formed Great Lakes making it the third largest fresh water lake on earth, It is bounded on the east by the Canadian providence of Ontario and on the west by Michigan, USA. It has a coastline of 3,825 miles which includes the coastlines of of more than 30,000 islands.
HYDROLOGY:
Lake Huron receives its largest flows from both Lake Superior via St. Mary's River and Lake Michigan through the Straits of Mackinaw. It has a surface area of 23,010 sq. miles. The water from Lake Superior drops an elevation of 24 feet as it flows into St. Mary's River. There are also 1,760 tributaries, of which 427 are from Michigan. Lake Huron empties its flow into Lake St. Claire then into the Detroit River which empties into Lake Erie.
WATER LEVELS:
The surface of Lake Huron is 577.5 feet (datum) above sea level The lakes average depth is 195 feet and its deepest point is 750 feet. It has a length of 206 miles and the greatest breath of 183 miles. The lake has a retention time of 22 years.
Historic High Water - The lake fluctuates from month to month with the highest lake levels in October and November. The normal high water mark is 2.0 feet above datum (577.5 feet). In the summer of 1986 Lake Huron reached its highest level at 5.92 feet above datum.
Historic Low Water - Lake levels tend to be lowest in winter. The normal low water mark is 1.0 feet below datum. In the winter of 1964 Lake Huron reached its lowest level at 1.38 feet below datum.
There is a water level fluctuation called seiche. It is caused by the wind blowing, which piles water up at one end of the lake, lowering it at the other.
Lake levels can affect the extent of shoreline erosion and shoreline property damage, dredging and shipping (depth of navigation channels), coonstruction of water dependant facilities, drinking water intakes, wetland acreage and coastal flooding.
Great USA weather temp/map: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/zoa/mwmap3.php.?map=usa
Not all those who wander are lost
Additional Hints
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