Lake Superior

According to other sources, the full Ojibwe name is {{lang|oj|ᐅᒋᑉᐧᐁ ᑭᒋᑲᒥ}} {{lang|oj-Latn|Ojibwe Gichigami}} ("Ojibwe's Great Sea") or {{lang|oj|ᐊᓂᐦᔑᓈᐯ ᑭᒋᑲᒥ}} {{lang|oj-Latn|Anishinaabe Gichigami}} ("[[Anishinaabe]]'s Great Sea").{{cite book |last1 = Chisholm |first1 = Barbara |title = Under the Shadow of the Gods: A Guide to the History of the Canadian Shore of Lake Superior |last2 = Gutsche |first2 = Andrea |publisher = Transcontinental Printing |year = 1998 |edition = 1st |name-list-style = amp }} The 1853 dictionary by [[Frederic Baraga|Father Frederic Baraga]], the first one written for the Ojibway language, gives the Ojibwe name as {{lang|oj-Latn|Otchipwe-kitchi-gami}} (a transliteration of {{lang|oj-Latn|Ojibwe Gichigami}}).

According to other sources, the full Ojibwe name is {{lang|oj|ᐅᒋᑉᐧᐁ ᑭᒋᑲᒥ}} {{lang|oj-Latn|Ojibwe Gichigami}} ("Ojibwe's Great Sea") or {{lang|oj|ᐊᓂᐦᔑᓈᐯ ᑭᒋᑲᒥ}} {{lang|oj-Latn|Anishinaabe Gichigami}} ("[[Anishinaabe]]'s Great Sea").{{cite book |last1 = Chisholm |first1 = Barbara |title = Under the Shadow of the Gods: A Guide to the History of the Canadian Shore of Lake Superior |last2 = Gutsche |first2 = Andrea |publisher = Transcontinental Printing |year = 1998 |edition = 1st |name-list-style = amp }} The 1853 dictionary by [[Frederic Baraga|Father Frederic Baraga]], the first one written for the Ojibway language, gives the Ojibwe name as {{lang|oj-Latn|Otchipwe-kitchi-gami}} (a transliteration of {{lang|oj-Latn|Ojibwe Gichigami}}).

In the 17th century, the first French explorers approached the great inland sea by way of the [[Ottawa River]] and Lake Huron; they referred to their discovery as {{lang|fr|le lac supérieur}} (the upper lake, i.e., above Lake Huron in elevation). Some 17th-century [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] missionaries referred to it as {{lang|fr|Lac Tracy}} (for [[Alexandre de Prouville de Tracy]]).{{cite web |year = 1995 |title = Great Lakes Atlas |url = http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/atlas/ |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://archive.today/20120802152920/http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/atlas/ |archive-date = August 2, 2012 |publisher = Environment Canada and United States Environmental Protection Agency }} After taking control of the region from the French in the 1760s, following their defeat in the [[French and Indian War]], the British [[Anglicisation|anglicized]] the lake's name to ''Superior'', "on account of its being superior in magnitude to any of the lakes on that vast continent".{{cite journal |last = Stewart |first = George R. |author-link = George R. Stewart |year = 1945 |title = Names on the Land, A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States |journal = Geographical Review |volume = 35 |issue = 4 |page = 83 |bibcode = 1945GeoRv..35..659P |doi = 10.2307/210804 |jstor = 210804 }}

In the 17th century, the first French explorers approached the great inland sea by way of the [[Ottawa River]] and Lake Huron; they referred to their discovery as {{lang|fr|le lac supérieur}} (the upper lake, i.e., above Lake Huron in elevation). Some 17th-century [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] missionaries referred to it as {{lang|fr|Lac Tracy}} (for [[Alexandre de Prouville de Tracy]]).{{cite web |year = 1995 |title = Great Lakes Atlas |url = http://www.epa.gov/greatlakes/atlas/ |url-status = dead |publisher = Environment Canada and United States Environmental Protection Agency }}{{New archival link needed|date=April 2026}} After taking control of the region from the French in the 1760s, following their defeat in the [[French and Indian War]], the British [[Anglicisation|anglicized]] the lake's name to ''Superior'', "on account of its being superior in magnitude to any of the lakes on that vast continent".{{cite journal |last = Stewart |first = George R. |author-link = George R. Stewart |year = 1945 |title = Names on the Land, A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States |journal = Geographical Review |volume = 35 |issue = 4 |page = 83 |bibcode = 1945GeoRv..35..659P |doi = 10.2307/210804 |jstor = 210804 }}

==Hydrography==

==Hydrography==

[[File:Lake Superior bathymetry map, deepest point.png|thumb|left|Lake Superior's deepest point on the bathymetric map]]

[[File:Lake Superior bathymetry map, deepest point.png|thumb|left|Lake Superior's deepest point on the bathymetric map]]

Lake Superior has a surface area of {{convert|31700|sqmi|km2}},{{cite web |url = http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/physfacts.html |title = Great Lakes: Basic Information: Physical Facts |access-date = November 9, 2011 |date = May 25, 2011 |publisher = United States Environmental Protection Agency |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101029215637/http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/physfacts.html |archive-date = October 29, 2010 }} which is approximately the size of [[South Carolina]] or [[Austria]]. It has a maximum length of {{convert|350|smi|km nmi|lk=on|0}} and maximum breadth of {{convert|160|smi|km nmi|0}}.{{cite web |url = http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/atlas/gl-fact1.html |archive-url = https://archive.today/20120801102528/http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/atlas/gl-fact1.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = August 1, 2012 |title = Great Lakes Atlas: Factsheet #1 |access-date = November 10, 2011 |date = April 11, 2011 |publisher = United States Environmental Protection Agency }} Its average depth is {{convert|80.5|fathom|ft m|lk=in}} with a maximum depth of {{convert|222.17|fathom|ft m}}.{{cite book |editor-first = John W. |editor-last = Wright |year = 2006 |title = The New York Times Almanac |url = https://archive.org/details/newyorktimesalma00john_2 |url-access = registration |edition = 2007 |publisher = Penguin Books |location = New York |isbn = 0-14-303820-6 |page = [https://archive.org/details/newyorktimesalma00john_2/page/64 64] }} Lake Superior contains 2,900 cubic miles (12,100 km³) of water. There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover the entire [[Landmass|land mass]] of North and South America to a depth of {{convert|30|cm|in|0}}.[[North America]] (2.47{{e|7}} km²) and [[South America]] (1.78{{e|7}} km²) combined cover 4.26{{e|7}} km². Lake Superior's volume (1.20{{e|4}} km³) over 4.26{{e|7}} km² gives a depth of 0.282 m. The shoreline of the lake stretches {{convert|2726|mi|km}} (including islands). The lake boasts a very small ratio (1.55) of catchment area to surface area, which indicates minimal terrestrial influence.{{Cite journal |last = Urban |first = N. R. |date = 2005 |title = Carbon cycling in Lake Superior |journal = Journal of Geophysical Research |language = en |volume = 110 |issue = C6 |pages = C06S90 |article-number = 2003JC002230 |doi = 10.1029/2003JC002230 |bibcode = 2005JGRC..110.6S90U |issn = 0148-0227 |doi-access = free }}

Lake Superior has a surface area of {{convert|31700|sqmi|km2}},{{cite web |url = http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/physfacts.html |title = Great Lakes: Basic Information: Physical Facts |access-date = November 9, 2011 |date = May 25, 2011 |publisher = United States Environmental Protection Agency |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101029215637/http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/physfacts.html |archive-date = October 29, 2010 }} which is approximately the size of [[South Carolina]] or [[Austria]]. It has a maximum length of {{convert|350|smi|km nmi|lk=on|0}} and maximum breadth of {{convert|160|smi|km nmi|0}}.{{cite web |url = http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/atlas/gl-fact1.html |url-status = dead |title = Great Lakes Atlas: Factsheet #1 |access-date = November 10, 2011 |date = April 11, 2011 |publisher = United States Environmental Protection Agency }}{{New archival link needed|date=April 2026}} Its average depth is {{convert|80.5|fathom|ft m|lk=in}} with a maximum depth of {{convert|222.17|fathom|ft m}}.{{cite book |editor-first = John W. |editor-last = Wright |year = 2006 |title = The New York Times Almanac |url = https://archive.org/details/newyorktimesalma00john_2 |url-access = registration |edition = 2007 |publisher = Penguin Books |location = New York |isbn = 0-14-303820-6 |page = [https://archive.org/details/newyorktimesalma00john_2/page/64 64] }} Lake Superior contains 2,900 cubic miles (12,100 km³) of water. There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover the entire [[Landmass|land mass]] of North and South America to a depth of {{convert|30|cm|in|0}}.[[North America]] (2.47{{e|7}} km²) and [[South America]] (1.78{{e|7}} km²) combined cover 4.26{{e|7}} km². Lake Superior's volume (1.20{{e|4}} km³) over 4.26{{e|7}} km² gives a depth of 0.282 m. The shoreline of the lake stretches {{convert|2726|mi|km}} (including islands). The lake boasts a very small ratio (1.55) of catchment area to surface area, which indicates minimal terrestrial influence.{{Cite journal |last = Urban |first = N. R. |date = 2005 |title = Carbon cycling in Lake Superior |journal = Journal of Geophysical Research |language = en |volume = 110 |issue = C6 |pages = C06S90 |article-number = 2003JC002230 |doi = 10.1029/2003JC002230 |bibcode = 2005JGRC..110.6S90U |issn = 0148-0227 |doi-access = free }}

American [[Limnology|limnologist]] [[J. Val Klump]] was the first person to reach the lowest depth of Lake Superior on July 30, 1985, as part of a scientific expedition, which at 122 fathoms 1 foot ({{convert|733|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}) below sea level is the second-lowest spot in the continental interior of the United States and the third-lowest spot in the interior of the North American continent after [[Great Slave Lake]] in the Northwest Territories of Canada ({{convert|1503|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}} below sea level) and [[Iliamna Lake]] in Alaska {{convert|942|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}. (Though [[Crater Lake]] is the deepest lake in the United States and deeper than Lake Superior, Crater Lake's elevation is higher and consequently its deepest point is {{convert|4229|ft|m}} ''above'' sea level.)

American [[Limnology|limnologist]] [[J. Val Klump]] was the first person to reach the lowest depth of Lake Superior on July 30, 1985, as part of a scientific expedition, which at 122 fathoms 1 foot ({{convert|733|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}) below sea level is the second-lowest spot in the continental interior of the United States and the third-lowest spot in the interior of the North American continent after [[Great Slave Lake]] in the Northwest Territories of Canada ({{convert|1503|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}} below sea level) and [[Iliamna Lake]] in Alaska {{convert|942|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}. (Though [[Crater Lake]] is the deepest lake in the United States and deeper than Lake Superior, Crater Lake's elevation is higher and consequently its deepest point is {{convert|4229|ft|m}} ''above'' sea level.)