Lakes of North America


North America is the mainland of large lakes. The pioneers of America, mastering new lands, liked to add the epithet “big” to the name of the geographical object. And we were not mistaken, because of the world’s eight largest lakes in the world, 8 are located here. Most of the lakes are mainly tectonic or glacial in origin in the northern part of the continent.

The Great Lakes of North America occupy a special place in the reserves of fresh water, distribution, economic and transport significance. There are five of them: Upper, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario. They formed in the tectonic depressions of the earth’s crust, deepened by a glacier, connected by short straits and flowing across the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean. This is the largest accumulation of fresh water in the liquid state in the world. About 20% of the planet’s fresh water is concentrated in these lakes.

Lake Ontario and Erie connects a small Niagara River, on

which is located one of the world’s most famous and most full-flowing waterfalls – Niagara. Its water falls from a height of 51 m. The waterfall is on the border of Canada and the United States of America. The border passes through the island in the middle of the river, therefore one part of the waterfall belongs to Canada, the other – to the USA. To organize the shipping link of the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean, a bypass canal was built around the Niagara Falls to the river. Hudson, and further – to the Atlantic Ocean. The general waterway of the Great Lakes system, covering canals, reservoirs, floodgates, is almost 3 thousand km. Large reserves of hydropower are used at numerous power plants.

On the Laurentian Upland, which was influenced by the ancient glaciation, lakes of glacial origin were built. The Great Slave Lake, the Big Bear Lake. Winnipeg, etc. They are distinguished by crystal clear water and are a place of rest for the inhabitants of Canada.

In the Cordilleras you can see small volcanic and relict lakes in the area. The area of ​​the Great Basin and the Mexican

Highlands of the lake are drainless, salty. The largest of them is the Great Salt Lake, located at an altitude of 1,282 m above sea level. Its basin is of relict origin, that is, it is a remnant from the ancient ocean. The depth of the lake is small -15 m. And the salinity is so considerable that you can lie on the water and not sink. There are no living organisms in the lake. The governments of the USA and Canada pay much attention to the preservation of the cleanliness of the water bodies of their countries.


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Lakes of North America