Great Lakes

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Satellite image of the Great Lakes, April 24, 2000, with lake names added

Terra MODIS image of the Great Lakes, January 27, 2005, showing ice beginning to build up around the shores of each of the lakes, with snow on the ground.

Photograph of Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron plus the Finger Lakes of upstate New York, June 14, 2012, taken aboard the International Space Station, with lake names added

The Great Lakes (sometimes, Laurentian Great Lakes^[1]) or the Great Lakes of North America are a series of interconnected freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada–United States border, which connect to the Atlantic Ocean through the Saint Lawrence River. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron (or Michigan–Huron), Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth, containing 21% of the world's surface fresh water and 54% of the world's liquid fresh water by volume.^[2][3][4] The total surface is 94,250 square miles (244,106 km²), and the total volume (measured at the low water datum) is 5,439 cubic miles (22,671 km³).^[5] Due to their sea-like characteristics: rolling waves, sustained winds, strong currents, great depths, and distant horizons, the five Great Lakes have also long been referred to as inland seas.^[6] Lake Superior is the largest continental lake in the world by area, and Lake Michigan is the largest lake that is entirely within one country.

The Great Lakes began to form at the end of the last glacial period around 10,000 years ago, as retreating ice sheets carved basins into the land and they became filled with meltwater.^[7] The lakes have been a major highway for transportation, migration and trade, and they are home to a large number of aquatic species. Many invasive species have been introduced due to trade, and some threaten the region's biodiversity.

Geography

A map of the Great Lakes Basin showing the five sub-basins within. Left to right they are: Superior (salmon); Michigan (orchid); Huron (amaranth pink); Erie (light orange); Ontario (pale orange).

Though the five lakes reside in separate basins, they form a single, naturally interconnected body of fresh water, within the Great Lakes Basin. The lakes form a chain connecting the east-central interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. From the interior to the outlet at the Saint Lawrence River, water flows from Superior to Huron and Michigan, southward to Erie, and finally northward to Lake Ontario. The lakes drain a large watershed via many rivers, and are studded with approximately 35,000 islands.^[8] There are also several thousand smaller lakes, often called "inland lakes," within the basin.^[9] The surface area of the five primary lakes combined is roughly equal to the size of the United Kingdom, while the surface area of the entire basin (the lakes and the land they drain) is about the size of the UK and France combined.^[10] Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes that is located entirely within the United States; the others form a water boundary between the United States and Canada. The lakes are divided among the jurisdictions of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Both Ontario and Michigan include in their boundaries portions of four of the lakes, New York and Wisconsin two, and the rest one.

Bathymetry

	Lake Erie	Lake Huron	Lake Michigan	Lake Ontario	Lake Superior
Surface area[5]	9,910 sq mi (25,700 km2)	23,000 sq mi (60,000 km2)	22,300 sq mi (58,000 km2)	7,340 sq mi (19,000 km2)	31,700 sq mi (82,000 km2)
Water volume[5]	116 cu mi (480 km3)	850 cu mi (3,500 km3)	1,180 cu mi (4,900 km3)	393 cu mi (1,640 km3)	2,900 cu mi (12,000 km3)
Elevation[11]	571 ft (174 m)	577 ft (176 m)	577 ft (176 m)	246 ft (75 m)	600.0 ft (182.9 m)
Average depth[10]	62 ft (19 m)	195 ft (59 m)	279 ft (85 m)	283 ft (86 m)	483 ft (147 m)
Maximum depth[12]	210 ft (64 m)	748 ft (228 m)	925 ft (282 m)	804 ft (245 m)	1,335 ft (407 m)
Major settlements[13]	Buffalo, NY Erie, PA Cleveland, OH Lorain, OH Toledo, OH	Alpena, MI Bay City, MI Owen Sound, ON Port Huron, MI Sarnia, ON	Chicago, IL Gary, IN Green Bay, WI Sheboygan, WI Milwaukee, WI Kenosha, WI Racine, WI Muskegon, MI Traverse City, MI	Hamilton, ON Kingston, ON Mississauga, ON Oshawa, ON Rochester, NY Toronto, ON	Duluth, MN Marquette, MI Sault Ste. Marie, MI Sault Ste. Marie, ON Superior, WI Thunder Bay, ON

Relative elevations, average depths, maximum depths, and volumes of the Great Lakes.

Notes:	The area of each rectangle is proportionate to the volume of each lake. All measurements at Low Water Datum.
Source:	EPA[11]

System profile of the Great Lakes.

As the surfaces of Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, and Erie are all approximately the same elevation above sea level, while Lake Ontario is significantly lower, and because the Niagara Escarpment precludes all natural navigation, the four upper lakes are commonly called the "upper great lakes". This designation, however, is not universal. Those living on the shore of Lake Superior often refer to all the other lakes as "the lower lakes", because they are all lower. Sailors of bulk freighters transferring cargoes from Lake Superior and northern Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to ports on Lake Erie or Ontario commonly refer to the latter as the lower lakes and Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Superior as the upper lakes. This corresponds to thinking of Lakes Erie and Ontario as "down south" and the others as "up north". Vessels sailing north on Lake Michigan are considered "upbound" even though they are sailing toward its effluent current.^[14]

Primary connecting waterways

Toronto on Lake Ontario is in the eastern section of the Great Lakes Megalopolis

Chicago on Lake Michigan is in the western part of the lakes megalopolis, and the site of the waterway linking the lakes to the Mississippi River valley

Detroit on the Detroit River links the region's central metropolitan areas.

• The Chicago River and Calumet River systems connect the Great Lakes Basin to the Mississippi River System through man-made alterations and canals.
• The St. Marys River, including the Soo Locks, connects Lake Superior to Lake Huron.
• The Straits of Mackinac connect Lake Michigan to Lake Huron (which are hydrologically one).
• The St. Clair River connects Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair.
• The Detroit River connects Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie.
• The Niagara River, including Niagara Falls, connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.
• The Welland Canal, bypassing the Falls, connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario.
• The Saint Lawrence River connects Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which connects to the Atlantic Ocean.

Lake Michigan–Huron

Lakes Huron and Michigan are sometimes considered a single lake, called Lake Michigan–Huron, because they are one hydrological body of water connected by the Straits of Mackinac.^[15] The straits are 5 miles (8 km) wide^[10] and 120 feet (37 m) deep; the water levels – currently at 577 feet (176 m) – rise and fall together,^[16] and the flow between Michigan and Huron frequently reverses direction.

Other significant bodies of water

• Lake Nipigon, connected to Lake Superior by the Nipigon River, is surrounded by sill-like formations of mafic and ultramafic igneous rock hundreds of meters high. The lake lies in the Nipigon Embayment, a failed arm of the triple junction (centered beneath Lake Superior) in the Midcontinent Rift System event, estimated at 1,109 million years ago.
• Green Bay is an arm of Lake Michigan, located along the south coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the east coast of Wisconsin. It is separated from the rest of the lake by the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin, the Garden Peninsula in Michigan, and the chain of islands between them, all of which were formed by the Niagara Escarpment.
• Lake Winnebago, connected to Green Bay by the Fox River, serves as part of the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway and is part of a larger system of lakes in Wisconsin known as the Winnebago Pool.
• Georgian Bay is an arm of Lake Huron, extending northeast from the lake entirely within Ontario. The bay, along with its narrow westerly extensions of the North Channel and Mississagi Strait, is separated from the rest of the lake by the Bruce Peninsula, Manitoulin Island, and Cockburn Island, all of which were also formed by the Niagara Escarpment.
• Lake Nipissing, connected to Georgian Bay by the French River, contains two volcanic pipes, which are the Manitou Islands and Callander Bay.^[17] These pipes were formed by a violent, supersonic eruption of deep-origin. The lake lies in the Ottawa-Bonnechere Graben, a Mesozoic rift valley that formed 175 million years ago.
• Lake Simcoe, connected to Georgian Bay by the Severn River, serves as part of the Trent–Severn Waterway, a canal route traversing Southern Ontario between Lakes Ontario and Huron.
• Lake Saint Clair, connected with Lake Huron (to its north) by the St. Clair River and with Lake Erie (to its south) by the Detroit River, is notable for the fact that Canadian territory along its southern shore (the city of Windsor and Essex County) lies south of the adjacent United States territory (the city of Detroit). Although it is 17 times smaller in area than Lake Ontario and only rarely included in the listings of the Great Lakes,^[18][19] proposals for its official recognition as a Great Lake are occasionally made, which would affect its inclusion in scientific research projects, etc., designated as related to "The Great Lakes".^[20]

Islands

Dispersed throughout the Great Lakes are approximately 35,000 islands.^[8] The largest among them is Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, the largest island in any inland body of water in the world.^[21] The second-largest island is Isle Royale in Lake Superior.^[22] Both of these islands are large enough to contain multiple lakes themselves — for instance, Manitoulin Island's Lake Manitou is the world's largest lake located on a freshwater island.^[23]

Shipping Connection to the ocean

The Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway make the Great Lakes accessible to ocean-going vessels.^[24] But, shifts in shipping to wider ocean-going container ships — which do not fit through the locks on these routes — has limited container shipping on the lakes. Most Great Lakes trade is of bulk material, and bulk freighters of Seawaymax-size or less can move throughout the entire lakes and out to the Atlantic.^[25] Larger ships are confined to working in the lakes themselves.
Only barges can access the Illinois Waterway system providing access to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. Despite their vast size, large sections of the Great Lakes freeze over in winter, interrupting most shipping from January to March. Some icebreakers ply the lakes, keeping the shipping lanes open through other periods of ice on the lakes.

The Great Lakes are also connected by canal to the Gulf of Mexico by way of the Illinois River (from the Chicago River) and the Mississippi River. An alternate track is via the Illinois River (from Chicago), to the Mississippi, up the Ohio, and then through the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway (combination of a series of rivers and lakes and canals), to Mobile Bay and the Gulf. Commercial tug-and-barge traffic on these waterways is heavy.^[26]

Pleasure boats can also enter or exit the Great Lakes by way of the Erie Canal and Hudson River in New York. The Erie Canal connects to the Great Lakes at the east end of Lake Erie (at Buffalo, New York) and at the south side of Lake Ontario (at Oswego, New York).

Water levels

The lakes contained in 2009 84% of the surface freshwater of North America;^[27] if the water were evenly distributed over the entire continent's land area they would reach a depth of 1.5 meters (5 feet).^[10] The source of water levels in the lakes is tied to what was left by melting glaciers when the lakes took their present form. Annually, only about 1% is "new" water originating from rivers, precipitation, and groundwater springs that drain into the lakes. Historically, evaporation has been balanced by drainage, making the level of the lakes constant.^[10] While the lake levels have been preserved, intensive human population growth only began in the region in the 20th century and continues today.^[10] At least two human water use activities have been identified as having the potential to affect the lakes' levels: diversion (the transfer of water to other watersheds) and consumption (substantially done today by the use of lake water to power and cool electric generation plants, resulting in evaporation).^[28]

The water level of Lake Michigan–Huron had remained fairly constant over the 20th century,^[29] but has nevertheless dropped more than 6 feet from the record high in 1986 to the low of 2013.^[30] One newspaper reported that the long-term average level has gone down about 20 inches because of dredging and subsequent erosion in the St. Clair River. Lake Michigan–Huron hit all-time record low levels in 2013; according to the US Army Corps of Engineers, the previous record low had been set in 1964.^[30]

Name origins

Lake Erie

from Erie tribe, a shortened form of the Iroquoian word erielhonan (long tail)^[31]

Lake Huron

named by French explorers for inhabitants in the area, Wyandot or "Hurons"^[32]

Lake Michigan

from the Ojibwa word mishigami (great water or large lake)^[33]

Lake Ontario

Wyandot (Huron) word ontarío (lake of shining waters)^[34]

Lake Superior

English translation of French term lac supérieur (upper lake), referring to its position north of Lake Huron. The Ojibwe people called it gitchigumi ^[12]

Statistics

The Great Lakes contained around the year 2000 21% of the world’s fresh surface water: 5,472 cubic miles (22,810 km³), or 6.0×10¹⁵ U.S. gallons (2.3×10¹⁶ liters). This is enough water to cover the 48 contiguous U.S. states to a uniform depth of 9.5 feet (2.9 m). Although the lakes contain a large percentage of the world's fresh water, the Great Lakes supply only a small portion of U.S. drinking water on a national basis.^[35]

The total surface area of the lakes is approximately 94,250 square miles (244,100 km²)—nearly the same size as the United Kingdom, and larger than the U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire combined.^[36]

The Great Lakes coast measures approximately 10,500 miles (16,900 km);^[10] however, the length of a coastline is impossible to measure exactly and is not a well-defined measure (see Coastline paradox). Of the total 10,500 miles (16,900 km) of shoreline, Canada borders approximately 5,200 miles (8,400 km), while the remaining 5,300 miles (8,500 km) are bordered by the United States. Michigan has the longest shoreline of the United States, bordering roughly 3,288 miles (5,292 km) of shoreline, followed by Wisconsin (820 miles (1,320 km)), New York (473 miles (761 km)), and Ohio (312 miles (502 km)).^[37] Traversing the shoreline of all the lakes would cover a distance roughly equivalent to travelling half-way around the world at the equator.^[10]

Geology

A diagram of the formation of the Great Lakes

It has been estimated that the foundational geology that created the conditions shaping the present day upper Great Lakes was laid from 1.1 to 1.2 billion years ago,^[10][38] when two previously fused tectonic plates split apart and created the Midcontinent Rift, which crossed the Great Lakes Tectonic Zone. A valley was formed providing a basin that eventually became modern day Lake Superior. When a second fault line, the Saint Lawrence rift, formed approximately 570 million years ago,^[10] the basis for Lakes Ontario and Erie were created, along with what would become the Saint Lawrence River.

The Great Lakes are estimated to have been formed at the end of the last glacial period (about 10,000 years ago), when the Laurentide ice sheet receded.^[7] The retreat of the ice sheet left behind a large amount of meltwater (see Lake Algonquin and Lake Iroquois) that filled up the basins that the glaciers had carved, thus creating the Great Lakes as we know them today.^[39] Because of the uneven nature of glacier erosion, some higher hills became Great Lakes islands. The Niagara Escarpment follows the contour of the Great Lakes between New York and Wisconsin.

Land below the glaciers "rebounded" as it was uncovered.^[40] Because the glaciers covered some areas longer than others, this glacial rebound occurred at different rates.

Climate

The Great Lakes have a humid continental climate, Köppen climate classification Dfa (in southern areas) and Dfb (in northern parts)^[41] with varying influences from air masses from other regions including dry, cold Arctic systems, mild Pacific air masses from the West, and warm, wet tropical systems from the south and the Gulf of Mexico.^[42] The lakes themselves also have a moderating effect on the climate; they can also increase precipitation totals and produce lake effect snowfall.^[41]

Lake effect

The most well-known winter effect of the Great Lakes on regional weather is the lake effect in snowfall, which is sometimes very localized. Even late in winter, the lakes often have no icepack in the middle. The prevailing winds from the west pick up the air and moisture from the lake surface, which is slightly warmer in relation to the cold surface winds above. As the slightly warmer, moist air passes over the colder land surface, the moisture often produces concentrated, heavy snowfall that sets up in bands or "streamers". This is similar to the effect of warmer air dropping snow as it passes over mountain ranges. During freezing weather with high winds, the "snow belts" receive regular snow fall from this localized weather pattern, especially along the eastern shores of the lakes. Snow belts are found in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, United States; and Ontario, Canada.

The lakes also moderate seasonal temperatures to some degree, but not with as large an influence as do large oceans; they absorb heat and cool the air in summer, then slowly radiate that heat in autumn. They protect against frost during transitional weather, and keep the summer-time temperatures cooler than further inland. Thus effect can be very localized and overridden by offshore wind patterns. This temperature buffering produces areas known as "fruit belts", where fruit can be produced that is typically grown much farther south. For instance, Western Michigan has apple and cherry orchards, and vineyards cultivated adjacent to the lake shore as far north as the Grand Traverse Bay and Nottawasaga Bay in central Ontario. The eastern shore of Lake Michigan and the southern shore of Lake Erie have many successful wineries due to the moderating effect, as does the Niagara Peninsula between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. A similar phenomenon allows wineries to flourish in the Finger Lakes region of New York, as well as in Prince Edward County, Ontario on Lake Ontario's northeast shore. Related to the lake effect is the regular occurrence of fog over medium-sized areas, particularly along the shorelines of the lakes. This is most noticeable along Lake Superior's shores.

The Great Lakes have been observed to help intensify storms, such as Hurricane Hazel in 1954, and the 2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, which moved onshore as a tornadic waterspout. In 1996 a rare tropical or subtropical storm was observed forming in Lake Huron, dubbed the 1996 Lake Huron cyclone. Rather large severe thunderstorms covering wide areas are well known in the Great Lakes during mid-summer; these Mesoscale convective complexs or MCCs,^[43] can cause damage to wide swaths of forest and shatter glass in city buildings. These storms mainly occur during the night, and the systems sometimes have small embedded tornadoes, but more often straight-line winds accompanied by intense lightning.

Ecology

Historically, the Great Lakes, in addition to their lake ecology, were surrounded by various forest ecoregions (except in a relatively small area of southeast Lake Michigan where savanna or prairie occasionally intruded). Logging, urbanization, and agriculture uses have changed that relationship. In the early 21st century, Lake Superior's shores are 91% forested, Lake Huron 68%, Lake Ontario 49%, Lake Michigan 41%, and Lake Erie, where logging and urbanization has been most extensive, 21%.
Some of these forests are second or third growth (i.e. they have been logged before, changing their composition). At least 13 wildlife species are documented as becoming extinct since the arrival of Europeans, and many more are threatened or endangered.^[10] Meanwhile, exotic and invasive species have also been introduced.

Fauna

The Great Lakes are an important source of fishing. Early European settlers were astounded by both the variety and quantity of fish; there were 150 different species in the Great Lakes.^[10] Throughout history, fish populations were the early indicator of the condition of the Lakes, and have remained one of the key indicators even in the current era of sophisticated analyses and measuring instruments.
According to the bi-national (U.S. and Canadian) resource book, The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book: "The largest Great Lakes fish harvests were recorded in 1889 and 1899 at some 67,000 tonnes (66,000 long tons; 74,000 short tons) [147 million pounds]."^[44]

By 1801, the New York Legislature found it necessary to pass regulations curtailing obstructions to the natural migrations of Atlantic salmon from Lake Erie into their spawning channels. In the early 19th century, the government of Upper Canada found it necessary to introduce similar legislation prohibiting the use of weirs and nets at the mouths of Lake Ontario’s tributaries. Other protective legislation was passed, as well, but enforcement remained difficult.^[45]

On both sides of the Canada–United States border, the proliferation of dams and impoundments have multiplied, necessitating more regulatory efforts. Concerns by the mid-19th century included obstructions in the rivers which prevented salmon and sturgeon from reaching their spawning grounds. The Wisconsin Fisheries Commission noted a reduction of roughly 25% in general fish harvests by 1875. The states have removed dams from rivers where necessary.^{[clarification needed][46]}

Overfishing has been cited as a possible reason for a decrease in population of various whitefish, important because of their culinary desirability and, hence, economic consequence. Moreover, between 1879 and 1899, reported whitefish harvests declined from some 24.3 million pounds (11 million kg) to just over 9 million pounds (4 million kg).^[47] By 1900, commercial fishermen on Lake Michigan were hauling in an average of 41 million pounds of fish annually.^[48] By 1938, Wisconsin's commercial fishing operations were motorized and mechanized. generating jobs for more than 2,000 workers, and hauling 14 million pounds per year.^[48] The population of giant freshwater mussels was eliminated as the mussels were harvested for use as buttons by early Great Lakes entrepreneurs.^[47] Since 2000, the invasive quagga mussel has smothered the bottom of Lake Michigan almost from shore to shore, and their numbers are estimated at 900 trillion.^[48]

The influx of parasitic lamprey populations after the development of the Erie Canal and the much later Welland Canal led to the two federal governments of the US and Canada working on joint proposals to control it. By the mid-1950s, the lake trout populations of Lakes Michigan and Huron were reduced, with the lamprey deemed largely to blame. This led to the launch of the bi-national Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

Cliffs at Palisade Head on Lake Superior in Minnesota near Silver Bay.

The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book (1972) noted: "Only pockets remain of the once large commercial fishery."^[44] But, water quality improvements realized during the 1970s and 1980s, combined with successful salmonid stocking programs, have enabled the growth of a large recreational fishery.^[49] The last commercial fisherman left Milwaukee in 2011 because of overfishing and anthropogenic changes to the biosphere.^[48]

Since the 19th century an estimated 160 new species have found their way into the Great Lakes ecosystem; many have become invasive; the overseas ship ballast and ship hull parasitism are causing severe economic and ecological impacts.^[50][51] According to the Inland Seas Education Association, on average a new species enters the Great Lakes every eight months.^[51]

A zebra mussel-encrusted vector-averaging current meter from Lake Michigan.

Introductions into the Great Lakes include the zebra mussel, which was first discovered in 1988,^[52] and quagga mussel in 1989. The mollusks are efficient filter feeders, competing with native mussels and reducing available food and spawning grounds for fish. In addition, the mussels may be a nuisance to industries by clogging pipes. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the economic impact of the zebra mussel could be about $5 billion over the next decade.^[53]

The alewife first entered the system west of Lake Ontario via 19th-century canals. By the 1960s, the small silver fish had become a familiar nuisance to beach goers across Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie. Periodic mass dieoffs result in vast numbers of the fish washing up on shore; estimates by various governments have placed the percentage of Lake Michigan's biomass, which was made up of alewives in the early 1960s, as high as 90%. In the late 1960s, the various state and federal governments began stocking several species of salmonids, including the native lake trout as well as non-native chinook and coho salmon; by the 1980s, alewife populations had dropped drastically.^[54] The ruffe, a small percid fish from Eurasia, became the most abundant fish species in Lake Superior's Saint Louis River within five years of its detection in 1986. Its range, which has expanded to Lake Huron, poses a significant threat to the lower lake fishery.^[55] Five years after first being observed in the St. Clair River, the round goby can now be found in all of the Great Lakes. The goby is considered undesirable for several reasons: it preys upon bottom-feeding fish, overruns optimal habitat, spawns multiple times a season, and can survive poor water quality conditions.^[56]

Several species of exotic water fleas have accidentally been introduced into the Great Lakes, such as the spiny waterflea, Bythotrephes longimanus, and the fishhook waterflea, Cercopagis pengoi, potentially having an effect on the zooplankton population. Several species of crayfish have also been introduced that may contend with native crayfish populations. More recently an electric fence has been set up across the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in order to keep several species of invasive Asian carp out of the area. These fast-growing planktivorous fish have heavily colonized the Mississippi and Illinois river systems.^[57] The sea lamprey, which has been particularly damaging to the native lake trout population, is another example of a marine invasive species in the Great Lakes.^[58] Invasive species, particularly zebra and quagga mussels, may be at least partially responsible for the collapse of the deepwater demersal fish community in Lake Huron,^[59] as well as drastic unprecedented changes in the zooplankton community of the lake.^[60]

Flora

Native habitats and ecoregions in the Great Lakes region include:

• Eastern forest-boreal transition
• Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests
• Southern Great Lakes forests
• Upper Midwest forest-savanna transition
• Western Great Lakes forests
• Central Canadian Shield forests
• Laurentian Mixed Forest Province
• Beech-maple forest
• Habitats of the Indiana Dunes

Plant lists include:

• List of Michigan flowers
• List of Minnesota wild flowers
• List of Minnesota trees

Logging

Logging of the extensive forests in the Great Lakes region removed riparian and adjacent tree cover over rivers and streams, which provide shade, moderating water temperatures in fish spawning grounds. Removal of trees also destabilized the soil, with greater volumes washed into stream beds causing siltation of gravel beds, and more frequent flooding.

Running cut logs down the tributary rivers into the Great Lakes also dislocated sediments. In 1884, the New York Fish Commission determined that the dumping of sawmill waste (chips and sawdust) had impacted fish populations.^[61]

Pollution

The first U.S. Clean Water Act, signed by US President Richard Nixon in 1972, was a key piece of legislation,^[62] along with the bi-national Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement signed by Canada and the U.S. A variety of steps taken to process industrial and municipal pollution discharges into the system greatly improved water quality by the 1980s, and Lake Erie in particular is significantly cleaner.^[63] Discharge of toxic substances has been sharply reduced. Federal and state regulations control substances like PCBs. The first of 43 "Great Lakes Areas of Concern" to be formally "de-listed" due to successful cleanup was Ontario's Collingwood Harbour in 1994; Ontario's Severn Sound followed in 2003.^[64] Presque Isle Bay in Pennsylvania is formally listed as in recovery, as is Ontario's Spanish Harbour. Dozens of other Areas of Concern have received partial cleanups such as the Rouge River (Michigan) and Waukegan Harbor (Illinois).^[65]

Until 1970, mercury was not listed as a harmful chemical, according to the United States Federal Water Quality Administration. Within the past ten years mercury has become more apparent in water tests. Mercury compounds have been used in paper mills to prevent slime from forming during their production, and chemical companies have used mercury to separate chlorine from brine solutions. Studies conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency have shown that when the mercury comes in contact with many of the bacteria and compounds in the fresh water, it forms the very toxic, inorganic methyl mercury. This form of mercury is not detrimental to a majority of fish types, but is very detrimental to people and other wildlife animals who consume the fish. Mercury has been known for health related problems such as birth defects in humans and animals, and the near extinction of eagles in the Great Lakes region.^[66]

The amount of raw sewage dumped into the waters was the primary focus of both the first Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and federal laws passed in both countries during the 1970s. Implementation of secondary treatment of municipal sewage by major cities greatly reduced the routine discharge of untreated sewage during the 1970s and 1980s.^[67] The International Joint Commission in 2009 summarized the change: "Since the early 1970s, the level of treatment to reduce pollution from waste water discharges to the Great Lakes has improved considerably. This is a result of significant expenditures to date on both infrastructure and technology, and robust regulatory systems that have proven to be, on the whole, quite effective."^[68] The commission reported that all urban sewage treatment systems on the U.S. side of the lakes had implemented secondary treatment, as had all on the Canadian side except for five small systems.^{[citation needed]}

However, those treatment system upgrades have not, contrary to federal laws in both countries, yet eliminated Combined sewer Overflow events.^{[citation needed]} This describes when older sewerage systems, which combine storm water with sewage into single sewers heading to the treatment plant, are temporarily overwhelmed by heavy rainstorms. Local sewage treatment authorities then must release untreated effluent, a mix of rainwater and sewage, into local water bodies. While enormous public investments such as the Deep Tunnel projects in Chicago and Milwaukee have greatly reduced the frequency and volume of these events, they have not been eliminated. The number of such overflow events in Ontario, for example, is flat according to the International Joint Commission.^[68] Reports about this issue on the U.S. side highlight five large municipal systems (those of Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Milwaukee and Gary) as being the largest current periodic sources of untreated discharges into the Great Lakes.^[69]

Phosphate detergents were historically a major source of nutrient to the Great Lakes algae blooms in particular in the warmer and shallower portions of the system such as Lake Erie, Saginaw Bay, Green Bay, and the southernmost portion of Lake Michigan. By the mid-1980s, most jurisdictions bordering the Great Lakes had controlled phosphate detergents,^[70] resulting in sharp reductions in the frequency and extent of the blooms.^{[citation needed]}

In 2013, news of a garbage patch of plastic pollution in the lakes was released.^[71]

History

A woodcut of Le Griffon

The brigantine Le Griffon, which was commissioned by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was built at Cayuga Creek, near the southern end of the Niagara River, and became the first known sailing ship to travel the upper Great Lakes on August 7, 1679.^[72]

During settlement, the Great Lakes and its rivers were the only practical means of moving people and freight. Barges from middle North America were able to reach the Atlantic Ocean from the Great Lakes when the Erie Canal opened in 1825.^[73] By 1848, with the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal at Chicago, direct access to the Mississippi River was possible from the lakes.^[74] With these two canals an all-inland water route was provided between New York City and New Orleans.

The main business of many of the passenger lines in the 19th century was transporting immigrants. Many of the larger cities owe their existence to their position on the lakes as a freight destination as well as for being a magnet for immigrants. After railroads and surface roads developed, the freight and passenger businesses dwindled and, except for ferries and a few foreign cruise ships, has now vanished. The immigration routes still have an effect today. Immigrants often formed their own communities and some areas have a pronounced ethnicity, such as Dutch, German, Polish, Finnish, and many others. Since many immigrants settled for a time in New England before moving westward, many areas on the U.S. side of the Great Lakes also have a New England feel, especially in home styles and accent.

The Eastland leaving Chicago, ca. 1909

Since general freight these days is transported by railroads and trucks, domestic ships mostly move bulk cargoes, such as iron ore, coal and limestone for the steel industry. The domestic bulk freight developed because of the nearby mines. It was more economical to transport the ingredients for steel to centralized plants rather than try to make steel on the spot. Grain exports are also a major cargo on the lakes.

In the 19th century and early 20th centuries, iron and other ores such as copper were shipped south on (downbound ships), and supplies, food, and coal were shipped north (upbound). Because of the location of the coal fields in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and the general northeast track of the Appalachian Mountains, railroads naturally developed shipping routes that went due north to ports such as Erie, Pennsylvania and Ashtabula, Ohio.

Because the lake maritime community largely developed independently, it has some distinctive vocabulary. Ships, no matter the size, are called boats. When the sailing ships gave way to steamships, they were called steamboats—the same term used on the Mississippi. The ships also have a distinctive design (see Lake freighter). Ships that primarily trade on the lakes are known as lakers. Foreign boats are known as salties. One of the more common sights on the lakes has been since about 1950 the 1,000‑by‑105-foot (305-by-32-meter), 78,850-long-ton (80,120-metric-ton) self-unloader. This is a laker with a conveyor belt system that can unload itself by swinging a crane over the side.^[75] Today, the Great Lakes fleet is much smaller in numbers than it once was because of the increased use of overland freight, and a few larger ships replacing many small ones.

During World War II, the risk of submarine attacks against coastal training facilities motivated the United States Navy to operate two aircraft carriers on the Great Lakes, USS Sable (IX-81) and USS Wolverine (IX-64). Both served as training ships to qualify naval aviators in carrier landing and takeoff.^[76] Lake Champlain briefly became the sixth Great Lake of the United States on 6 March 1998, when President Clinton signed Senate Bill 927. This bill, which reauthorized the National Sea Grant Program, contained a line declaring Lake Champlain to be a Great Lake. Not coincidentally, this status allows neighboring states to apply for additional federal research and education funds allocated to these national resources.^[77] Following a small uproar, the Senate voted to revoke the designation on 24 March (although New York and Vermont universities would continue to receive funds to monitor and study the lake).^[78]

In the early years of the 21st century, water levels in the Great Lakes were a concern.^[79] Researchers at the Mowat Centre said that low levels could cost $19bn by 2050.^[80]

Economy

Shipping

The Great Lakes are today used as a major water transport corridor for bulk goods. The Great Lakes Waterway connects all the lakes; the smaller Saint Lawrence Seaway connects the lakes to the Atlantic oceans. Some lake freighters are too large to use the Seaway, and only operate on the Waterway and lakes.

In 2002, 162 million net tons of dry bulk cargo were moved on the Lakes. This was, in order of volume: iron ore, grain and potash.^{[citation needed]} The iron ore and much of the stone and coal are used in the steel industry. There is also some shipping of liquid and containerized cargo but most container ships cannot pass the locks on the Saint Lawrence Seaway because the ships are too wide. The total amount of shipping on the lakes has been on a downward trend for several years.^{[citation needed]}

Drinking water and Compact

The Great Lakes are used to supply drinking water to tens of millions of people in bordering areas.
This valuable resource is collectively administered by the state and provincial governments adjacent to the lakes, who have agreed to the Great Lakes Compact to regulate water supply and use.

Recreation

Tourism and recreation are major industries on the Great Lakes.^[81] A few small cruise ships operate on the Great Lakes including a couple of sailing ships. Sport fishing, commercial fishing, and Native American fishing represent a U.S.$4 billion a year industry with salmon, whitefish, smelt, lake trout, bass and walleye being major catches. Many other water sports are practiced on the lakes such as yachting, sea kayaking, diving, kitesurfing, powerboating, and lake surfing.

The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.^[82]

Great Lakes passenger steamers

From 1844 through 1857, palace steamers carried passengers and cargo around the Great Lakes.^[83]
In the first half of the 20th century large luxurious passenger steamers sailed the lakes in opulence.^[84] The Detroit and Cleveland Navigation Company had several vessels at the time and hired workers from all walks of life to help operate theses vessels.^[85] Several ferries currently operate on the Great Lakes to carry passengers to various islands, including Isle Royale, Pelee Island, Mackinac Island, Beaver Island, Bois Blanc Island (Ontario), Bois Blanc Island (Michigan), Kelleys Island, South Bass Island, North Manitou Island, South Manitou Island, Harsens Island, Manitoulin Island, and the Toronto Islands. As of 2007, four car ferry services cross the Great Lakes, two on Lake Michigan: a steamer from Ludington, Michigan, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and a high speed catamaran from Milwaukee to Muskegon, Michigan, one on Lake Erie: a boat from Kingsville, Ontario, or Leamington, Ontario, to Pelee Island, Ontario, then onto Sandusky, Ohio, and one on Lake Huron: the M.S. Chi-Cheemaun ^[86] runs between Tobermory and South Baymouth, Manitoulin Island, operated by the Owen Sound Transportation Company. An international ferry across Lake Ontario Rochester, New York, to Toronto ran during 2004 and 2005, but is no longer in operation.

Some passenger steamers

Ship's name	Year built	Nationality		Ship's name	Year built	Nationality		Ship's name	Year built	Nationality
Niagara	1856	United States		SS Christopher Columbus	1892	United States		SS Eastland	1902	United States
Milwaukee Clipper	1904	United States		SS Keewatin	1907	Canadian		Comet	1857	United States

Shipwrecks

The large size of the Great Lakes increases the risk of water travel; storms and reefs are common threats. The lakes are prone to sudden and severe storms, in particular in the autumn, from late October until early December. Hundreds of ships have met their end on the lakes. The greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies near Thunder Bay (Michigan), beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge.

The Lake Superior shipwreck coast from Grand Marais, Michigan, to Whitefish Point became known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes". More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.^[87] The Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve serves as an underwater museum to protect the many shipwrecks in this area.

The first shipwreck was Le Griffon, the first ship to sail the Great Lakes. Caught in a storm while trading furs between Green Bay and Michilimacinac, it sank during a storm^[88] and has possibly been found.^[89] The last major freighter wrecked on the lakes was the SS Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank on November 10, 1975, just over 17 miles (30 km) offshore from Whitefish Point. The largest loss of life in a shipwreck out on the lakes may have been that of the Lady Elgin, wrecked in 1860 with the loss of around 400 lives. In an incident at a Chicago dock in 1915, the SS Eastland rolled over while loading passengers, killing 841.

In August 2007, the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society announced that it had found the wreckage of Cyprus, a 420-foot (130 m) long, century-old ore carrier. Cyprus sank during a Lake Superior storm on October 11, 1907, during its second voyage while hauling iron ore from Superior, Wisconsin, to Buffalo, New York. The entire crew of 23 drowned, except one, a man named Charles Pitz, who floated on a life raft for almost seven hours.^[90]

In June 2008, deep sea divers in Lake Ontario found the wreck of the 1780 Royal Navy warship HMS Ontario in what has been described as an "archaeological miracle".^[91] There are no plans to raise her as the site is being treated as a war grave.

In June 2010, the L.R. Doty was found in Lake Michigan by an exploration diving team led by dive boat Captain Jitka Hanakova from her boat the Molly V.^[92] The ship sank in October 1898, probably attempting to rescue a small schooner, the Olive Jeanette, during a terrible storm. There are no plans to raise the ship as it would quickly deteriorate in open air.

Still missing are the two last warships to sink in the Great Lakes, the French minesweepers, Inkerman and Cerisoles, which vanished in Lake Superior during a blizzard in 1918. 78 lives were lost making it the largest loss of life in Lake Superior and the greatest unexplained loss of life in the Great Lakes.

Related articles

• List of Great Lakes shipwrecks
• Index: Shipwrecks in the Great Lakes
• Great Storms of the North American Great Lakes
• Great Lakes Storm of 1913

Legislation

The International Joint Commission was established in 1909 to help prevent and resolve disputes relating to the use and quality of boundary waters, and to advise Canada and the United States on questions related to water resources. Concerns over diversion of Lake water are of concern to both Americans and Canadians. Some water is diverted through the Chicago River to operate the Illinois Waterway but the flow is limited by treaty. Possible schemes for bottled water plants and diversion to dry regions of the continent raise concerns. Under the U.S. "Water Resources Development Act",^[93] diversion of water from the Great Lakes Basin requires the approval of all eight Great Lakes governors through the Great Lakes Commission, which rarely occurs. International treaties regulate large diversions. In 1998, the Canadian company Nova Group won approval from the Province of Ontario to withdraw 158,000,000 U.S. gallons (600,000 m³) of Lake Superior water annually to ship by tanker to Asian countries. Public outcry forced the company to abandon the plan before it began. Since that time, the eight Great Lakes Governors and the Premiers of Ontario and Quebec have negotiated the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement^[94] and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact^[95] that would prevent most future diversion proposals and all long-distance ones. The agreements strengthen protection against abusive water withdrawal practices within the Great Lakes basin. On December 13, 2005, the
Governors and Premiers signed these two agreements, the first of which is between all ten jurisdictions. It is somewhat more detailed and protective, though its legal strength has not yet been tested in court. The second, the Great Lakes Compact, has been approved by the state legislatures of all eight states that border the Great Lakes as well as the U.S. Congress, and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on 3 October 2008.^[96]

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, described as "the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades,"^[97] was funded at $475 million in the U.S. federal government's Fiscal Year 2011 budget, and $300 million in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. Through the program a coalition of federal agencies is making grants to local and state entities for toxics cleanups, wetlands and coastline restoration projects, and invasive species-related projects.

Coast Guard live fire exercises

In 2006, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) proposed a plan to designate 34 areas in the Great Lakes, at least five miles (8 km) offshore, as permanent safety zones for live fire machine gun practice. In August 2006, the plan was published in the Federal Register. The USCG reserved the right to hold target practice whenever the weather allowed with a two-hour notice. These firing ranges would be open to the public when not in use. In response to requests from the public, the Coast Guard held a series of public meetings in nine U.S. cities to solicit comment. During these meetings many people voiced concerns about the plan and its impact on the environment.^[98] On December 18, 2006, the Coast Guard announced its decision to withdraw the entire proposal.^[99]
Officials said they would look into alternative ammunition, modifying the proposed zones and have more public dialogue before proposing a new plan.^[100]

Mount Fuji

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji at sunrise from Lake Kawaguchi
Elevation	3,776 m (12,388 ft)[1][2]
Prominence	3,776 m (12,388 ft)[1] Ranked 35th
Listing	Highest peak in Japan Ultra List of mountains in Japan 100 Famous Japanese Mountains
Pronunciation	[ɸɯꜜdʑisaɴ]
Location
Mount Fuji Chūbu region, Honshu, Japan
Coordinates	35°21′28.8″N 138°43′51.6″ECoordinates: 35°21′28.8″N 138°43′51.6″E[2]
Topo map	Geospatial Information Authority 25000:1 富士山[3] 50000:1 富士山
Geology
Type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	1707 to 1708[4]
Climbing
First ascent	663 by an anonymous monk
Easiest route	Hiking
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration
Type:	Cultural
Criteria:	iii, vi
Designated:	2013 (37th session)
Reference No.	1418
State Party:	Japan
Region:	Asia

Mount Fuji (富士山 Fujisan^?, IPA: [ɸɯꜜdʑisaɴ] ( listen)), located on Honshu Island, is the highest mountain in Japan at 3,776.24 m (12,389 ft).^[1] An active stratovolcano^[5][6] that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about 100 kilometres (60 mi) south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone, which is snow-capped several months a year, is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and photographs, as well as visited by sightseers and climbers. It is one of Japan's "Three Holy Mountains" (三霊山 Sanreizan^?) along with Mount Tate and Mount Haku; it is a Special Place of Scenic Beauty, a Historic Site, and was added to the World Heritage List as a Cultural Site on June 22, 2013.^[7]

Play media

(video) Mount Fuji as seen from an airplane and as seen from a bullet train

The mountain has been selected as a “cultural” rather than a “natural” heritage site. As per UNESCO, Mount Fuji has “inspired artists and poets and been the object of pilgrimage for centuries”. The 25 locations include the mountain itself, Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha and six other Sengen shrines, two lodging houses, Lake Yamanaka, Lake Kawaguchi, the eight Oshino Hakkai hot springs, two lava tree molds, the remains of the Fuji-kō cult in the Hitoana cave, Shiraito Falls, and Miho no Matsubara pine tree grove.^[8]

Etymology

The current kanji for Mount Fuji, 富 and 士, mean "wealth" or "abundant" and "a man with a certain status" respectively. However, these characters are^[9] ateji, meaning that the characters were selected because their pronunciations match the syllables of the name but do not carry a meaning related to the mountain.

The origin of the name Fuji is unclear. A text of the 10th century Tale of the Bamboo Cutter says that the name came from "immortal" (不死 fushi, fuji^?) and also from the image of abundant (富 fu^?) soldiers (士 shi, ji^?)^[10] ascending the slopes of the mountain.^[11] An early folk etymology claims that Fuji came from 不二 (not + two), meaning without equal or nonpareil. Another claims that it came from 不尽 (not + to exhaust), meaning neverending.

A Japanese classical scholar in the Edo era, Hirata Atsutane, speculated that the name is from a word meaning "a mountain standing up shapely as an ear (穂 ho^?) of a rice plant". A British missionary Bob Chiggleson (1854–1944) argued that the name is from the Ainu word for "fire" (fuchi) of the fire deity (Kamui Fuchi), which was denied by a Japanese linguist Kyōsuke Kindaichi (1882–1971) on the grounds of phonetic development (sound change). It is also pointed out that huchi means an "old woman" and ape is the word for "fire", ape huchi kamuy being the fire deity. Research on the distribution of place names that include fuji as a part also suggest the origin of the word fuji is in the Yamato language rather than Ainu. A Japanese toponymist Kanji Kagami argued that the name has the same root as wisteria (藤 fuji^?) and rainbow (虹 niji, but with an alternative word fuji^?), and came from its "long well-shaped slope".^{[12][13][14][15]}

Variations

In English, the mountain is known as Mount Fuji. Some sources refer to it as "Fuji-san", "Fujiyama" or, redundantly, "Mt. Fujiyama". Japanese speakers refer to the mountain as "Fuji-san". This "san" is not the honorific suffix used with people's names, such as Watanabe-san, but the on-reading of the character yama (山^?, lit. "mountain") used in Sino-Japanese compounds. In Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki romanization, the name is transliterated as Huzi.

Other Japanese names for Mount Fuji, which have become obsolete or poetic, include Fuji-no-Yama (ふじの山^?, lit. "the Mountain of Fuji"), Fuji-no-Takane (ふじの高嶺^?, lit. "the High Peak of Fuji"), Fuyō-hō (芙蓉峰^?, lit. "the Lotus Peak"), and Fugaku (富岳／富嶽^?, created by combining the first character of 富士, Fuji, and 岳, mountain).^[16]

History

Mount Fuji is an attractive volcanic cone and a frequent subject of Japanese art especially after 1600, when Edo (now Tokyo) became the actual capital and people saw the mountain while traveling on the Tōkaidō-road. Among the most renowned works are Hokusai's 36 Views of Mount Fuji and his One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji, as well as Utagawa Hiroshige's similarly titled 36 Views of Mount Fuji (1858).^[17] The mountain is mentioned in Japanese literature throughout the ages and is the subject of many poems.

It is thought that the first ascent was in 663 by an anonymous monk.^{[citation needed]} The summit has been thought of as sacred since ancient times and was forbidden to women until the Meiji Era. Ancient samurai used the base of the mountain as a remote training area, near the present day town of Gotemba. The shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo held yabusame in the area in the early Kamakura period.

Brooklyn Museum - woodblock print of Mount Fuji

The first ascent by a foreigner was by Sir Rutherford Alcock in September 1868, from the foot of the mountain to the top in eight hours and three hours for the descent.^[18]:427 Alcock's brief narrative in The Capital of the Tycoon was the first widely disseminated description of the mountain in the West.^[18]:421–7 Lady Fanny Parkes, the wife of British ambassador Sir Harry Parkes, was the first non-Japanese woman to ascend Mount Fuji in 1869.^[19] Photographer Felix Beato climbed Mount Fuji in the same year.^[20]

On March 5, 1966, BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707, broke up in flight and crashed near the Mount Fuji Gotemba New fifth station, shortly after departure from Tokyo International Airport. All 113 passengers and 11 crew members died in the disaster, which was attributed to extreme clear air turbulence caused by lee waves downwind of the mountain. There is a memorial for the crash a short distance down from the Gotemba New fifth station.^[21]

Today, Mount Fuji is an international destination for tourism and mountain climbing.^[22][23] In the early 20th century, populist educator Frederick Starr's Chautauqua lectures about his several ascents of Mount Fuji—1913, 1919, and 1923—were widely known in America.^[24] A well-known Japanese saying suggests that anybody would be a fool not to climb Mount Fuji once—but a fool to do so twice.^[25][26] It remains a popular meme in Japanese culture, including making numerous movie appearances,^[27] inspiring the Infiniti logo,^[28] and even appearing in medicine with the Mount Fuji sign.^[29][30]

In September 2004, the manned weather station at the summit was closed after 72 years in operation. Observers monitored radar sweeps that detected typhoons and heavy rains. The station, which was the highest in Japan at 3,780 metres (12,402 ft), was replaced by a fully automated meteorological system.^[31]

Panoramic view of routes to Mt. Fuji

In early 2013, various sources suggested that the magma chamber pressure could lead to an eruption "in early 2015 or sooner" of VEI 5 or 6 depending on how the pressure is released.^[32] Effects could range from regional air disruption comparable to the Icelandic volcano, Grímsvötn of 2011 to a catastrophe rivaling the destruction of Krakatoa (Krakatau) causing worldwide climatic disruption for years.

As of 2011, the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the United States Marine Corps continue to operate military bases near Mount Fuji.

Geography

Mount Fuji is a distinctive feature of the geography of Japan. It stands 3,776.24 m (12,389 ft) high and is located near the Pacific coast of central Honshu, just west of Tokyo. It straddles the boundary of Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures. Three small cities surround it: Gotemba to the east, Fujiyoshida to the north, and Fujinomiya to the southwest. It is also surrounded by five lakes: Lake Kawaguchi, Lake Yamanaka, Lake Sai, Lake Motosu and Lake Shoji.^[33] They, and nearby Lake Ashi, provide excellent views of the mountain. The mountain is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. It can be seen more distantly from Yokohama, Tokyo, and sometimes as far as Chiba, Saitama, Tochigi and Lake Hamana when the sky is clear. Particularly in the winter it can be seen from the Shinkansen until it reaches Utsunomiya station. It has also been photographed from space during a space shuttle mission (see image, below).^[34]

• 

  3D computer animation
  
• 

  Aerial photographs of Mount Fuji
  
• 

  Mount Fuji as viewed across the Tokyo skyline
  
• 

  Mount Fuji as seen during the ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia mission in 2003
  
• 

  Mount Fuji with a Shinkansen and cherry blossoms in the foreground
  

Climate

The summit of Mount Fuji has a tundra climate (Köppen climate classification ET). The temperature is very low at the high altitude, and the cone is covered by snow for several months of the year. The lowest recorded temperature is −38.0 °C recorded in February 1981, and the highest temperature was 17.8 °C recorded in August 1942.^[35]

Climate data for Mount Fuji Averages (1981–2010) Records (1932–2011)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	−1.7 (28.9)	0.0 (32)	1.0 (33.8)	4.7 (40.5)	12.2 (54)	12.3 (54.1)	17.4 (63.3)	17.8 (64)	16.3 (61.3)	10.4 (50.7)	6.9 (44.4)	3.6 (38.5)	17.8 (64)
Average high °C (°F)	−15.7 (3.7)	−14.7 (5.5)	−10.9 (12.4)	−5.7 (21.7)	−0.8 (30.6)	3.6 (38.5)	7.5 (45.5)	9.3 (48.7)	6.1 (43)	−0.1 (31.8)	−6.4 (20.5)	−12.2 (10)	−3.4 (25.9)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−18.4 (−1.1)	−17.8 (0)	−14.2 (6.4)	−8.7 (16.3)	−3.4 (25.9)	1.1 (34)	4.9 (40.8)	6.2 (43.2)	3.2 (37.8)	−2.8 (27)	−9.2 (15.4)	−15.1 (4.8)	−6.2 (20.8)
Average low °C (°F)	−21.7 (−7.1)	−21.5 (−6.7)	−17.8 (0)	−12.1 (10.2)	−6.5 (20.3)	−1.6 (29.1)	2.4 (36.3)	3.6 (38.5)	0.4 (32.7)	−5.8 (21.6)	−12.2 (10)	−18.3 (−0.9)	−9.3 (15.3)
Record low °C (°F)	−37.3 (−35.1)	−38 (−36)	−33.9 (−29)	−27.8 (−18)	−18.9 (−2)	−13.1 (8.4)	−6.9 (19.6)	−4.3 (24.3)	−10.8 (12.6)	−19.5 (−3.1)	−28.1 (−18.6)	−33 (−27)	−38 (−36)
% humidity	-	-	58	60	61	70	79	73	68	53	50	47	-
Source: JMA[36]

Aokigahara

The forest at the north west base of the mountain is named Aokigahara. Folk tales and legends tell of demons, ghosts, and goblins haunting the forest, and in the 19th century, Aokigahara was one of many places poor families abandoned the very young and the very old.^[37] Aokigahara is the world’s second most popular suicide location after San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.^[38] Since the 1950s, more than 500 people have lost their lives in the forest, mostly suicides.^[38] Approximately 30 suicides have been counted yearly, with a high of nearly 80 bodies in 2002.^[39] The recent increase in suicides prompted local officials to erect signs that attempt to convince individuals experiencing suicidal intent to re-think their desperate plans, and sometimes these messages have proven effective.^[40] The numbers of suicides in the past creates an allure that has persisted across the span of decades.^[41][42]
Many of these hikers mark their travelled routes by leaving coloured plastic tapes behind, causing concerns from prefectural officials with regard to the forest's ecosystem.^[43]

Adventuring

Transportation

The closest airport with scheduled international service is Mt. Fuji Shizuoka Airport. It opened in June 2009. It is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Mount Fuji.^[44] The major international airports serving Tokyo, Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport) in Tokyo and Narita International Airport in Chiba, are hours from Mount Fuji.

Climbing routes

Crowds of climbers at the summit

Approximately 300,000 people climbed Mount Fuji in 2009.^[45] The most-popular period for people to hike up Mount Fuji is from July to August, while huts and other facilities are operating.^[45] Buses to the fifth station start running on July 1. Climbing from October to May is very strongly discouraged, after a number of high-profile deaths and severe cold weather.^[46] Most Japanese climb the mountain at night in order to be in a position at or near the summit when the sun rises. The morning light is called 御来光 goraikō, "arrival of light".^[47]

There are four major routes from the fifth station to the summit with an additional four routes from the foot of the mountain. The major routes from the fifth station are (clockwise): the Lake Kawaguchi, Subashiri, Gotemba, and Fujinomiya routes. The routes from the foot of the mountain are: Shojiko, Yoshida, Suyama, and Murayama routes. The stations on different routes are at different elevations. The highest fifth station is located at Fujinomiya, followed by Kawaguchi, Subashiri, and Gotemba.

Even though it has only the second-highest fifth stations, the Kawaguchiko route is the most-popular route because of its large parking area and many large mountain huts where a climber can rest or stay. During the summer season, most Mount Fuji climbing tour buses arrive there. The next-popular is the Fujinomiya route, which has the highest fifth station, followed by Subashiri and Gotemba.

Switchbacks and retaining walls along the trail reduce erosion from the large number of climbers.

Even though most climbers do not climb the Subashiri and Gotemba routes, many descend these because of their ash-covered paths. From the seventh station to near the fifth station, one could run down these ash-covered paths in approximately 30 minutes. Besides these routes, there are tractor routes along the climbing routes. These tractor routes are used to bring food and other materials to huts on the mountain. Because the tractors usually take up most of the width of these paths and they tend to push large rocks from the side of the path, the tractor paths are off-limits to the climbers on sections that are not merged with the climbing or descending paths. Nevertheless, one can sometimes see people riding mountain bikes along the tractor routes down from the summit. This is particularly risky, as it becomes difficult to control speed and may send some rocks rolling along the side of the path, which may hit other people.

The four routes from the foot of the mountain offer historical sites. The Murayama is the oldest Mount Fuji route and the Yoshida route still has many old shrines, teahouses, and huts along its path. These routes are gaining popularity recently and are being restored, but climbing from the foot of the mountain is still relatively uncommon. Also, bears have been sighted along the Yoshida route.

The ascent from the new fifth station can take anywhere between three and eight hours while the descent can take from two to five hours. The hike from the foot of the mountain is divided into 10 stations, and there are paved roads up to the fifth station, which is about 2,300 metres (7,550 ft) above sea level.

Paraglider at South side, view from Gotenba

Huts at and above the fifth stations are usually manned during the climbing season, but huts below fifth stations are not usually manned for climbers. The number of open huts on routes are proportional to the number of climbers—Kawaguchi-ko has the most while Gotemba has the least. The huts along the Gotemba route also tend to start later and close earlier than those along the Kawaguchi-ko route. Also, because Mount Fuji is designated as a national park, it is illegal to camp above the fifth station.

There are eight peaks around the crater at the summit. The highest point in Japan, Ken-ga-mine, is where the Mount Fuji Radar System used to be. Climbers are able to visit each of these peaks.

Paragliding

Paragliders take off in the vicinity of the fifth station Gotemba parking lot, between Subashiri and Hōei-zan peak on the south side from the Mountain, in addition to several other locations depending on wind direction. Several paragliding schools use the wide sandy/grassy slope between Gotemba and Subashiri parking lots as a training hill.

Geology

Geological cross-section of Fuji volcano

Mount Fuji is located at the triple junction where the Amurian Plate, the Okhotsk Plate, and the Philippine Sea Plate meet. Those plates form the western part of Japan, the eastern part of Japan, and the Izu Peninsula respectively.

Crater of Mount Fuji and Ken-ga-mine (The highest peak of Mt.Fuji)

Scientists have identified four distinct phases of volcanic activity in the formation of Mount Fuji. The first phase, called Sen-komitake, is composed of an andesite core recently discovered deep within the mountain. Sen-komitake was followed by the "Komitake Fuji," a basalt layer believed to be formed several hundred thousand years ago. Approximately 100,000 years ago, "Old Fuji" was formed over the top of Komitake Fuji. The modern, "New Fuji" is believed to have formed over the top of Old Fuji around 10,000 years ago.^[48]

The volcano is currently classified as active with a low risk of eruption. The last recorded eruption was the Hōei eruption which started on December 16, 1707 (Hōei 4, 23rd day of the 11th month) and ended about January 1, 1708 (Hōei 4, 9th day of the 12th month) during the Edo period.^[49] The eruption formed a new crater and a second peak (named Hōei-zan after the Hoei era) halfway down its side. Fuji spewed cinders and ash which fell like rain in Izu, Kai, Sagami, and Musashi.^[50] Since then, there have been no signs of an eruption. In the evening of March 15, 2011, there was a magnitude 6.2 earthquake at shallow depth a few kilometres from Mount Fuji on its southern side. But according to the Japanese Meteorological Service there was no sign of any eruption.^[51]

Current eruptive danger

Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, much attention was given to the volcanic reaction of Mt. Fuji. In September 2012, mathematical models created by the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention suggested that the pressure in Mount Fuji's magma chamber could be at 1.6 megapascals, higher than it was in 1707. This was commonly reported in the media to mean that an eruption of Mt. Fuji was imminent.^[52] However, since there is no known method of measuring the pressure of a volcano's magma chamber, such research is speculative. The other indicators mentioned, such as active fumaroles and recently discovered faults, are typical occurrences at this type of volcano.^[53]