Lake Erie

Lake Erie

Of the North American Great Lakes, Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake in terms of surface area and the eleventh largest globally. The lake lies on the International Boundary between Canada and the United States. Beneath Lake Huron, Lake Erie's primary inlet is the Detroit River. From the lake, the main natural outflow is via the Niagara River, which generates hydropower for Canada and the United States as it drives huge turbines near Niagara Falls in Lewiston, New York, and Queenston, Ontario. Lake Erie was formed by glacier ice, and is less than 4,000 years old in its current form, which is a short time from a geological point of view. The lake has a complex ecosystem with many species interacting with each other. It has been affected by a number of invasive species, among them zebra and quagga mussels, goby and grass carp. There are an estimated 180 invasive species in the Great Lakes, some of which have travelled in the ballast water of international ships. The Lake Erie Water Snake, a subspecies of the Northern Water Snake, lives near the Put-in-Bay Harbor in Ohio and is listed as a threatened species. Lake Erie is a diver's favorite because of the large number of shipwrecks. In 1991, the 19th century paddle steamer Atlantic was discovered in the lake. It sank in 1852 after a collision with the steamship Ogdensburg. The wreck of the Adventure became the first shipwreck to be registered as an "underwater archaeological site" in 1998, when it was discovered that the Adventure's propeller had been removed and given to a junkyard. The propeller was retrieved days before it was turned into scrap metal and returned to the dive site.