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St. Clair River

St. Clair River

The St. Clair River is a river in central North America which drains Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, forming part of the International Boundary between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is also a significant component in the Great Lakes Waterway with shipping channels permitting cargo vessels to travel between the upper and lower Great Lakes.

Location

The river flows in a southerly direction, connecting the southern end of Lake Huron to the northern end of Lake St. Clair. It branches into several channels near its mouth at Lake St. Clair, creating a broad delta region.

Size

The river is 39 miles (64 km) long and drops 5 feet (1.5 m) in elevation from Lake Huron to Lake St. Clair. The flow rate averages around 182,000 cubic feet per second (5,200 m³/s), and the drainage area is 222,400 square miles (576,000 km²). This takes into account that the combined drainage areas of Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior. The shipping channel on Lake St. Clair itself is 35 miles (56 km) long from the end of the St. Clair River to the beginning of the Detroit River. The Detroit River is 32 miles (51 km) long and drops 3 feet (1 m) in elevation from Lake St. Clair to its mouth at Lake Erie. The Detroit River discharges an average of 186,000 cubic feet per second (5,300 m³/s) into Lake Erie.

History

In the 1700s, French Voyageurs travelled on the river in canoes loaded with furs destined to adorn Europe's royalty. Ships built at Marine City, Michigan during the mid-1800s carried immigrants up the river on their way to new homes in the American West. During the 20th century, freighters returned from the upper Great Lakes with iron ore, copper, grain - products of some of these settlers' labor.

Watersheds

The St. Clair River and its Lambton County tributaries in Ontario contributes 418 km² (103,210 acres) to the watershed, although this does not include the Sydenham River watershed. In Michigan, the Black River, Pine River, and Belle River drain 3,159 km² (780,600 acres) in Lapeer, Macomb, Sanilac, and St. Clair counties; the watersheds around Bunce Creek and Marine City are relatively small.

Islands

- Stag Island lies between Corunna, Ontario and Marysville, Michigan.

- Fawn Island is near Marine City, Michigan.

- Walpole, Seaway, Bassett, Squirrel, Pottowatamie, St. Anne, Dickinson, Russel and Harsens islands are located where the St. Clair River flows into Lake St. Clair near Algonac, Michigan; these islands form the "St. Clair Flats", the only major river delta in the Great Lakes and the largest freshwater delta in North America. Six of the islands in this delta are territory belonging to the Walpole Island First Nation.

Land usage

Most of the watershed away from the river in Ontario and Michigan is used for agriculture. A few forest and wetland remnants are present, although their area has declined significantly since European settlement. Much of the shoreline on both sides of the St. Clair River is urbanized and heavily industrialized. Intensive development has occurred in and near the cities of Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario. The heaviest concentration of industry (including a large petrochemical complex) lies along the Ontario shore south of Sarnia. Several communities along the St. Clair rely on the river as their primary source of drinking water. About one-third to one-half of the residents of Michigan receive their water from the St. Clair/Detroit River waterway. Industries -- including petroleum refineries, chemical manufacturers, paper mills, salt producers and electric power plants -- also need high quality water for their operations, although there have been some cases in recent years where these industries have contaminated river waters after discharging pollutants.

Land habitat

Land areas of the St. Clair River shoreline and flats consist of two biological zones: upland and transitional, both of which are normally above the water table, but which may be flooded periodically. The upland forests consist of deciduous species, many of which are near their northern climatic limit. Most pre-European settlement trees have been cleared for agriculture, industry, or urbanization. Remaining forest stands, such as oak savannas as well as lakeplain prairies, are found along the southern reaches of the river, particularly on the islands of the St. Clair River Delta and on the Michigan shore in Algonac State Park. Transitional species are abundant in the low-lying regions, categorized as shrub ecotones, wet meadows, sedge marshes, and island shorelines and beaches. This habitat is home to water and land mammals, including humans, as well as songbirds, waterfowl, insects, pollinators, reptiles, and amphibians.

Water habitat

The aquatic habitat of the St. Clair River ranges from deep and fast near the Blue Water Bridge to shallow and slow in the lower river near its discharge point into Lake St. Clair. Each area provides a unique habitat for aquatic life:
- macrophytes (visible marine plants),
- benthic macroinvertebrates (organisms that live at the bottom of a lake or stream),
- phytoplankton and zooplankton (floating plants and animals),
- emergent vegetation (plants seen above the water surface),
- fish (from minnows to large sport fish).

Area of Concern

The St. Clair River is listed as an Area of Concern (AOC) because of pollutants such as bacteria, heavy metals, and toxic organics, which had come from municipal and industrial discharges, urban and rural runoff, combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and contaminated sediments. The St. Clair River AOC includes the entire river, from the Blue Water Bridge to the southern tip of Seaway Island, west to St. Johns Marsh and east to include the north shore of Mitchells Bay on Lake St. Clair. Anchor Bay is not included. Through the Great Lakes agreement, a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) was created to initiate cleanup measures. It consists of six steps:
- Restrictions on fish consumption
- Bird and animal deformities
- Degradation of benthos
- Restrictions on dredging activities
- Restrictions on drinking water consumption
- Beach closings
- Degradation of aesthetics
- Added cost to agriculture and industry
- Loss of fish and wildlife habitat The RAP for the St. Clair River AOC was initiated in 1985. A binational group, called the RAP Team, was established in 1987 to develop the plan and ensure adequate and appropriate public involvement. The RAP Team included representatives from federal, state, and provincial governments.

Crossings

The river is crossed by the St. Clair Tunnel (rail) and Blue Water Bridge (road) from south to north, with both crossings between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.
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River

:For the Second World War frigate class, see River class frigate. For the state of Nigeria, see Rivers State. MyScene.]] A river is a large natural waterway. It is a specific term in the vernacular for large streams, stream being the umbrella term used in the scientific community for all flowing natural waterways. In the vernacular, stream may be used to refer to smaller streams, as may creek, run, fork, etc. Passage via a river or stream is the usual way rainfall on land finds its way to the ocean or other large body of water such as a lake. A river consists of several basic parts, originating from headwaters or a spring at the source, that flow into the main stream. Smaller side streams that join the river are tributaries. Water flow is normally confined to a channel, with a bottom or bed between banks. The lower end of a river is its base level, commonly called its mouth, a river typically widens at its end and forms what is known as a river delta or estuary.

Topography

estuary.]]A river conducts water by constantly flowing perpendicular to the elevation curve of its bed, thereby converting the positional energy of the water into kinetic energy. Where a river flows over relatively flat areas, the river will meander: start to form loops and snake through the plain by eroding the river banks. Loops that are formed are sometimes cut off, forming a shorter river channel and leaving a remnant, oxbow lake. Rivers that carry large amounts of sediment develop conspicuous deltas at their mouths. Rivers whose mouths are in saline tidal waters may form estuaries. There are 4 main types of rivers. These types are:
- Youthful river - a river with a steep gradient that has very few tributaries and flows quickly. Its channels erode deeper rather than wider.
- Mature river - a river with a gradient that is less steep than those of youthful rivers and flows more slowly than youthful rivers. A mature river is fed by many tributaries and has more discharge than a youthful river. Its channels erode wider rather than deeper.
- Old river - a river with a low gradient and low erosive energy. Old rivers are characterized by flood plains.
- Rejuvenated river - a river with a gradient that is raised by the earth's movement. Where a river descends quickly over sloped topography, rapids with whitewater or even waterfalls occur. Rapids are often used for recreational purposes (see Whitewater kayaking). Waterfalls are sometimes used as sources of energy, via watermills and hydroelectric plants. Rivers begin at their source in higher ground, either rising from a spring, forming from glacial meltwater, flowing from a body of water such as a lake, or simply from damp, boggy places where the soil is waterlogged. They end at their base level where they flow into a larger body of water, the sea, a lake, or as a tributary to another (usually larger) river. In arid areas rivers sometimes end by losing water to evaporation and percolation into dry, porous material such as sand, soil, or pervious rock. The area drained by a river and its tributaries is called its watershed or catchment basin. (Watershed is also used however to mean a boundary between catchment basins.) Starting at the mouth of the river and following it upstream as it branches again and again the resulting river network forms a dendritic (tree-like) structure that is an example of a natural random fractal.

Biology

The flora and fauna of rivers are much different from those of the ocean because the water is fresh (non-salty). Living things in a river must be adapted to the current of the moving water.

Pollution

Human pollution of rivers is common, and very few rivers in the world today are clean of man-made substances. The most common pollutant is sewage piped into rivers, but chemical pollution is also common, and industrial accidents (and/or negligence) account for much of the destruction of riparian biomes. Heated water dumped into rivers by power plants and factories also affects river life.

Navigation

The Rhine is the busiest river in the world for transport ships. Inland vessels use the river to reach the major cities in Germany, Eastern France and Switzerland to transport bulk goods, liquids, containers AND passengers into the hinterland of the Port of Rotterdam and the ports of Amsterdam and Antwerp. Many millions of tons of goods are transported upstream yearly from these three sea ports to the industries near Nijmegen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Neuss, Köln, Koblenz, Mainz, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Strasbourg, Colmar, Mulhouse and Basel. The lower part of the river is navigable for the largest inland vessels (up to 135 meters long and 17 meters wide) with an available depth of more than 2,50 even at the lower water levels. The further upstream, the more depth restrictions: at low water periods draught of ships is often limited to 1,90 m. for the stretch around Bingen (between the mouths of the Mosel and the Main). Upstream from Karlsruhe the Rhine is the border between France and Germany. The French have canalized the river by means of a series of hydropower dams and double ship locks, thus ensuring a year round navigable depth of 3.50 meters. (Source: NoorderSoft Waterways Database)

Dams

In places where the elevation changes of a river are great, dams for hydroelectric plants and other purposes are often built. This disrupts the natural flow of the river, and creates a lake behind the dam. Often the building of dams affects the whole of the river, even the part above the dam, as migrating fish are hindered (see fish ladder), waterflow is no longer bounded by seasonal changes and sediment flow is blocked. Dams are useful in many ways, such as providing HEP, acting as regulator of river flow so as to regulate the occurrence of flooding, which is especially important to wet-rice agriculture, and also to improve navigation and transport on the river. Often, dams such as Hoover Dam along Colorado River become famous tourist attractions. However, critics of dams, especially 'Green' advocates, argue that dams remove upper-river biodiversity such as through deforestation and forced migration of rural villages and indigenous tribes. Furthermore, trapping of river sediments behind the dams lead to salination and loss of nutrients for down-water fish. It also raises concern of eathquakes due to instablity of incompetent dams which have to support thousands of tonnes of sediments behind them. One very famous, and problematic, dam is the Aswan High Dam in the Nile.

Flooding

Flooding is a natural part of a river's cycles. Human activity, however, has upset the natural way flooding occurs by walling off rivers and straightening their courses. Removal of bogs, swamps and other wetlands in order to produce farmland has reduced the absorption zones for excess water and made floods into sudden disasters rather than gradual increases in water flow. In ancient Egypt, life was made possible through the floods of the Nile and the accompanying silt and sediment which enriched the fields with fresh nutrients. Nowadays, since people have built on these floodplains, floods are disasters, causing untold property loss each year. Human interference in the form of deforestation can also worsen conditions. The removal of vegetation leads to a reduction in Interception (vegetation stopping precipitation) and the 'weakening' of soil since plant roots no longer hold it together. As a result there is a reduced Infiltration capacity (how much water the soil can hold) and greater infiltration (precipitation going into the ground). This leads to faster soil saturation and therefore greater overland flow (also known as surface run off) and therefore, there are flash floods as the lag time decrease.

Logjams

Logjams are barriers within rivers, created by dead and uprooted trees. Over time, the obstruction prevents further logs to bypass, resulting in the creation of new network channels. According to author David R. Montgomery in his book, King of Fish, a logjam also causes water to buildup within a small space, forming peaceful pools within the main channel for young salmon to live within. The existence of these deep pools along with the complex web of channels creates an ideal salmon habitat. Today, many believe that the rebuilding of salmon runs is contingent upon reproducing the same environment shaped by logjams. As a result, many scientists have attempted to recreate artificial logjams. Marc Duboiski and Mike Ramsey of the Salmon Recovery Funding board staff, George Pess of the National Marine Fisheries Service, and Kevin Bauersfeld of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have prepared the Report to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board On the Engineered Log Jam (ELJ) Workshop ([http://iac.wa.gov/Documents/SRFB/Log_Jam_Report.pdf#search='log%20jams%20and%20salmon']), with the hope of mimicking natural logjams. Report to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board On the Engineered Log Jam (ELJ) Workshop."]]

Management

In its natural state a river may be inconvenient to man in a variety of ways. Rivers in inhabited areas have therefore been managed or controlled to make them more useful and less disruptive to human activity.
- The river channel may be dredged to make it deeper for navigation or to prevent flooding.
- Dams (see above) or weirs may be built to control the flow, store water, or extract energy.
- Levees may be built to prevent flooding.
- Sluice gates provide a means of controlling flow and adjusting river levels.
- floodways may be added to draw off excess river water in times of flood.
- Canals connect rivers to one another for water transfer or navigation.
- River courses may be modified to improve navigation, or straightened to increase the flow rate. River management is an ongoing activity as rivers tend to 'undo' the modifications made by man. Dredged channels silt up, sluice mechanisms deteriorate with age, levees and dams may suffer seepage or catastrophic failure.

River lists

(See also :Category:Lists of rivers.)

The world's ten longest rivers

It is difficult to measure the length of a river, mainly because rivers have a fractal property, which means that the more precise the measure, the longer the river will seem. Also, it's hard to state exactly where a river begins or ends, as very often, upstream, rivers are formed by seasonal streams, swamps, or changing lakes. This is an average measurement. # Nile (6,690 km) # Amazon (6,400 km) # Yangtze (Chang Jiang) (6,380 km) # Mississippi-Missouri (6,270 km) # Ob-Irtysh (5,570 km) # Huang He (Yellow) (5,464 km) # Amur (4,410 km) # Congo (4,380 km or 4,670 km). (The source of this river is disputed.) # Lena (4,260 km) # Mackenzie (4,240 km) For a longer list see Longest rivers. This also gives more information on measuring river lengths.

Well-known rivers (in alphabetic order)

- Aa - multiple rivers in Europe
- Amazon - largest river in the world
- American
- Amu Darya
- Amur - principal river of eastern Siberia
- Arkansas - major tributary of Mississippi River
- Arno - river through Florence
- Arvandrud (Shatt al-Arab) the large border river between Iran and Iraq.
- Brahmaputra - principal river in North East India & Tibet
- Chao Phraya - principal river of Thailand
- Colorado (Argentina)
- Colorado (U.S.) - principal river of American West
- Columbia - principal river of Pacific Northwest
- Congo - principal river of central Africa
- Danube - principal river of central and southeastern Europe
- De La Plata - the widest river in the world. South America
- Ebro - river in northwest Spain
- Elbe - major German river, Hamburg is situated on it
- Euphrates - twin principal river of Mesopotamia(Iraq)
- Ganges - principal river of India
- Han-gang - river of Seoul
- Helmand River - Principle river of (Afghanistan)
- Hari Rud (Afghanistan)
- Huang He (Yellow) - principal river of China
- Hudson - principal river of New York
- Indus - principal river of Pakistan
- Jordan - principal river of Israel
- Karun - principal (navigable) river of southern Iran.
- Kaveri - principal river of South India
- Lena - principal river of northeastern Siberia
- Mackenzie - longest river in Canada
- Magdalena - principal river of Colombia
- Main - river in Germany
- Mekong - principal river of Southeast Asia
- Mersey - river on which sits the English city of Liverpool
- Meuse - principal river of the southern provinces of the Netherlands and eastern Belgium.
- Mississippi - principal river of central United States
- Missouri - principal river of the Great Plains
- Murray - principal river of southeastern Australia
- Niger - principal river of west Africa
- Nile - Possibly the longest river in the world (or second after the Amazon)
- Ob - large river of Siberia
- Odra - major river in Eastern Europe
- Ohio - largest river between Mississippi and Appalachians
- Orinoco - principal river of Venezuela
- Parana - major South American river
- Paraguay - principal tributary of Parana river and major South American river in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina
- Po - principal river of Italy
- Potomac River - principal river of the District of Columbia in the United States
- Rhine - principal river of northwestern Europe
- Rhône - principal river of southern France
- Rio Grande - border between United States and Mexico
- Saint Lawrence - drains Great Lakes
- Seine - river of Paris
- Segura- in southeast Spain
- Severn- longest river in Great Britain
- Shinano-gawa - longest river in Japan
- Snake - largest tributary to the Columbia river in Washington
- Tajo - largest river in the Iberian Peninsula
- Tay - largest river in Scotland
- Thames - river of London
- Tiber - river of Rome
- Tigris - twin principal river of Mesopotamia(Iraq)
- Tonegawa - largest river in Japan
- Vistula - principal river of Poland
- Volga - principal river of Russia
- Yangtze (Chang Jiang) - longest river in China
- Yenisei - large river of Siberia
- Yukon - principal river of Alaska and Yukon Territory
- Zambezi - principal river of southeastern Africa

Other lists

- List of waterways
- List of rivers by continent
- List of rivers of Europe
- Rivers of the United Kingdom
- List of rivers of Asia
- List of rivers of Africa
- List of rivers of Australia
- List of rivers of New Zealand
- List of rivers of the Americas
- List of rivers of Oceania
- List of river name etymologies

Rivers in myth and fiction

Real rivers

- The Thames in Edward Rutherfurd's London.
- The Thames in Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men in a Boat.
- The Thames and the Congo in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.
- The Mississippi in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.
- The River Liffey through Dublin in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake.

Mythological rivers

- In Greek mythology, the Acheron, Cocytus, Phlegethon, Lethe and Styx (the five rivers of Hades); and the Eridanus.
- The Alph, an underground river imagined by various mystics and mentioned in Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan.
- The Sambation river stops flowing every Saturday.

Fictional rivers

- River Ankh traversing the city of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.
- Chocolate river in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
- River Djel in the country of Djelibeybi in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.
- The River in the Riverworld novels of Philip José Farmer.
- Rivers of Middle-earth in various works of J. R. R. Tolkien.

External links

- [http://www.srbc.net/about.htm Management: River Basin Commissions]. Category:Bodies of water Category:Geomorphology zh-min-nan:Hô ja:川 ko:강 ms:Sungai simple:River th:แม่น้ำ

Lake Huron

Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of eastern North America and separates Michigan from Ontario. Georgian Bay, the easternmost part of Lake Huron, is entirely within Canada. Lake Huron's name comes from early French explorers who named it based on the Huron Indians inhabiting the region. Lake Huron is separated from Lake Michigan, which lies at the same level, and connects by the narrow Straits of Mackinac, making them geologically and hydrologically the same body of water (sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron). Lake Superior is slightly higher than both. It drains into the St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie which then flows southward into Lake Huron. The water then flows south to the St. Clair River, at Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario. Cities on Lake Huron include: Saginaw, Michigan, Bay City, Michigan, Alpena, Michigan, Cheboygan, Michigan, St. Ignace, Michigan, Port Huron, Michigan, Goderich. Ontario and Sarnia, Ontario. Sarnia, Ontario The Great Lakes Waterway continues thence to Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River and Detroit, Michigan, into Lake Erie and thence, via Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, to the Atlantic Ocean. The surface of Lake Huron is 579 feet (176 metres) above sea level. The lake's average depth is 195 feet (59 metres), while the maximum depth is 750 feet (230 metres). It covers an area of about 23,000 square miles (59 600 square kilometres). It contains 3,538 cubic km of water. The shoreline extends roughly 3,827 miles (6,159 kilometres). Like the other Great Lakes, it is the remnant of the larger Glacial Lake Agassiz, formed by melting ice as the continental glaciers retreated. A notable feature of the lake is Manitoulin Island, the world's largest lake island.

External links

- [http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfish/textonly/LakeHuron.html Fish Species of Lake Huron]
- [http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/Maps/EastGL.shtml Lake Huron Data] Category:Great Lakes Category:Great Lakes Waterway ja:ヒューロン湖

Lake St. Clair, North America

] Lake St. Clair (French: Lac Sainte-Claire) is a lake between Ontario, Canada and Michigan in the United States, located about 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Detroit and Windsor, Ontario. Approximately 1114 km² (430 mi²) in area, the lake is part of the Great Lakes system, although it is not considered to be one of the Great Lakes. The lake, along with the St. Clair River and Detroit River, provides the connection between Lake Huron to the north and Lake Erie to the south. The lake is 42 km (26 mi) from north to south and 37 km (24 mi) from east to west. It is a very shallow lake with an average depth of about 10 feet (3 metres), and a maximum natural depth of 21 feet (6.4 metres), although it is 27 feet (8.2 metres) deep in the navigation channel which has been dredged for freighter passage. The lake is fed from Lake Huron at its north by the St. Clair River, which has an extensive delta, the largest within the Great Lakes system. The Thames River and Sydenham River enter the lake from the east in southwestern Ontario, and the Clinton River enters from Michigan on the west. The lake is drained on its southwest end into Lake Erie by the Detroit River. The lake served as part of the extensive navigational system of the Great Lakes for First Nations/Native Americans. On August 12, 1679 an expedition led by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle named it Lac Sainte-Claire as they discovered it on the feast day of Saint Clare of Assisi. On the Michigan side, the southern portion of the lake shore is lined by the wealthy eastern suburbs of Detroit, known as the Grosse Pointe communities. Public access to the lake is highly restricted in this area, limited to private marinas and parks that are open only to residents of the specific community. Further north, in Harrison Township, lies Metro Beach, a popular public beach. Several yacht clubs are located along this shore, including the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe Shores and Crescent Sail Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. Category:Great Lakes Category:Great Lakes Waterway ja:セントクレア湖 (北米)

United States-Canada border

Canada and the United States of America share the longest common border among any two countries that is not militarized or actively patrolled. The terrestrial boundary (including small portions of maritime boundaries on the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic coasts as well as the Great Lakes) is 8,891 km long, including 2,477 km shared with Alaska.

History

Officially known as the International Boundary, the present border originated with the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the war between Great Britain and the separating colonies which would form the United States. The Jay Treaty of 1794 created the International Boundary Commission, which was charged with surveying and mapping the boundary. Disputes over the interpretation of boundary demarcation led to the Aroostook War and the ensuing Webster–Ashburton Treaty in 1842 which better defined the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick and the Province of Canada. Westward expansion of both British North America and the United States saw the boundary extended west from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains under the Convention of 1818. U.S. President James Knox Polk's expansionist desires for the northern boundary of the U.S. to be 54°40′ north (related to the southern boundary of Russia's Alaska Territory), and Great Britain's claim that the border should follow the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean, led to the Oregon Treaty in 1846, which established the 49th parallel as the boundary through the Rockies. In 1903 a joint Great Britain–Canada–U.S. tribunal established the boundary with Alaska. In 1925 the International Boundary Commission was made a permanent organization responsible for surveying and mapping the boundary, maintaining boundary monuments (and buoys where applicable), as well as keeping the boundary clear of brush and vegetation for 6 metres (20 feet) on each side of the line.

Security

Commonly referred to as the world's longest undefended border, the International Boundary is actually defended, but by law enforcement and not military personnel. The relatively low level of security measures stands in stark contrast to that of the United States-Mexico border (1/3 as long as the Canada-U.S. border), which is actively patrolled by U.S. customs and immigration personnel to prevent Mexican citizens and other illegal migrants from illegally entering the United States (see United States-Mexico barrier). After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, border security along the International Boundary was dramatically (and often covertly) improved by both nations in both populated and rural areas. Both nations are also actively involved in detailed and extensive tactical and strategic intelligence sharing. American and Canadian citizens owning property adjacent to the border are required to report construction of any physical border crossing on their land to their respective governments, and this is enforced by the International Boundary Commission. Where required, fences or vehicle blockades are used. All persons crossing the border are required to report to the respective customs and immigration agencies in each country. In remote areas where staffed border crossings are not available, there are hidden sensors on roads and also scattered in wooded areas near crossing points and on many trails and railways, but there are not enough border personnel on either side to verify and stop coordinated incursions. Parts of the International Boundary cross through mountainous terrain or heavily forested areas, but significant portions also cross remote prairie farmland and the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River, in addition to the maritime components of the boundary at the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans. The actual number of U.S. and Canadian border security personnel is not known but estimated to be less than 1,000 in total, largely clustered near major crossing points. In comparison, there are in excess of 7,000 U.S. border security personnel on the Mexico-U.S. border alone. In past years Canadian officials have complained of cigarette and firearms smuggling from the United States while U.S. officials have complained of drug smuggling from Canada. Human smuggling into both countries, but primarily from Canada into the U.S., has been an ongoing problem for border security and law enforcement personnel, although a minor one in comparison to the Mexico-U.S. border. In July 2005 law enforcement personnel arrested three men who had built a 100-meter tunnel under the border between British Columbia and Washington that they used for smuggling marijuana, the first such tunnel known on this border.

Remaining boundary disputes

Main article: List of areas disputed by the United States and Canada
- Machias Seal Island (Maine/New Brunswick)
- Strait of Juan de Fuca (Washington/British Columbia)
- Dixon Entrance (Alaska/British Columbia)
- Beaufort Sea (Alaska/Yukon)

Other border crossings (airports, seaports)

The U.S. maintains immigration offices, called "pre-clearance facilities," in Canadian airports with international air service to the United States (Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver and beginning in 2006, Halifax). This expedites travel by allowing flights originating in Canada to land at a U.S. airport without being processed as an international arrival. Similar arrangements exist at major Canadian seaports which handle sealed direct import shipments into the United States. Canada also maintains equivalent personnel at selected U.S. airports and seaports. Additionally, at the main train station in Vancouver, passengers using the Amtrak train to Seattle are required to pass through US "pre-clearance facilities" and pass their baggage through an x-ray before being allowed to board the train, which makes no more stops before crossing the border. Several ocean-based ferry services operate between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to the state of Maine, as well as between the province of British Columbia and the state of Washington. There are also several ferry services in the Great Lakes operating between the province of Ontario and the states of Michigan, New York, and Ohio.

External links

- [http://www.internationalboundarycommission.org International Boundary Commission] Category:Canada and the United States Category:Borders Category:Geography_of_the_United_States

Ontario

:This article describes the Canadian province. For other usages, see Ontario (disambiguation). Ontario is the most populous and second-largest in area of Canada's ten provinces. It is found in east-central Canada. Its capital is Toronto. Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is also located in Ontario. Ontario has a population (July 1, 2005) of 12,541,410, representing approximately 37.9% of the total Canadian population (Ontarians) and an area of 1,076,395km² (415,598 sq. mi.).

Geography

Ontario is bounded on the north by Hudson Bay and James Bay, on the east by Quebec, on the west by Manitoba, and on the south by the American states of Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Ontario's long American border is formed almost entirely by lakes and rivers, starting in Lake of the Woods and continuing to the Saint Lawrence River near Cornwall; it passes through the four Great Lakes on which Ontario has coastline, namely Lakes Superior, Huron (which includes Georgian Bay), Erie, and Ontario (for which the province is named; Ontario itself is an Iroquois word meaning "beautiful lake" or "beautiful water"). There are approximately 250,000 lakes and over 100,000 kilometres of rivers in the province. The province consists of three main geographical regions:
- the thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, a mainly infertile area rich in minerals and studded with lakes and rivers; sub-regions are Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario.
- the mostly unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the extreme north and northeast, mainly swampy and sparsely forested; and
- the temperate, and therefore most populous region, the fertile Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Valley in the south where agriculture and industry are concentrated. Southern Ontario is further sub-divided into four regions; Western Ontario (sometimes called Southwestern Ontario), Golden Horseshore, Central Ontario and Eastern Ontario. The Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern section, its northern extent is parts of the Greater Toronto Area at the western end of Lake Ontario. The Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies 90 per cent of the surface area of the province; conversely Southern Ontario contains 94 per cent of the population (see article Geography of Canada). Point Pelee National Park is a peninsula in southwestern Ontario (near Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan) that extends into Lake Erie and is the part of Canada's mainland furthest south. Pelee Island in Lake Erie is even further south. Both are south of 42°N slighty further south than the northern border of California.

Demographics

The major racial/ethnic groups in Ontario are:
- European: 80.9% (Major groups: English, Irish, Scottish, French, German, Italian)
- South Asian: 4.9%
- Chinese: 3.7%
- Black: 3.6%
- Aboriginal: 1.7%
- Filipino: 1.3%
- Latin-American: 0.9%
- Other: 3.0% Increasing immigration from all parts of the world, especially to Toronto and its environs, is rapidly diversifying the province's ethnic makeup. About five per cent of the population of Ontario is Franco-Ontarian. 10 largest municipalities by population

Weather

Franco-Ontarian The weather in Ontario is very diverse. The south, including Greater Toronto Area receives very hot, humid weather in the summer, as the stronger the Bermuda high pressure over the Atlantic Ocean, the more warm, humid air is transported northward from the the Gulf of Mexico. Severe thunderstorms peak in frequency in June and July, most notably in Southwestern and Central Ontario. Northwestern Ontario also receives short periods of hot weather and severe storms. In the winter, lake effect snow squalls affect three primary areas in Ontario known as the "snow belts", the Algoma District in Northeastern Ontario on the east end of Lake Superior; much of the Georgian Bay shoreline including Killarney, Parry Sound District, Muskoka and Simcoe County; the Lake Huron shore from east of Sarnia northward to the Bruce Peninsula. Wind whipped snowsqualls or lake effect snow can affect areas much further inland, as far as 100km or greater from the shore but the heaviest snows usually occur within 20km from the shoreline. At other times, all regions of the province may encounter snow squalls.

Economy

Ontario's rivers, particularly its share of the Niagara River, make it rich in hydroelectric energy. This competitive advantage, as well as excellent transportation links to the American heartland, has contributed to making manufacturing the principal industry, found mainly in the Golden Horseshoe region, the most industrialized area in Canada. Important products include motor vehicles, iron, steel, food, electrical appliances, machinery, chemicals, and paper. Ontario surpassed the American state of Michigan in car production, assembling 2.696 million vehicles in 2004 (see Canada-United States Automotive Agreement). Some economists believe that the North American Free Trade Agreement has led to a decline in manufacturing in part of North America's manufacturing "Rust Belt" that includes a portion of Southern Ontario from roughly Windsor through to St. Catharines (south of Toronto). This area and the Greater Toronto region contain the bulk of the auto sector in the province. As a result of steeply delcining sales, on November 21, 2005 General Motors announced massive layoffs at production facilities across North America including two large GM plants in Oshawa and a drive train facility in St. Catharines by 2008 resulting in 8,000 job losses in Ontario alone. Uncertainty also looms for money losing Ford Motor Co. and an announcement on cutbacks is likely in the coming weeks. Toronto is the centre of Canada's financial services and banking industry. Surburban cities Brampton and Mississauga are large product distribution centres, in addition to having automobile related industries. The information technology sector is also important, especially around Markham, Waterloo and Ottawa. Mining and the forest products industry, notably pulp and paper, are important to the economy of the Canadian Shield of Northern Ontario. Nominal Gross Domestic Product in 2003 was an estimated C$494.229 billion (40.6% of the Canadian total), larger than the GDP of Austria, Belgium or Sweden. Broken down by sector, the primary sector is 1.8% of total GDP, secondary sector 28.5%, and service sector 69.7%. Further economic information on provincial GDP etc. at [http://www.2ontario.com/welcome/oo_000.asp Ontario Facts]

Agriculture

Gross Domestic Product] Once the dominant industry, agriculture occupies a small percentage of the population. The number of farms has decreased from 68,633 in 1991 to 59,728 in 2001, but farms have increased in average size. Cattle, small grains and dairy were the common types of farms in the 2001 census. The fruit, grape and vegetable growing industry is located primarily on the Niagara Peninsula and along Lake Erie. The Ontario origins of Massey-Ferguson Ltd., once one of the largest farm implement manufacturers in the world, indicate the importance agriculture once had to the Ontario economy (see Geography of Canada for more detail).

History

Pre-1867

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the region was inhabited both by Algonquian (Ojibwa, Cree and Algonquin) and Iroquoian (Iroquois and Huron) tribes. The French explorer Étienne Brûlé explored part of the area in 1610-12. The English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into Hudson Bay in 1611 and claimed the area for England, but Samuel de Champlain reached Lake Huron in 1615 and French missionaries began to establish posts along the Great Lakes. French settlement was hampered by their hostilities with the Iroquois, who would ally themselves with the British.

Image:Ontario.jpg
Map of Ontario, showing CMA's and CA's

The British established trading posts on Hudson Bay in the late 17th century and began a struggle for domination of Ontario. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years War by awarding nearly all of France's North American possessions (New France) to Britain. The region was annexed to Quebec in 1774. From 1783 to 1796, the United Kingdom granted United Empire Loyalists leaving the United States following the American Revolution 200 acres (0.8 km²) of land and other items with which to rebuild their lives. This measure substantially increased the population of Canada west of the Ottawa River during this period, a fact recognized by the Constitutional Act of 1791, which split Quebec into The Canadas: Upper Canada west of the Ottawa River, and Lower Canada east of it. John Graves Simcoe was appointed Upper Canada's first Lieutenant-Governor in 1793. American troops in the War of 1812 invaded Upper Canada across the Niagara River and the Detroit River but were successfully pushed back by British and Native American forces. The Americans gained control of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, however, and during the Battle of York occupied the Town of York (later named Toronto) in 1813. Not able to hold the town, the departing soldiers burned it to the ground. After the War of 1812, many settlers from the British Isles immigrated to Upper Canada, and began to chafe against the aristocratic Family Compact that governed the region, much as the Château Clique ruled Lower Canada. Accordingly, rebellion in favour of responsible government rose in both regions; Louis-Joseph Papineau led the Lower Canada Rebellion and William Lyon Mackenzie led the Upper Canada Rebellion. For more on the rebellions of 1837, see History of Canada. Although both rebellions were crushed, the British government sent Lord Durham to investigate the causes of the unrest. He recommended that self-government be granted and that Lower and Upper Canada be re-joined in an attempt to assimilate the Québécois. Accordingly, the two colonies were merged into the Province of Canada by the Act of Union (1840), with Ontario becoming known as Canada West. Parliamentary self-government was granted in 1848. Due to heavy immigration the population of Canada West more than doubled by 1851 over the previous decade, and as a result for the first time the English-speaking population of Canada West surpassed the French-speaking population of Canada East. A political stalemate between the French- and English-speaking legislators, as well as fear of aggression from the United States during the American Civil War, led the political elite to hold a series of conferences in the 1860s to effect a broader federal union of all British North American colonies. The British North America Act took effect on July 1, 1867, establishing the Dominion of Canada, initially with four provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. The Province of Canada was divided at this point into Ontario and Quebec so that each linguistic group would have its own province. Both Quebec and Ontario were required by section 93 of the BNA Act to safeguard existing educational rights and privileges of the Protestant and Catholic minorities. Neither province had a constitutional requirement to protect its French- or English-speaking minority. Toronto was formally established as Ontario's provincial capital at this time.

From 1867 to 1896

Once constituted as a province, Ontario proceeded to assert its economic and legislative power. In 1872, the lawyer Oliver Mowat became premier, and remained as premier until 1896. He fought for provincial rights, weakening the power of the federal government in provincial matters, usually through well-argued appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. His battles with the federal government greatly decentralized Canada, giving the provinces far more power than John A. Macdonald had intended. He consolidated and expanded Ontario's educational and provincial institutions, created districts in Northern Ontario, and fought tenaciously to ensure that those parts of Northwestern Ontario not historically part of Upper Canada (the vast areas north and west of the Lake Superior-Hudson Bay watershed, known as the District of Keewatin) would become part of Ontario, a victory embodied in the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889. He also presided over the emergence of the province into the economic powerhouse of Canada. Mowat was the creator of what is often called Empire Ontario. Beginning with Sir John A. Macdonald's the National Policy (1879) and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (1875-1885) through Northern Ontario and the Prairies to British Columbia, Ontario manufacturing and industry flourished.

From 1896 to the present

Mineral exploitation began in the late 19th century, leading to the rise of important mining centres like Sudbury, Cobalt and Timmins. The province harnessed its water power to generate hydro-electric power, and created the state-controlled Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, later Ontario Hydro. The availability of cheap electric power further facilitated the development of industry. In 1904, the Canadian automobile industry was launched in what is now Windsor, Ontario with the establishment of the Ford Motor Company of Canada. General Motors of Canada Ltd. was formed in 1918. The motor vehicle industry would become the major industrial component of the Ontario economy. In July 1912, the Conservative government of Sir James P. Whitney issued Regulation 17 which severely limited the availability of French-language schooling to the province's French-speaking minority. French-Canadians reacted with outrage, journalist Henri Bourassa denouncing the "Prussians of Ontario". It was eventually repealed in 1927. Influenced by events in the United States, the government of Sir William Hearst introduced prohibition of alcoholic drinks in 1916 with the passing of the Ontario Temperance Act. Prohibition came to an end in 1927 with the establishment of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario by the government of George Howard Ferguson. The sale of liquor and beer is still tightly-controlled by the state to ensure that the maximum revenues go to the provincial treasury. The post-World War II period was one of exceptional prosperity and growth. Ontario, and the Greater Toronto Area in particular, have been the recipients of most immigration to Canada. Changes in federal immigration law have led to a massive influx of non-Europeans since the 1980s. From a largely ethnically British province, Ontario has now become very culturally diverse. The nationalist movement in Quebec, particularly after the election of the Parti Québécois in 1976, contributed to driving many businesses out of Quebec to Ontario, and Toronto surpassed Montreal as the largest city and economic centre of Canada. According to the provincial government website, English is Ontario's official language, although French language rights have been extended to the legal and educational systems under the French Language Services Act of 1990.

Government

1990 The British North America Act 1867 section 69 stipulated "There shall be a Legislature for Ontario consisting of the Lieutenant Governor and of One House, styled the Legislative Assembly of Ontario". The assembly has 103 seats representing ridings elected in a first-past-the-post system across the province. The legislative buildings at Queen's Park in Toronto are the seat of government. Following the Westminster system, the leader of the party currently holding the most seats in the assembly is known as the "Premier and President of the Council" (Executive Council Act R.S.O. 1990). The Premier chooses the cabinet or Executive Council whose members are deemed "ministers of the Crown". Although the Legislative Assembly Act (R.S.O. 1990) refers to members of the assembly, the legislators are now called MPPs (Members of the Provincial Parliament) in English and députés de l'Assemblée législative in French, but they have also been called MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly), and both are acceptable. The title of Prime Minister of Ontario, while permissible in English and correct in French (le Premier ministre), is generally avoided in favour of "Premier" to avoid confusion with the Prime Minister of Canada.

Politics

Territorial evolution 1788-1899

Executive Council in Northwestern Ontario.]] Land was not legally subdivided into administrative units until a treaty had been concluded with the native peoples ceding the land (see Royal Proclamation of 1763). In 1788, while part of the Province of Quebec (1763-1791), southern Ontario was divided into four districts: Hesse, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Nassau. In 1792, the four districts were renamed: Hesse became the Western District, Lunenburg became the Eastern District, Mecklenburg became the Midland District, and Nassau became the Home District. Counties were created within the districts. By 1798, there were eight districts: Eastern, Home, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara and Western. By 1826, there were eleven districts: Bathurst, Eastern, Gore, Home, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, Ottawa, and Western. By 1838, there were twenty districts: Bathurst, Brock, Colbourne, Dalhousie, Eastern, Gore, Home, Huron, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, Ottawa, Prince Edward, Simcoe, Talbot, Victoria, Wellington and Western. In 1849, the districts of southern Ontario were abolished by the Province of Canada and county governments took over certain municipal responsibilities. The Province of Canada also began creating districts in sparsely populated Northern Ontario with the establishment of Algoma District and Nipissing District in 1858. The northern and western boundaries of Ontario were in dispute after Confederation. Ontario's right to Northwestern Ontario was determined by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1884 and confirmed by the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. By 1899, there were seven northern districts: Algoma, Manitoulin, Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay. Four more northern districts were created between 1907 and 1912: Cochrane, Kenora, Sudbury and Temiskaming.
- [http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/exhibits/maps/districts.htm Early Districts and Counties 1788-1899]

External links

- [http://www.gov.on.ca/ Government of Ontario]
- [http://atlas.gc.ca/rasterimages/english/maps/reference/provincesterritories/ont_new.pdf Map]
- [http://www.ontariotenants.ca/government/mpp.phtml Ontario MPP Contact Information]
- [http://www.ontarioghosttowns.com/ Ontario Ghost Towns and Abandoned Places]
- [http://www.historicbridges.org/b_s_ont.htm Learn about and see photos of historic bridges in southwestern Ontario]
- zh-min-nan:Ontario ko:온타리오 주 ja:オンタリオ州 simple:Ontario

Cargo

Cargo is a term used to denotes goods or produce being transported generally for commercial gain, usually on a ship, plane, train or lorry. Nowadays containers are used in all intermodal long-haul cargo transport.

External link

- [http://cargolaw.com/gallery.html The Gallery of Transport Loss -- Photos & Lessons of Disaster] Category:Commercial item transport and distribution Category:Transportation ja:貨物

Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are a group of five large lakes on or near the United States-Canadian border. They are the largest group of fresh water lakes on the earth and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence system is the largest fresh-water system in the world. They are sometimes referred to as inland seas.

Lakes

inland sea The Great Lakes are (west to east, general direction of water flow):
- Lake Superior (the largest and deepest, larger than the Czech Republic)
- Lake Michigan (the only one entirely in the U.S., the second largest in volume)
- Lake Huron (the second largest in area)
- Lake Erie (the smallest in volume and shallowest)
- Lake Ontario (the smallest in area, much lower altitude than the rest) A commonly used mnemonic for remembering the names of the lakes is HOMES, for Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior, although this mnemonic puts the lakes in no particular order. Alternative mnemonics such as Sister Mary Hates Ecumenical Overtures or She Made Harry Eat Onions place them in west-east order. Lakes Michigan and Huron, being hydrologically intertwined, are sometimes considered to be one entity: Lake Michigan-Huron. Considered together, Michigan-Huron would be larger in surface area than Lake Superior, but smaller in total water volume. Lake Michigan-Huron A much smaller sixth lake, Lake St. Clair, is part of the Great Lakes system between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, but is not considered one of the "Great Lakes". The system also includes the rivers that connect the lakes: St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, the St. Clair River between Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River between Lake St. Clair and Lake Erie, and the Niagara River and Niagara Falls, between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. (Lake Michigan is connected to Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinac.) Large islands and a peninsula divide Lake Huron into the lake proper and Georgian Bay. The lakes are bounded by Ontario (all of the lakes but Michigan), Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan (all but Ontario), Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Four of the five lakes straddle the U.S.-Canada border; the fifth, Lake Michigan, is entirely within the United States. The Saint Lawrence River, which marks the same international border for a portion of its course, is a primary outlet of these interconnected lakes, and flows through Quebec and past the Gaspé Peninsula to the northern Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic Ocean Sprinkled throughout the lakes are the approximately 35,000 Great Lakes islands, including Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, the largest island in any inland body of water, and Isle Royale in Lake Superior, the largest island in the largest lake (each island large enough to itself contain multiple lakes). The Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway opened the Great Lakes to ocean-going vessels. However the move to wider ocean-going container ships - which do not fit through the locks on these routes - has limited shipping on the lakes. Despite their vast size, large sections of the Great Lakes freeze over in winter, and most shipping stops during that season. There are some icebreakers that operate on the lakes. The lakes have an effect on weather in the region, known as lake effect. In winter, the moisture picked up by the prevailing winds from the west can produce very heavy snowfall, especially along lakeshores to the east such as in Michigan, Ontario, and New York. The most infamous example is the Blizzard of '77 in which previous heavy snowfall and strong winds running the length of Lake Erie covered Buffalo, New York in drifting snow. The lakes also moderate seasonal temperatures somewhat, by absorbing heat and cooling the air in summer, then slowly radiating that heat in autumn. This temperature buffering produces areas known as "fruit belts", where fruit typically grown farther south can be produced in commercial quantities.

Geologic pre-history

Image:Great Lakes Lake Superior.png|Lake Superior Image:Great Lakes Lake Michigan.png|Lake Michigan Image:Great Lakes Lake Ontario.png|Lake Ontario Image:Great Lakes Lake Huron.png|Lake Huron Image:Great Lakes Lake Erie.png|Lake Erie The Great Lakes were formed at the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, when the Laurentide ice sheet receded. When this happened, large glaciers left behind a large amount of meltwater (see Lake Agassiz) which filled up these holes, thus creating the Great Lakes as we know them today. 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 -- Herbert Simon called this escarpment the spinal cord of my native land.

Economy of the Great Lakes

The lakes are extensively used for transport, though cargo traffic has decreased considerably in recent years. The Great Lakes Waterway makes each of the lakes accessible. During settlement, the Great Lakes and its rivers were the only practical means of moving people and freight. Anything and everything floated on the lakes. Some ended up on the bottom due to storms, fires, collisions and underwater hazards. (See Edmund Fitzgerald and Le Griffon.) Barges from middle North America were able to reach the Atlantic Ocean from the Great Lakes when the Erie Canal opened in 1825. By 1848, with the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal at Chicago, direct access to the Mississippi River was possible from the lakes. 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 1800s 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, excepting ferries and a few foreign cruise ships, now has vanished. Yet, the immigration routes still have an effect today. Immigrants often formed their own communities and some areas have a pronounced ethnicity, say Dutch, German, Polish or Finnish, among 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. Since general freight these days is transported by railroads and trucks (lorries), domestic ships mostly move bulk cargoes, such as iron ore and its derivatives, 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. Ingredients for steel, however, are not the only bulk shipments made. Because the lake maritime community largely developed independently, it has its own language. Ships, no matter the size, are referred to as 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. 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 is the 1,000 by 105-foot (305 by 32-meter), 60,000 U.S. long ton (60,000 metric ton) self-unloader. This is a laker with a huge conveyor belt system that can unload itself by swinging a crane over the side. Understandably, because most things go by land and the fact that one modern ship is the equivalent of many older ships, the Great Lakes fleet is a fraction of what it once was.

Modern economy

The Great Lakes are used as a major mode of transport for bulk goods. The brigantine Le Griffon, which was commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was towed to the southern end of the Niagara River, to become the first sailing ship to travel the upper Great Lakes on August 7, 1679. In 2002, 162 million net tons of dry bulk cargo was moved on the Lakes. This was, in order of volume: iron ore, coal, stone, grain, salt, cement and potash. 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 they are too wide. The total amount of shipping on the lakes has been on a downward trend for several years. 1679 Recreational boating and tourism are major industries on the Great Lakes. 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 4 billion dollar (USD) a year industry with salmon, whitefish, smelt, lake trout, and walleye being major catches. 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.

Passenger Traffic on the Lakes

Several ferries operate on the Great Lakes to carry passengers to various islands, including Isle Royale, Pelee Island, Mackinac Island, Beaver Island, both Bois Blanc Islands, Kelleys Island, South Bass Island, North Manitou Island, South Manitou Island, Harsens Island, Manitoulin Island, and the Toronto Islands. As of 2005, three car ferry services cross the Great Lakes: a steamer across Lake Michigan from Ludington, Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin; a high speed catamaran on a second Lake Michigan route from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Muskegon, Michigan; and an international ferry across Lake Ontario from Rochester, New York to Toronto, Ontario.

Perils on the Inland Seas

Travel on the Lakes has not been without risks. Storms and reefs are a common threat, and many thousands of ships have sunk in these waters, the number estimates varying widely. The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, lost November 10, 1975, was the last major freighter lost on the lakes. The greatest concentration of these wrecks lies beneath Thunder Bay (Michigan) in Lake Huron near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge. This area is prone to sudden and severe storms, particularly in the autumn from late October until early December. In one single storm, the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, at least 19 ships went down across the lakes in 2 days time, killing at least 248 sailors. Eight of these vessels lie in the vicinity of Thunder Bay. Today there is a NOAA Marine Archeology Research Station located in the [http://thunderbay.noaa.gov/ Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary]. Here divers can explore more the than 200 shipwrecks that form one of the most concentrated and best preserved marine-archeology sites in the world.

Invasive species

The Great Lakes have been hit economically by various invasive species, two of the most significant being the sea lamprey and zebra mussel. The mussel clogs pipes leading to the lake and causes approximately $1 billion in damages per year while destroying native species. The lamprey feeds on the sport fish of the lake, making it less attractive to fishermen. An electric fence has been set up across the mouth of the Great Lakes in order to keep an invasive species of carp out of the area.

Political issues

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"[http://www.ohiodnr.com/water/planing/greatlksgov/fedstatut.htm], diversions of water from the Great Lakes basin requires the approval of all eight Great Lakes governors, which rarely occurs. International treaties regulate large diversions. In 1998, the Canadian company Nova Group won approval from the Province of Ontario to withdraw 600,000 m³ (158,000,000 US gal) of Lake Superior water annually to ship by tanker to Asian countries. Public outcry forced the abandonment of the plan before it began. The Rush-Bagot Agreement of 1817 limits the number of armed vessels permitted on the Great Lakes. Some are wondering if this agreement will survive the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Lake Champlain on the border between upstate New York and northwestern Vermont briefly became the sixth "Great Lake of the United States" on March 6, 1998, when President Clinton signed Senate Bill 927. This bill, which reauthorized the National Sea Grant Program, contained a line penned by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) 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. Following a small uproar (and several New York Times articles), the Great Lake status was rescinded (although Vermont universities continue to receive funds to monitor and study the lake.)

Great Lakes ecological challenges

The Lakes provided fish to the Native groups who lived near them or upon their shores. Early European settlers were astounded by both the variety and numbers of fish. Historically, fish populations were the early indicator of the condition of the Lakes, and have remained one of the key indicators even in our technological 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 (147 million pounds)," though the beginning of environmental impacts on the fish can be traced back nearly a century prior to those years. By 1801, New York legislators 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 nineteenth century, Upper Canada’s government found it necessary to introduce similar legislation prohibiting the use of weirs, nets, etc. at the mouths of Lake