Why is Lake Erie So Blue?

Dear readers, your high attention to Lake

The lake is comfortably located in a picturesque place, among the rocks, overgrown with impenetrable emerald forests.

Protected from all sides, as if from prying eyes, it is almost motionless when the weather is sunny.

The lake stays blue only in good weather and it becomes a mysterious

There are several legends about the origin of

They say that once upon a time, in a gloomy cave, there lived a wise old man with a long white beard like snow and blue eyes like the sky.

People from all over the world came to him to listen to instructive stories or get advice, and as a thank you they presented the old man with animal skins.

Soon he had a priceless collection of animal skins, greedy evil people found out about it and one night they mercilessly killed the old man in order to rob him without hindrance.

Immediately, icy streams of water fell on the villains and carried them out of the cave.

Water flooded the cave and the lifeless body of the old man, but his snow-white beard rose and made the resulting lake as bright as his life was, and bottomless blue eyes dyed it in a heavenly color.

The legend of the blue-eyed old man has taken root among the people, along with many other stories telling about the

and it answers the question why the water is so blue.

Why is Lake Erie So Blue?

Because it changes the color depending on the weather.

Perhaps, at the first glance at the expanse of the lake, you will be disappointed, because you expect to see crystal clear water, but in reality it looks unclear.

This can be explained by the fact that the area of

is big and the depth is not deep so light is not able to penetrate to the bottom, and therefore it seems that the water is muddy.

There is one more feature of this lake: it, like the sea, changes its color depending on the weather.

Why Is It Called Erie?

The name comes from

This lake is tectonic.

It is the fourth largest of all the Great Lakes, and the most shallow.

The eastern part of the North American mainland – and with it the area in which the lake is now located – has experienced several complex geological processes.

The vast lowlands in this part of North America formed during the Pleistocene, about two million years ago, and many of them were filled with water, forming a single drainage system.

A powerful movement of glaciers began, which took place in three periods, changing the relief of this part of the mainland, as a result of which the Great Lakes were formed.

The ancient soils under the current eastern part of the lake consisted mostly of lamellar shales, relatively easily displaced by water, under the western part of carbonate harder rocks.

That is why the eastern part of the lake is much deeper than the western part.

Lake Erie

is the warmest and shallowest of the Great Lakes, its coastal part freezes in December and thaws by March-April, there is enough rainfall – all the conditions for agriculture, fishing and navigation.

Port cities on the coast began to appear one after another in the 19th century and they focused mainly on heavy industry, ferrous metallurgy, transportation of coal, dolomite, gypsum, and sand mined in the surrounding lands.

Is Lake Erie Still Polluted?

Yes.

Lake Erie,

In the last few decades, excessive releases of phosphorus and nitrogen into the lake have led to an overgrowth of toxic algae and it leads to the growth of blue-green algae and the associated decrease in the amount of oxygen in the water of the lake, especially at its lower horizons.

Satellite images show that this process, scientifically eutrophication, is taking place over large areas.

Its symptom, the so-called water bloom, as established by the

US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Lake Erie

has also been classified as the lake with the highest mercury levels in the Great Lakes.

This mercury comes from point sources such as coal-fired power plants.

There are 22 coal-fired power plants in

All emitted mercury is stored locally.

Why is Lake Erie the Most Polluted Lake?

Because of an overproduction of phosphorus and nitrogen that comes to the lake with heavy rains.

Both the US and

, as industrial pollution and poaching threaten the preservation of the beauty and natural wealth of Erie.

The main reason for

pollution is the use of modern pesticides and animal waste leads to an overproduction of phosphorus and nitrogen, and heavy rainfall contributes to the entry of these wastes into the lake.