Talk:Lake Superior

message: A section on ports, cities and commerce as well as commercial dealing with the lake would be interesting. I don't know enough to write anything but it is an area that needs to be done by someone who does
63.26.210.185 (talk) 04:30, 8 July 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Also, the section on Shipping refers only to it's use in transporting mined and manufactured materials.  No reference to transporting agricultural products, but at least from the Duluth/Superior port, I think grain shipments are a major part of the traffic.  T-bonham (talk) 01:48, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, I'll have a look.  02:15, 1 November 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Ports/Commerce

message: How can this be both the first and second largest freshwater lake in the world?  The first and third paragraphs contradict each other.
Well, apparently, we are counting Lakes Michigan and Huron as one lake now (Lake Michigan-Huron). They are both level with each other, so I guess they're the same lake? vid 15:53, 21 September 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Three years later, the above was still true, the paragraphs describing the superlative disagreed. I altered the unicted one. Group29 (talk) 16:13, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I think that it is correct and sourcable that Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake by surface area. I'll see if I can get that sourced.  Nobody has challenged that except those who argue that Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are actually one lake, which is a rare point of view.  By that standard, the world would have only one ocean, and the oceans are more unified that Michigan & Huron. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 16:25, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I looked at the sources; the current remaining text is certainly OR and also in coflict with on of the sources which it cites.   The first source says that Lake Superior IS widely considered to be the world's largest freshwater lake by area, and the goes on to give an opinion and Huron./Michigan ought should be considered to be one lake.   The other two merely say that  Huron / Michigan are hydrologically connected.  It is pure weak OR to say that such means that they are a single lake for the purposes of saying which lake is the largest. North8000 (talk) 22:26, 26 June 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Area

message: As gitchigume means 'big water,' it is possible that Lake Huron/lac Huron is called this, too.  But the term is meant for the biggest of the big - Lake Superior/lac Supérior.  There used to be a hotel/bar at Haviland Bay called Gitchee Gumee, but it closed down after the fire.
I've also heard both Superior and Huron referred to as "Manitoulin," after the spirit-god that resides in the lakes and destroys ships when angry.
better listen again to the song, the lyrics are The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumme" -it is referring to Superior
: Not that a song is an authoritative source, but I also think the song is referring to Superior as Gitche Gumee (or however you want to spell it. From , final four lines: "The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down, Of the big lake they call "Gitche Gumee"; Superior, they say, never gives up her dead, When the gales of November come early." There are other parts of the songs about water flowing to the other lakes, but the parts referring to Gitche Gumee are about Lake Superior, where the ship sank. -Agyle 01:14, 4 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  What started it all was Longfellow's Hiawatha poem which called Lake Superior Gitchigume.  "By the Shores of Gitchigume, by the shining big sea water."  That made it "official".  :-)  North8000 (talk) 21:58, 30 October 2010 (UTC)

text: I put it in.   Thanks for the info and source. North8000 (talk) 14:16, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Chi Gaming is just another respelling - see  for some others. Rmhermen (talk) 15:55, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks!   I put that in too. North8000 (talk) 16:45, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

text: In the Ojibwe language, Gichigami is a title that applies to each of the great lakes, as the word literally means "be a large sea" of which Lake Superior is more specifically either Ojibwe Gichigami (Be the great sea of the Ojibwe) or Anishinaabe Gichigami (Be the great sea of the Anishinaabe). Lake Michigan is then is called either Mishii'igan ("Grand Lake") or Ininwe Gichigami (Be the great sea of the Illini). Lake Huron goes by Naadowe Gichigami. Part of the issue here may be only an orthographic issue. In the current Fiero orthography, it is Gichigami. Other orthographies include Kitchekami, Gitche-gummee, etc. The difference between the fresh sea and salt sea is made through other modifiers, so the Great Lakes are the wiishkobiiwi-gichigami (be a sweet great sea) while the Atlantic is the wiisagiwi-gichigami (be a bitter great sea). Not mentioned here are the noun versions of the name, as gichigami is a verb. The noun form is gichigaam and generally translated into English not as "great sea" but rather as "great coast" or as "great shore". CJLippert (talk) 15:36, 28 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Gitchigume 

message: why did it change?  copyvio? --Hraefen 21:43, 18 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: picture

message: *For the image labeled "Lake Superior basin," can there be a little more description? The disambiguation page says "Basin may also refer to some types of geological depressions:" It is unclear which one of several this picture refers to.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.1.121.110 (talk) 05:56, 13 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Additions, corrections 

message: The article has the following:  "There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover the entire land mass of North and South America with a foot of water," with the notation that a citation is needed.  If the entries for the volume of water and the sizes of the continents are accepted, we can calculate this.  (I calculated 11.25 inches.)  So, a citation shouldn't be needed.  We can show the calculations instead. 206.53.197.12 03:16, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: agreed. done.  Civil Engineer III 12:04, 8 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Trivia

message: I'm confused as too what "Lake Superiors best friend is Lake Michigan (found in the third line of page)" means.  To me it seems not to have any real meaning here, and do believe it could be vandalism.  So if I am correct may I fix it and if need be add a message to the user's IP   Windscar77 07:48, 6 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Question

message: The area figure doesn't line up with what the government says.  -Ravedave (help name my baby) 15:52, 11 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: If you are referring to the figure on page 217 of that document, where it lists Lake Superior's area as 20,557 square miles, that is the portion within the United States. Phizzy  17:18, 28 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Area 

message: What type of fish are present in lake superior? Andercee 17:25, 21 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Fish

message: Added some details in Geology & History, and references, from Superior: Under the Shadow of the Gods.  There's tons more history, but that's all I have time for now.  I'm no expert in either of these fields so if anyone can improve on what I added.. by all means.. P. Moore 03:00, 15 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: April 14 2007 Edit 

message: P. Moore did a great job of adding references. Now I think we need to unify the reference styles throughout the article and add more information for each reference. I'll try to get to it when I can. --Gimme danger 04:25, 25 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: References

message: The measurements of Lake Superior are given in US measures first and metric second. As the lake is  international, shouldn't it be the other way round?
:Perhaps, but approximately 67.4% of the lake is within the United States (Michigan, 49.9%, Minnesota 10.7%, Wisconsin 6.8%, Ontario 32.6%), so maybe US units should take precedence. Phizzy 17:25, 7 April 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: In addition to that, many people living on the Canadian side pre-date the metric conversion and use the old measurements so it really isn't that much of an issue for Canada, either. As long as both are present it should be fine. vıdıoman 05:26, 8 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Shouldn't the measurements be metric first and US customary measures second? 

message: Do we really need seven external links to lighthouses. I realize there are quite a few lighthouse devotees out there but don't these links belong somewhere else  --Weetoddid (talk) 15:31, 24 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lighthouses 

message: Third or fourth?  Depends on wheteher Caspian Sea is a lake.  This could by handled by a footnote noting the controversy.  7&6=thirteen (talk) 15:30, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: The Caspian Sea is not a freshwater lake. The current description of Lake Superior in the article as the world's third-largest freshwater lake by volume is correct. older ≠ wiser 15:57, 25 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Ranking of largest "[[lakes]]" by volume

message: Quote: "User:Mikenorton (talk | contribs) (Undid revision 353852201 by User:Drdpw (talk) not a rift lake - glacial in origin)"
Quote from Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) or Keweenawan Rift: "The rift failed, leaving behind thick layers of rock that are exposed in its northern reaches, but buried beneath later sedimentary formations along most of its western and eastern arms. Those arms meet at Lake Superior, which is contained within the rift valley."
Quote from Lake Superior#Geology: "The continent was later riven, creating one of the deepest rifts in the world. The lake lies in this long-extinct Mesoproterozoic rift valley, the Midcontinent Rift."
If I understand it right, the answer is not so easy. --Chris.urs-o (talk) 21:50, 4 April 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: It's too big to have a single cause of formation.    North8000 (talk) 01:11, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree that the origin of Lake Superior is a bit complicated when you get down to the geological details.  The water was provided by a combination of a melting ice sheet and regular precipitation runoff, which filled the basin.  The bedrock basin, however, was formed through a combination of earlier mid-continental rifting and much more recent glacial erosion by the Laurentide Ice Sheet.  The ice flowed into the pre-existing rift basin and further deepened the topographic depression.  --BlueCanoe (talk) 01:07, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
replies: text:  Of course you're right.  I was joking about the rain.  North8000 (talk) 03:54, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Is it a rift or glacial in origin 

message: O.k., I know it sounds idiotic to ask but I've seen a few websites and I know someone told me they went on a whale watching cruise while in Chicago and saw a pod of whales; so, are there really whales in the Great Lakes, I know there have been bull sharks but whales? I told my friend he was full of $h!t and laughed but he still maintains his position but I don't let on that I am beginning to believe him. So, are there really whales or some kind of large freshwater fish that could be mistaken for whales and/or are called whales? Anyone know the truth about this, if so please inform and if it is true then there should be some mention of whales in the article, I could write something and even provide sources but it is just a little too unbelievable for me to make an edit without checking with someone else first. Thanks.     —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.133.42.16 (talk) 18:54, 12 June 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't even know where to begin about how ridiculous this is.  Perhaps this posting is a pretense for adding the above spam links.Asher196 (talk) 01:23, 13 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Whales in the Great Lakes???

message: Lynch, Jim, November 08. 2010 Low Great Lakes levels prompt new call for action: U.S., Canada look at options to slow flow out of Lake Huron Detroit News.  7&6=thirteen (talk) 00:14, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Good article on Great Lakes levels

message: My name is Austin Gaines, and I am a freshman at Clemson University.  I am doing a wikipedia page on a lake in SC, and was wondering what interesting things I could add to my page?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lionel555 (talk • contribs) 19:57, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Your best place to start is to find some good secondary sources, and start putting in important material based on those sources. Size, depth, geology, history, flora and fauna, and current uses are a few  good ones for most lakes.  Sincerely  North8000 (talk) 20:42, 4 November 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Similar Topic/Hello

message: Daily elevations for the current month are posted by the US Army Corps of Engineers at Great Lakes Water Levels.  The units are feet, to the hundredth. Near real-time data from gauging stations in both the US (given in feet) and Canada (meters) are also available elsewhere, but are unofficial.  Kablammo (talk) 02:32, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
replies: text: I changed the references to the inbox "Elevation" field to the USACE site given above.  It should be updated annually.  Kablammo (talk) 21:13, 27 June 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Elevations 

message: The article's lack of a modern map indicating the lake's geographical features (islands, bays, etc.) and surrounding cities is a curious omission.
For that matter, there is not such a map accompanying any of the main articles for the five Great Lakes.
Starling2001 (talk) 19:02, 26 June 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  No map? 

message: Please change (at the very start of the article):
Lake Superior (French: Lac Supérieur)
to 
Lake Superior (Anishinaabe: Gichigamiwininiwag, French: Lac Supérieur)
or to:
Lake Superior (Anishinaabe: Gichigamiwininiwag)
The French association with the lake was very fleeting.  The Anishinaabe still live here.
24.118.205.125 (talk) 04:54, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Not done: please establish a consensus for this alteration before using the  template. Roborule (talk) 16:36, 12 April 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protected edit request on 11 April 2015 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Lake Superior. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Lake Superior. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
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*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20051105005812/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/superior/superiorfacts.html to http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/superior/superiorfacts.html
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Out of all the different types of maps in the article, not one of them depicts the rivers, bays, points, islands and various towns by name. As such, the article is badly lacking. Realizing the map is dated, it still was the best one to depict a multitude of points of interest in and around Lake Superior. No doubt a few of the town's names and such have changed, but overall, the map is almost entirely accurate. For graphically outlining the lake, rivers, islands, etc, it is a superb hi-res map. If anywhere, the map would do well in the History section, using the above caption, indicating that the map was published in 1879. -- Gwillhickers (talk) 02:32, 28 October 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: It's a great map, and I agree it would work well in the history section.  Sorry for the revert; should have just moved it. Cheers.  Magnolia677 (talk) 12:02, 28 October 2019 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thanks for your understanding. To make it even more clear, we can refer to the map as a Historical Map in the caption.  I'll see what else I can come up with to make the map fit in with the History section. While we're at it, it seems the article has more than its fair share of images, often times crowding the text and overall layout, so I'm a little reluctant to just stick the map in without doing some minor rearranging of the images. I'll not delete any of the images, but I do see a couple that wouldn't hurt to have removed. I'll see what I can do without rocking the boat.  ' Best -- Gwillhickers (talk) 20:35, 28 October 2019 (UTC)
thread_title: Basic map needed

message: According to the article, "the lake boasts a very small ratio (1.55) of catchment area to surface area, which indicates minimal terrestrial influence." What does "terrestrial influence" mean? We don't have an article on it, Google doesn't define it, and the cited paper is too technical for the general reader (me) to understand. If this is something important enough to mention (and it may well be), we need to better define what we're talking about. Chuntuk (talk) 08:34, 24 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Terrestrial influence?