I have posted before about draining Lake Erie. It’s shallow, it slopes towards Niagara Falls, piece of cake.
But what about draining Lake Superior? It would be a hell of a lot of work but just imagine walking up to the eastern shore and staring 1400 feet down. You might not even be able to trek to the bottom. You would have to use drones or helicopters. Magnificent.
But what would happen to the surrounding terrain? Would the sudden loss of the water cause Michigan and Ontario to collapse into the abyss? Would there be earthquakes galore?
Rather confused as to what you are seeking to achieve rather than create a hiking trail and turn a lot of freshwater into saltwater.
But there are much bigger consequences of that as demonstrated by Lake Agassiz
The lake was formed by Ice Age meltwater. When it broke it’s banks, possibly due an earthquake, the lake drained out the St Lawrence Seaway with sufficient volume to disrupt the salinity profile of the North Atlantic, which stopped the Gulf Stream and very rapidly brought on an Ice Age.
Would it be that dramatic? I’m not sure where to find the topology but 1300 feet down and then back up on a lake as wide as superior is a pretty mild slope. Once the vegetation grew in it would look like the rest of the area.
Here’s the depth chart of Lake Superior. Notice that in some spots, especially around Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the lake drops to around 200 meters deep right off the shore line…
There’d be lots of ship wrecks including the Fitzgerald. I’ve wanted to go to White Fish Point for years. Being from Michigan I would strongly oppose drainng any of the lakes. We have enough problems with zebra mussels and those stupid carp.
Please, if you have to drain a lake please drain Lake Ossipee in New Hampshire. I lost my big brother’s snorkel in Berry Bay around 1980, and would like to get it back. Also, it would be cheaper than Lake Superior.
That’s the first thing that popped into my head when I read the thread title.
If you’re of a certain age* you’ll recognize that as the intro to one of those classic Jay Ward commercials for Captain Crunch – far superior to these lame computer generated ones they run today. I can’t find it on YouTube, but there are plenty of the other Jay Ward cartoon commercials to be found there.
Excellent idea! Baby steps first. There have actually been at least two lakes drained and refilled in NE Ohio and I have seen both. Lots of mud. Findley Lake south of Wellington and the Meander Creek reservoir near Austintown. Plus Brentwood Lake north of Grafton. The state condemned the dam and removed it, leaving the residents, who paid for lake front property years ago, high and dry. Today it is just a creek with tall weeds and lots of mosquitos. Here is a slide show of Brentwood Lake:
Hmm, a quick web search turned up a National Geographic special called “Drain the Great Lakes”.
One thought, Lake Superior is so cold that what falls in tends to not decompose. There’s probably lots of old-growth timber from trees that fell in from the shore now stacked on the bottom just waiting for harvesting.
There’ve been people salvaging logs from the bottom of Lake Superior for a couple of decades, for this very reason, though the logs in question were ones that had fallen off of barges, transporting felled trees to sawmills on the lake.
Reminds me of a story from the early days of television when radio was trying to hold on to its market. An announcer comes on the radio and says:
“Folks, we’re going to drain Lake Superior”
(Lots of gurgling and down-the-drain noises.)
“And we’ll fill it with whipped cream.”
(Big SPLOOSH sound.)
“There’s this enormous cherry sitting in a field near Traverse City and we’re going to have an Air Force bomber load it up.”
(Sound of engines revving up and noises of airplane taking off.)
“Now, they’re over the lake, and they’re going to let that cherry GO.”
(Engine sounds, then sound of whistling as cherry falls through the air, ending in a big SPLAT sound.)
“Folks, you heard this event and saw it all in your mind’s eye. Let’s see television match THAT!”
So this lake is so deep that its bottom lies more than 200 m (600 ft) below sea level. To drain it you would have to pump it up. You’re asking about feasibility? Yes, in principle. But it would cost more than turning all of Elon Musk’s lies and exagerations taken together into reality.
If I had to choose - and I am fortunate I don’t - I’d prefer his crap to your dream.
The logs that are mentioned in the article I posted had become waterlogged, after spending some period of time floating in the lake while being transported; at that point, they did, indeed, sink.
