# Draining Lake Superior **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 9, 2022, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-lake-superior/969334 "2022-08-09T00:12:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-lake-superior/969334/21 "2022-08-09T19:16:01Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > 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? The entire Great Lakes region is currently undergoing isostatic rebound: > **[Why Lake Superior is rising and what it means. | Boreal Community Media](https://www.boreal.org/2019/12/12/292700/why-lake-superior-is-rising-and-what-it-means-)** > > Lake Superior itself is experiencing rising water levels on its southern shorelines while its northern shorelines are experiencing the opposite. By Audrey Ramming of glacierhub.org - December 12, 2019 **TL,DR:** During the most recent ice age, the massive weight of glaciers in this region pressed the crust downward into the mantle. Now that the glaciers are gone, the area is slowly rebounding to something more like the usual curvature of the earth. Lake Superior isn’t quite as thick or broad as those glaciers were, but surely the weight of all that water is helping to push the crust down at least a little bit. Once you remove it, you would expect that the area might see a little bit of extra isostatic rebound in the coming decades and centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-lake-superior/969334/22 "2022-08-09T19:36:15Z")
Now I am picturing giant sweet water mermaids playing mikado. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-lake-superior/969334/23 "2022-08-09T20:18:12Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > Let’s see television match THAT!” [modern CGI studio] Challenge accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-lake-superior/969334/24 "2022-08-09T20:50:06Z")
Yes…but remember that this was in the 1950’s. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-lake-superior/969334/25 "2022-08-09T21:14:31Z")
It was Stan Freberg’s radio promotion, and here it is [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/USotnlORBZ0/hqdefault.jpg "Stan Freberg - ‘Who Listens To Radio?’ the original six 1965 radio spots") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USotnlORBZ0) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2022, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-lake-superior/969334/26 "2022-08-09T22:13:19Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > Yes…but remember that this was in the 1950’s. 🙂 OK, we’ll show them a clip of Lucy Ball working the candy line, or stomping grapes, or simply getting stuck in a chair when she was hugely pregnant, and saying “OK, do this on radio - and have it as funny.” ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-lake-superior/969334/27 "2022-08-10T02:35:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 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. > > \*Old. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-O008VnJ_aA/hqdefault.jpg "CapnCrunchAd08.mpg") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O008VnJ_aA) ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2022, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-lake-superior/969334/28 "2022-08-11T02:20:11Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > 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. Sadly I think you are correct. I should pay more attention to the horizontal scale on my image. Off Copper Harbor it drops down 1000 feet or so in 20 miles, 50 feet per mile average. It is much steeper towards the bottom but still is only about 125 feet per mile. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draining-lake-superior/969334.md?page=1)