# Geographical oddities (another thread) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 10, 2014, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895 "2014-12-10T23:11:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/61 "2014-12-14T19:28:28Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Okay, I just wasted a pleasant half hour examining all the islands in the lakes of Isle Royale in Lake Superior. Didn’t find any lakes on those islands in lakes on the island in a lake. ☹ > > Thought I’d found one, but it was just a vegetation bloom with a central clear spot. > > Are there no lakes on islands on lakes on islands on lakes on continents on oceans? It’s really hard to tell, but [thi](https://www.google.com/maps/@45.7483525,-84.4363749,181m/data=!3m1!1e3)s might be a (tiny, tiny) lake (i.e. puddle) on a tiny island in Mud Lake (one of the Twin Lakes) on Bois Blanc island in Lake Huron. There is a possible water hole in Thompson Lake just to the east as well. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/62 "2014-12-14T19:46:38Z")
It’s not exactly what’s being discussed, but the largest [island-in-a-lake-on-an-island-in-a-lake-on-an-island](http://www.livescience.com/33679-world-largest-island-lake-island-lake-island-google-earth.html)has been located on Victoria Island, Canada. It was formerly thought to be an [island in a crater lake on the Taal Volcano in Lake Taal in the Philippines.](http://www.viralnova.com/vulcan-point/) ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/63 "2014-12-14T19:53:22Z")
Parts of Virginia are further north than some of New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/64 "2014-12-14T19:58:51Z")
Next youse guys will be looking for teacups floating in lakes on islands in lakes on islands… ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/65 "2014-12-14T20:06:34Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Next youse guys will be looking for teacups floating in lakes on islands in lakes on islands… …with a little “island” of algae floating in it… ETA: Reminds me of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0) ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/66 "2014-12-14T20:11:08Z")
My favorite oddity comes from correcting an ABC report that declared that there was trouble “below the equator” in Venezuela, with excessive tire tread separation cases being reported. Venezuela is completely over the equator. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/67 "2014-12-14T20:14:38Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > My favorite oddity comes from correcting an ABC report that declared that there was trouble “below the equator” in Venezuela, with excessive tire tread separation cases being reported. > Venezuela is completely over the equator. “We shall lift the equator up and up, until it is just like Kansas City.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/68 "2014-12-14T20:29:52Z")
Ooh, I just remembered one: There’s a small pond in Yellowstone called Isa Lake which sits right exactly on the Continental Divide. It’s drained by a trickle of a stream on each end, and so empties into both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/69 "2014-12-14T20:34:38Z")
For decades a section of Pennsylvania was south of the Mason-Dixon line. Of course, there was the problem that [Delaware and Maryland disputed that claim.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_%28border%29) Delaware won. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/70 "2014-12-14T21:34:07Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > It’s really hard to tell, but [thi](https://www.google.com/maps/@45.7483525,-84.4363749,181m/data=!3m1!1e3)s might be a (tiny, tiny) lake (i.e. puddle) on a tiny island in Mud Lake (one of the Twin Lakes) on Bois Blanc island in Lake Huron. There is a possible water hole in Thompson Lake just to the east as well. I’ll concede you the strong possibility on Mud Lake (nice pickup!) but I don’t see anything that looks like a water hole on that island in Thompson Lake. I’ve also scoured the islands on Mackaysee Lake on Chambers Island in Green Bay, but can’t make a case for a lake on them either. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/71 "2014-12-14T22:25:42Z")
Hmmm, Drummond Island on Lake Huron, has a lake on its north end, called Second Lake. On that lake, there is an island, and that island has two tiny lakes one it, one of which appears to have a tiny (8 foot?) island on it. 46.05025, -83.59670 Which would make that an island on a lake on an island on a lake on an island on a lake. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/72 "2014-12-14T22:36:31Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/73 "2014-12-14T22:40:30Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Hmmm, Drummond Island on Lake Huron, has a lake on its north end, called Second Lake. On that lake, there is an island, and that island has two tiny lakes one it, one of which appears to have a tiny (8 foot?) island on it. 46.05025, -83.59670 > > Which would make that an island on a lake on an island on a lake on an island on a lake. Give this one a try too. It is supposedly the record breaker: > **[Ken Jennings Finds One More Thing Canada Has That No One Else Does](https://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2012-01-24/victoria-british-columbia-nunavut-unnamed-island-maphead-ken-jennings)** > > Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings finds oddities every week in his Maphead column. This time, he finds the world's largest island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island—in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/74 "2014-12-14T23:06:16Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Give this one a try too. It is supposedly the record breaker: > > [Ken Jennings Finds One More Thing Canada Has That No One Else Does | Condé Nast Traveler](http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2012-01-24/victoria-british-columbia-nunavut-unnamed-island-maphead-ken-jennings) It’s an island on a lake on an island on a lake on an island in the ocean. Whereas the one on Drummond Island is: an island on a lake on an island on a lake on an island on a lake on a continent on an ocean. I like mine better. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/75 "2014-12-14T23:22:30Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I’ll concede you the strong possibility on Mud Lake (nice pickup!) but I don’t see anything that looks like a water hole on that island in Thompson Lake. > > I’ve also scoured the islands on Mackaysee Lake on Chambers Island in Green Bay, but can’t make a case for a lake on them either. ☹ Yeah, zooming in on my phone I think I was just seeing shadows on Thompson. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/76 "2014-12-15T02:45:06Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > The set-up: I was looking through an older road atlas a while back. Each state map had a small graphic in the corner; the graphic had a black triangle on each state denoting the location of the high point of said state. It occurred to me a significant number of high points were either on or VERY near (less than a mile), a border with another state. Care to guess how many? 16. I can supply a list, if interested.How many more are within 10 miles? 10. 2 of those are peninsula states. The reason for this is that when setting boundaries for colonies/territories/states back when it was largely unexplored/surveyed land, it was common to set the dividing point as “the highlands” of a particular area. It was thought that this would be fairly easy to determine, based on the direction rivers flowed. For example, the boundary set between Maine and Canada: _“along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the St. Lawrence, and those which fall into the Atlantic ocean”_. (It turned out to be rather harder to define this specifically than was expected. Most of the later territory/state borders were defined on a strictly geographical basis, on specific ltitude/longitude lines. Thus the square/rectangular outlines of many of them. So it isn’t at all unlikely for the ‘highest point’ in many states to be along the border. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/77 "2014-12-15T02:55:00Z")
The northern border of Delaware is an arc drawn from 12 miles from the city of New Castle. But there is a tiny section between that arc and the border with Maryland that was not included in the arc, which is claimed by Delaware. It is called [The Wedge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_%28border%29). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/78 "2014-12-15T03:06:47Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > The northern border of Delaware is an arc drawn from 12 miles from the city of New Castle. But there is a tiny section between that arc and the border with Maryland that was not included in the arc, which is claimed by Delaware. It is called [The Wedge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedge_%28border%29). See post#69. Interesting place, the Wedge. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/79 "2014-12-15T03:58:34Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > The reason for this is that when setting boundaries for colonies/territories/states back when it was largely unexplored/surveyed land, it was common to set the dividing point as “the highlands” of a particular area. It was thought that this would be fairly easy to determine, based on the direction rivers flowed. > > For example, the boundary set between Maine and Canada: _“along the said highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the St. Lawrence, and those which fall into the Atlantic ocean”_. (It turned out to be rather harder to define this specifically than was expected. Most of the later territory/state borders were defined on a strictly geographical basis, on specific ltitude/longitude lines. Thus the square/rectangular outlines of many of them. > > So it isn’t at all unlikely for the ‘highest point’ in many states to be along the border. Thanks, **t-bonham**. It seems I put the cart before the horse; borders weren’t established to claim mountains, mountains determined the borders. No juicy Hatfield/McCoy-type stories where someone tries to claim Clingmans Dome? I’m crushed! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2014, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895/80 "2014-12-15T04:11:22Z")
There are parts of Victoria where you can go east into South Australia. And west from South Australia into Victoria. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographical-oddities-another-thread/706895.md?page=5)