Lake Ontario is 18,960 km2 (10,000 km2 in Canada), with a drainage area of 60,030 km2, an elevation of 75 m, a mean depth of 86 m (max 244 m), length 311 km and width 85 km.
Lake Ontario.
| Published Online | February 7, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Last Edited | September 22, 2021 |
When did Lake Ontario recede?
Around 12,000 years ago
Lake Ontario at this stage is known as “glacial Lake Iroquois”. Around 12,000 years ago, the waters receded significantly and initially fell back to sea level.
What was Lake Ontario originally called?
The name Ontario is derived from the Huron word Ontarí’io, which means “great lake”. In Colonial times, the lake was also called Cataraqui, a French spelling of the Mohawk Katarokwi. The lake was a border between the Huron people and the Iroquois Confederacy in the pre-Columbian era.
What was Lake Ontario used for in the past?
History. The lake served as the border between the Huron and their vassals and the Iroquois Confederacy in pre-European times. The first documented European to reach the lake was Étienne Brûlé in 1615.
How long has Lake Ontario been around?
Glaciers formed the lake between 14,000 and 10,000 years ago. The lake is one of the 5 Great Lakes, which 21% of the world’s surface freshwater. Lake Ontario is the 14th largest lake in the world.
Why are they tunneling under Lake Ontario?
The tunnel will improve access to Toronto’s downtown airport, which is currently only accessible by ferry, and will accommodate the movement of more than 1,000 people per hour. Arup is the lead engineering designer for the project, responsible for the design of the tunnel and the associated water and sewer mains.
What is at the bottom of Lake Ontario?
Lake Ontario Contains a Shipwreck from 1862
But the ship began to be torn apart, finally sinking and leaving a field of debris about a quarter of a mile along the bottom of the lake. There are currently no plans to bring the Bay State shipwreck up from the lake.
What is the oldest lake in Canada?
Lake Agassiz
| Lake Agassiz | |
|---|---|
| Primary inflows | Laurentide Ice Sheet |
| Primary outflows | Glacial River Warren, the Vermilion River, the Wanapitei River and the Montreal River valley |
| Basin countries | Canada, United States |
| First flooded | 12,875 years before present |
How deep is Lake Ontario at its deepest point?
Lawrence River near Kingston, Ont. With a mean surface elevation of 243 feet (74 m) above sea level, Lake Ontario has a mean depth of 283 feet (86 m), and its deepest point is 802 feet (244 m).
Where is the deepest point in Lake Ontario?
The Rochester Basin, at 802 feet (244 m), is the deepest part of Lake Ontario.
What is the biggest creature in Lake Ontario?
The Lake Sturgeon, Ontario’s largest fish. Could this be the identity of at least some on Ontario’s lake monster sightings? That almost sounds like a monster to me! Lake Sturgeon can grow to 2 m in length, and in the past even larger!
Which Great Lake is the deepest?
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the world’s largest freshwater lake by area (31,700 mi2 /82,100 km2). It is also the coldest and deepest of the Great Lakes, with a maximum depth of 406 meters (1,332 feet). By most measures, it is the healthiest of all the Great Lakes.
Why doesn’t Lake Ontario freeze?
The reason is simple. Like Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario sits at lower latitudes than the other Great Lakes. This, combined with the greater depth of water, makes it more difficult for complete freezing to occur. In most winters, freezing does occur close to the shoreline.
Is Lake Ontario drying up?
Lake Ontario levels are above average and are expected to remain so under average conditions. In the event of wetter than average conditions, Lake Ontario could rise well above average by mid-winter, whereas drier than average conditions could result in lower than average levels.
How many boats have sunk in Lake Ontario?
There are somewhere between 270 and 500 shipwrecks in Lake Ontario’s eastern basin, and most of them are in an area known as The Marysburgh Vortex. The three points of this ‘triangle’ are Wolfe Island, Mexico Bay near Oswego, New York, to Point Petre in Prince Edward County.
Can you drink water from Lake Ontario?
Untreated water found in lakes, rivers, ponds, etc. isn’t safe to drink. It can contain waterborne parasites and diseases like Giardiasis (also known as beaver fever) or E. coli, which can make you sick.
What did explorers find at the bottom of Lake Ontario?
The oldest ship found in the Great Lakes is a British warship called the HMS Ontario. The HMS Ontario sank in Lake Ontario in 1780.
Is sewage dumped into Lake Ontario?
The City of Hamilton has revealed that sewage has been leaking into the Hamilton Harbour in Lake Ontario for about 26 years. A leak in the City of Hamilton’s sewage system that went undetected for 26 years dumped as much as 337 million litres of waste into the Hamilton Harbour, the city confirmed Monday.
What is being built in Lake Ontario?
A large rig in Lake Ontario near Ashbridge’s Bay is part of a project to create a new 3.5 kilometre outfall tunnel from the wastewater treatment plant. The platform and barge floating next to it have provided plenty of fodder for those frequenting Toronto’s beaches and Tommy Thompson Park for a couple of months now.
What is the cleanest lake in Ontario?
Grand Bend’s namesake beach is a popular Lake Huron getaway. It is one of the cleanest lakes in Ontario and one of just 27 beaches in the country that’s been awarded Blue Flag status for strict water quality regulations.
What did scientists find in Lake Ontario?
The Ontario is the oldest shipwreck ever found in the Great Lakes and the only British warship of this period still in existence in the world. There are estimated to have been over 4,700 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, including about 550 in Lake Ontario.