what is the lowest elevation of the great lakes basin & what created them?
116124
The lowest elevation in the great lakes basin would be 220 meters below the mean sea level found in lake superior just north of Munising Michigan. The great lakes and the great lakes basin were formed by glaciers.
843819
Let L be the depth of Long Lake.  If we use the bottom of Long Lake as our zero point, then the bottom of Big Lake is at 8, the top of Long Lake is at L, and the top of Big Lake is at 8 + 2L, and 8 + 2L = L + 31.  Solving for L gives L = 23, and the depth of Big Lake is 2L = 46, and the top of Big Lake is at 54.  The top of Clear Lake is at 54 - 10 = 44, and the bottom of Clear Lake is at 6, and so the depth of Clear Lake is 44 - 6 = 38.\nThe bottom of Clear Lake is 2 feet below the bottom of Big Lake , just as you say, but the top of Clear Lake is 10 feet below the top of Big Lake.
937786
Of the 5 lakes of great lakes excepting Lake Michigan all the following four lakes viz.Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario and Lake Superior are in the border of Canada and USA.-
271251
The Snake River flows through one of the deepest gorges in the world, Hell's Canyon.\n\nThe deepest river in the US might be considered the Truckee, which drains Lake Tahoe, the second-deepest lake in the US.\n\nOtherwise I would suspect the Mississippi, but it would depend on the year and season since river level varies so much.  At its deepest it's about 200 feet deep.
999397
Elevation is usually the reason.  Especially since water only flows downhill.\n\nI believe it may be that since the river flows into Lake Erie, the "upper" may refer to its source at Walton Lake, or any part of the river before it empties into Sandusky Bay.\n\nSame thing goes for the Nile River.  The Upper Nile is actually in the south and the lower Nile the closer you get into the Mediterranean Sea (going North).\n\nSince the Mississippi flows south, the lower Mississippi is in the southern areas, and the upper Mississippi the closer you get to the Great Lakes.
18597
To save you some time, here is a great description in plain English:\n\nIt all begins when bitter cold air dives across the Great Lakes. As the cold air flows over the warm water, the relatively warm lake water heats the air's bottom layer as lake moisture evaporates into the cold air.\n\nSince warm air is lighter - less dense - than cold air, the heated air rises and begins to cool.\n\nAs the air cools, the moisture that evaporated into it condenses and forms clouds, and snow begins falling from the cloud if the air is humid enough.\n\nThe wind pushes the clouds over the land. As this happens, friction with the ground, which is greater than the friction between the lake's water and the moving air, slows the winds. This causes the air that's carrying the clouds to "pile up" - meteorologists call this "convergence."\n\nConvergence increases the amount of snow that's falling on the land compared with the amount falling on the lake.\n\nAs the wind continues inland it runs into hills, sometimes only a few miles from the lake, which forces the air to rise, which cools it. As the air cools, more humidity condenses to create even more snow. This is why the heaviest lake effect snow falls on hills inland from the great lakes. \n\nThe source also has an outstanding graphic depiction and explanation.
83296
Mt Whitney in California at 14,491 ft above sea level is the highest peak in the lower 48 states.  The lowest point is Death Valley, also in California, at a minus 300 ft below sea level. The difference then is 14,791 Ft.\n\nIf you consider Alaska then Mt Mckinley is the highest peak in North America at 20,320 ft above sea level and the difference is 20,620 ft
980701
In Denver. This is because at higher elevations there is less pressure in the atmosphere, so the water boils at a lower temperature.
600189
Water (rain, snow, dew, ...) which ends up higher than sea level will flow toward the sea if there is any possible path. Since even a mountainous 'bowl' is likely to have a porous bottom, or to fill enough to find an outlet, there will almost always be a flow to lower levels. \n\nFlowing water is not a neglibible force. It will, over geologic time move, dissolve, pulverize, and remove material. Freeze/thaw cycles contribute more than a bit; the Old Stone Face in new Hampshire in N America has recently fallen (literally) to this. Some of that material will be dropped downstream, filling in an existing channel. Spring floods (in places in which snow and ice accumulate on high ground) will provide an annual increase in this erosion, and if they break over channel banks, will accelerate the deposition process (eg, the Nile floods until the installation of dams to stop them). \n\nOver geologic time, a stream (or river) will fill channels repeatedly and will find new flow paths after doing so. What with dumping material from higher levels, and doing it in channels here and there across the gap between highlands, there will be a gradual acretion of soil in that gap. \n\nEventually, the flowing water, combined on occasion with wind and plant and animal soil processing (earthworms, for instance), there will be a more or less level filiing of the gap between highlands, with water flowing across it on the way to the sea. \n\nThat space, with a history more or less as sketched is a valley. Tehy can be narrow (a kilometer or less) or wide (several hundred kilometes). In fact, they can be so wide that it's not possible for a human to see both highlands between which the water flows at the same time. Valleys can also be very long if the highlands are arranged to permit. Consider the Nile, the Danube, the Volga, the Mississippi, or the Ganges. \n\nIn short, highlands erode, flatten out, and fill in the gaps between them. This can be seen in Britain (whose hills and mountains wer once higher) and in the North American Appalacians (whcih were once very very impressively tall). The N American Rockies, S American Andes, and Asian Himalyas are examples of the early stages in this process. Some millions of years hence, all three of these mountain ranges will be much lower and rounder.
22175
Some rivers dont they can finish in a lake thats inland. Water just flows downhill till its at the lowest level it can find which is usually the sea
32780
According to http://www.great-lakes.net/lakes/ref/supfact.html  the elevation of Lake Superior, which surrounds the UP is 600ft above sea level. So, any point on the UP is likely at at least 600 ft.  Brockway Mountain ( see http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?ei=UTF-8&fr=sfp&p=brockway+mountain ) is 735 feet above *lake* level .
1033445
Because of fossils that have been found..it has been determined that at some point..the entire Arizona desert surrounding the Grand Canyon was underwater except for a few of its highest platteaus and mountians which would have appeared as islands. So indeed if the water receded quickly then the canyons would have been formed within a matter of days...not millions of years. Same thing wtih the Bad Lands canyon system in Wyoming and the Dakotas. The rock strata even resembles the layered effect of various ocean sediments as they shift and settle over and over to change the underwater landscape every day. Love in Christ, ~J~ <><
901727
If you're referring to a reverse flow due to natural OR artificial causes, the most noteworthy is the North fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River. This was reversed to have sewage flow down the Great Lakes/Mississippi waterway. The North Branch and South Fork of the South Branch were unaffected.\n\nSpeaking only of natural phenomena, there would, I am sure, be many. One I know of for sure is the Mekong, which is so close to sea level that the twice daily tides cause it to reverse flow and actually flow backward in some areas.
374572
to brandijo-ALL of it was under water.  That's how limestone, sandstone, and shale form.  Once the layers of rock were there water eroded them on a large scale to form the canyon.  The top layer at grand canyon is called Kaibab limestone and it is about 200 million years old.\n\nAs for strange things about grand canyon...In the canyon use to live a native american tribe called the Anazi(sp?).  They disappeared and no one knows where or why they went.  Their cliff dwellings have been explored and it's like one day they just up and left and didn't bother to pack like they were coming back someday.\n\nAnother strange incident is the story of a newlywed couple that disappeared on their honeymoon.  I can't remember their names or the details, but there is quite a bit about it in the book "Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon"  Really great book.
1013492
Lake Tahoe, situated in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada astride the\nCalifornia-Nevada border , is one of the largest lakes in the United States and is ranked the twelfth deepest lake in the world. Myths of the lake’s great depth, its supposedly strange density, and\nit’s cobalt color caught the attention of the native Washoe Indians, the\nearly trappers, the first white settlers, and the gold-rush-era inhabitants of\nthe area. \n\nThree different hypotheses have been proposed to account for the formation of Lake Tahoe:\n(1) a blockage of the northern end of the graben by a buried upfaulted basement\nblock ; \n\n(2) a blockage by a buildup of andesitic\nmudflow breccias from the Martis Peak area ; and \n\n(3) a combination of warping and faulting . Volcanics that overlie the earliest lake deposits have been dated at 1.9 ± 0.1 Ma ; consequently, a latest Pliocene–earliest Pleistocene age is suggested for the initial filling of the lake.\n\nLake Tahoe is underlain primarily by the granodioritic Sierra Nevada batholith and related prebatholithic metamorphic rocks.\nAndesitic volcanic rocks cover the northern and northwestern sections of\nthe area, and Quaternary glacial deposits blanket the southwestern and southern end of the basin . Late Pleistocene glaciations left a profound influence on the geomorphology of the Sierra Nevada immediately west of the lake but appear to have minimally affected the Carson\nRange immediately to the east. The thickness of sediment in Lake Tahoe has not been determined. Although Hyne (1969) used a 1in3 (16 cm3) air gun to collect 20 seismic profiles across the lake, the\npublished seismic records only penetrate to about 300 m below the lake floor and show no evidence of basement.
408535
What's unique? It is glaciated, for starters. it is also part of the "Great Valley" formation running from the tip of Lake Champlain down through the Hudson Valley, Appalachians, to Georgia. Very striking feature on a topo map. \n\nThe Saranac River flows north to empty into it. That is unique. There is a lot of iron in the rocks surrounding it. Not sure if it actually has an outlet or not.
375339
Well, the water in lakes comes from rivers. And the water in rivers comes from rain. The rain water slowly seeps through the ground and towards the valley where it trickles into the river. Sometimes, the water is in snow and doesn't go into the river until it melts.\n\nNever ends? Well, as long as it keeps raining, it will not end. But many times, in droughts the smaller springs and creeks will actually dry up. If the drought is sever enough, then the lakes dry up too. Mind you, only small lakes will. It is unlikely that Lake Erie will ever dry up.