The Great Lakes
An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book

Chapter One - Introduction: The Great Lakes

1. Physical Characteristics of the System
2. Settlement
3. Exploitation
4. Industrialization
5. The Evolution of Great Lakes Management
6. Toxic Contaminants
7. Understanding the Great Lakes from an Ecosystem Perspective

Chapter Two - Natural Processes in the Great Lakes

1. Geology
2. Climate
3. Climate Change and the Great Lakes
4. The Hydrologic Cycle
5. Surface Runoff
6. Wetlands
7. Groundwater
8. Lake Levels
9. Lake Processes: Stratification and Turnover
10. Living Resources

Chapter Three - People and the Great Lakes

1. Native People
2. Early Settlement by Europeans
3. Development of the Lakes
4. Agriculture
5. Logging and Forestry
6. Canals, Shipping and Transportation
7. Commercial Fisheries
8. Sport Fishery
9. Recreation
10. Urbanization and Industrial Growth
11. Levels, Diversions and Consumptive Use Studies

Chapter Four - The Great Lakes Today - Concerns

1. Pathogens
2. Eutrophication and Oxygen Depletion
3. Toxic Contaminants
4. Pathways of Pollution
5. Loadings to a Closed System
6. Control of Pollutants
7. Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification
8. Habitat and Biodiversity
9. Exotic Species
10. Fish Consumption Advisories
11. Sustainable Development
12. Geographic Areas of Concern
13. Major Diversion Proposals
14. Other Basin Concerns

Chapter Five - Joint Management of the Great Lakes

1. The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909
2. The International Joint Commission
3. The Great Lakes Fishery Commission
4. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement-1972
5. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement-1978
6. The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement-1987
7. National Institutional Arrangements for Great Lakes Management
8. Local Public Involvement
9. An Ecosystem Approach to Management

Chapter Six - New Directions for the Great Lakes Community

1. Cooperation
2. Research
3. The Future of the Great Lakes
4. People in the Ecosystem

Glossary
Conversion Table (Metric to Imperial Values)
References and Suggestions for Further Reading
Sources for Maps

List of Maps

• Relief, Drainage and Urban Areas (470k gif)
• Geology and Mineral Resources (213k gif)
• Winter Temperatures and Ice Conditions, Frost Free Period and Air Masses, Summer Temperatures, Precipitation and Snowbelt (254k gif)
• The Great Lakes Water System (216k gif)
• Coronelli's 1688 Map of Western New France: An Early Depiction of the Great Lakes (492k gif)
• Land Use, Fisheries and Erosion (217k gif)
• Waterborne Commerce (218k gif)
• Recreation (257k gif)
• Employment and Industrial Structure (228k gif)
• Roads and Airports, Pipelines, Railroads, Electrical Power Lines and Generating Stations (162k gif)
• Distribution of Population (140k gif)
• State of the Lakes (192k gif)
• Ecoregions, Wetlands and Drainage Basins (187k gif)

List of Diagrams

• Geologic Time Chart (27k gif)
• Hydrograph of Great Lakes Water Levels (102k gif)
• Wind Set-Up (17k gif)
• Lake Stratification and Turnover (19k gif)
• The Food Web (110k gif)
• Population Growth in the Great Lakes Basin (31k gif)
• Sediment Resuspension (41k gif)
• Sources and Pathways of Pollution (55k gif)
• Bioaccumulation of Persistent Chemicals (44k gif)
• Geographic Areas of Concern: Impaired Uses

List of Great Lakes Factsheets

Factsheet Number:

1. Physical Features and Population
2. Land and Shoreline Uses
3. a Water Withdrawals
   b Water Consumed

Acknowledgements

The third edition of this atlas consists of a revision and update of the original document produced by Environment Canada, United States Environmental Protection Agency and authored by Lee Botts and Bruce Krushelnicki. Six maps originally produced by Brock University Cartography Group have been retained in this revised edition. The high quality cartography was recognized by the British Cartographical Society and received an award for excellence in cartography and design in 1988.

Contributors to the third edition:

Principal editors:

The following people and agencies have given valuable assistance to this project by providing information, reviewing or contributing to text, or by making helpful comments for this third edition:

• W. Adam, Great Lakes Commission, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• S. Barrett, Waterfront Regeneration Trust, Toronto, Ontario
• M. Evans, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Toronto, Ontario
• C. Flaherty, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office, Chicago, Illinois
• P. Fong, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
• A. Gilman, Great Lakes Health Effects Program, Environmental Health Directorate, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
• V. Glumac, Environmental Conservation Branch, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Burlington, Ontario
• J. Hartig, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
• J. Mortimer, Great Lakes Health Effects Program, Environmental Health Directorate, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
• N. Patterson, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Toronto, Ontario
• N. Stadler-Salt, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Burlington, Ontario
• S. Thorp, Great Lakes Commission, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• J. Tilt, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Toronto, Ontario
• M. Webb, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Toronto, Ontario

Principal authors and contributors to the first and second editions:

• R. Beltran, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office, Chicago, Illinois
• L. Botts, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois (Author)
• P. Brown, L. Gasparotto, A. Hughes, Brock University Cartography, St. Catharines, Ontario
• T. Clarke, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Burlington, Ontario
• D. Cowell, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Toronto, Ontario
• K. Fuller, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes National Program Office, Chicago, Illinois
• B. Krushelnicki, Institute of Urban and Environmental Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario (Author)

Additional contributors:

• J. Anderson, Department of Geography, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec
• A. Ballert, Great Lakes Commission, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• A. Beeton, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, NOAA, Ann Arbor, Michigan
• F. Berkes, Institute of Urban and Environmental Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario
• M. Brooksbank, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Toronto, Ontario
• V. Cairns, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Burlington, Ontario
• D. Coleman, Inland Waters and Lands Directorate, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Burlington, Ontario
• M. Dickman, Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario
• G. Francis, Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario
• A. Hamilton, International Joint Commission, Ottawa, Ontario
• C. Herdendorf, Ohio Sea Grant, Put-In Bay, Ohio
• S. Leppard, Land Use Research Associates, Toronto, Ontario
• J. Lloyd, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Burlington, Ontario
• J. Middleton, Institute of Urban and Environmental Studies, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario
• M. Neilson, Environmental Conservation Branch, Environment Canada, Ontario Region, Burlington, Ontario
• G. Rodgers, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario
• R. Shipley, Welland Canal Preservation Association, St. Catharines, Ontario
• W. Sonzogni, Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
• J. Vallentyne, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Burlington, Ontario

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