Nelson Calvert, age 10, of Kalispell, Mont., for his question:
WHERE IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST FRESH WATER LAKE?
Lake Superior, which is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, is the largest body of fresh water in the world. In addition, it is also the deepest, the highest above sea level and the farthest north and west of the Great Lakes.
You'll find Lake Superior on the international border between the United States and Canada. The Canadian province of Ontario is to the north and east of the lake while Michigan and Wisconsin lie to the south. Minnesota is located to the west of Lake Superior.
Lake Superior is part of the great interior waterway system of the United States and Canada that extends all the way from the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.
Early French fur traders gave the lake its name: Lac Superieur. In French it means Upper Lake.
Lake Superior's greatest length from east to west is 350 miles and its greatest width is 160 miles. The lake lies about 600 feet above sea level and is 1,333 feet deep at its deepest point. The lake covers 31,700 square miles.
In most places, the coastline of Lake Superior is bold and rocky. In some places especially along the northern shores of the lake, cliffs rise from the water's edge. Colorful sandstone walls, known as the Pictured Rocks, rise along some of the areas of the lake's shore in Michigan.
The highway that follows the rocky Minnesota shore is lined with many fishing villages, state parks and summer resorts. Split Rock Lighthouse, a famous landmark, warns lake shipping from reefs in Beaver Bay along the Minnesota shore.
About 200 rivers, most of them short, empty into Lake Superior. Many of the them form waterfalls that plunge over the high, rocky headlands. The largest river emptying into the lake is the St. Louis River, the extreme headwater of the St. Lawrence River.
Heavy forests cover much of the land that borders the shore of Lake Superior.
Many islands dot the surface of the lake. The largest are Michigan's Isle Royale and Ontario's St. Ignace and Michipicoten. Many small islands, named the Apostle Islands, lie off the northern Wisconsin shore.
The Keweenaw Peninsula, which is famous for its copper deposits, juts into Lake Superior in Upper Michigan.
Although frozen harbors restrict shipping in winter, Lake Superior does not freeze completely over. The shipping season extends from about the middle of April to December.
Boats carry iron ore, taconite, wheat, lumber, copper and other minerals to ports along the Great Lakes and farther east.
The locks of the Soo canals in Sault Ste. Marie carry ships around the rapids of the St. Marys River. This river connects Lake Superior and Lake Huron.
The chief ports on Lake Superior are Duluth, Two Harbors, Taconite Harbor, Silver Bay and Grand Marais, all in Minnesota; Superior and Ashland in Wisconsin; Marquette, Michigan; and Thunder Bay and Michipicoten Harbour, Ontario.