Q 01/05

Which is the only one of the five Great Lakes that lies entirely within the United States?

A) Michigan

B) Huron

C) Erie

D) Superior

Answer · why

A) Michigan

The other four form the water boundary between the US and Canada; Michigan is also the largest lake by area that sits inside a single country.

Q 02/05

Roughly what share of the world's surface fresh water do the Great Lakes contain?

A) 5%

B) 21%

C) 40%

D) 60%

Answer · why

B) 21%

That is about six quadrillion US gallons; spread evenly across North America the water would stand five feet deep.

Q 03/05

Which lake is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area?

A) Baikal

B) Michigan

C) Superior

D) Victoria

Answer · why

C) Superior

By volume it ranks only third, behind Baikal in Siberia and Tanganyika in East Africa; the Caspian Sea is bigger but brackish.

Q 04/05

Which two Great Lakes are hydrologically a single body of water, joined at the Straits of Mackinac?

A) Huron and Erie

B) Erie and Ontario

C) Superior and Huron

D) Michigan and Huron

Answer · why

D) Michigan and Huron

They sit at the same elevation, and geographers sometimes call the combined lake Michigan-Huron, which by that reckoning is the world's largest freshw...

Q 05/05

Which Great Lake is the shallowest, the smallest by volume and the warmest?

A) Erie

B) Huron

C) Michigan

D) Ontario

Answer · why

A) Erie

Its western basin is so shallow that, as one account puts it, the slightest breeze can kick up lively waves.