Ranking the Great Lakes by Size and Depth

The Great Lakes form the largest freshwater system on Earth, with individual lakes varying significantly in surface area, volume, and depth.

The top 3

  1. Lake Superior's Dominance: Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes by both surface area (31,700 sq mi) and volume (2,900 cubic miles), holding more water than all the other Great Lakes combined.
  2. Lake Michigan and Huron's Combined Mass: Geologically, Lake Michigan (1,180 cu mi) and Lake Huron (850 cu mi) are considered a single lake due to their shared water level and connection, and if combined, their surface area would exceed Lake Superior's.
  3. Lake Ontario's Unique Position: Lake Ontario, despite being the smallest of the Great Lakes by surface area (7,340 sq mi), is deeper than Lake Erie and serves as the final outlet for the entire Great Lakes system into the Atlantic Ocean.

Sources

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