Water science news, explainers, and statistics covering freshwater, hydrology, lakes, rivers, groundwater, ice, and Earth’s connected water systems.
The deepest inland water body in Minnesota is a group of connected mine pits near Crosby that reaches about 525 feet. The deepest natural lake is Saganaga Lake in Cook County, listed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources at 280 feet. Lake Superior is deeper still, but it is a Great Lake rather than…
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Oklahoma’s natural lakes fall mainly into two categories: oxbow lakes and playa lakes. The state’s famous recreation lakes, including Eufaula, Texoma, Broken Bow and Tenkiller, are reservoirs created by dams. The Oklahoma Geological Survey states that natural lakes are limited to oxbows along major streams and playas in the western High Plains. An Oklahoma Water…
Broken Bow Lake is commonly identified as Oklahoma’s deepest lake, reaching roughly 180 feet near the dam when the reservoir is at its normal conservation pool. It is a human-made reservoir on the Mountain Fork River, not a natural lake and its actual water depth changes with pool elevation. The figure can be derived from…
A topographic map of the Great Lakes combines land elevation with underwater bathymetry. The five lake surfaces form a descending staircase from Lake Superior at a chart reference near 601 feet above the International Great Lakes Datum zero to Lake Ontario near 243 feet. Their floors descend much farther, with Lake Superior reaching about 1,332…
