Early Lake Erie, Glacial lake in Ontario, Canada
Early Lake Erie is a glacial lake in Ontario, Canada, running along the border between Canada and several US states. It is the shallowest of the Great Lakes and is bordered by a long shoreline of beaches, wetlands, and small port towns.
The lake took shape at the end of the last ice age, when retreating glaciers carved out a wide depression in the bedrock. That depression filled with meltwater over thousands of years to form the basin that exists today.
The name of the lake comes from the Erie people, an Iroquoian group who once lived along its southern shores. Signs and small waterfront sites around the lake still reference their presence in the region.
Because the lake is relatively shallow, the water warms up faster in summer than in the other Great Lakes, which makes swimming more comfortable. Public beaches and parks are spread around the shoreline and offer easy access to the water.
Erie is the only one of the Great Lakes whose entire drainage basin lies within the borders of the United States and Canada, with no connection to other drainage systems. Its water also renews itself much faster than in the other lakes, which means changes in water quality show up unusually quickly.
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