Lake Superior and the Midcontinent Rift: the billion year story

This short video tells the “story behind the scenery” covering both the geology and geoheritage - how the MCR gave rise to Lake Superior that is the basis of the area’s water-based history and economy, the copper deposits that shaped the region’s settlement and growth, and today’s tourist industry.
Video coproduced by: Abigail Foerstner and Seth Stein, Northwestern University; Carol Stein, University of Illinois at Chicago
Funded by EarthScope

[@whatupplaya7951]

Lake Superior is Superior 👍 So blessed to be near her🤗 She's magical and healing, guaranteed💦

[@PlayNowWorkLater]

Very interesting. Really enjoyed the footage. Thanks for sharing

[@harrietharlow9929]

Being a native-born Michigander, I found this extremely interesting. I never heard of this until 15 years ago. The geologic history of the Michigan area is more interesting and complex than I could have imagined when I was younger.

[@ChrisbyChickenMan23]

The UP is supposed to belong to Wisconsin and you know it. Bish

[@mikezylstra7514]

@@ChrisbyChickenMan23 Yeah, but Michigan got it in exchange for Toledo.

[@mikequinlan9585]

I share your fascination with Lake Superior too, I was born on the UP and have always felt a close kinship with the bid seawaters. No matter where I live it’s always on my mind. 😊

[@nathanielwatson520]

Honestly, their poses are tuff 💪

[@dennisholst4322]

Maybe he is her favorite stud_

[@stevenburkhardt1963]

My education is in forestry, never had a geology course. Being from Michigan, and a ranger on Isle Royale in the past I found this very interesting.

[@ChrisbyChickenMan23]

The UP is supposed to belong to Wisconsin and you know it.

[@dennisholst4322]

Educated people think they explain God

[@dennisholst4322]

They are sickening to listen to

[@donsknots6510]

Great video, thank you for uploading.

[@edwardrhoads7283]

1.1 billion puts us close to the creation of the super continent Rodinia. I wonder if that forced the rift shut or had some affect on it.

[@lunchrevisited]

I've always loved the rocks and cliffs of lake Superior. Thanks for helping fill in the backstory!

[@mikezylstra7514]

I'd like to visit those Apostrophe Islands. Neat looking basalt rocks there.

[@lawrencegregory801]

@@mikezylstra7514 QqqQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

[@23Daant]

Amazing video. Keep it up earthscope!

[@mikezylstra7514]

Isn't it ironical that the two biggest fresh water lakes in the world (Victoria and Superior) sit on midcontinental rifts?

[@norml.hugh-mann]

Lake Bycal in Russia is largest freshwater Lake in the world

[@mikezylstra7514]

@@norml.hugh-mann Oh yeah my bad (newly established factoid, btw - 60 years ago area not volume was the factor) It's way deeper than the other two.

[@jerryoldenburg6192]

The copper from Isle Royale was mined a lot farther back than 500yrs ago. It was Isle Royale copper that made the European bronze age take off.

[@davidchurch3472]

Jerry has got to be hinting at trade links BC. I would love to read more about this, as it would illuminate much of the language similarities across the north atlantic, and a number of ancient monument types which so far we have only incongruous links to AD dates for! Can you send us links to more Jerry, please?

[@christinec.6685]

Wonderful video!

[@wallytverstol8627]

I like watching videos and have seen many on the great lakes.

[@slwtgf]

This is explaining this geological stuff and describing processes better than any Nat Geo show or thick volumed encyclopedia out there! You have a knack for intriguing visualization -thank you for your research and the organization and this video!

[@bagoquarks]

Are we to assume from the graphics that the failed rift valley became the Mississippi River watershed?

[@stevenbaumann8692]

I am intrigued by the hypothesis that part of the rift was successful when Amazonia broke off. I just have one lingering issue with it. How did Amazonia get out of the way fast enough before the Grenville Front moved in?

[@chrischapel9165]

18 mile deep rift under lk superior, interestingly the geographic center of MI is the Hemlock area, right where the east arm of the rift goes. And glacial and other deposits in the mid MI area made bedrock 18 miles down...If we ever have a earth quake in mid MI and, it's knocking stuff of the walls its a major quake. I was taught that the arms of the rift are wish boned and the western arm extended to KS and, the east arm petered out in Montrose MI.

[@matthewjacobs141]

I was just looking at a Map and I noticed Lake Superior is located just south of Hudson Bay...Is there a connection...is the Hudson part of the rifting process that formed Lake Superior?

[@ninjalanternshark1508]

Central North American summers - "That gosh darn heat and humidity sure is brutal today" Central North American summers if the Great Lakes did not exist - **bursts in to flames**

[@Botoburst]

Would be like Mongolia I guess.

[@bradpolmateer4801]

Good vid

[@stevenbaumann8692]

I just published a paper correlating the Jacobsville with the Bayfield. Dr. Malone (2016) pulled a bunch of zircons from both. The Jacobsville is NeoProterozoic in age. It is and isn't related to the MCR...we think. The slightly older Oronto Group clearly is related to the MCR.

[@priscillaross-fox9407]

I wish this had been longer!

[@norml.hugh-mann]

Lake Superior is only worlds largest by surface area ....by both voluem and depth its Lake Baical in Russia (southern Siberia) By volume and therfore mass it is actually the largest and actually contains a whopping 20% of the worlds entire fresh surface water 5700cu mi (that's not trapped in glaciers)..the second largest is Lake Tanganyika at 4500 cu miles total water volume.. Lake Superior contains 2900 cu miles of water and Lake Victoria 2750 cu miles (saw someone mistake it for second largest above) Surface area is much more variable as some lakes may have vast areas of water that's so shallow it evaporates regularly making drastic changes to the surface area which makes volume a much better factor to judge on .

[@dennisholst4322]

Deposited from where

[@MrMarkar1959]

Considering the size of yellowstone, dang superior volcano wouldnt surprise me. the mississippi up the middle

[@akulkis]

We know to that hot spots drift (well, actually, I think the crust drifts over the hot spots....most likely created by concentrations of uranium in the lower mantle or outer core), ONE of which created the entire Hawaiian Islands chain all the way out to Midway and beyond to the underwater seamounts which continue the chain. My suspicion is that the Great Lakes region was blown out by a supervolcano over the same hot spot which is now beneath Yellowstone.

[@foofookachoo1136]

@@akulkis YES!! That makes a lot of sense!! INTERESTING!!

[@pollyb.4648]

@@akulkis Sorry but no, when the rift opened up, the area was flooded with basalt lava which is very dense and heavy so it depressed the land it covered. Then the Ice Age glaciers repeatedly dug out (and then melted and filled) what is now a huge bowl containing the Great Lakes.

[@KirstenClinkscales]

I want a twix.

[@samfrancisco8095]

The rift in Africa should be helped to lower the sea level and making more ocean surface area and aquatic life.

[@edwardrhoads7283]

It would not really do that just move the pieces around.

[@rickrolfzen1669]

You talk about the copper deposits from the rift but you forgot about important thing of iron ore didn't say a word about iron ore

[@WackGoneLoco]

Wish they weren’t reading it behind the camera…

[@richardpetersen2747]

Grand Canyon was an Aquafer. The Electric bolt instantly turned the water to steam and blew everything above it into space. Hence, The Colorado River did all the work, just not as is believed. The whole area for thousands of miles have electrical made mountains formations.

[@ecsciguy79]

Hmmm. You're some kind of special.

[@priscillaross-fox9407]

@@ecsciguy79 I'll say.

[@northwoods3d]

making statements like that without offering any kind of documentation to back it up says you need to go take your meds.. there is zero evidence for your claim. If you have proof of it, share it - otherwise, get back on the meds, Bubba

[@richardpetersen2747]

@@northwoods3d electric Universe theory and thunderbolt project and SAFIRE project. Look them up. Graham Hancock is a good listen also.

[@puremathematics5730]

You may be right. My father his father and his fathers father all grew up in the Keewnaw. I heard stories as a kid of glowing rocks when electricity hit. Several years ago a UFOologist discovered Yooperlites. When exposed to purple UV the minerals glow. Also about the same time Los alamos labs proved that this color purple only resonates in 2 dimensions. Same with Han Chinese terra cotta warriors with Han purple. Geology is interesting but the full picture includes quantum physics, E8 theory and retrocasulaity. Those who dismiss the man as a nut job who made this post want simple answers occurs razors to everything.

[@michaelrafter3800]

largest lake?lake balakal?

[@darrinryan150]

michael rafter largest lake of the “Great Lakes”

[@mikebetts2046]

Baikal is larger in volume but Superior is larger in surface area.

[@mikezylstra7514]

@@mikebetts2046 Baikal also sits in a rift.

[@mikebetts2046]

@@mikezylstra7514 Yes, I already knew that. It's great depth is certainly one indication of that.

[@chrischapel9165]

"pits" dug by humans to extract minerals... wouldn't that be a "MINE"? Then these "ancients" Errrr miner's left their crap laying around after they (miners Errrr "ancients" )exhausted the resources they wanted. I love this verbal b.s . So in 10,000 yrs will space age archeologists fawn over the mines that 19th,20th and,21st century man mined...

[@stevenmonson5149]

How do you get billions of years, when the Earth's magnetic field has 1400 year half life, or the sun burns of 1percent of it's mass every 1000. Years the planet Mercury orbit wouldn't exist, hosabout a epic world flood explain a better reason why as in God....

[@gannicusfinch7068]

"tHe bIbLe sAyS," LOL. I knew I wouldn't have to scroll too far down to find this comment.

[@stevenmonson5149]

@@gannicusfinch7068 a fool says in his heart there is no God, but think of this fact a copy of a copy of a copy has reproduction errors it's call entropy, 2 ND law of thermal dynamics, thing go from order to disorder as de-evolution, information is lost never gained,that is a scientific fact. as in God created perfect order then sin ,the fall of man ,death .

[@rridderbusch518]

@@gannicusfinch7068 Thanks for the chuckle! Religion is a mental illness ;-)

[@edwardrhoads7283]

The sun does not burn 1% of mass every 1000 years. First of all it is not a chemical reaction. If it was it would not even last that long. Second of all it is a nuclear reaction that is actually quite slow. The time to fuse all of the H in the core to He which is a mass difference of only 0.6% would need 10 billion years to accomplish. The Earth's Mag field does not have a half life. It cycles stronger and weaker not a constant and forever decay. Are you confusing mag field with Carbon 14 maybe? The 1 billion year datings don't come from Carbon 14 it is only useful to about 25k years. It comes from isotopes that have 1 billion year half lives.

[@chrischapel9165]

​​@@gannicusfinch7068I have one question for you dear scoffer, how was all the material that created the big bang theory formed and from what. Why does every culture mention a great flood. Why is it that science gets to hang its hat on "hypothesis and theories" which the definition of " scientific theory" allows for changes...hmmmm . There is a post in this forum that a guy is writing his dissertation (i think , but its a college paper) and he mentions of inconsistencies in period timelines etc... So is it said "there are no anti science-ors in a fox hole" or, " no athiests" ,its the " no athiests "because GOD gives hope and man gives you b.s, enough to gain a grant .