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Go jump in the lakes
The Macomb Daily (9/10)
Rosco the Clown and Clarol the Clown embark on Great Lakes adventure to promote water preservation and education. The event document will be brought together into an aquatic educational presentation for school-aged children.
Residents learn about water quality at Port of Rochester
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (9/8)
The 60-foot-tall sailboat "Earth Voyager" brought many people to the port to discuss Great Lakes pollution and drew advocates who fought against using the waterway as a dumping ground.
Photo of local lighthouse makes swell beer coaster
The Grand Rapids Press (9/8)
People visiting the Great Lakes may notice the work of Grand Rapids photographer Steven Huyser-Honig on beer coasters in nearby bars and restaurants.
Cleanups planned for Coastweeks
The News-Messenger (9/2)
Ohio's 2008 Coastweeks observance will again focus on the preservation and protection of Lake Erie and its watershed through a variety of cleanup events along the shoreline and throughout its watershed.
The Environmental Association for Great Lakes Education (EAGLE)
GLIN's September 2008 Site of the Month (9/1)
The Environmental Association for Great Lakes Education is a nonprofit
organization empowering local communities to protect the Great Lakes
Ecosystem.
What's going on in your neighborhood this month? Meet other people and learn together at recreational and educational events! Our new dynamic calendar is updated daily with current educational events.
What minerals or rocks are found in the Great Lakes region?
from Melissa in Ontario, Age 10 and
Ryan in Darien, Connecticut, Age 10
The primary rock exposed along the shore of Lake Ontario on both the US and Canadian shores in that area is an Ordovician age limestone about 400 million years old. Locally, it may contain some fairly large orthocone cephalopod fossils (including some that measure 6 feet in length!). This limestone is quarried both near Kingston, Ontario and in the Watertown, New York areas for crushed stone to be used in construction. Rarely, it may contain small veins that hold calcite crystals.
Further to the northeast in the Thousand Islands region lies an extension of the Canadian Shield known as the Frontenac Axis. This rock is mostly granitic gneiss and is about 1 billion years old (that's 1,000,000,000 years!).
There are many interesting, but small, pockets of other minerals in both these areas as well as in associated rocks that are inland from the St. Lawrence River on both sides of the border. Many on the Canadian side were worked for mica and apatite in the past, but are of no economic importance today. The only major economically valuable deposits still being worked in the area today are in the Balmat, New York district, where talc, wollastonite, and zinc are currently being mined.
The principal minerals found throughout the Great Lakes region include:
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Related references:
Great Lakes Atlas, 3rd ed.: Map of Geology and Mineral Resources
Michigan Technological University (MTU): A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum Photo Gallery
Illinois Department of Natural Resources (DNR): Office of Mines and Materials
Thank you for your question!
Answered on June 19, 2001 and updated on July 5, 2001