Green Bay (Lake Michigan)

Last updated

Green Bay
Green Bay in Lake Michigan on April 16, 1972, cropped from AS16-118-18879.png
On April 16, 1972, taken during Apollo 16
Green Bay in Lake Michigan on April 14, 2022, rotated and cropped from ISS067-E-14016.png
On April 14, 2022, from the International Space Station
Astronaut photography of Green Bay
Relief map of USA Michigan.png
Red pog.svg
Green Bay
Greenbay.svg
Green Bay
Location Brown County, Door County, Kewaunee County, Marinette County, Oconto County (Wisconsin), Delta County, Menominee County (Michigan) [1]
Coordinates 45°01′47″N87°27′39″W / 45.02972°N 87.46083°W / 45.02972; -87.46083 Coordinates: 45°01′47″N87°27′39″W / 45.02972°N 87.46083°W / 45.02972; -87.46083
Type Bay [1]
Surface elevation581 feet (177 m) [1]

Green Bay is an arm of Lake Michigan, located along the south coast of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the east coast of Wisconsin. It is separated from the rest of the lake by the Door Peninsula in Wisconsin, the Garden Peninsula in Michigan, and the chain of islands between them, all formed by the Niagara Escarpment. Green Bay is some 120 miles (193 km) long, with a width ranging from about 10 to 20 miles (16 to 32 km); it is 1,626 square miles (4,210 km2) in area. [2]

Contents

At the southern end of the bay is the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the Fox River enters the bay. The Leo Frigo Memorial Bridge (formerly known as the Tower Drive bridge) spans the point where the bay begins and the Fox River ends, as the river flows south to north into the bay. Around mid-bay are Sturgeon Bay and the Peshtigo River. The Sturgeon Bay serves the city named after the bay as a shortcut for large ships to use to bypass the Door Peninsula, while the Peshtigo River serves Peshtigo and Crivitz. Locally, the bay is called the Bay of Green Bay to distinguish it from the city.

The bay is located in parts of five counties in Wisconsin (Brown, Door, Kewaunee, Marinette, Oconto), and two in Michigan (Delta, Menominee).

History

A tall ship sailing into the mouth of the Fox River 20040723 Tall Ships Boating 08 Small Web view.jpg
A tall ship sailing into the mouth of the Fox River

Oconto is home to Copper Culture State Park, which has remains dated to around 5000-6000 BC. It is a burial ground of the Copper Culture Indians. This burial ground is considered to be the oldest cemetery in Wisconsin and one of the oldest in the nation. The Ho-Chunk believe that they were created on the shores of Green Bay at a place called Red Banks. [3]

The French Jesuit, Roman Catholic priest, and missionary, Father Claude-Jean Allouez said the first Mass in Oconto on December 3, 1669. [4]

The bay was named la baie des Puants (literally, "the bay of the Stinks") by the French explorer Jean Nicolet as shown on many French maps of the 17th and 18th centuries. According to George R. Stewart, the French received the name from their Indian guides, who called the natives living near Green Bay by a derogatory word meaning "Stinkers", thus the bay was the "Bay of the Stinkers", but this name perplexed the French, and Jacques Marquette thought the name might relate to the smell of the swamps when he explored the area in May 1673. His fellow explorer Louis Joliet, with two canoes and five voyageurs of French-Indian ancestry (Métis) were on their way to find the Mississippi River. They travelled up the Fox River, nearly to its headwaters. The French also called the bay Baie Verte, and the English kept this name as Green Bay. [5] The name of the bay in the Menominee language is Pūcīhkit, or "bay that smells like something rotting". [6]

In 1671 and 1673, Louis André and Jacques Marquette described fluctuations in the water level of the bay and discussed what they thought caused them. [7]

Ferromanganese nodules, currents, reefs, and fish

Ferromanganese nodules have been found in the bay. [8] [9] Todorokite occurs within the nodules. [10]

There are numerous reefs of exposed bedrock in the Porte des Mortes passage and in the bay. [11]

North of the peninsula, warm water from Green Bay flows into Lake Michigan on the surface, while at the same time, cold lakewater enters Green Bay deep underneath. [12]

In a study looking at the contents' of fish stomachs, walleye were found to each between 5-6% and lake whitefish and yellow perch over the course of a year. However, south of Chambers Island, walleye eat considerably more lake whitefish in May and June. Walleye were found to eat more yellow perch on an annual basis, but not more than 15% of their overall diet during any particular month. [13]

Walleye and Lake whitefish in Green Bay for the most part do not compete for the same prey, especially south of Chambers Island. Lake whitefish and yellow perch in the bay compete strongly for the same prey south of Chambers Island, and compete moderately north of it. [14]

Environmental concerns

Areas of concern

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "Areas of Concern are designated by the International Joint Commission as geographic areas in the Great Lakes basin having severe environmental degradation. There are 43 Areas of Concern with 26 in the United States, 17 in Canada, and five shared by the two countries."

Background

Although the lower and upper parts of the bay are separated by Chambers Island (upper right), the northeastern edge of the area of concern ends much lower into the bay at Long Tail Point (lower left). Taken by Landsat 8 on February 25, 2022. Crop of Lower Green Bay, February 25, 2022, true color Landsat-8.png
Although the lower and upper parts of the bay are separated by Chambers Island (upper right), the northeastern edge of the area of concern ends much lower into the bay at Long Tail Point (lower left). Taken by Landsat 8 on February 25, 2022.

Lower green Bay Area of Concern was designated in 1987 under the Great Lakes Water Quality agreement.

It was designated by these sources of pollution:

The seasonal dead zone in the lower part of the bay may have gotten longer from 2009-2015. [17]

Beneficial Use Impairments

Beneficial Use Impairments (BUI) are a change in the chemical, physical or biological integrity of the Great Lakes system sufficient to cause significant environmental degradation. The International Joint Commission identified 14 BUIs listed below. All BUIs that have been designated for an AOC, must be removed for the AOC to be considered restored and begin the delisting process.

Green Bay BUI's:

Timeline of restoration

Since 1988 over three quarters of the 120 remedial actions recommended by the lower green bay remedial action plan have been implemented or initiated.

Industrialization was a major factor regarding the Lower Green Bay becoming contaminated; significant contributors were land water use (agriculture, logging, industry), high turbidity, sedimentation, frequent algal blooms, degraded fish/wildlife/plant populations and adverse toxicant impacts.

Cleanup

Past Emergency Clean Up: In 1999 and 2000, EPA oversaw a dredging project done by some of the paper companies about 3 miles upstream from the mouth of the Lower Fox River.  It removed 80,000 cubic yards of PCB-contaminated sediment, containing 3,400 pounds of PCBs.

2019 marks the 16th year of clean up of the lower Green Bay. River clean up is scheduled for late March depending on ice conditions. Monitoring will continue to study fish, water, and PCB concentrations. Once the lower Green Bay clean up is complete long term monitoring will still be done on the entirety of the river.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Michigan</span> One of the Great Lakes of North America

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third-largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that of Lake Huron through the 3+1⁄2 miles wide, 295 feet deep, Straits of Mackinac, giving it the same surface elevation as its easterly counterpart; the two are technically a single lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marinette County, Wisconsin</span> County in Wisconsin, United States

Marinette County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,872. Its county seat is Marinette. Marinette County is part of the Marinette, WI–MI Micropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maumee River</span> River in Indiana and Ohio, United States

The Maumee River is a river running in the United States Midwest from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers, where Fort Wayne, Indiana has developed, and meanders northeastwardly for 137 miles (220 km) through an agricultural region of glacial moraines before flowing into the Maumee Bay of Lake Erie. The city of Toledo is located at the mouth of the Maumee. The Maumee was designated an Ohio State Scenic River on July 18, 1974. The Maumee watershed is Ohio's breadbasket; it is two-thirds farmland, mostly corn and soybeans. It is the largest watershed of any of the rivers feeding the Great Lakes, and supplies five percent of Lake Erie's water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Clair River</span> River in North America

The St. Clair River is a 40.5-mile-long (65.2 km) river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, forming part of the international boundary between Canada and the United States and between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is a significant component in the Great Lakes Waterway, whose shipping channels permit cargo vessels to travel between the upper and lower Great Lakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fox River (Green Bay tributary)</span> River in Wisconsin, United States

The Fox River is a river in eastern Wisconsin in the Great Lakes region of the United States. It is the principal tributary of Green Bay, and via the Bay, the largest tributary of Lake Michigan. The well-known city of Green Bay, one of the first European settlements in North America, is on the river at its mouth on lower Green Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Winnebago</span> Lake in Wisconsin

Lake Winnebago is a shallow freshwater lake in the north central United States, located in east central Wisconsin. At 137,700 acres it is the largest lake entirely within the state, covering an area of about 30 miles by 10 miles, with 88 miles of shoreline, an average depth of 15.5 feet, and a maximum depth of 21 feet. It has many shallow reefs along the west shore, and a drop-off type shoreline on the east. There are several islands along the west shore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Louis River (Lake Superior tributary)</span> River in Minnesota and Wisconsin

The Saint Louis River is a river in the U.S. states of Minnesota and Wisconsin that flows into Lake Superior. The largest U.S. river to flow into the lake, it is 192 miles (309 km) in length and starts 13 miles (21 km) east of Hoyt Lakes, Minnesota. The river's watershed covers 3,634 square miles (9,410 km2). Near the Twin Ports of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin, the river becomes a freshwater estuary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sturgeon Bay</span> Arm of Green Bay within the Door Peninsula, Wisconsin

Sturgeon Bay is an arm of Green Bay extending southeastward approximately 10 miles into the Door Peninsula at the city of Sturgeon Bay, located approximately halfway up the Door Peninsula. The bay is connected to Lake Michigan by the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal. The Potawatomi name for Sturgeon Bay is "Na-ma-we-qui-tong".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claude-Jean Allouez</span>

Claude Jean Allouez was a Jesuit missionary and French explorer of North America. He established a number of missions among the indigenous people living near Lake Superior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolf River (Fox River tributary)</span> Principal tributary of Fox River of Green Bay in eastern Wisconsin

The Wolf River is a 225 mi (362 km) long tributary of the Fox River in northeastern Wisconsin in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The river is one of the two National Scenic Rivers in Wisconsin, along with the St. Croix River. The scenic portion is 24 miles (39 km) long. The river and its parent the Fox River and associated lakes are known for their sturgeon which spawn every spring upstream on the lower river until blocked by the Shawano Dam. The river flows through mostly undeveloped forestland southerly from central Forest County in the north to Lake Poygan in the south. The lake is part of the Winnebago Pool of lakes fed by both the Fox and Wolf Rivers. The Fox-Wolf basin is usually considered to be a single unified basin and the rivers themselves may be referred to as the Fox-Wolf River system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Rouge (Michigan)</span> River in Michigan

The River Rouge is a 127-mile river in the Metro Detroit area of southeastern Michigan. It flows into the Detroit River at Zug Island, which is the boundary between the cities of River Rouge and Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saginaw Bay</span> Body of water

Saginaw Bay is a bay within Lake Huron located on the eastern side of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms the space between Michigan's Thumb region and the rest of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Saginaw Bay is 1,143 square miles (2,960 km2) in area. It is located in parts of five Michigan counties: Arenac, Bay, Huron, Iosco, and Tuscola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Door Peninsula</span> Peninsula of Wisconsin in Lake Michigan

The Door Peninsula is a peninsula in eastern Wisconsin, separating the southern part of the Green Bay from Lake Michigan. The peninsula includes northern Kewaunee County, northeastern Brown County, and the mainland portion of Door County. It is on the western side of the Niagara Escarpment. Well known for its cherry and apple orchards, the Door Peninsula is a popular tourism destination. With the 1881 completion of the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, the northern half of the peninsula became an island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Butte des Morts</span> Body of water

Big Lake Butte des Morts is a shallow freshwater lake located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, in Winnebago County. It is part of the Winnebago Pool of lakes in east central Wisconsin, along with Lake Winnebago, Lake Poygan, and Lake Winneconne. The lake is fed by the Fox River in the southwest and the Wolf River draining from Lake Winneconne in the northwest, and drains via the Fox River southeast into Lake Winnebago. The lake is part of the Butte des Morts region in Winnebago County, Wisconsin. This lake is not connected to Little Lake Butte des Morts, which is located to the north, downstream of Lake Winnebago, fed by the lower Fox River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Noquebay</span> Freshwater lake in Wisconsin, US

Lake Noquebay is a large freshwater lake in northeastern Wisconsin. It is the largest lake in Marinette county. It is located north of Green Bay, Wisconsin, approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Crivitz, Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manistique River</span> River in Michigan

The Manistique River is a 71.2-mile-long (114.6 km) river in the U.S. state of Michigan that winds southward through the central Upper Peninsula from its headwaters near Lake Superior to its mouth in Lake Michigan. It drains approximately 1,461 square miles (3,780 km2) of the Upper Peninsula, including most of Schoolcraft County and small portions of Alger County, Delta County, Luce County, and Mackinac County. The river rises at the outlet of Manistique Lake in the southwest corner of Luce County, and after flowing through the Seney National Wildlife Refuge, empties into Lake Michigan at Manistique, Michigan. M-77, a north–south highway, serves much of the Manistique River's drainage and crosses the river and its tributaries several times.

There are three Manistique Lakes in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The lakes include North Manistique Lake, Big Manistique Lake, and South Manistique Lake. The towns surrounding the lakes are Curtis, Germfask, and Helmer. The lakes are known for vacationing and fishing. They are also in close proximity to other natural sights such as the Great Lakes, rivers, and smaller lakes as well as tourist attractions including the Canada–US border, the Soo Locks, Mackinac Island, parks, and museums.

The Back Forty Mine is a proposed open-pit metallic sulfide mine targeting gold and zinc deposits in Menominee County in the South Central part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula next to the Menominee River.

References

  1. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Green Bay (Lake Michigan)
  2. ↑ "Fox River and Green Bay Statistics". Fox River Watch. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Ho-Chunk Oral Tradition - Indian Country Wisconsin". www.mpm.edu. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  4. ↑ Hall, George E. (2009). Ebert, Duane & Loberger, Pamela Ann (eds.). A History of Oconto (2nd ed.). Oconto, Wisconsin: Oconto County Historical Society. p. 33.
  5. ↑ Stewart, George R. (1945). Names on the Land . Random House. p.  88.
  6. ↑ Hoffman, Mike. "Menominee Place Names in Wisconsin". The Menominee Clans Story. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  7. ↑ The Physical Geography of Wisconsin by Lawrence Martin, Bulletin Number XXXVI, Educational Series Number 4, Madison Wisconsin: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, 1916 Chapter XII: The Wisconsin Coast of Lake Michigan, page 291
  8. ↑ Cordua, William S. (1998). "Ferromanganese Modules". Minerals of Wisconsin. Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey.
  9. ↑ Rossmann, Ronald & Callender, Edward (December 1968). "Manganese Nodules in Lake Michigan". Science. 162 (3858). Abstract. Bibcode:1968Sci...162.1123R. doi:10.1126/science.162.3858.1123. PMID   17746819. S2CID   9660139.
  10. ↑ Cordua, William S. (1998). "Todorokite". Minerals of Wisconsin. Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey.
  11. ↑ Janssen, J.; Berg, M. B. & Lozano, S. J. (2005). "Submerged Terra Incognita: Lake Michigan's Abundant but Unknown Rocky Zones". In Edsall, T. & Munawar, M. (eds.). State of Lake Michigan: Ecology, Health and Management. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. Map, p. 117. S2CID   60440392.
  12. ↑ Miller, Gerald S.; Saylor, James H. (1985). "Currents and Temperatures in Green Bay, Lake Michigan" (PDF). Journal of Great Lakes Research. 11 (2): 97–109. doi:10.1016/S0380-1330(85)71749-2.
  13. ↑ Food web interactions among walleyes, lake whitefish, and yellow perch in Green. Bay, Lake Michigan by Lucas Koenig, MS thesis, UW-Stevens Point, August 2020, page 4
  14. ↑ Food web interactions among walleyes, lake whitefish, and yellow perch in Green. Bay, Lake Michigan by Lucas Koenig, MS thesis, UW-Stevens Point, August 2020, pages 49-50
  15. ↑ [Timescales of transport through Lower Green Bay] by Hector Bravo, Sajad Hamidi, Eric Anderson, Jv Klump, and Bahram Khazaei, Journal of Great Lakes Research, Volume 46, July 11, 2020
  16. ↑ About the Lower Green Bay and Fox River AOC, Wisconsin DNR
  17. ↑ Evidence of persistent, recurring summertime hypoxia in Green Bay, Lake Michigan by J. Vala Klump, Shelby L. Brunnerad, Brice K.Grunert, Jerry L. Kaster, Kim Weckerly, Erin M. Houghton, John A. Kennedy, Tracy J.Valenta, Journal of Great Lakes Research Volume 44, Issue 5, October 2018, pages 841–850
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.