Contents Notes |
Three centuries of physical inquiry -- The lake basin : excavated by ice, shaped by shore erosion and sediment transport -- Water levels and flows -- The seasonal cycles of heating/cooling and layering/mixing -- Parade of lake currents -- Categories and models of waves -- Long surface waves : seiches, tides, and storm surges -- Probing the underwater wave field -- Models in action -- Hydrodynamic constraints on biological production and human affairs. "Lake Michigan and the other four Great Lakes of North America collectively constitute the largest body of fresh water in the world, measured by surface area. The eminent limnologist Clifford H. Mortimer has spent much of his life studying these lakes, the dynamics of their waters, and the impact of humans upon them. Lake Michigan in Motion, offering an introduction to the science, public policy, and history of Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes system, is certain to become a classic reference book." "Mortimer chronicles three centuries of inquiry into Lake Michigan from the Native Americans, who called it Michigani (Great Waters), to the French explorers, whose first recorded observations date from the 1600s, to present-day scientists, who use satellite views of the Great Lakes from outer space." "Lake Michigan in Motion is a source of information for amateur naturalists, students, teachers, public officials, a wide variety of scientists and natural resource managers, residents of Lake Michigan's shores, and others who use the lake for their livelihood and recreation."--Jacket. |