Lake Chicago | |
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Map of middle stage of glacial Lake Chicago, USGS Report of 1915. | |
Location | North America |
Group | Great Lakes |
Coordinates | 42°12′N 87°06′W / 42.2°N 87.1°W |
Lake type | former lake |
Primary inflows | Laurentide Ice Sheet |
Primary outflows | Chicago River |
Basin countries | United States |
First flooded | 18,000 years before present |
Max. length | 241 mi (388 km) |
Max. width | 57 mi (92 km) |
Average depth | 160 ft (49 m) [1] |
Residence time | 4000 years in existence |
Surface elevation | 160 ft (49 m) |
References | The Pleistocene of Indiana and Michigan and the History of the Great Lakes; Frank Leverett and Frank B. Taylor; Monographs of the United States Geological Survey; Volume LIII; Washington; 1915 |
Lake Chicago was a prehistoric proglacial lake that is the ancestor of what is now known as Lake Michigan, one of North America's five Great Lakes. Formed about 13,000 years ago and fed by retreating glaciers, it drained southwest through the Chicago Outlet River.
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