{"id":2829,"date":"2023-03-13T13:22:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T12:22:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lakebeyond.com\/?p=2829"},"modified":"2023-03-13T13:22:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T12:22:57","slug":"when-was-lake-michigan-formed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lakebeyond.com\/when-was-lake-michigan-formed\/","title":{"rendered":"When was lake michigan formed?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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. Lake Michigan is shared, from west to east, by the U.S. states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The word “Michigan” originally referred to the lake itself, and is believed to come from the Ojibwa word mishigamimeaning “great water”.<\/p>\n

The lake was formed around 10,000 years ago as the glaciers began to retreat.<\/p>\n

How long ago was Michigan under water? <\/h2>\n

Michigan is a fossil-rich state, especially in the northern Lower Peninsula. Some 350 million years ago, this area was a warm, shallow, salt water tropical sea. Today, Michigan is home to a variety of fossilized remains, including those of ancient fish, plants, and invertebrates.<\/p>\n

Jean Nicolet was a French explorer who is credited with discovering Lake Michigan. He is thought to have landed near Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1634-1638 while searching for a passage to China. The Ho-Chunk Native American tribe lived in the area at the time. Nicolet’s discovery of the lake helped to open up the region to further exploration and settlement.<\/p>\n

What formed Lake Michigan <\/h3>\n