• How Did Water Shape The Land In Michigan

How did water shape the land in Michigan?

Michigan is almost completely surrounded by water, and it contains many inland lakes and rivers. These lakes and rivers make Michigan beautiful and unique. A few mesmerizing places in Michigan include The Great Lakes, Tahquamenon Falls, Mackinac Island, Pictured Rocks, and many more. Michigan's land was shaped by water and the water cycle over time through glaciers, lakes, rivers, precipitation and humans.

Water is constantly moving and changing through a process called the water cycle. The sun heats bodies of water on earth causing evaporation. After the air currents carry the water vapor into the air, it condenses and forms clouds. When cloud particles grow and collide they form precipitation; this

Rivers change the shape of the earth by eroding away sediments of the earth's surface. There are four different types of erosion created by rivers: hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition and solution. Hydraulic action is when the river bank is weakened by the velocity of the river, which allows air to enter small breaks in the river bank, and the bank slowly erodes away. Abrasion is when the bed and bank of the river is worn away by rocks carried by the river. Attrition is when rocks in the river forcefully hit each other and create smaller sediments. Solution means that soluble particles are dissolved into the river. These eroded particles are eventually transported downhill, where they deposit into another area to create new

Today humans have altered our water resource in many different ways. According to a study done in 2004 around 2.7% of water withdrawals are used for around 2,187 facilities for irrigational purposes. Irrigation is usually used for agricultural purposes, including farming. One example of how irrigation has shaped the land is by farmers leveling their fields. Since irrigation uses the natural downhill flow of water, hills may disrupt this flow. A process called leveling the fields is used to cut the land flat using a laser. Another way humans use water is through industrial use. Industrial purposes use around 6% of water use. Primary metal industries use the most industrial usage of water which is around 254.26 million gallons per day. Some water used for industries and irrigation is obtained through the reservoirs created by dams. There are around 2,500 dams in Michigan. Dams can be used for suppressing floods and hydropower plant (image below is a dam). Hydropower plants use energy from fast moving water to produce electricity. These are a few ways that humans have shaped