Question 1

True or false: Despite its name, Lake Superior is actually the shallowest of the five Great Lakes.

Accepted Answer

False. It is the deepest (avg. 483 ft) and coldest; Lake Erie is the shallowest.

Question 2

True or false: More than 300 shipwrecks lie at the bottom of Lake Superior, including the famous Edmund Fitzgerald.

Accepted Answer

True. Over 350 wrecks are documented, with the Edmund Fitzgerald (1975) being the most famous.

Question 3

True or false: Lake Superior contains enough water to submerge all of North and South America under a foot of water.

Accepted Answer

True. Its volume is about 2,900 cubic miles—enough to cover both continents to a depth of roughly one foot.

Question 4

True or false: The lake is so clear that in winter, you can see submerged shipwrecks from space.

Accepted Answer

False. Visibility is high, but no shipwrecks are visible from space; satellite images can’t resolve them.

Question 5

True or false: Lake Superior is the second-largest freshwater lake by surface area globally, after Lake Baikal.

Accepted Answer

False. It is the largest by surface area (31,700 sq mi); Lake Baikal is smaller in area but deeper and more voluminous.

Question 6

True or false: Lake Superior once had a population of freshwater sharks that went extinct 10,000 years ago.

Accepted Answer

False. No evidence exists of sharks in Lake Superior; it was covered by ice sheets during the last glacial period.

Question 7

True or false: Lake Superior’s shoreline is longer than the entire west coast of the United States.

Accepted Answer

True. The lake’s shoreline measures about 2,726 miles, easily surpassing the U.S. West Coast’s ~1,293 miles.

Question 8

True or false: Lake Superior has its own tide, rising and falling up to 6 inches twice daily.

Accepted Answer

True. It experiences a ‘seiche’—a standing wave—and a small true tide of about 1-2 inches, occasionally amplified.

Lake Superior Trivia Questions