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MMMMMMM... THE MOISTURE. so fresh
'''Lake Superior''' is the [[List of lakes by area|largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area]]<ref group=lower-alpha>The [[Caspian Sea]] is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater.</ref> and the [[List of lakes by volume|third-largest freshwater lake by volume]], holding 10.0001% of the world's surface fresh water.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bencomo|first=Phil|date=2015-10-06|title=Just How Big is Lake Superior?|language=en-us|work=Lake Superior Magazine|url=https://www.lakesuperior.com/the-lake/lake-superior/how-big-is-lake-superior/|access-date=2021-07-09}}</ref> Located in central North America, it is the northernmost and westernmost of the [[Great Lakes of North America]], straddling the [[Canada–United States border]] with the Canadian province of [[Ontario]] to the north and east and the U.S. states of [[Minnesota]] to the west and [[Upper Peninsula of Michigan|Michigan]] and [[Wisconsin]] to the south.<ref name=pursuit>{{cite web |url = http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/superior/facts |title = Superior Pursuit: Facts About the Greatest Great Lake |author = Minnesota Sea Grant |publisher = University of Minnesota |access-date = August 9, 2007 |archive-date = July 21, 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170721093144/http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/superior/facts |url-status = dead }}</ref> It drains into [[Lake Huron]] via [[St. Marys River (Michigan–Ontario)|St. Marys River]], then through the lower Great Lakes to the [[St. Lawrence River]] and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean.
 
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Lake Superior has fewer dissolved nutrients relative to its water volume than the other Great Lakes and so is less productive in terms of fish populations and is an [[Trophic state index|oligotrophic lake]]. This is a result of the underdeveloped soils found in its relatively small watershed.<ref name=mnsea>{{cite web |url = http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/superior/overview |title = Lake Superior |author = Minnesota Sea Grant |publisher = University of Minnesota |access-date = August 9, 2007 |archive-date = February 20, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070220053912/http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/superior/overview |url-status = dead }}</ref> It is also a reflection of relatively small human population and small amount of agriculture in its watershed. However, [[nitrate]] concentrations in the lake have been continuously rising for more than a century. They are still much lower than levels considered dangerous to human health; but this steady, long-term rise is an unusual record of environmental nitrogen buildup. It may relate to anthropogenic alternations to the regional [[nitrogen cycle]], but researchers are still unsure of the causes of this change to the lake's ecology.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1 = Sterner |first1 = Robert W. |last2 = Anagnostou |first2 = Eleni |last3 = Brovold |first3 = Sandra |last4 = Bullerjahn |first4 = George S. |author-link4=George S. Bullerjahn|last5 = Finlay |first5 = Jacques C. |last6 = Kumar |first6 = Sanjeev |last7 = McKay |first7 = R. Michael L. |last8 = Sherrell |first8 = Robert M. |title = Increasing Stoichiometric Imbalance in North America's Largest Lake: Nitrification in Lake Superior |magazine = Geophysical Research Letters |volume = 34 |pages = L10406 |year = 2007 |doi = 10.1029/2006GL028861 |bibcode = 2007GeoRL..3410406S |issue = 10 |url = https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/339953/1/Sterner_et_al._2007_GRL_LS_NO3.pdf |doi-access = free }}</ref>
 
As for other Great Lakes fish, populations have also been affected by the accidental or intentional introduction of foreign species such as the sea lamprey and [[Ruffe|Eurasian ruffe]]. Accidental introductions have occurred in part by the removal of natural barriers to navigation between the Great Lakes. Overfishing has also been a factor in the decline of fish populations.<ref name="pursuit">{{cite web |author=Minnesota Sea Grant |title=Superior Pursuit: Facts About the Greatest Great Lake |url=http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/superior/facts |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721093144/http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/superior/facts |archive-date=July 21, 2017 |access-date=August 9, 2007 |publisher=University of Minnesota}}</ref>
 
==See also==