Jump to content

Lower Peninsula of Michigan: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
LALaker13 (talk | contribs)
1,986 edits
No edit summary
LALaker13 (talk | contribs)
1,986 edits
Line 88: Line 88:


The Lower Peninsula is bounded on the south by the states of [[Ohio]] and [[Indiana]], sharing both land and water boundaries with both. As a peninsula, the rest of the Lower Peninsula is bound by water. [[Lake Michigan]], [[Lake Huron]], [[Lake Saint Clair (North America)|Lake St. Clair]], and [[Lake Erie]] are the principal bodies of water that form the coastline of the Lower Peninsula. It also shares a water boundary with the Province of [[Ontario, Canada|Ontario]], [[Canada]].
The Lower Peninsula is bounded on the south by the states of [[Ohio]] and [[Indiana]], sharing both land and water boundaries with both. As a peninsula, the rest of the Lower Peninsula is bound by water. [[Lake Michigan]], [[Lake Huron]], [[Lake Saint Clair (North America)|Lake St. Clair]], and [[Lake Erie]] are the principal bodies of water that form the coastline of the Lower Peninsula. It also shares a water boundary with the Province of [[Ontario, Canada|Ontario]], [[Canada]].

===Flora and Fauna===
The [[American Bird Conservancy]] and the [[National Audubon Society]] have designated several locations as internationally [[Important Bird Area]]s.<ref>[http://www.michiganiba.blogspot.com/ Michigan Michigan Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program] ''See also'', [http://www.abcbirds.org/abcprograms/domestic/sitebased/iba/michigan.html American Bird Conservancy -- Important Bird Areas in Michigan.]</ref>


==Geology==
==Geology==

Revision as of 01:14, 15 October 2009

Template:Geobox The Lower Peninsula of Michigan is surrounded by water on all sides except its southern border, which it shares with Ohio and Indiana. Geographically, the Lower Peninsula has a recognizable shape that many people associate with a mitten, with the mid-eastern region identified as The Thumb. This has led to several folkloric creation myths for the area, one being that it is a hand print of Paul Bunyan, a giant lumberjack and favorite folk character in Michigan. This has also led to the distinctive phenomenon of Lower Peninsula residents holding out their hand and pointing to a spot on it when asked where they are from.

The Lower Peninsula has been nicknamed "The Mitten", "Below the Bridge", and occasionally "The L.P." (in parallel with "the U.P." for the Upper Peninsula). It is referred to - with more than a little sarcasm - as "Detroit" by residents of the Upper Peninsula, primarily through either Detroit being the Lower Peninsula's major city, or as an insult owing to Detroit's unpopularity. Residents of the Lower Peninsula are also jokingly referred to as "Trolls", because they live "under the bridge".[1][2]

Geography

At its widest points, the Lower Peninsula is 277 miles (446 km) long from north to south and 195 miles (314 km) from east to west. It contains nearly two-thirds of Michigan's total land area. The surface of the peninsula is generally level, broken by conical hills and glacial moraines usually not more than a few hundred feet tall. It is divided by a low water divide running north and south. The larger portion of the state is on the west of this and gradually slopes toward Lake Michigan. The highest point in the Lower Peninsula is not definitely established but is either Briar Hill at 1,705 feet (520 m), or one of several points nearby in the vicinity of Cadillac. The lowest point is the surface of Lake Erie at 571 feet (174 m).

The Lower Peninsula is bounded on the south by the states of Ohio and Indiana, sharing both land and water boundaries with both. As a peninsula, the rest of the Lower Peninsula is bound by water. Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Erie are the principal bodies of water that form the coastline of the Lower Peninsula. It also shares a water boundary with the Province of Ontario, Canada.

Flora and Fauna

The American Bird Conservancy and the National Audubon Society have designated several locations as internationally Important Bird Areas.[3]

Geology

Geologic map of the Michigan Basin

The Michigan Basin is a geologic basin centered on the Lower Peninsula of Michigan|Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. The feature is represented by a nearly circular pattern of geologic sedimentary strata in the area with a nearly uniform structural dip toward the center of the peninsula.

The basin is centered in Gladwin County where the Precambrian basement rocks are 16,000 feet (4,900 m) deep. Around the margins, such as under Mackinaw City, Michigan, the Precambrian surface is around 4,000 feet (1,200 m) down. This 4,000-foot (1,200 m) contour on the bedrock clips the northern part of the lower peninsula and continues under Lake Michigan along the west. It crosses the southern counties of Michigan and continues on to the north beneath Lake Huron.

On the north in the Canadian Shield, which includes the western part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Precambrian rocks are exposed at the surface. The eastern margins of Wisconsin along Green Bay are along the margins of the basin, while Precambrian rocks crop out to the west in central Wisconsin. The northeastern margin of Illinois around Chicago are on the southwestern margin of the basin. The southeast striking Kankakee Arch continuation of the Cincinnati Arch forms the southwest boundary of the basin underlying northeastern Illinois and northern Indiana. To the east, the Findlay Arch forms the southeast margin of the basin as it strikes to the northeast across northwestern Ohio, under the bed of Lake Erie and on as the Algonquin Arch through the southwestern prong of Ontario. The Wisconsin Arch forms the western boundary of the basin.

The rocks of the basin include Cambrian-Ordovician sandstones and carbonate rocks around the margins and at depth. Above or basinward are found the Silurian-Devonian dolostones and limestones with Carboniferous (Mississippian and Pennsylvanian) strata filling the center. A relatively thin veneer of Jurassic sediments are found in the center of the basin at the surface.

The basin appears to have subsided concurrently with basin filling as the sediments within the basin are all relatively shallow water sediments, many of which are richly fossiliferous. The location was located on a geologically passive portion of crust. The development of the basin and the surrounding arches were likely affected by the tectonic activity of the long term Appalachian orogeny several hundred miles to the south and east.

Paleogeographic reconstruction showing the Michigan Basin area during the Middle Devonian period.[4]

Within the Precambrian rocks beneath and just west of the center of the basin lies a generally north to northwest trending linear feature that appears to be an ancient rift in the Earth's crust. This rift appears to be contiguous with the rift zone under Lake Superior. This, the Midcontinent Rift System, turns west under Lake Superior and then southwest through southern Minnesota, central and western Iowa and on through southeastern Nebraska and into eastern Kansas.

Natural Resources

The rocks of the Michigan Basin are the source of commercial quantities of petroleum. The most actively drilled-for source of natural gas in recent years has been shale gas from the Devonian Antrim Shale in the northern part of the basin.

Gypsum has been mined from rocks in the basin. Halite (rock salt) occurs in beds of the Salina Formation (Silurian) and the Detroit River Group (Devonian). The Detroit salt mine has mined rock salt from beneath the Detroit metropolitan area since 1906.[5] Brine recovered from wells in the Michigan basin has been used as a commercial source of potassium salts, bromine, iodine, calcium chloride, and magnesium salts.[6]

Economy

See also: Economy of metropolitan Detroit
Michigan is the center of the American automotive industry. Pictured is the Ford Shelby GT500 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The GT500 is manufactured in Ford's Flat Rock, Michigan assembly plant.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated Michigan's 2004 gross state product at $372 billion.[7] Per capita personal income in 2003 was $31,178 and ranked twentieth in the nation. In May 2009, Michigan's unemployment rate rose to 14.1%,[8] the highest in the nation during the recession.

Some of the major industries/products/services include automobiles, cereal products, pizza, information technology, aerospace, military equipment, copper, iron, and furniture. Michigan is the third leading grower of Christmas trees with 60,520 acres (245 km2) of land dedicated to Christmas tree farming.[9][10] The beverage Vernors was invented in Michigan in 1866, sharing the title of oldest soft drink with Hires Root Beer. Faygo was founded in Detroit on November 4, 1907. Two of the top four pizza chains were founded in Michigan and are still headquartered there: Domino's Pizza by Tom Monaghan and Little Caesars Pizza by Mike Ilitch.

Michigan has experienced economic difficulties brought on by volatile stock market disruptions following the September 11, 2001 attacks. This caused a pension and benefit fund crisis for many American companies, including General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Since the early 2000s recession and the September 11, 2001 attacks, GM, Ford, and Chrysler have struggled to overcome the benefit funds crisis which followed an ensuing volatile stock market which had caused a severe underfunding condition in the respective U.S. pension and benefit funds (OPEB). Although manufacturing in the state grew 6.6% from 2001 to 2006,[11] the high speculative price of oil became a factor for the U.S. auto industry during the economic crisis of 2008 impacting industry revenues. During this economic crisis, President George W. Bush extended loans from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds in order to help the GM and Chrysler bridge the recession.[12] In January 2009, President Barack Obama formed an automotive task force in order to help the industry recover and achieve renewed prosperity for the region. With retiree health care costs a significant issue,[13][14] General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler reached agreements with the United Auto Workers Union to transfer the liabilities for their respective health care and benefit funds to a 501(c)(9) Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA). In spite of these efforts, the severity of the recession required Detroit's automakers to take additional steps to restructure, including idling many plants. With the U.S. Treasury extending the necessary debtor in possession financing, Chrysler and GM filled separate 'pre-packaged' Chapter 11 restructurings in May and June 2009 respectively.[15]

Michigan ranks fourth nationally in high tech employment with 568,000 high tech workers, which includes 70,000 in the automotive industry.[16] Michigan typically ranks third or fourth in overall Research & development (R&D) expenditures in the United States.[17][18] Its research and development, which includes automotive, comprises a higher percentage of the state's overall gross domestic product than for any other U.S. state.[19] The state is an important source of engineering job opportunities. The domestic auto industry accounts directly and indirectly for one of every ten jobs in the U.S.[20] Michigan ranked second nationally in new corporate facilities and expansions in 2004. From 1997 to 2004, Michigan was listed as the only state to top the 10,000 mark for the number of major new developments;[11][21] however, the effects of the late 2000s recession have slowed the state's economy. In 2008, Michigan ranked third in a survey among the states for luring new business which measured capital investment and new job creation per one million population.[22] In August 2009, Michigan and Detroit's auto industry received $1.36 B in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy for the manufacture of electric vehicle technologies which is expected to generate 6,800 immediate jobs and employ 40,000 in the state by 2020.[23]

As leading research institutions, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University, and Wayne State University are important partners in the state's economy. Michigan's workforce is well-educated and highly skilled, making it attractive to companies. Michigan's infrastructure gives it a competitive edge; Michigan has 38 deep water ports.[24] In 2007, Bank of America announced that it would commit $25 billion to community development in Michigan following its acquisition of LaSalle Bank in Troy.[25]

Detroit Metropolitan Airport is one of the nation's most recently expanded and modernized airports with six major runways, and large aircraft maintenance facilities capable of servicing and repairing a Boeing 747. Michigan's schools and colleges rank among the nation's best. The state has maintained its early commitment to public education.

Transportation

Major Airports

Highways

Interstates Interstate Auxiliary Routes US Highways
Interstate 69 Interstate 194 U.S. Route 10
Interstate 75 Interstate 196 U.S. Route 12
Interstate 94 Interstate 296 U.S. Route 23
Interstate 96 Interstate 275 U.S. Route 24
Interstate 375 U.S. Route 31
Interstate 475 U.S. Route 127
Interstate 496 U.S. Route 131
Interstate 675
Interstate 696

Flora and Fauna

The American Bird Conservancy and the National Audubon Society have designated several locations as internationally Important Bird Areas.[26]

Regions

Michigan's Lower Peninsula can be divided into five main regions based on geological, soil, and vegetation differences; amount of urban areas or rural areas; minority populations; and agriculture:

Great Lakes Circle Tour

The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.[27]

Notes

  1. ^ Meyer, Mark (August 21, 2008). "Circle Theatre hunts for another hit with 'Escanaba In Love'". Chicago Theatre Examiner. Examiner.com. Retrieved 2008-08-26. These few hardy souls are known in Midwestern parlance as "Yoopers" (from "U.P.ers"), and like to refer to downstate Michiganians such as myself as "trolls" because we live "under" the Mackinac Bridge.
  2. ^ Parrish, P. J. "Somebody's Daughter". A Thousand Bones. Simon and Schuster. p. 22. ISBN 1416525874. Retrieved 2008-08-26. A troll was what people from Michigan's Upper Peninsula called anyone who lived "below the bridge," the five-mile-long span that connected the Upper and Lower peninsulas. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Michigan Michigan Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program See also, American Bird Conservancy -- Important Bird Areas in Michigan.
  4. ^ Blakey, Ron. "Paleogeography and Geologic Evolution of North America". Global Plate Tectonics and Paleogeography. Northern Arizona University. Retrieved 2008-07-04.
  5. ^ E.Z. Manos, "Detroit salt mine-past and future", Mining Engineering, Feb. 2003, p.15-19.
  6. ^ George I. Smith and others (1973) Evaporites and brines, in United States Mineral Resources, US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 820, p.197-216.
  7. ^ "Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State".
  8. ^ Michigan Labor Market Information. Retrieved on June 23, 2009.
  9. ^ [1] http://www.nass.usda.gov/census/census02/volume1/us/st99_2_035_036.pdf
  10. ^ "National Christmas Tree Association: Industry Statistics".
  11. ^ a b National Association of Manufacturers (February 2008).Facts about Michigan Manufacturing. Retrieved on June 17, 2009.
  12. ^ Neuman, Scott (December 20, 2008). Bush Sets $17.4 Billion In Loans For Automakers. Retrieved on December 26, 2008.
  13. ^ Sloan, Allan (April 10, 2007).GM's High-Performance Pension Machine Washington Post, D02.
  14. ^ Lindorff, Dave (April 19, 2005).Health Care Costs and the Jobs Flight to Canada Counterpunch. Retrieved on April 24, 2007.
  15. ^ Garrett, Major (March 31, 2009).White House Plots GM Bankruptcy, Unsure When Taxpayers Will Recoup $50 Billion Investment.Fox News. Retrieved on June 23, 2009.
  16. ^ MEDC (2009).Michigan: High Technology Focus. State of Michigan. Retrieved on June 23, 2009.
  17. ^ MEDC,(2009).Michigan Advantage State of Michigan. Retrieved on June 23, 2009.
  18. ^ NSF 01-320 (2001).R&D Spending is Highly Concentrated in a Small Number of States National Science Foundation
  19. ^ "www.agiweb.org/gap/cvd/CVD04Michigan.pdf" (PDF).
  20. ^ Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (2006). From the 2003 Study "Contributions of the Automotive Industry to the U.S. Economy" University of Michigan and the Center for Automotive Research.Retrieved on January 3, 2009.
  21. ^ MEDC (2005) Michigan#2 in the Nation for New Corporate Facilities and Expansions in 2004 Globeinvestor.com
  22. ^ King of the Hill: Top ten competitive states for 2008.Siteselection.com. Retrieved on July 8, 2009.
  23. ^ Priddle, Alisa and David Shepardson (August 6, 2009).Mich. gets $1.3B battery jolt.The Detroit News. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
  24. ^ MEDC (2006). Commercial PortsState of Michigan
  25. ^ Crain's Detroit Business (October 4, 2007).Bank of America commits $25 billion for community development in Michigan. Metro Mode Media.Retrieved on January 3, 2008.
  26. ^ Michigan Michigan Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program See also, American Bird Conservancy -- Important Bird Areas in Michigan.
  27. ^ Great Lakes Circle Tour.

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lower_Peninsula_of_Michigan&oldid=319930720"