Description
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Context:
Research from the University of Toledo’s department of medicine has shown that toxins from these bacteria called microcystin can make animals and people sick when they come into contact with infected water.
About Lake Erie
- It is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally.
- It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes.
- It is located on the International Boundary between Canada and the United States. It is an important link in the St. Lawrence Seaway.
- The largest city on the lake is Cleveland. Other major cities along the lake shore include Buffalo, New York; Erie, Pennsylvania; and Toledo, Ohio.
- The main natural outflow from the lake is via the Niagara River, which provides hydroelectric power to Canada and the U.S.
- Lake Erie is primarily fed by the Detroit River (from Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair) and drains via the Niagara River and Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario.
About Microcystin
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It is a single-celled freshwater cyanobacterium (commonly known as blue-green algae) known for forming toxic blooms in eutrophic water bodies. It is characterized by spherical cells grouped into colonies with or without mucilage.
Microcystins covalently bond to and inhibit protein phosphatases Protein Phosphatase 1 and Protein Phosphatase 2A and can thus cause pansteatitis.
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About five Great Lakes in North America
- The Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border.
- The five lakes are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. (Hydrologically, Michigan and Huron are a single body of water, as they are joined by Straits of Mackinac.)
- The Great Lakes Waterway enables modern travel and shipping by water among the lakes. The lakes connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River, and to the Mississippi River basin through the Illinois Waterway.
- These Lakes are the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total area and the second-largest by total volume. They contain 21% of the world's surface fresh water by volume.
Source:
INDIAN EXPRESS
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PRACTICE QUESTION
Q.Lake Erie, shares a border with which of the following countries?
- Michigan
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Washington
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 2, and 3 only
(c) 1, 3, and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, and 4
Answer: b
Explanation:
Lake Erie, fourth largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. It forms the boundary between Canada (Ontario) to the north and the United States (Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York) to the west, south, and east.
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