Marine Museum

Our fourth stop was at the Corps of Engineers Marine Museum, where we were given a short talk by Mr. Kevin Gange and video on Lake Superior, and then toured the museum.

Mr. Gange told the geomorphology class that the Duluth/Superior port is the number one exporter on the Great Lakes with 40 million tons of cargo going through each year (about $26 billion worth of resources). Of the exports, 85% is from Duluth, and the remaining 15% is from the Superior side.
In 1985 to 1987 the Duluth piers were rebuilt at a cost of $10.6 million. It was the first time the Piers had been redone since they were built by Teddy Roosevelt. The Duluth port gets around 100 ocean ships a year (about 90% are Great Lake ships which are too big to fit up the St. Lawrence.) In a typical year, the Great Lakes more freight moves across the Great Lakes than the Panama Canal.

The main job of the Corps is to keep water in the canals. Seems odd, doesn’t it? But the natural water level of the harbor is 4-8ft deep, which is still true today except for the canal paths which are about 30 feet deep. The Corps keeps 17 miles worth of canals dredged. The dredged material is kept in a specific pier called Erie, and the sediments do settle down over time creating more land. Lake Superior harbors 10% of earth’s freshwater.

#1: Iron Ore
From 1880 to 1950 the natural iron ore being exported was 70-80% high grade material. Now they export taconite pellets (taconite is 10-20% iron) which are much more compact and so they save space and money storing and exporting these materials.
(Taconite photo from http://www.cleveland-cliffs.com/Operations/Products/Pages/IronOre.aspx)

#2: Coal
When coal was being shipped originally, it was coming from the east, and now it comes from the west. The western coal is softer and has less sulfur. 18 million tons of coal are shipped from Duluth every year.

(Coal photo from http://tomorrowsnewspaper.blogspot.com/2007/05/playing-price-of-coal_27.html)

#3: Grain
West of the Great Lakes is what is known as the “bread basket of America.” Grains from the west are brought to Duluth to be exported to various ports on the Great Lakes and all over the world. It is also stored in elevators. No, not the ones that brings you to upper stories but a grain elevator which is like a silo. These elevators can store 160 million tons at one time.
(Grain photo from http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/grain.htm)

This figure shows the difference in both depth and amount of water held in each of the Great Lakes.
After the video and talk, the class toured the Marine Museum where the class saw several visualizations as to the depth and amount of water in the Great Lakes.

This photo shows a topographic representation of the relative depths of the lakes.

The photo to the left shows changes in geographic careers and technologies: surveying and cartography.

We also read about the Edmund Fitzgerald, which brought to life the dangers ship crews face all the time.The Edmund Fitzgerald-1975 loss a mystery (Text courtesy the Corps of Engineers Museum in Duluth, MN)
“On her last trip, the Edmund Fitzgerald left Superior with 26,116 tons of taconite on November 9, 1975, bound for Detroit. A “typical November storm” was expected, so a northerly course was chosen, where the ship would be somewhat protected from winds. The Arthur M. Anderson followed several miles behind the Fitz. The Ships ran into the storm on the 10th on the Eastern end of the Lake. When they were near Six Fathom Shoals and Caribou Island, the Fitzgerald’s master reported his pumps in use and some topside storm damage, but the ship was “holding her own.” Within a few hours, however, she disappeared with her crew of twenty-nine men.” (The Fitzgerald is pictured below)

Danielle Swartz