Bananas for Scale
Lake Superior

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Lake Superior

Largest freshwater lake by surface area/Water

Lake Superior is the largest of the North American Great Lakes and the largest freshwater lake by surface area in the world. It contains enough water to flood all of North and South America to a depth of about 30 centimeters. The lake is so large it generates its own weather patterns, and waves during storms can reach heights comparable to ocean swells.

Measurements

Surface area82.1 billion m²
24,076Central Parks
676San Franciscos
58.6 billionOffice desks

About 82,100 square km -- largest freshwater lake by area

Water volume12.1 trillion m³
1.5 trillionBall pits
8.1 trillionHot tubs
16.1 quadrillionBottles of wine

About 12,100 cubic km

Maximum depth406 m
93.3 quintillionthsCarina Nebula widths
444Door widths
Length560,000 m
46,667T-Rex body lengths
17.5 millionSD card lengths
9.3 millionThumb lengths

About 560 km long

Maximum width257,000 m
4.8 millionGolf tees
24,019Garbage truck lengths
1.3 millionBurrito lengths

About 257 km wide

Average depth149 m
29.8SUV lengths
149 sextillionthsMilky Way diameters
419Violins
Average surface temperature279 K
8.9 tenthsHot baths
9.8 tenthsWine cellars
1.4 tenthsBlast furnace cores

About 6 degrees C; rarely exceeds 15 degrees C even in summer

Browse more in Water