Seneca Lake
View in the early evening from Sampson State Park in Romulus, New York
Coordinates	42°39′20″N, 76°53′51″WCoordinates: 42°39′20″N, 76°53′51″W
Lake type	glacial
Primary sources	Catharine Creek, Keuka Lake Outlet; underwater sources
Primary outflows	Cayuga-Seneca Canal
Basin countries	USA
Max length	38 miles (60 km)
Surface area	42,800 acres (171 km²)
Average depth	291 feet (89 m)
Max depth	618 feet (188 m)
Water volume	4.2 trillion gallons (16 km³)
Surface elevation	440 feet (134 m)
Settlements	Watkins Glen, Geneva

Seneca Lake, one of western New York's glacial Finger Lakes, is the largest lake entirely within New York and second deepest lake in the United States, when gauged by its depth below sea level. It is promoted as being the lake trout capital of the world, and is host of the National Lake Trout Derby. Because of its depth, Seneca Lake has been a testing site for submarines. The lake takes its name from the Seneca nation of Native Americans. At the north end of Seneca Lake is the city of Geneva, New York, home of Hobart and William Smith Colleges and the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, a division of Cornell University. At the south end of the lake is the village of Watkins Glen, New York, famed for auto racing and waterfalls. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2832x2128, 851 KB) Image taken by Scieri12 I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Sampson State Park (along with Sampson State Park Beach) is located in Seneca County, New York in the USA. The Park was once a Naval training station, then an Air Force base. ... Romulus is a town located in Seneca County, New York. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ... A man-made lake in Keukenhof, Netherlands A lake is a body of water or other liquid of considerable size contained on a body of land. ... Keuka Lake is an unusual member of the Finger Lakes because it is Y-shaped instead of long and narrow. ... The New York Barge Canal is a successor to the Erie Canal and other canals within New York. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Watkins Glen is a village located in Schuyler County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 2,149. ... Geneva is a city in Ontario County, New York, USA. The population was 13,617 at the 2000 census. ... NY redirects here. ... The Finger Lakes, a major tourist destination in the west-central section of Upstate New York, are actually eleven in number, but only seven of the largest are commonly identified as such. ... Binomial name Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum, 1792) Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. ... The Seneca are a Native American people, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League. ... Native Americans are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ... Geneva is a city in Ontario County, New York, USA. The population was 13,617 at the 2000 census. ... Hobart and William Smith Colleges, located in Geneva, New York, are together a liberal arts college. ... The campus of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, New York, is an integral part of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences of Cornell University. ... Cornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA. Its two medical campuses are in New York City and Education City, Qatar. ... Watkins Glen is a village located in Schuyler County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 2,149. ... Watkins Glen International (nicknamed The Glen) is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Due to Seneca Lake's unique microclimate it is home to over 40 wineries, many of them farm wineries and is the location of the Seneca Lake American Viticultural Area. (See Seneca Lake wine trail). Tree ferns thrive in a protected dell at Heligan Gardens, in Cornwall, England, latitude 50° 15N A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. ... Wine Barrels A winery is a facility where fruit, usually grapes, is processed into wine. ... Many farms sell produce directly to consumers at farm produce stands to increase profitability of fruits, vegetables, maple syrup, honey and other specialties of the farm. ... An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a delimited grape-growing region distinguishable by geographic features, with boundaries defined by the United States governments Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Physical conditions

At 38 miles (60 km) long, It is the second longest of the Finger Lakes and has the largest volume, estimated at 4.2 trillion US gallons (16 km³), roughly half of the water in all the Finger Lakes. It has a maximum depth of 618 feet (188 m), and a mean depth of 291 feet (89 m). It has a surface area of 42,800 acres (171 km²).

The two main inlets are Catharine Creek at the southern end and the Keuka Lake Outlet. Seneca Lake outlets into the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, which joins Seneca and Cayuga Lakes at their northern ends. Keuka Lake is an unusual member of the Finger Lakes because it is Y-shaped instead of long and narrow. ... The New York Barge Canal is a successor to the Erie Canal and other canals within New York. ... Cayuga Lake is the longest of western New Yorks glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area. ...

It is fed by underground springs and replenished at a rate of 328,000 gallons (29,520 m³) per minute. These springs keep the water moving in a constant circular motion, giving it little chance to freeze over. Because of Seneca Lake's great depth, it remains a constant 39.2º F (4º C). During the summer months however, the top 10 to 15 feet (3-5 m) does warm up to a pleasant 70-80 degrees (21-26º C).

Ecology

Seneca lake is haven to some of the most prized Lake trout in the world because of its great depths and low boating traffic. However, in recent years, populations of shallow water fish such as bass have dwindled considerably due to infestations of Carp and Zebra mussels. Binomial name Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum, 1792) Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Binomial name Dreissena polymorpha Pallas, 1771 The Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) is a bivalve mussel native to freshwater lakes of southeast Russia. ...

History

Looking south on Seneca Lake in the city of Geneva, New York

Over 200 years ago, there were Iroquois villages on Seneca Lake’s surrounding hillsides. During the Revolutionary War, their villages, including Kanadaseaga ("Seneca Castle") were wiped out during the Sullivan Expedition by troops that invaded their homeland to punish them for assisting the British. Today roadside signs trace Sullivan and Clinton’s route along the east side of Seneca Lake where the burning of villages and crops occurred. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2832x2128, 1196 KB) Image taken by Scieri12 I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2832x2128, 1196 KB) Image taken by Scieri12 I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Geneva is a city located in Ontario County, New York. ... Languages Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora, English, French Religions Christianity, Longhouse religion Related ethnic groups other Iroquoian peoples The Iroquois Confederacy or Haudenosaunee (also known as the League of Peace and Power; the Five Nations; the Six Nations; or the People of the Long house) is a group of... The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ... Kanadaseaga, or Seneca Castle, was a major village of the Seneca nation of the Iroquois Confederacy in west-central New York State. ... The Sullivan Expedition, also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, was a campaign led by Major General John Sullivan and General James Clinton against Loyalists (Tories) and the four nations of the Iroquois who had sided with the British in the American Revolutionary War. ...

After the war, the land of the Iroquois was parceled out to veterans of the army in payment for their military service. A slow stream of white settlers began to arrive circa 1790. Initially the settlers were without a market nearby or a way to get their crops to market. The settlers’ isolation abruptly ended, though, in the 1820s with the opening of the Erie Canal. Year 1790 (MDCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Nationalistic independence helped reshape the world during this decade: Greece gains independence from the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence (1821-1827). ... The Erie Canal (currently part of the New York State Canal System) is a canal in New York State, United States, that runs from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. ...

The Canal linked the Finger Lakes Region to the outside world. Steamships, barges and ferries quickly became Seneca Lake’s ambassadors of commerce and trade. The former, short Crooked Lake Canal linked Seneca Lake to Keuka Lake. The Crooked Lake Canal was a former canal in New York, USA. The canal linked two Finger Lakes: Keuka Lake and Seneca Lake. ... Keuka Lake is an unusual member of the Finger Lakes because it is Y-shaped instead of long and narrow. ...

There are numerous canal barges resting on the bottom of the lake. A collection of barges on the southwest end of the lake, near the village of Watkins Glen, is being preserved and made accessible for scuba diving by the Finger Lakes Underwater Preserve Association. Watkins Glen is: a town in New York state, an Auto racing course near the town, and a state park. ... Scuba diving is swimming underwater while using self-contained breathing equipment. ... The Finger Lakes Underwater Preserve Association is a group of regional divers, associates, and families interested in promotion of scuba diving and the history and ecology of the Finger Lakes region of New York. ...

Painted Rocks

The painted rocks, located at the southern end of the lake on the eastern cliff face, depict an American Flag, Tee-pee, and several Native Americans. As the story goes, back in the late 1700's when General John Sullivan was avenging the Wyoming and Cherry-Valley Massacres, he chased a group of renegade Native Americans, up from present day Tioga, Pennsylvania through the valley, to a point somewhere along the cliffs. The Indians escaped down a narrow footpath to canoes that they had hidden earlier in the underbrush. They used these canoes to paddle across the lake to safety. Later they came back and painted these paintings in commemoration of their escape. The paintings found along the bottom of the cliff are the originals, the American Flag and the Tee-pee were added in 1929 during the Sullivan Sesquicentinial. Flag ratio: 7:12; nicknames: Stars and Stripes, Old Glory The flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white; there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing 50 small, white, five-pointed stars... General John Sullivan John Sullivan (b. ... Native Americans are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ... Tioga is a borough located in Tioga County, Pennsylvania. ...

Miscellanea

Lake Seneca is also the site of a strange and as-yet-unexplained phenomenon known as the Guns of the Seneca, mysterious cannon-like booms heard in the surrounding area. The Guns of the Seneca are loud and largely unexplained booming sounds heard along the shores of Seneca Lake and nearby Cayuga Lake, the two largest of upstate New Yorks Finger Lakes. ...

Naval Base

Seneca Lake was once home to a military training ground called Sampson Naval Base, primarily used during World War II. These resources are still used as a sonar testing base by the U.S. Navy, and there is still a nuclear Seawolf class submarine called the USS Seawolf (SSN 21) occaisionally sighted in the lake as part of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) test facility, which also contains a Sonar Test Facility. The training grounds of the Sampson Naval Base have since been converted to a civilian picnic area called Sampson State Park. This article is about the SSN-21 class submarines. ... USS Seawolf (SSN-21), the lead ship of her class, is the fourth submarine of the United States Navy named for the seawolf, a solitary fish with strong, prominent teeth and projecting tusks that give it a savage look. ... The Naval Undersea Warfare Center, located in Newport, Rhode Island, is home to approximately 3,000 naval engineers working on various aspects of submarine warfare. ... Sampson State Park (along with Sampson State Park Beach) is located in Seneca County, New York in the USA. The Park was once a Naval training station, then an Air Force base. ...

External Links

• "Test and evaluation of Seawolf class submarine at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center"
• "Seneca Lake Sonar Test Facility"
• "Finger Lakes Underwater Preserve Association"