The Underwater Mountain Hidden in Lake Superior

Hidden deep beneath the surface of Lake Superior is a massive underwater mountain that rises nearly 1,000 feet from the lake floor.

Known as Superior Shoal, the volcanic rock formation sits about 50 miles northeast of Copper Harbor, in the middle of Lake Superior. The shoal stretches across roughly 20 square miles, and the highest point rises to within about 20 feet of the lake’s surface, despite being surrounded by water more than 1,000 feet deep.

The shoal is made up of ancient volcanic basalt rock formed as part of the Midcontinent Rift, a massive geological split beneath North America that dates back more than a billion years. As glaciers carved out the Great Lakes basin over time, the harder volcanic rock resisted erosion and remained elevated while the surrounding lake floor deepened around it.

The result is our very own Mount Everest, isolated in the middle of the largest freshwater lake on Earth.

Superior Shoal was officially charted in 1929, although fishermen had reportedly known about it long before. Today, researchers believe the formation may also act as a hotspot for aquatic life because currents moving around the shoal can attract fish and nutrients.

Lake Superior covers more than 31,000 square miles and contains roughly 10% of the world’s surface freshwater. Waves higher than 40 feet have been recorded on the lake, and its rapidly changing weather has contributed to hundreds of shipwrecks over the years.

Most famously, the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The 729-foot freighter sank during a storm on Nov. 10, 1975, killing all 29 crew members aboard and becoming one of the most well-known tragedies in Great Lakes history. Many actually think the Superior Shoal may have caused the wreck.

While no official investigation concluded that the ship struck the shoal, the theory has stuck around for decades because of the formation’s location and the dangerous conditions Lake Superior is known for.

Other theories suggest rogue “Three Sisters” waves or structural failure may have contributed to the sinking, but what exactly happened that night remains unknown.

Some researchers have also linked Superior Shoal to other mysterious Great Lakes disappearances, including the disappearances of the SS Bannockburn and the French minesweepers Inkerman and Cerisoles.

Whether any of those ships actually struck the formation remains unknown.

Recently, filmmakers and scientists have begun exploring the formation using underwater drones capable of diving more than 1,600 feet below the surface. Researchers believe studying the shoal could help them better understand aquatic life in Lake Superior and why fish are drawn to the isolated underwater formation.

And for everyone else, it remains one of the strangest things hidden beneath the surface of the Great Lakes.