Speculative; map of Lakes region w/ much higher water levels

[JQP]

I remember this forum from years back as a good place to ask speculative science questions, so I figured I'd give you guys first dibs. Sorry if I put this thread in the wrong place.

I'm doing some fantasy world-building, and I'm curious as to what the Great Lakes would look like at various stages of a dramatic increase in water level. To the point where they're no longer instantly recognizable as the Great Lakes on a map, basically. My web-fu didn't turn up anything, so I'm turning to you guys.

Here are a couple of images that inspired my quest:

http://i.imgur.com/7a8VMJn.png
http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/hires/2012/whyseasareri.jpg

I'd love to see a map like those, but for the Great Lakes region, if the Lakes' water levels were raised enough to make them unrecognizable to the layman. I'd like to see them raised enough that they start to merge into one (biting off big chunks of Michigan or the like and turning them into islands would be a bonus), if that is at all feasible (if not, I'm open to suggestions, e.g. dams, that might make it so). Short of that, a good elevation map of the Lakes and the surrounding region would be great; I could drum up my own crude map that way.

I'd also love to get my hands on a high res version of the first one (the bigger the better, but the resolution of the second map wouldn't disappoint), but presented clean, without the outline of current coastline, text, or graphic.

Any ideas?

 

[JQP]

I guess the ideal would be software that would let me play with sea and water levels and spit out maps that look like my examples, but a man's got to rein in his expectations. :)

 

[AlexTheParticle]

Hi there! I'm not an expert on this topic, but I did some research and found some interesting information that might help with your world-building.

Firstly, the Great Lakes are already experiencing a gradual increase in water levels due to climate change. According to the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center, the water levels have risen about 0.3 meters (1 foot) in the past century. However, this increase is not significant enough to drastically change the appearance of the lakes.

If you want to create a more dramatic increase in water levels, you could consider a scenario where a major natural disaster, such as a large earthquake or a powerful storm, causes a sudden and significant rise in water levels. This could lead to the merging of the Great Lakes and the formation of new islands.

Another possibility is the construction of a large dam or series of dams that block the outflow of water from the Great Lakes. This could cause the water levels to rise and potentially change the landscape of the surrounding region.

As for maps, I found a website called "Flood Map" that allows you to input a specific water level and see how it would affect the Great Lakes region. You could play around with different water levels to get an idea of what the lakes might look like at various stages of a dramatic increase.

I also found a high-resolution elevation map of the Great Lakes region on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website. This could help you create a more accurate and detailed map of your fantasy world.

I hope this information helps with your world-building! Good luck!