A fact that actually not only makes one lake on the outskirts of Syracuse unique, but incredibly rare too.

Now, you might be asking yourself, what exactly makes a lake rare? Like humans, every lake is unique, the same could be said for any body of water. As for rare, Green Lake in Fayetteville has a characteristic that is only found in 36 lakes nationwide, that alone means not everyone has a lake like Green Lake.

So, What Is It?

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Green Lake is considered to be a Meromictic lake. That term basically means while other lakes and bodies of water will cycle through its sediment and it will move throughout the water on a yearly basis, Green Lake does not. In Green Lake, every aspect of the sediment stays completely put year round, which is incredibly rare across not only the United States, but the world. Another aspect that is cool to think about is how the layers at the bottom of the lake could potentially date back thousands of years

This Lake Has A Lot of History

The even more interesting fact is that we are still learning about this specific type of lake. Learning in general began in Central New York. The biomes in a lake of this nature is still fairly unknown, but Green Lake has the most history. Studies date back to 1839, making it the first lake of this kind discovered.

New York Natural Heritage even calls Green Lake New York's best example of what a Meromictic lake is. Hamilton College a decade ago delved into some research of the 'rare ecosystem' that Green Lake is occupied by. More on that research can be found here.

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To determine the most popular national parks in the United States, Stacker compiled data from the National Park Service on the number of recreational visits each site had in 2020. Keep reading to discover the 50 most popular national parks in the United States, in reverse order from #50 to #1. And be sure to check with individuals parks before you visit to find out about ongoing, pandemic-related safety precautions at www.nps.gov/coronavirus.

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Today these parks are located throughout the country in 25 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The land encompassing them was either purchased or donated, though much of it had been inhabited by native people for thousands of years before the founding of the United States. These areas are protected and revered as educational resources about the natural world, and as spaces for exploration.

Keep scrolling for 50 vintage photos that show the beauty of America's national parks.

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Many of the included towns jump out at the casual observer as popular summer-rental spots--the Ozarks' Branson, Missouri, or Arizona's Lake Havasu--it might surprise you to dive deeper into some quality-of-life offerings beyond the beach and vacation homes. You'll likely pick up some knowledge from a wide range of Americana: one of the last remaining 1950s-style drive-ins in the Midwest; a Florida town that started as a Civil War veteran retirement area; an island boasting some of the country's top public schools and wealth-earners right in the middle of a lake between Seattle and Bellevue; and even a California town containing much more than Johnny Cash's prison blues.

READ ON: See the States Where People Live the Longest

Stacker used data from the 2020 County Health Rankings to rank every state's average life expectancy from lowest to highest. The 2020 County Health Rankings values were calculated using mortality counts from the 2016-2018 National Center for Health Statistics. The U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey and America's Health Rankings Senior Report 2019 data were also used to provide demographics on the senior population of each state and the state's rank on senior health care, respectively.

Read on to learn the average life expectancy in each state.

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