Lac de Villeneuve-de-la-Raho is a lake in the town of Villeneuve-de-la-Raho in Pyrénées-Orientales, France.
| Lac de Villeneuve-de-la-Raho | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Lac de Villeneuve-de-la-Raho | |
| Location | Pyrénées-Orientales |
| Coordinates | 42°37′52″N 2°54′13″E / 42.630993°N 2.903633°E |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | canal de Perpignan |
| Basin countries | France |
| Surface area | 2.01 km2 (0.78 sq mi) |
| Max. depth | 14 m (46 ft) |
| Water volume | 17.9×106 m3 (630×106 cu ft) |
| Surface elevation | 150 m (490 ft) |
The lake lies in a deflation pan. That is a natural, circular, shallow depression caused by the removal of fairly loose, mainly Pliocene, sediment by wind erosion, during very cold, windy phases of the Quaternary period. It is the largest of a number of such deflation pans in this area.[1][2]
History
editThe former lake of Villeneuve-de-la-Raho had a size of 150 hectares (370 acres). Considered useless, it was dried in 1854, and the land was then used for agriculture. Recovered by the General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales, it was filled with water and became a lake once again in 1977.[3]
References
edit- ^ Calvet, Marc; Delmas, Magali; Gunnell, Yanni; Laumonier, Bernard. 2022. Geology and Landscapes of the Eastern Pyrenees: A Field Guide with Excursions (pp. 323-324). Springer International Publishing. Kindle Edition.
- ^ Topographic map on Géoportail.
- ^ Cárdenas, Fabricio (2014). 66 petites histoires du Pays Catalan [66 Little Stories of Catalan Country] (in French). Perpignan: Ultima Necat. ISBN 978-2-36771-006-8. OCLC 893847466.
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