Loch Ness

Loch Ness
With Urquhart Castle in the foreground
Location Highlands, Scotland
Lake type freshwater loch, oligotrophic, dimictic
Primary inflows River Oich/Caledonian Canal, River Moriston, River Foyers, River Enrick, River Coilte
Primary outflows River Ness/Caledonian Canal
Catchment area 1,775 km2 (685 sq mi)
Basin countries Scotland
Max. length 40 km (25 mi)
Max. width 2.4 km (1.5 mi)
Surface area 56.4 km2 (21.8 sq mi)
Average depth 132 m (433 ft)
Max. depth 247.5 m (812 ft)
Water volume 7.4 km3 (1.8 cu mi)
Surface elevation 15.8 m (52 ft)
Islands 1 (Cherry Island)
Settlements Fort Augustus, Invermoriston, Drumnadrochit, Abriachan, Lochend; Whitebridge, Foyers, Inverfarigaig, Dores.

Loch Ness (pronounced /ˌlɒx ˈnɛs/, Scottish Gaelic: Loch Nis) is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands () extending for approximately 37 km (23 mi) southwest of Inverness. Its surface is 15.8 m (52 ft) above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the legendary Loch Ness Monster, also known as "Nessie". Loch Ness is over twenty miles long and hundreds of feet deep in places. The loch is notorious for its murkiness, as the water is filled with slime, peat, and mud. Some people think caverns under the loch connect to the ocean , but such connections have not been proven.

It is connected at the southern end by the River Oich and a section of the Caledonian Canal to Loch Oich. At the northern end there is the Bona Narrows which opens out into Loch Dochfour, which feeds the River Ness and a further section of canal to Inverness. It is one of a series of interconnected, murky bodies of water in Scotland; its water visibility is exceptionally low due to a high peat content in the surrounding soil.

Loch Ness is the second largest Scottish loch by surface area at 56.4 km2 (21.8 sq mi) after Loch Lomond, but due to its great depth it is the largest by volume. Its deepest point is 230 m (755 ft),[1][2] deeper than the height of London's BT Tower at 189 m (620 ft) and deeper than any other loch with the exception of Loch Morar. It contains more fresh water than all lakes in England and Wales combined,[2] and is the largest body of water on the Great Glen Fault, which runs from Inverness in the north to Fort William in the south.

Contents

Villages and places

Places on Loch Ness
North
  • Lochend
Shores Western Eastern
  • Abriachan
  • Drumnadrochit
  • Urquhart Castle
  • Invermoriston
  • Dores
  • Inverfarigaig
  • Foyers
  • Whitebridge
South
  • Fort Augustus

At Drumnadrochit is "The Loch Ness Centre"[3] which examines the controversy through the natural history of Loch Ness. Boat cruises operate from various locations on the loch shore, giving visitors the chance to look for the "monster".

Urquhart Castle is located on the Western shore, 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Drumnadrochit.

Lighthouses are located at Lochend (Bona Lighthouse) and Fort Augustus.

Fish species

Urquhart Bay and Loch Ness viewed from Grant's Tower at Urquhart Castle.
European eel Anguilla anguilla
Pike Esox lucius
Three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus
Brook lamprey Lampetra planeri
Eurasian minnow Phoxinus phoxinus
Atlantic salmon Salmo salar
Sea trout Salmo trutta
Brown trout Salmo trutta
Arctic char Salvelinus alpinus

Island

The only island on Loch Ness is Cherry Island, visible at its southwestern end, near Fort Augustus. It is a crannog, which is a form of artificial island.[4] (Most crannogs were constructed during the Iron Age.)

There was formerly a second island (Dog Island) which was submerged when the water level was raised during the construction of the Caledonian Canal.[4]

Hydroelectricity

Loch Ness serves as the lower storage reservoir for the Foyers pumped-storage hydroelectric scheme, which was the first of its kind in United Kingdom. The turbines were originally used to provide power for a nearby aluminium smelting plant, but now electricity is generated and supplied to the National Grid. Another scheme, the 100 MW Glendoe Hydro Scheme near Fort Augustus, has recently finished construction and began generation in June 2009 producing 76 gigawatt hours in its first months of operation.[5][6]

Geology

Loch Ness lies along the Great Glen Fault, which forms a line of weakness in the rocks which has been excavated by glacial erosion, forming the Great Glen and the basins of Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and Loch Ness.

Gallery

Locks on Caledonian Canal in Fort Augustus, Loch Ness in the background

Loch Ness looking south, taken in May 2006.

Sunrise over Loch Ness, taken at Urquhart Castle

Loch Ness panorama from a ship in 2008

References

  1. ↑ "Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland, 1897-1909". National Library of Scotland. http://web.archive.org/web/20070208122134/http://www.nls.uk/maps/early/bathymetric/main_info.html. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Ness, Loch". The Gazetteer for Scotland. http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/scotgaz/features/featurefirst2397.html. Retrieved 2010-02-09. 
  3. ↑ The Loch Ness Centre
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 O. Blundell (1909) Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Vol 43 pp159-164
  5. ↑ Glendoe Hydro scheme. Scottish and Southern Energy. http://www.glendoe.co.uk/. Retrieved 2007-08-28 
  6. ↑ Hydro-electric scheme's dam close. BBC. 2008-09-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/highlands_and_islands/7591395.stm. Retrieved 2010-02-09 

External links