Lake Palić

Lake Palić
Palićko jezero / Палићко језеро
Coordinates 46°03′N 19°45′E / 46.050°N 19.750°E / 46.050; 19.750Coordinates: 46°03′N 19°45′E / 46.050°N 19.750°E / 46.050; 19.750
Basin countries Serbia
Surface area 4.2 km2 (1.6 sq mi)
Average depth 2 m (6.6 ft)

Lake Palić (Serbian: Палићко језеро, translit. Palićko jezero; Hungarian: Palicsi-tó) is a lake 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from Subotica, near the town of Palić, in Serbia. It covers an area of 3.8 square kilometres (1.5 sq mi). The average depth of the lake is 2 metres (6 ft 7 in).

Geology and history

Despite popular belief, Lake Palić is not a remnant of the vast Pannonian Sea which covered this area and completely drained out some 600,000 years ago. It is estimated that both the Palić and Ludoš lakes originated in the early Holocene, around 10,000 years ago, when the last major changes in the surrounding terrain occurred. Prior to that, since the draining of the sea, the European climate was much colder, with the exchange of the cold and dry and the warm and wet periods. Alternatively being frozen and defrosted, the rocks crushed under the ice and crumbled into the dust, which formed sand and loess. The winds would then disperse the loess into the valleys of the Danube and Tisza rivers to the southeast. On the wet grounds, the loess became more compact, becoming thinner and claylike. The surrounding dried land became more and more elevated thus creating the depressions which began to collect water. The process was helped with the erosion which was caused by the water flowing into the depressions. Due to the unstable hydrological regime, the lake constantly disappeared and reappeared through history.[1]

The idea that the lake was remnant of the sea was influenced by its geographical location (in the bed of the former sea) and the fact that the water in the lake was salty. It is more likely that both lakes and the nearby river of Körös-ér are remnants of the former rivers which spilled over the Pannonian basin. Surveys showed that the loess layers are younger than the alluvial ones, so the lakes can't be remains of the former Danube's flow as the wind would naturally cover them with sand and loess.[1]

The popular local legend of the lake's origin, which also explains the name, says that the shepherd Paul (Pal in Hungarian, Pavle in Serbian) was pasturing his sheep in the area. He had a lamb with the golden fleece but the lamb disappeared one day and the inconsolable Paul cried so much that his tears flooded the pasture and created the salty lake. The lake was then named Paligo Palus in Latin, Palics in Hungarian or Pavlova bara in Serbian.[1][2]

The lake was mentioned for the first time in June 1462 when Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus bestowed it to his mother, Queen Mother of Hungary, Erzsébet Szilágyi.[3]

Data on the quality of the water originate from 1847 when the first chemical analysis was done. The lake became a spa and the water was used for the soda water production. From the late 19th and into the most of the 20th century, the cyclic development of the overgrowth followed by the fish kill were common. In 1970 the eutrophication reached its peak and almost all the wildlife in the lake died. In 1971 the lake was dried, the sludge was dredged and removed, the filters were placed and the lake was refilled in 1976, but in the next decades, the lake got polluted again.[2]

Tourism

Lake Palić has a relatively short summer season. Influenced by the Hungarian border wellness and spa centers which operate the entire year (Mórahalom, Szeged, Makó, Gyula), the idea of building a wellness complex with the spa was launched in 2006. Master plan for Palić was made in 2007 and the revitalization plan in 2014. Only in 2015 a spatial plan was finished, which included the area between the lakes Palić and the neighboring Krvavo Lake, which is divided from Palić by a small embankment. The covered area includes 8.7 ha (21 acres) on which the lots were enlarged in an effort to make it easier for the construction of the future complex (closed and opened swimming pools, aqua park, hotel complex, etc.) All previous plans also include the revitalization of the Palić Spa. Works on improving the lake area include: removal of all sources which pollute the lake with nitrogen and phosphorus, which effectively kills the lake; construction of the sewage system around the lake; creation of the protective buffer zone which would prevent the nutrients from the arable land in the vicinity to reach the lake; replacement of the fish species in the lake; tightened regime of the purifying sewage water from Subotica, which still empties into the lake. Some of the experimental works on a small section of the lake which is not opened for tourists showed some success, but as of 2017 everything is still just at the planning stage.[3] Expropriation of the surrounding land is expected to be finished by the end of 2017 which would allow the formation of the buffer zone and the sewage in the town of Palić was to be done by 2018.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Istine i zablude o Palićkom jezeru" (in Serbian). Subotica.info. 18 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Milica Barjaktarević (1 July 2017). "Trag u prostoru: Pavlova bara ili Palić" (in Serbian). Radio Television Serbia.
  3. 1 2 Aleksandra Isakov (30 May 2017), "Palić, banja i kupalište bez kupanja", Politika (in Serbian)

Sources

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