Lake Drummond
| Lake Drummond | |
|---|---|
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| Lake Drummond in Virginia | |
| Geographical location | Great Dismal Swamp , Virginia , USA |
| Tributaries | none |
| Drain | → Dismal Swamp Canal (between Elizabeth River → Hampton Roads and Pasquotank River → Albemarle Sound ), Jericho Canal (→ Nansemond River → Hampton Roads ) |
| Data | |
| Coordinates | 36 ° 35 '49 " N , 76 ° 27' 29" W |
| surface | 13 km² |
| Maximum depth | 2 m |
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| Map of the Great Dismal Swamp from 1867, Lake Drummond in the upper half | |
The Lake Drummond is a freshwater lake and is located in the middle of the Great Dismal Swamp in the US state of Virginia . This swamp extends into the Atlantic coastal plain of southwest Virginia and northwest North Carolina . The surface of the lake covers about 13 km² (3,142 acres) and the maximum water depth reaches 2 m.
After the Appalachian Mountains formed 400 million years ago, lakes were formed, but they were drained by numerous rivers due to constant erosion . No new lakes have formed since the last Ice Age , making Lake Drummond one of the only two natural freshwater lakes in Virginia. The second lake is Mountain Lake in Giles County . The origin of Lake Drummond is controversial, the oval shape may be due to the impact of a meteorite . A second theory is that the lake could have been created by a fire that has eaten a depression in the peat bog.
geology
From a geological point of view, Lake Drummond is an unusually large, almost round body of water in a flat area. The lake naturally has a higher bank than the level of the surrounding marshland. Trenches dug in colonial times, including the Washington Ditch initiated by George Washington , allow the water to drain from the swamp.
discovery
The governor of North Carolina, William Drummond, discovered the lake that bears his name on a hunting trip in 1665. The water of Lake Drummond is slightly acidic due to organic acids ( tannins ) seeping in from the surrounding swamp and reaches a pH value of four to five. Because of this low pH, the number of fish species that can be found there is severely restricted. The lake is the habitat for the crappie ( Pomoxis ), the American perch ( Perca flavescens ), the chain pike ( Esox niger ), the peacock eye bass ( Centrarchus macropterus ) and the catfish ( Ameiurus ). Their enemies include the bald pike ( Amia calva ) and the bonefish ( Lepisosteus osseus ). The dark-colored water of Lake Drummond was in demand on the earlier merchant ships, because it stayed fresh longer during the Atlantic crossing due to the tannic acid content.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Lake Drummond, Virginia , accessed January 26, 2011
- ↑ Fishing in Lake Drummond ( Memento of the original from January 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 26, 2011
