Piso lake
| Piso lake | ||
|---|---|---|
| Geographical location | Grand Cape Mount ( Liberia ) | |
| Tributaries | Marfi River, Johnny Creek | |
| Drain | to the Atlantic | |
| Location close to the shore | Robertsport | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 6 ° 44 ′ N , 11 ° 15 ′ W | |
|
||
| Altitude above sea level | 1 m | |
| surface | 110 km² | |
| length | 18 km | |
| width | 12 km | |
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particularities |
Nature reserves |
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The Piso Lake (in older maps also Fishermens Lake ) is a coastal body of water on the Atlantic Ocean and is considered the largest freshwater lake in the West African Republic of Liberia . It is located in Grand Cape Mount County , near the Sierra Leone border .
description
The lake has an extension of 18 kilometers in the east-west direction and 12 kilometers in the north-south direction, the water surface depends on the change of tides and is around 110,000 ha at low tide. The mostly swampy lake shore is made up of belts of reeds and lined with the mangrove forest.
The main tributary of Lake Piso is the Marfi River , the Johnny Creek is a second important tributary on the east bank. The west side of the lake has a direct connection to the sea, this runoff is characterized by numerous sandbanks and shallows. Part of these sandbanks is already densely forested and is called an island. This western part of the lake is most strongly influenced by the tides , the mangrove forest located here differs significantly from the areas inland.
A strip of sand dunes and small lakes, three to four kilometers wide and barely ten meters high, has separated Lake Piso in the south from the open sea for thousands of years. In this now forested area there are other freshwater lakes, separated from Lake Piso by siltation : the largest of these lakes are Lake Mono , Lake Makasa , Lake Jaa , Lake Jukano and Lake Danu .
Another special feature of the lake are the extremely high amounts of precipitation that fall on the water during the course of the year, the annual mean values measured by the meteorological service in Robertsport are 5210 mm / m²
Lake Piso is one of the richest in fish in Liberia, and for centuries these stocks have been used by the indigenous population for self-sufficiency and trade. The area is also remarkable for its biodiversity and the designation as a nature reserve by UNESCO has been applied for.
Web links
- Research report (PDF; 2.8 MB) - Republic of Liberia. Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy (Ed.): Anual Report January 1 - December 31, 2009 . Monrovia 2010, p. 21-22 (English).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Entry "Wetlands in Liberia" ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 64 kB) in the RAMSAR database
- ↑ West and Central Africa: Mean Annual Rainfall (1951-1989). Afrique de l'Ouest et Centrale: Précipitation Moyennes Annuelles (Période 1951–1989). In: Département Eaux Continentales, ORSTOM. Retrieved October 31, 2010 . (English France)
