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Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain (/ˈpɒntʃətreɪn/ PON-chə-trayn; French: Lac Pontchartrain) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of 630 square miles (1,600 km2) with an average depth of 12 to 14 feet (3.7 to 4.3 m). Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about 40 miles (64 km) from west to east and 24 miles (39 km) from south to north. As an estuary, its “Lake” title is a misnomer, but only a slight one, as its passage to the open sea is narrow.
In descending order of area, the estuary is located in parts of six Louisiana parishes: St. Tammany, Orleans, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Tangipahoa. The water boundaries were defined in 1979 (see list of parishes in Louisiana).
The estuary is crossed by the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the longest continuous bridge over water in the world. A power line also crosses the estuary. Its towers stand on caissons in Lake Pontchartrain, and its length can be used to visually demonstrate the curvature of the Earth.
Lake Pontchartrain was named for Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain. He was the French Minister of the Marine, Chancellor, and Controller-General of Finances during the reign of France's "Sun King", Louis XIV, for whom the colony of Louisiane was named.
The name Pontchartrain itself comes from the place in France where Phélypeaux's château was situated. It is thought that this name originates from it being where a bridge (French: pont) crossed the river Mauldre on the ancient route from Lutèce to Chartres (chartrain).[citation needed]
Lake Maurepas, directly west of Lake Pontchartrain, was named for Phélypeaux's son, the comte de Maurepas, who was also a French statesman.
Lake Pontchartrain is an estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico via the Rigolets strait (known locally as "the Rigolets") and Chef Menteur Pass into Lake Borgne, another large lagoon, and therefore experiences small tidal changes. It receives fresh water from the Tangipahoa, Tchefuncte, Tickfaw, Amite, and Bogue Falaya rivers, and from Bayou Lacombe and Bayou Chinchuba. It is one of the largest wetlands along the Gulf Coast of North America. It comprises more than 125,000 acres of wetland, including bottomland hardwoods and cypress swamps (although these have been severely degraded by past logging), along with a complex mixture of herbaceous wetlands including fresh, intermediate, and brackish marsh. Lake Pontchartrain itself is part of the larger Pontchartrain Basin, a 10,000 square mile watershed that includes 16 Louisiana parishes and 4 Mississippi counties. The Basin is one of the largest estuarine systems of the Gulf of Mexico. The Pontchartrain Basin includes Lake Pontchartrain and the drainage area of its tributary streams, Lake Maurepas and the drainage area of its tributaries, The Rigolets, Lake Borgne, the Biloxi Marsh and Chandeleur Sound.
Salinity in Lake Pontchartrain varies from negligible at the northern cusp west of Mandeville up to nearly half the salinity of seawater at its eastern bulge near Interstate 10. Lake Maurepas, a true freshwater lake, connects with Lake Pontchartrain on the west via Pass Manchac. The Industrial Canal connects the Mississippi River with the lake at New Orleans. Bonnet Carré Spillway diverts water from the Mississippi into the lake during times of river flooding.
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Lake Pontchartrain
Lake Pontchartrain (/ˈpɒntʃətreɪn/ PON-chə-trayn; French: Lac Pontchartrain) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of 630 square miles (1,600 km2) with an average depth of 12 to 14 feet (3.7 to 4.3 m). Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about 40 miles (64 km) from west to east and 24 miles (39 km) from south to north. As an estuary, its “Lake” title is a misnomer, but only a slight one, as its passage to the open sea is narrow.
In descending order of area, the estuary is located in parts of six Louisiana parishes: St. Tammany, Orleans, Jefferson, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and Tangipahoa. The water boundaries were defined in 1979 (see list of parishes in Louisiana).
The estuary is crossed by the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the longest continuous bridge over water in the world. A power line also crosses the estuary. Its towers stand on caissons in Lake Pontchartrain, and its length can be used to visually demonstrate the curvature of the Earth.
Lake Pontchartrain was named for Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain. He was the French Minister of the Marine, Chancellor, and Controller-General of Finances during the reign of France's "Sun King", Louis XIV, for whom the colony of Louisiane was named.
The name Pontchartrain itself comes from the place in France where Phélypeaux's château was situated. It is thought that this name originates from it being where a bridge (French: pont) crossed the river Mauldre on the ancient route from Lutèce to Chartres (chartrain).[citation needed]
Lake Maurepas, directly west of Lake Pontchartrain, was named for Phélypeaux's son, the comte de Maurepas, who was also a French statesman.
Lake Pontchartrain is an estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico via the Rigolets strait (known locally as "the Rigolets") and Chef Menteur Pass into Lake Borgne, another large lagoon, and therefore experiences small tidal changes. It receives fresh water from the Tangipahoa, Tchefuncte, Tickfaw, Amite, and Bogue Falaya rivers, and from Bayou Lacombe and Bayou Chinchuba. It is one of the largest wetlands along the Gulf Coast of North America. It comprises more than 125,000 acres of wetland, including bottomland hardwoods and cypress swamps (although these have been severely degraded by past logging), along with a complex mixture of herbaceous wetlands including fresh, intermediate, and brackish marsh. Lake Pontchartrain itself is part of the larger Pontchartrain Basin, a 10,000 square mile watershed that includes 16 Louisiana parishes and 4 Mississippi counties. The Basin is one of the largest estuarine systems of the Gulf of Mexico. The Pontchartrain Basin includes Lake Pontchartrain and the drainage area of its tributary streams, Lake Maurepas and the drainage area of its tributaries, The Rigolets, Lake Borgne, the Biloxi Marsh and Chandeleur Sound.
Salinity in Lake Pontchartrain varies from negligible at the northern cusp west of Mandeville up to nearly half the salinity of seawater at its eastern bulge near Interstate 10. Lake Maurepas, a true freshwater lake, connects with Lake Pontchartrain on the west via Pass Manchac. The Industrial Canal connects the Mississippi River with the lake at New Orleans. Bonnet Carré Spillway diverts water from the Mississippi into the lake during times of river flooding.
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