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Vänern
Vänern (/ˈveɪnərn/ VAY-nərn, US also /ˈvɛnərn/ VEN-ərn, Swedish: [ˈvɛ̂ːnɛɳ]) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake in Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in the southwest of the country. With its surface located at 44 metres (144 ft) above sea level and a maximum depth of 106 metres (348 ft), the lowest point of the Vänern basin is 62 metres (203 ft) below sea level. The average depth is a more modest 27 metres (89 ft), which means that the lake floor is above sea level on average.
Vänern drains into Göta älv towards Gothenburg and the Kattegat opening strait between the Atlantic Ocean’s North Sea and the Baltic Sea. It is the only one of the ten largest lakes in Sweden not to drain out to the eastern coastline. The Göta Canal built in the 19th century forms a waterway that runs to Vättern wholly rising when proceeding eastward, and then a navigable river linking the east coast with Vänern. The main inflow of water comes from Klarälven entering Vänern near Karlstad with its source in Trøndelag in Norway.
The southeastern part of the Vänern is a depression that appears to have been formed by erosion of Paleozoic-aged sedimentary rock during the Quaternary glaciation. Such erosion would have re-exposed parts of the Sub-Cambrian peneplain. Because the Sub-Cambrian peneplain gently tilts towards the north and west in this area, the southeast part of the lake is rather shallow. The western shore of the lake largely follows a fault scarp associated with the Vänern-Göta Fault.
The lake reached its present form after the Quaternary glaciation about 10,000 years ago; when the ice melted, the entire width of Sweden was covered in water, creating a strait between Kattegat and the Gulf of Bothnia. When post-glacial rebound surpassed a concurrent sea-level rise, lake Vänern became a part of the Ancylus Lake that occupied the Baltic basin. Vänern was connected to Ancylus Lake by a strait at Degerfors, Värmland. Lakes such as Vänern and Vättern were cut off from the Baltic by further uplifting. As a result of this former connection to the sea, there are species here not normally encountered in freshwater lakes, such as the amphipod Monoporeia affinis. A Viking ship was found at the bottom of the lake on May 6, 2009.
A story told by the 13th-century Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson in his Prose Edda about the origin of Mälaren was probably originally about Vänern: the Swedish king Gylfi promised a woman, Gefjon, as much land as four oxen could plough in a day and a night, but she used oxen from the land of the giants, and moreover uprooted the land and dragged it into the sea, where it became the island of Zealand. The Prose Edda says that 'the inlets in the lake correspond to the headlands in Zealand'; since this description is much more true of Vänern, the myth was probably originally about Vänern, not Mälaren.
The Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern was a 6th-century battle recorded in the Norse sagas and referred to in the Old English epic Beowulf. In Beowulf, Vänern is stated to be near the location of the dragon's mound at Earnaness.
Vänern covers an area of 5,655 km2 (2,183 sq mi), approximately twice the surface area of Luxembourg. Its surface is 44 m (144 ft) above sea level and it is on average 27 m (89 ft) deep. The maximum depth of the lake is 106 m (348 ft) The water level of the lake is regulated by the Vargön Hydroelectric Power Station.
Geographically, it is situated on the border between the Swedish regions of Götaland and Svealand, divided between several Swedish provinces: The western body of water is known as the Dalbosjön, with its main part belonging to Dalsland; the eastern body is known as Värmlandsjön, its northern part belonging to Värmland and the southern to Västergötland.
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Vänern
Vänern (/ˈveɪnərn/ VAY-nərn, US also /ˈvɛnərn/ VEN-ərn, Swedish: [ˈvɛ̂ːnɛɳ]) is the largest lake in Sweden, the largest lake in the European Union and the third-largest lake in Europe after Ladoga and Onega in Russia. It is located in the provinces of Västergötland, Dalsland, and Värmland in the southwest of the country. With its surface located at 44 metres (144 ft) above sea level and a maximum depth of 106 metres (348 ft), the lowest point of the Vänern basin is 62 metres (203 ft) below sea level. The average depth is a more modest 27 metres (89 ft), which means that the lake floor is above sea level on average.
Vänern drains into Göta älv towards Gothenburg and the Kattegat opening strait between the Atlantic Ocean’s North Sea and the Baltic Sea. It is the only one of the ten largest lakes in Sweden not to drain out to the eastern coastline. The Göta Canal built in the 19th century forms a waterway that runs to Vättern wholly rising when proceeding eastward, and then a navigable river linking the east coast with Vänern. The main inflow of water comes from Klarälven entering Vänern near Karlstad with its source in Trøndelag in Norway.
The southeastern part of the Vänern is a depression that appears to have been formed by erosion of Paleozoic-aged sedimentary rock during the Quaternary glaciation. Such erosion would have re-exposed parts of the Sub-Cambrian peneplain. Because the Sub-Cambrian peneplain gently tilts towards the north and west in this area, the southeast part of the lake is rather shallow. The western shore of the lake largely follows a fault scarp associated with the Vänern-Göta Fault.
The lake reached its present form after the Quaternary glaciation about 10,000 years ago; when the ice melted, the entire width of Sweden was covered in water, creating a strait between Kattegat and the Gulf of Bothnia. When post-glacial rebound surpassed a concurrent sea-level rise, lake Vänern became a part of the Ancylus Lake that occupied the Baltic basin. Vänern was connected to Ancylus Lake by a strait at Degerfors, Värmland. Lakes such as Vänern and Vättern were cut off from the Baltic by further uplifting. As a result of this former connection to the sea, there are species here not normally encountered in freshwater lakes, such as the amphipod Monoporeia affinis. A Viking ship was found at the bottom of the lake on May 6, 2009.
A story told by the 13th-century Icelandic mythographer Snorri Sturluson in his Prose Edda about the origin of Mälaren was probably originally about Vänern: the Swedish king Gylfi promised a woman, Gefjon, as much land as four oxen could plough in a day and a night, but she used oxen from the land of the giants, and moreover uprooted the land and dragged it into the sea, where it became the island of Zealand. The Prose Edda says that 'the inlets in the lake correspond to the headlands in Zealand'; since this description is much more true of Vänern, the myth was probably originally about Vänern, not Mälaren.
The Battle on the Ice of Lake Vänern was a 6th-century battle recorded in the Norse sagas and referred to in the Old English epic Beowulf. In Beowulf, Vänern is stated to be near the location of the dragon's mound at Earnaness.
Vänern covers an area of 5,655 km2 (2,183 sq mi), approximately twice the surface area of Luxembourg. Its surface is 44 m (144 ft) above sea level and it is on average 27 m (89 ft) deep. The maximum depth of the lake is 106 m (348 ft) The water level of the lake is regulated by the Vargön Hydroelectric Power Station.
Geographically, it is situated on the border between the Swedish regions of Götaland and Svealand, divided between several Swedish provinces: The western body of water is known as the Dalbosjön, with its main part belonging to Dalsland; the eastern body is known as Värmlandsjön, its northern part belonging to Värmland and the southern to Västergötland.
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