The Étang de Berre (in

Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

Occitan: ''estanh de Bèrra / mar de Bèrra'' according to classical orthography, ''estang de Berro / mar de Berro'' according to Mistralian orthography) is a

brackish water Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons' ...

on the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

coast of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, about north-west of

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fran ...

Geography

The lagoon covers an area of . Created by the rise in water levels at the end of the Last Glacial Period (colloquially known as the last ice age), this small inland sea is composed of three parts: the principal body of water, the ''Étang de Vaïne'' to the east and the ''Étang de Bolmon'' to the south-east. The Étang de Berre is fed with

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...

by the rivers Arc, Touloubre and Cadière and – since 1966 – by

Électricité de France Électricité de France S.A. (literally ''Electricity of France''), commonly known as EDF, is a French multinational electric utility company, largely owned by the French state. Headquartered in Paris, with €71.2 billion in revenues in ...

's . Two canals link it to the Mediterranean, the open air leading towards Port-de-Bouc and the

Canal de Marseille au Rhône The Canal de Marseille au Rhône connects the Mediterranean Sea at Marseille to the Rhône at Arles. The section between Marignane and Marseille has been closed since the collapse of the Rove Tunnel in 1963. Description The canal has a total leng ...

which leads towards L'Estaque through the Rove Tunnel; the Rove Tunnel has been closed since 1963, after a section of the tunnel collapsed. The

Marseille Provence Airport Marseille Provence Airport () is an international airport located 27 km (17 miles) northwest of Marseille, on the territory of Marignane, both '' communes'' of the Bouches-du-Rhône '' département'' in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ...

is located in the southeast portion of the Étang de Berre, with its main runway extending into the water on reclaimed land.

Administration

Ten communes border the Étang de Berre: Istres, Miramas,

Saint-Chamas Saint-Chamas (in Provençal Occitan: ''Sanch Amàs'' in classical orthography, ''Sant Chamas'' according to Mistralian orthography) is a commune in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern Franc ...

, Berre-l'Étang, Rognac, Vitrolles, Marignane, Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, Martigues and Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts.

History

The ancient name of the Étang de Berre was ''Stagnum Mastromela'', according to

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ...

(Book III 4.

References

Berre Landforms of Bouches-du-Rhône Eutrophication {{BouchesRhône-geo-stub