Grüner See (Green Lake) is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in a village named

Tragöß Tragöß (or Tragoess) is a former municipality in the district of Bruck-Mürzzuschlag in Styria, Austria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Tragöß-Sankt Katharein. It is home to Grüner See (Gre ...

, which is part of the municipality

Tragöß-Sankt Katharein Tragöß-Sankt Katharein is since 2015 a new municipality in Bruck-Mürzzuschlag District in Styria, Austria, which had merged after 31 December 2014 the independent municipalities Tragöß and St. Katharein an der Laming. This merger was pa ...

. The lake is surrounded by forests and three mountains: Pribitz (1,579 m),

Meßnerin , photo = Grüner See, spiegelt seine Umgebung.jpg , photo_caption = The classic view of Messnerin from Grüner See , elevation_m = 1835 , elevation_ref = , prominence_m = 616 , prominence_ref = , map = Alps , map_caption = Location in ...

(1,835 m) and Trenchtling (Hochturm) (2,081 m), all part of the

Hochschwab Mountains The Hochschwab, Hochschwab Mountains, Hochschwab Alps or Hochschwab Group (german: Hochschwabgruppe) is a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps of Austria. The range is in the Styria. The highest peak is also called Hochschwab and is 2,2 ...

. The name "Green Lake" originated because of its emerald-green water. The clean and clear water comes from the

snowmelt In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many part ...

from the

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

mountains and has a temperature of . During winter, the lake is only deep and the surrounding area is used as a county park. However, in spring, when the temperature rises and snow melts, the basin of land below the mountains fills with water. The lake reaches its maximum depth of around from mid-May to June and is claimed to look the most beautiful at this time. In July, the water begins to recede. The lake supports a variety of fauna such as snails,

water flea The Diplostraca or Cladocera, commonly known as water fleas, are a superorder of small crustaceans that feed on microscopic chunks of organic matter (excluding some predatory forms). Over 1000 species have been recognised so far, with many more ...

s (''

Daphnia pulex ''Daphnia pulex'' is the most common species of water flea. It has a cosmopolitan distribution: the species is found throughout the Americas, Europe, and Australia. It is a model species, and was the first crustacean to have its genome sequenced. ...

''), small crabs, fly larvae, and different species of

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

(''

Salmo ''Salmo'' is a genus of ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae. The single ''Salmo'' species naturally found in the Atlantic North America is the Atlantic salmon, whereas the salmon and trout of the Pacific basin belong to another genus, ''O ...

''). The flora is not abundant because of the rocky bottom of the lake. Furthermore, the lake’s depth is variable since its

inflow Inflow may refer to: * Inflow (hydrology), the water entering a body of water * Inflow (meteorology) Inflow is the flow of a fluid into a large collection of that fluid. Within meteorology, inflow normally refers to the influx of warmth and moi ...

comes from snowmelt. The lake was popular among divers who could observe the green meadows in the edge zone of the lake particularly in June when the water is at its highest. A bridge and a bench could also be found underwater. Furthermore, trails and trees could also be seen underwater. Because of the spike in tourist visits that has occurred and expected damage to this sensitive environment, the use of this lake for all watersports activities has been prohibited since 1 January 2016.

Gallery

File:2006 - Grüner See3.jpg File:2006 - Grüner See2.jpg File:2006 - Grüner See.jpg GrünerSeeAgainstMeßnerin.jpg

References

External links

*. Retrieved 18 May 2013. *. Retrieved 10 May 2011. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruner See (Styria) Lakes of Styria

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links