The IJsselmeer (; fy, Iselmar, nds-nl, Iesselmeer), also known as Lake IJssel in English,
is a closed off inland
bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...
in the central
Netherlands
)
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, image_map =
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
bordering the
provinces of
Flevoland,
North Holland and
Friesland
Friesland (, ; official fry, Fryslân ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia, is a province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen, northwest of Drenthe and Overijssel, north of ...
. It covers an area of with an average depth of . The river
IJssel flows into the IJsselmeer.
History
Two thousand years ago
Pomponius Mela, a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
geographer, mentioned a complex of lakes at the current location of the IJsselmeer. He called it ''
Lacus Flevo''.
Over the centuries, the lake banks crumbled away due to flooding and wave action and the lake, now called the
Almere
Almere () is a planned city and municipality in the province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km to the east of Amsterdam (as the crow flies) across the IJmeer.
Bordering Lelystad and Zeewolde, the municipality of Almere compr ...
, grew considerably. During the 12th and 13th centuries, storm surges and
rising sea levels
Rising may refer to:
* Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique)
*Elevation
* Short for Uprising, a rebellion
Film and TV
* "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starg ...
flooded large areas of land between the lake and the North Sea, turning the lake into a bay of the North Sea, called the
Zuiderzee
The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...
. The Zuiderzee continued to be a threat to the Dutch, especially when northwesterly storms funnel North Sea waters towards the English Channel, creating very high tides along the Dutch coast. During the 17th century, Zuiderzee dykes collapsed several times and plans were drawn up to eliminate the threat by draining the bay. Later drainage plans focused on creating fertile farmland, but they never progressed beyond the planning stage. It was only after the
flood of 1916
The flood of 1916 or Zuiderzeevloed of 1916 is a flood that took place in the night between 13 and 14 January 1916 in the Netherlands along the dikes of the Zuiderzee as a result of a storm surge.
Course
The flood coincided with a high water ...
that the legislature approved the
Zuiderzee Works, a major hydraulic engineering project that involved building dykes, draining parts of the Zuiderzee and constructing the
Afsluitdijk to keep tides and high water out.
In 1932 the
Zuiderzee
The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...
was closed off by the Afsluitdijk, a dyke connecting Friesland and North Holland on either side of the Zuiderzee. The Zuiderzee was no longer a sea inlet and was renamed IJsselmeer (''Lake IJssel''). The continuing flow of fresh riverwater soon flushed out the saltwater.
From 1929 till 1967, over half the IJsselmeer was drained, creating of
polders:
Wieringermeerpolder
Wieringermeer () is a former municipality and a polder in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Since 2012 Wieringermeer has been a part of the new municipality of Hollands Kroon.
Population centres
The former municipality of Wie ...
,
Noordoostpolder
Noordoostpolder (; en, "North-East Polder") is a polder and municipality in the Flevoland province in the central Netherlands. Formerly, it was also called '' Urker Land''. Emmeloord is the administrative center, located in the heart of the Noo ...
, East and South
Flevoland.
In 1975, a dyke was built between
Enkhuizen and
Lelystad as the northern boundary of the
Markerwaard, a planned but never realized polder in the IJsselmeer. This dyke, the ''
Houtribdijk'' or ''Markerwaarddijk'', split the IJsselmeer in two parts. The former southern part of the IJsselmeer is now the
hydrologically separate
Markermeer
The Markermeer () is a lake in the central Netherlands in between North Holland, Flevoland, and its smaller and larger neighbors, the IJmeer and IJsselmeer. A shallow lake at 3 to 5 m in depth, matching the reclaimed land to its west, ...
. The proposed polderisation of the Markerwaard was abandoned after many of the Dutch population did not want the loss of the traditional seaside (now lakeside) environment and vistas.
In 1986 three
polders in the IJsselmeer constituted the new province of
Flevoland, the twelfth province of the Netherlands.
The water of the IJsselmeer is now almost completely fresh, the saline having long since been purged. This altered environment has had an impact upon the fish and plant
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...
s. The change has been beneficial for Dutch boats, many of which are steel, as the fresh water significantly reduces rusting of the hulls, and there is far less build-up of marine growth (such as
algae
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular micr ...
and
barnacles below the
barge
Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. ...
s' waterlines). This has the knock-on benefit that barges and yachts in the IJsselmeer need far less
antifouling, a coating which is inevitably somewhat toxic to wildlife.
Current use
Due to considerable amounts of water from the
Rhine
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, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
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flowing through its
distributary
A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...
IJssel into the IJsselmeer, the closed off bay functions as a large
freshwater
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 ...
reservoir, serving as a source for agriculture and drinking water. Outlet sluices in the Afsluitdijk regulate the water level of the IJsselmeer.
The IJsselmeer is used for transport and fishing. It also offers a number of opportunities for recreational activity, both on the water and on its shores. Due to the shallowness of the IJsselmeer, the Markermeer and the
bordering lakes, its cities and fishing villages remained mostly unspoilt and have many historical buildings.
The IJsselmeer is home to the offshore segments of
Windpark Noordoostpolder
Windpark Noordoostpolder is an onshore and near-shore wind farm in Flevoland, the Netherlands. Upon completion in 2017, it was the largest wind farm in the Netherlands, and as of 2019 it is still one of the largest. Owner-operators are members o ...
. In the future, Windpark Fryslan will also be built in this bay.
See also
*
Ketelmeer, a small bay between the IJsselmeer and the mouth of the river IJssel.
*
IJsseloog, an artificial island in the Ketelmeer, built as a repository for contaminated silt.
*
Lake Flevo
*
Almere (lake)
Lake Almere was an inland lake in the place of today's IJsselmeer in the center of the Netherlands.
History
The texts of ancient Romans called it Lake Flevo.
Lake Almere is mentioned among others in a life of saints written by Anglo-Saxon Bisho ...
*
Zuiderzee
The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an ov ...
*
Markermeer
The Markermeer () is a lake in the central Netherlands in between North Holland, Flevoland, and its smaller and larger neighbors, the IJmeer and IJsselmeer. A shallow lake at 3 to 5 m in depth, matching the reclaimed land to its west, ...
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ijsselmeer
Lakes of the Netherlands
Estuaries of the Netherlands
Zuiderzee Works
Landforms of Flevoland
Landforms of North Holland
Landforms of Friesland
Ramsar sites in the Netherlands