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 ...
in
Khénifra Province
Khénifra is a province in the Moroccan region of Béni Mellal-Khénifra. was 511,53
The major cities and towns are* Aguelmous
* Aït Ishaq
* Amalou Ighriben
* El Kbab
* Had Bouhssoussen
* Kehf Nsour
* Kerrouchen
* Khenifra
* Moulay Bouaz ...
,
Béni Mellal-Khénifra
Béni Mellal-Khénifra ( ar, بني ملال - خنيفرة, banī mallāl - ḵunayfira; ber, ⴰⵢⵜ ⵎⵍⵍⴰⵍ - ⵅⵏⵉⴼⵕⴰ, ayt mllal - xnifṛa) is one of the twelve regions of Morocco. It covers an area of 28,374 km2 a ...
,
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. Located at an altitude of 2,080 metres, Aguelmame Sidi Ali has a surface area of approximately and a depth of . It is near the boundary of the province of
Ifrane
Ifrane ( Berber: ⵉⴼⵔⴰⵏ; ar, إفران) is a city in the Middle Atlas region of northern Morocco (population 14,659 as of November 2014). The capital of Ifrane Province in the region of Fès-Meknès, Ifrane is located at an elevation of ...
Khenifra National Park
Khenifra National Park is a national park in central Morocco, east of the city of the same name. The park was created in 2008 and is in size.Middle Atlas mountains at an altitude of and has a
catchment
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...
Quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
at the intersection of two faults. It is located in a natural hollow in the
basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
rock and is formed from two basins, separated by a basal ridge which is exposed when the water level falls. It is fed by runoff, snowmelt and
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 ...
springs. The pH is 9.1 and the mineral content is relatively low with a conductivity of 1200–1600 uScm-1.
Ecology
The area surrounding the lake was once well-forested with Atlas cedar (''Cedrus atlantica''), but more recently, this forest has become degraded and the area around the lake has become dry, thorny scrubland dominated by
Spanish juniper
''Juniperus thurifera'' (Spanish juniper) is a species of juniper native to the mountains of the western Mediterranean region, from southern France (including Corsica) across eastern and central Spain to Morocco and locally in northern Algeria.Ad ...
(''Juniperus thurifera''). The
plankton
Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...
and sediment in the lake is rich in
diatom
A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...
s, particularly of the genus '' Cyclotella'', and these have been used to provide evidence of the paleohydrology and related hydroclimatic changes the lake has undergone over the aeons.
In 2005, the Aguelmams Sidi Ali / Tifounassine complex, three mountain wetlands at altitudes between , have been designated as a
Ramsar site
A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O)
*** Permanent 8 ha (P)
*** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts)
**
ruddy shelduck
The ruddy shelduck (''Tadorna ferruginea''), known in India as the Brahminy duck, is a member of the family Anatidae. It is a distinctive waterfowl, in length with a wingspan of . It has orange-brown body plumage with a paler head, while the ...
(''Tadorna ferruginea'') and the crested coot (''Fulica cristata''). A decreasing trend in precipitation has lowered the water level of the lake, and a marsh that used to be at the southwest end no longer exists. The grazing of flocks of sheep and goats by nomadic herdsmen in the spring and summer has all but eliminated the aquatic vegetation at the edge of the lake. A reduced number of water birds visit the lake in winter and the great crested grebe no longer breeds here. Despite being protected, the ruddy shelduck and other wildfowl suffer from poaching.
The lake used to be the only place in the world where ''
Salmo pallaryi
The Lake Sidi Ali trout (''Salmo pallaryi'') is an extinct species of salmonid fish that inhabited a single lake in the Atlas mountains of northern Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country ...
'', a native 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 ...
, lived but that fish became
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
after the
common carp
The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...
(''Cyprinus carpio'') was released into the lake in 1934. The
northern pike
The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...
(''Esox lucius'') and the zander (''Sander lucioperca''), are other non-native fish species also introduced in the lake.