Lake Amvrakia or Ambracia ( el, Αμβρακία) is a freshwater lake in

Aetolia-Acarnania Aetolia-Acarnania ( el, Αιτωλοακαρνανία, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the histor ...

, in western

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. It lies between the towns of

Agrinio Agrinio (Greek: Αγρίνιο, , Latin: ''Agrinium'') is the largest city of the Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit of Greece and its largest municipality, with 106,053 inhabitants. It is the economical center of Aetolia-Acarnania, although its capi ...

and

Amphilochia Amfilochia ( el, Αμφιλοχία) is a town and a municipality in the northwestern part of Aetolia-Acarnania in Greece, on the site of ancient Amfilochia. Under the Ottoman Empire, it was known as Karvasaras (Καρβασαράς; from ''carav ...

, and is long, wide and has a maximum depth of . It is a

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectively ...

protected habitat.

Origin

Lake Amvrakia was a result of tectonic movement. It is

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 ...

ic and semipolje type. The lake formed from deposits of

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceo ...

limestone.

Location and Geology

Lake Amvrakia lies along a depression northwest of Lake Ozeros and west of Mount Thyamos or Petalas. Its total surface area used to be 13.6 km², but that area has shrunk drastically in recent years. One of the reasons for this reduction in size was a long drought and the other was the draining of the shallow northern section of the basin, which is currently cut off by an embankment created for the national highway. This drainage had a severe impact on the lake's size, owing to the small size of the basin (112 km².).

Important species

Pseudobithynia ambrakis, a species of bithynidae (snails) that has only been found in lake Amvrakia.

Threats

Hydraulic activity with the karstic aquifers, evaporation during summer, and use of water for irrigation result in fluctuating water levels with each passing year. The lake is unique from other nearby lakes in its high sulphuric anions concentration. The lake's waters are polluted, although not alarmingly, by the runoff from the tobacco plantations lying to eastern and southern regions of the drainage basin. The lake's east coast is cultivated heavily, the fields reaching almost to the shore. The uncultivated areas on the lake's shore are used as pastures for cattle.

References

{{Reflist Amvrakia Landforms of Aetolia-Acarnania Natura 2000 in Greece Landforms of Western Greece