The Lanterne () is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in the east of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, a substantial

left tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...

of the

Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name deri ...

, and sub-tributary of the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

. It is long.

Geography

The Lanterne rises within the ''

parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges The Ballons des Vosges Regional Nature Park ( French: ''Parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges'') is a protected area of woodland, pasture, wetland, farmland and historical sites in the regions of Grand Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in ...

'', in the ''commune'' of La Lanterne-et-les-Armonts in the ''département'' of

Haute-Saône Haute-Saône (; Arpitan: ''Hiôta-Sona''; English: Upper Saône) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of northeastern France. Named after the river Saône, it had a population of 235,313 in 2019.Luxeuil-les-Bains Luxeuil-les-Bains () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. History Luxeuil (sometimes rendered Luxeu in older texts) was the Roman Luxovium and contained many fine buildings at ...

and

Saint-Loup-sur-Semouse Saint-Loup-sur-Semouse () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Haute-Saône department The following is a list of the 539 communes in the ...

. The watershed of the Lanterne is scattered with over 1,000 bodies of water, notably in the "

Plateau des Mille Étangs The ''Plateau des Mille étangs'' (literally : "Thousand Ponds Plateau") is a geographical area of more than 220 km2 located in the northeast part of the Haute-Saône department in the french region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. At the end of the ...

" (plateau of a thousand

pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% emergent vegetation helps in distinguishing their ecology from th ...

s) in the Vosges Massif. The Lanterne joins the Saône at Conflandey, just downstream of the hydrological station at

Fleurey-lès-Faverney Fleurey-lès-Faverney is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Saône department The following is a list of the 539 communes in the French depart ...

. The confluence occurs a few kilometres upstream of the antique town of

Port-sur-Saône Port-sur-Saône () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It was probably the Roman ''Portus Abucini''. Population Twin towns Port-sur-Saône is twinned with: * Brest, Belarus ...

. The Lanterne's course includes numerous diversions, once used for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

and

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production o ...

s. Initially the Lanterne was crossed at

Faverney Faverney () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Saône department The following is a list of the 539 communes in the French department of H ...

via a

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, then by a

ferry boat A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

. Following a

capsizing Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fro ...

on 30 May 1746, which resulted in

drowning Drowning is a type of suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where others present are either unaware of the victim's situation or unable to offer a ...

s, a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

was built.

Cherlieu Abbey Cherlieu Abbey (french: Abbaye de Cherlieu; la, Carus locus) is a former Cistercian monastery in the commune of Montigny-lès-Cherlieu in Haute-Saône, France, about 37 kilometres west-north-west of Vesoul and about 6 kilometres south-east of ...

owns fisheries at Conflans.

Route

The Lanterne flows through the following

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

s and

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

Tributaries

The Lanterne is fed by the following tributaries and sub-tributaries:

Hydrology

The annual mean flow rate of the Lanterne, calculated over 45 years of measurements at Fleurey-lès-Faverney as of 2008 (1964–2008), is 22.1 m³/s for a watershed of 1,020 km². The river exhibits seasonal fluctuations in flow rate, with winter

floods A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...

from 32.4 to 37.3 m³/s from December to March inclusive, and weak flow in summer, in July/August/September, characterised by a decrease in the average monthly flow rate to 6.86 m³ in August. http://www.hydro.eaufrance.fr/selection.php Banque Hydro – Station U0474010 – La Lanterne à Fleurey-lès-Faverney (Synthèse)(Do not tick the box "Station en service") At low water, the 3-year low instantaneous flow rate can drop to 1.7 m³/s in the case of a dry five-year period. Floods can be very significant. The maximum instantaneous flow rates over a 2-year and 5-year period (MIFR2 and MIFR5) measure 130 and 180 m³/s respectively. The MIFR10 is 220 m³/s, and the MIFR50 is 290 m³/s. For purposes of comparison, the MIFR10 measured at

Cailly-sur-Eure Cailly-sur-Eure (, literally ''Cailly on Eure'') is a commune in the Eure department and Normandy region of France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises o ...

for the river

Eure Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

basin, is only 90 m³/s, while its MIFR50 is 120 m³/s. Thus the Lanterne, whose watershed is less than a quarter the extent of the Eure, exhibits floods more than twice as large. The maximum instantaneous flow rate recorded for the Lanterne was 286 m³/s on 30 December 2001, while the maximum recorded daily average flow rate was 240 m³/s on 26 May 1983. By relating them to MIFR values of the river, the December 2001 values represent a 50-year event and thus a fairly exceptional flooding. The Lanterne is a powerful and substantial river. The runoff curve number in its watershed is 687 mm annually, which is high, and results from heavy

rainfall Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...

in the part of its basin within the Vosges massif. Its specific flow rate reaches a solid 21.7 litres per second per square kilometre of basin. On receiving the Lanterne, the flow rate of the Saône increases by a full two-thirds.

References

External links

* {{in lang, fr Plaquette "La Lanterne et ses affluents – Qualité des eaux superficielles – données 1993-94" de
Observatoire Régional de l'Environnement de Franche-Comté
Rivers of France Rivers of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Rivers of Haute-Saône