Lech dl Dragon (''Drachensee'' in German) is a

proglacial lake In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust around the ...

in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form par ...

South Tyrol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The lake is located on a ledge on the north side of the

Sella Group The Sella group (german: Sellagruppe, Ladin: ''Mëisules'' or ''L Sela'') is a plateau-shaped massif in the Dolomites mountains of northern Italy. The Sella lies north of the Marmolada and to the east of the Langkofel. The highest peak is Piz Boè ...

. It is created periodically from the melting of a glacier that is hidden beneath the

scree Scree is a collection of broken rock fragments at the base of a cliff or other steep rocky mass that has accumulated through periodic rockfall. Landforms associated with these materials are often called talus deposits. Talus deposits typically ha ...

from the rock towers, above. The lake disappeared in the 1970s, reappeared in 2002, then disappeared in 2007. As of 2011, the lake contains water. The lake is named from a legend of the inhabitants of

Val Gardena Val Gardena (; german: Gröden ; lld, Gherdëina ) is a valley in Northern Italy, in the Dolomites of South Tyrol. It is best known as a tourist skiing, rock climbing, and woodcarving area. Geography The valley's main river is the Derjon, a ...

. The legend describes the screams of a dragon living in the area. Lech dl Dragon 2011

References

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Multi-disciplinary investigation of an active rock glacier in the Sella Group (Dolomites; Northern Italy)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dragon Lakes of South Tyrol