or is a long river which flows northwards, ending up as a tributary to the river

Ranelva Ranelva is a long river in the municipality of Rana, Norway, Rana in Nordland county, Norway. It is one of the longest rivers in Nordland county. The Drainage basin, catchment area of the river is . Before the power stations of ''Reinforsen'' ( ...

at ''Hjartåsen'' in the small village of Storvoll in the

Dunderland Valley The Dunderland Valley ( no, Dunderlandsdalen, smj, Dunndaravuobme) is a valley in the municipality of Rana in Nordland county, Norway. It reaches from just below the eastern Saltfjellet plateau about south of the Arctic circle. The mountain ...

in the municipality of

Rana Rana may refer to: Astronomy * Rana (crater), a crater on Mars * Delta Eridani or Rana, a star People, groups and titles * Rana (name), a given name and surname (including a list of people and characters with the name) * Rana (title), a histori ...

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The river should not be confused with the nearby stream, also named Messingåga, which flows into the river

from the east, just north of the village of Dunderland. The river is located in an untouched natural area, in one of the most important areas of

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

birds in

. It is very rich with

Arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populat ...

and

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 ...

, and has been proposed to be preserved both by

environmental organizations An environmental organization is an organization coming out of the conservation or environmental movements that seeks to protect, analyse or monitor the environment against misuse or degradation from human forces. In this sense the environmen ...

and by the

Norwegian parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

Path

From the small lake of ''Kjerringvatnet'' ( sma, Stuorra Áhkajávri), the river ''Kjerringelva'' ( sma, Áhkajohka) flows in an eastern direction. This river meets the stream ''Jarfjellbekken'', which flows in a northern direction from the tarn ''Jarfjelltjønna'' through ''Austerskardet'', north of the lake ''Kopparvatnet''. Messingåga has its beginning at ''Elivollan'' ( sma, Seaibbetgieddi), where the ''Kjerringelva'' and ''Jarfjellbekken'' meet. The river flows in a northern direction, through the ''Messingdalen'' valley, east of the mountain ''Messingen''. On its way northwards, the river absorbs (from the west) five brooks flowing from the mountain ''Jarfjellet'', and (from the east) it also absorbs another five brooks from the mountain ''Kjerringfjellet'' and one brook from the mountain ''Harafjellet''. Messingåga flows through an area of

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

s and deposits from glacial rivers. On its way to lake Kopparvatnet, it flows through an area of mounds and knots of moraines ( kettle area).

Power production

In 2005, the ''MiljøEnergi Nordland AS'' electric company delivered a formal application to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, in order to get a license to use parts of Messingåga to produce electricity.Søknad om utbygging av kraftverk (Sakstype C-41), Registreringsnr 4325, Saksnr 200502031, Vassdragsnr 156.F1A MESSINGÅGA Two alternatives have been presented: One installation of with an energy production of , and another installation of with an energy production of .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messingaaga Rana, Norway Rivers of Nordland Rivers of Norway

Path

Power production

See also

References