Arcachon Basin or alternatively Arcachon Bay (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: ''Bassin d'Arcachon'') is a bay of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

on the southwest coast 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 ...

, situated in

Pays de Buch Pays de Buch (, literally ''Land of Buch'') is one of several areas that make up the Landes forest in France. It extends across seventeen towns around the Arcachon Bay and the valley of the Eyre River. The village of Porge is at the north end ...

between the Côte d'Argent and the Côte des Landes, in the region of

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

. The bay covers an area of at high

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ...

and at low tide. Some of its geological features are natural

preservation Preservation may refer to: Heritage and conservation * Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible * ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...

areas.Nicola Williams, Oliver Berry, Stuart Butler, Jean-Bernard Carillet, Kerry Christiani, Gregor Clark, Emilie Filou, Catherine Le Nevez & Daniel Robinson (2015). Lonely Planet France (Travel Guide) Paperback – 13 Mar 2015 by Lonely Planet. The general shape of the Bassin d'Arcachon is that of an equilateral triangle pointing north, the southwest corner of which is open to the sea, between Cap Ferret and the town of Arcachon (more specifically, one of the suburbs of La Teste-de-Buch, Pyla-sur-Mer), through a narrow channel (Les Passes). On the north shore is the town of

Arès Arès (; oc, Arés) is a commune in the Gironde department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Gironde department The following is a list of the 535 communes of the Gironde department of France. The communes co ...

, then

Andernos-les-Bains Andernos-les-Bains (; oc, Endarnòs) is a commune in the Gironde department, southwestern France. Andernos-les-Bains is a located on the northeast shore of Arcachon Bay. To its northwest is the town of Arès. Andernos-les-Bains consists of ...

on the northeast. Just south of the entrance is the Dune of Pilat. Nearly in the middle of the bay is a very particular island: L'île aux Oiseaux (Isle of the Birds).

Development

In the past, similar areas became lakes (called in French ''lacs'' or ''étangs'') and are nowadays filled with fresh water. On the French Atlantic coast, running north–south between the

Gironde estuary The Gironde estuary ( , US usually ; french: estuaire de la Gironde, ; oc, estuari de aGironda, ) is a navigable estuary (though often referred to as a river) in southwest France and is formed from the meeting of the rivers Dordogne and Gar ...

to the

Adour River The Adour (; eu, Aturri; oc, Ador) is a river in southwestern France. It rises in High-Bigorre ( Pyrenees), in the commune of Aspin-Aure, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean (Bay of Biscay) near Bayonne. It is long, of which the uppermost ca. ...

mouth, are the Lac d'Hourtin-Carcans, the Lac de Lacanau, the

Étang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet Étang de Cazaux et de Sanguinet is a 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 ...

, the Étang de Biscarrosse et de Parentis, the Étang d'Aureilhan, the Étang de Léon, the Étang de Soustons, Étang Hardy, Étang Blanc and the Étang de Garros. Arcachon Bay is the last water area that remains open to the ocean. The Bassin still has a link to the sea perhaps because of the Eyre River that runs from the Landes forest and has its mouth (Delta de l'Eyre) in its southeast corner. Otherwise the Bassin would have become blocked by the sandbanks built up by the tides. Bassin d'Arcachon - Cabanes tchanquées.jpg, ''Cabanes tchanquées'' on the ''Isle of Birds'', near Arcachon CarteBassinArcachon.png, Map of the ''Bassin d'Arcachon'' FormationBassinArcachon.png, Formation of the ''Bassin d'Arcachon'' at 4000 BC, 400 BC, 700 AD, 1300 AD, 1708 AD and today. Green areas are mud and sand bars. Beige areas are sand dunes.

References

{{Authority control Landforms of Gironde Bays of Metropolitan France Ramsar sites in Metropolitan France