The Markermeer () 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 of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the central

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in between North Holland, Flevoland, and its smaller and larger neighbors, the IJmeer and IJsselmeer. A shallow lake at 3 to 5 m in depth, matching the reclaimed land to its west, north-west and east it is named after the small former

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

, now peninsula, of Marken on its west shore. The Markermeer was not originally intended to remain a lake. It was formerly part of the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an o ...

, a saltwater inlet of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

, that was dammed off by the ''

Afsluitdijk The ''Afsluitdijk'' (; fry, Ofslútdyk; nds-nl, Ofsluutdiek; en, "Closure Dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of ...

'' (Closure Dike) in 1932, turning the Zuiderzee into the freshwater IJsselmeer. The following years saw the reclamation of extensive tracts of land as large polders in an enormous project known as the

Zuiderzee Works The Zuiderzee Works ( nl, Zuiderzeewerken) is a man-made system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, in total the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The proj ...

. One of these, the

Markerwaard 200px, The Markerwaard would be on what is now the Markermeer The Markerwaard is the name of a proposed, but never built, polder adjoining the IJsselmeer in the central Netherlands. Its construction would have resulted in the near-total reclamat ...

, was to occupy the area of the current Markermeer. Part of the construction of this polder was building the ''

Houtribdijk The Houtribdijk is a dam in the Netherlands, built between 1963 and 1975 as part of the Zuiderzee Works, which connects the cities of Lelystad and Enkhuizen. On the west side of the dike is the Markermeer and on the east is the IJsselmeer. The ...

'', also called ''Markerwaarddijk'', finished in 1976, which hydrologically splits the IJsselmeer in two, the southern section being the Markermeer. Because of changing priorities and doubts about its financial feasibility, the Markerwaard was indefinitely postponed in the 1980s and the Markermeer has since begun to become an ecological and recreational asset on its own. The Markermeer is used as a freshwater reservoir and a buffer against floodwaters and droughts. In 2003 the Netherlands was hit by drought, and several minor dikes were endangered. Water from the Markermeer was used to keep the area surrounding

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

wet, thereby keeping the dikes safe. A recent project, the

Marker Wadden The Marker Wadden is an artificial archipelago under development in the Markermeer, a lake in the Netherlands. The first island was inaugurated on 24 September 2016. Project The project was proposed in 2012 by the Vereniging Natuurmonumente ...

aims to create some islands in the north of the lake, with a view to establish breeding grounds for seabirds. The islands will be a

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 p ...

, comparable with the Wadden Sea, but without appreciable

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 ...

s because the Markermeer is not connected with the sea. This new nature reserve will be made accessible to tourists. Houtribdijk

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Markermeer
Markermeer ENC Chart
(fishing marine charts for navigation) *

Rijkswaterstaat Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the ''Bureau voor den Waterstaat'' and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Net ...

: *
Markermeer
(in Dutch) with facts, projects, news and daily messages *
Marker Wadden
(in English) *
Targets and results of the Houtribdijk

Reinforcement of the Houtribdijk

Videos about the Houtribdijk
*** Houtribdijk reinforcement: Building with Nature (March 2019) *** Reinforcement Houtribdijk with sandy banks: a worldwide first. These are downloadable videos, with information in transcripts. Lakes of the Netherlands Landforms of Flevoland Landforms of North Holland Buildings and structures completed in 1976 Ramsar sites in the Netherlands

See also

References

External links