Red Lake is a natural

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

lake in

Harghita County Harghita County (, and , ) is a county () in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a population density of ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It is located in the

Hășmaș Mountains The Hășmaș Mountains ( Romanian: ''Munții Hășmaș''; Hungarian: ''Hagymás-hegység'') are limestone and sandstone massifs located in Romania, in the Inner Eastern Carpathians group of the Eastern Carpathian Mountains The Carpathi ...

, on the upper course of the Bicaz River, and lies at the foot of the , near the

Bicaz Gorge The Bicaz Gorge (Romanian: ''Cheile Bicazului'', Hungarian: ''Békás-szoros'') is a gorge in northeast Romania, in Neamț and Harghita counties. It is in the central part of the Hășmaș Mountains, and is part of the Cheile Bicazului-Hășma ...

, at a distance of from

Gheorgheni Gheorgheni (; ) is a Municipiu, city in Harghita County, Romania, with a population of 15,844, as of 2021. It lies in the Székely Land, an ethno-cultural region in eastern Transylvania. The city administers four villages: Covacipeter (''Kovács ...

and from

Bicaz Bicaz () is a town in Neamț County, Western Moldavia, Romania situated in the eastern Carpathian Mountains near the confluence of the Bicaz and Bistrița Rivers and near Lake Bicaz, an artificial lake formed by the Bicaz Dam on the Bistri� ...

. The lake formed following the collapse of a slope due to the earthquake of January 23, 1838 at 18:45, measuring 6.9

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

on the Richter scale, VIII intensity.Harta seismică a României
/ref> The landslide blocked the course of the Bicaz River and the lake formed behind this dam. According to measurements in 1987, the lake has a perimeter of , and covers an area of ;Gheorghe Romanescu, Cristian Constantin Stoleriu and Andrei Enea the volume of water that accumulates is . The lake was formed at an altitude of , in a depression with a predominant subalpine climate.

Location

The Red Lake is located between Suhardul Mic and Suhardul Mare peaks on the north side, the Podu Calului Mountains to the south-west, the Licaș and Chișhovoș Mountains to the north-west, the Făgetul Ciucului peak to the north-east, and Muntele Ucigaș (The Killer Mount) to the east. The lake is powered by four large streams and 12 temporary water courses, of which the most important are Vereșchiu, Licaș, Suhardul, and Pârâul Oii (Oaia). The Bicaz River streams out of the Red Lake and continues towards the Bicaz Gorge, about to the north-east.

Lake formation

Although the Red Lake is a young formation, the conditions and time of the lake formation are very much discussed. During the forming, the lake area was a hardly accessible area, economically unexplored. According to Franz Herbich, the Red Lake was formed in 1838. This is also justified by the

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

of January 23, 1838, which was repeated in February and could have caused a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...

. Another year of forming is 1837, which can be argued by very violent

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

s and heavy rains. About this period writes Ditrói Puskás Ferenc in his work, "The History of

Borsec Borsec (, ) is a town in Harghita County, Transylvania, Romania. The town and the surrounding areas are well known for their spas and mineral waters. It has a population of 2,585, with a majority of ethnic Hungarians (more specifically Szeklers). ...

". It is essential that the lake was formed by moving the clay mass deposited during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

on the north-western slope of Mount Ghilcoș. Soon after the valley had been closed, the

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

was

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, 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 of significant con ...

ed, and the trees were petrified, giving a rare peculiarity to the whole landscape. In the first years of forming, the lake has expanded further - about a kilometer higher in the valley of the stream, but over time the natural dam eroded, the water level stabilizing at the current level.

Tourism

The surroundings of the lake have a pleasant

microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...

. The average multiannual temperature is , above the average of the intramontane depressions. The valley is virtually free of

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

s, very clean air rich in natural

aerosol An aerosol is a suspension (chemistry), suspension of fine solid particles or liquid Drop (liquid), droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be generated from natural or Human impact on the environment, human causes. The term ''aerosol'' co ...

s, scenic surroundings provide excellent conditions for those who are seeking for sources of rapid regeneration naturally. Since the 1900s, it has been the recreational

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

that has brought development to the tourist services of this area. File:Lacul rosu1.jpg File:Lacul; Rosu, Romania.JPG

References

External links

360° image and more pictures from the Lacul Roșu
{{Authority control Rosul Geography of Harghita County Landslide-dammed lakes

Location

Lake formation

Tourism

See also

References

External links