Grüner See (Green Lake) is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

, Austria in a village named

Tragöß Tragöß (or Tragoess) is a former municipality in the district of Bruck-Mürzzuschlag in Styria, Austria. Since the 2015 Styria municipal structural reform, it is part of the municipality Tragöß-Sankt Katharein. It is home to Grüner See (Gree ...

, which is part of the municipality

Tragöß-Sankt Katharein Tragöß-Sankt Katharein is since 2015 a new municipality in Bruck-Mürzzuschlag District in Styria (state), Styria, Austria, which had merged after 31 December 2014 the independent municipalities Tragöß and Sankt Katharein an der Laming, St.&nb ...

. The lake is surrounded by forests and three mountains: Pribitz (1,579 m),

Meßnerin Messnerin () is a mountain in the Hochschwab Mountains in Styria, Austria, with a height of 1835 m above sea level. References Literature * Peter Rieder: ''Alpenvereinsführer Hochschwab''. Bergverlag Rudolf Rother Bergverlag Rother is a Ge ...

(1,835 m) and Trenchtling (Hochturm) (2,081 m), all part of the

Hochschwab Mountains The Hochschwab, Hochschwab Mountains, Hochschwab Alps or Hochschwab Group () is a mountain range in the Northern Limestone Alps of Austria. The range is in Styria. The highest peak is also called Hochschwab and is 2,277 metres above the Adriatic. ...

. The name "Green Lake" originated because of its emerald-green water. The clean and clear water comes from the

snowmelt In hydrology, snowmelt is surface runoff produced from melting snow. It can also be used to describe the period or season during which such runoff is produced. Water produced by snowmelt is an important part of the annual water cycle in many part ...

from the

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

mountains and has a temperature of . During winter, the lake is only deep and the surrounding area is used as a county park. However, in spring, when the temperature rises and snow melts, the basin of land below the mountains fills with water. The lake reaches its maximum depth of around from mid-May to June and is claimed to look the most beautiful at this time. In July, the water begins to recede. The lake supports a variety of fauna such as snails,

water flea The Diplostraca or Cladocera, commonly known as water fleas, is a superorder of small, mostly freshwater crustaceans, most of which feed on microscopic chunks of organic matter, though some forms are predatory. Over 1000 species have been recog ...

s (''

Daphnia pulex ''Daphnia pulex'' is the most common species of water flea. It has a cosmopolitan distribution: the species is found throughout the Americas, Europe, and Australia. It is a model species, and was the first crustacean to have its genome sequenced. ...

''), small crabs,

fly larvae A maggot is the larva of a fly (order Diptera); it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachycera flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, hoverflies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and crane ...

, and different species of

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

(''

Salmo ''Salmo'' is a genus of ray-finned fish from the subfamily Salmoninae of family (biology), family Salmonidae, and is part of the tribe (biology), tribe Salmonini along with the sister genera ''Salvelinus'' and ''Salvethymus''. Almost all ''Salmo ...

''). The flora is not abundant because of the rocky bottom of the lake. Furthermore, the lake's depth is variable since its

inflow Inflow may refer to: * Inflow (hydrology), the water entering a body of water * Inflow (meteorology) Inflow is the flow of a fluid into a large collection of that fluid. Within meteorology, inflow normally refers to the influx of warmth and mo ...

comes from snowmelt. The lake was popular among divers who could observe the green meadows in the edge zone of the lake particularly in June when the water is at its highest. A bridge and a bench could also be found underwater. Furthermore, trails and trees could also be seen underwater. Because of the spike in tourist visits that has occurred and expected damage to this sensitive environment, the use of this lake for all watersports activities has been prohibited since 1 January 2016.

Gallery

File:2006 - Grüner See3.jpg File:2006 - Grüner See2.jpg File:2006 - Grüner See.jpg GrünerSeeAgainstMeßnerin.jpg

References

External links

*. Retrieved 18 May 2013. *. Retrieved 10 May 2011. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruner See (Styria) Lakes of Styria

Gallery

References

Further reading

External links