Lake Armor is a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

lake located on the central plateau of the main island of the Kerguelen archipelago, in the

French Southern and Antarctic Lands The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (, TAAF) is an overseas territory ( or ) of France. It consists of: * Adélie Land (), the French claim on the continent of Antarctica. * Crozet Islands (), a group in the southern Indian Ocean, south ...

. It was so named by the Mouzon mission in 1952 after a Breton noun which means "the land close to the sea". It extends in a northwesterly south-easterly direction at an altitude of about 1 m, over a length of about and a maximum width of , covering around . From the south, a stream passing down the Volcan du Diable feeds the lake, having collected the waters coming from the slopes of the volcano as well as those of the Val d'Enfer and the Val des Trolls, and thus their lakes. Another stream feeds the lake from the north. Lake Armor flows into the marine waters of the

Gulf of Morbihan The Gulf of Morbihan (, ; ) is a natural harbour on the coast of the departments of France, department of Morbihan in southern Brittany, France. Its English name is taken from the French language, French version, ''le golfe du Morbihan'', t ...

in the Hurley Bay. Near the lake is the only known spot in Kerguelen of '' Elaphoglossum randii'', a small

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

endemic to the sub-Antarctic islands of the Indian Ocean, which occurs elsewhere only in the Marion and Prince Edward Islands. The southern beaches of Lake Armor are also known for their curious little pebbles, rolled by the waves and nicknamed "Armor dicks" because of their evocative shape. An introduction of salmonids has been achieved between 1977 and 1992 in the Lake Armor and its

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

. The first release of fry occurred in 1977 with

Atlantic salmon The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...

(''Salmo salar'') from

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Such a release was reared in 1978 and 1980. Furthermore, an experiment of

salmon farming The aquaculture of salmonids is the farming and harvesting of salmonid fish under controlled conditions for both commercial and recreational purposes. Salmonids (particularly salmon and rainbow trout), along with carp and tilapia, are the three ...

started in 1984, but this time with Pacific species: mainly

Coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon (or "silvers") and is often ...

(''Oncorhynchus kisutch'') and also

Chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Oncorhynchus, Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, quinn ...

(''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha''). After being raised in floating cages in the freshwater of the lake, the

smolts Fish go through various life stages between fertilization and adulthood. The life of fish start as spawned eggs which hatch into immotile larvae. These larval hatchlings are not yet capable of feeding themselves and carry a yolk sac which p ...

were freed expecting they would come back as adults to their nursery place. In order to monitor this experiment a technical base had been built near the outflow of the lake. The experiment stopped in 1991 and the station was then abandoned. In 1991 and 1992, last releases were done with some young fish of other species:

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

(''Salmo trutta''),

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...

(''Salvelinus fontinalis'') from local acclimated populations and

Arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic realm, Holarctic. Distribution and habitat It Spaw ...

(''Salvelinus alpinus'') native to

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie () is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its Prefectures in France, prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Gene ...

. Sedimentological surveys were carried out from 2007 in the northern part of Lake Armor to collect information on the climate changings for 1200 years.Fabien Arnaud, S. Révillon, J. Poulenard, D. Boone & Katrien Heirman
First reconstruction of last millennium flooding activity on Kerguelen archipelago (50°S, sub-antarctic Indian Ocean) from Lake Armor sediment: implications for southern hemisphere cyclonic circulation changes
2009, Geophysical Research Abstracts vol.11 File:Volcan du Diable (Kerguelen islands).jpg, The main feeding stream passes down the volcan du Diable File:Pinus Armor.JPG, The male genital-shaped pebbles found on the southern beaches of the lake

References

{{Navbox Kerguelen Islands

Armor Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...

Landforms of the Kerguelen Islands