The Reyran is a torrent in the Var department in

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and a tributary of the Argens. This ephemeral stream is 26.8 km long, originating in

Bagnols-en-Forêt Bagnols-en-Forêt (; ) is a commune in Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. Population Twin towns — sister cities Bagnols-en-Forêt is twinned with: * Pieve di Teco, Italy (1990) Notable pe ...

in the Var, 12 km from

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

. The Reyran flows for approximately three months of the year and can be dry the rest of the time, with a very irregular flow. The annual rate is 22.70 million but can reach as low as 15.75 million once every 30 years. The flow rate is highest during the months of December, January, and April, and sometimes zero during July and August. During the summer months, the riverbed may present a series of isolated ponds that decrease in size daily. The bed of the Reyran consists of coarse sand and

gravel Gravel () is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally on Earth as a result of sedimentation, sedimentary and erosion, erosive geological processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gr ...

up to 30–40 cm, with a

lithology The lithology of a rock unit is a description of its physical characteristics visible at outcrop, in hand or core samples, or with low magnification microscopy. Physical characteristics include colour, texture, grain size, and composition. Lit ...

of surrounding rocks including

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...

pegmatite A pegmatite is an igneous rock showing a very coarse texture, with large interlocking crystals usually greater in size than and sometimes greater than . Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, having a similar silicic c ...

, and volcanic rocks.

Fréjus

The Reyran is piped through the city of

via a concrete canal built after the

Malpasset Dam The Malpasset Dam was an arch dam (convex surface facing upstream) on the Reyran, Reyran River, north of Fréjus on the French Riviera. It collapsed on 2 December 1959, killing 423 people in the resulting flood. The breach was caused by a tectoni ...

failure. These measures were implemented by the city as preventive flood control. The Reyran does not cause flood plains like the Argens, but rather exceptional torrential floods and urban run-offs, such as the

Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...

and Valescure in the neighboring town of Saint-Raphael. A flood of this type occurred in 2012 and destroyed the concrete ford located just downstream from the highway bridge, close to the ancient hamlet of Malpasset devastated in 1959.Sandre, « Fiche cours d'eau - le Reyran (Y5320500) » rchive(consulté le 12 mars 2013) The Frejus runs north to south and empties into the Argens at the Naval Air Base of Frejus-Saint Raphael.

References

Rivers of France Rivers of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Rivers of Var (department) {{France-river-stub