Facility
Loch Lomond

The Loch Lomond basin is of glacial origin, formed by an ice sheet moving southward from the Ben Lui area and depositing eroded material in the southern-most part by Balloch, thus ensuring that the loch was freshwater loch rather than marine. It is the largest (by surface area) body of freshwater in Britain, with a surface area of 71km2. The natural catchment area is ten times greater, at 781km2. The two main feeder rivers are the River Falloch at the northern-most point, with a mean flow of 6.8 cumecs, and the River Endrick entering on the south-eastern side of the loch, with a mean flow of 7.8 cumecs. They have markedly different catchments - the Falloch's is mountainous with a catchment area of 80km2, whilst the Endrick's is a typical lowland rural catchment of 220km2. There are distinct differences in the chemistry of the two rivers, reflecting the differences in the geology of their catchments. The Highland Boundary fault cuts across the lower part of Loch Lomond, but there is also a narrow physical restriction halfway down the length of the loch. For these reasons, the water chemistry and topography are quite different between the so-called Northern and Southern Basins.

General Information

Facility type
site

Location

Geometry

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Mobile
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Contacts

Lead organisation
Sarah Brown Scottish Environment Protection Agency 5 Redwood Crescent Peel Park EAST KILBRIDE G74 5PP UK http://www.sepa.org.uk/

Metadata

Publication status
PUBLIC
Record identifier
042d30a5-136a-4a02-862d-1d91059482cb
Last modified
2017-08-21 11:18:20
Metadata author
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Other identifier
ECN L10