Seine River

Last Updated on 1st August, 2024
4 minutes, 14 seconds

Description

Seine River

Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.

Context:  The swimming leg of the men’s triathlon event in the ongoing Paris Olympics was postponed, over concerns regarding River Seine’s water quality.

 Details 

Name

The Seine

Country

France’s second-longest river.

Flow

It flows through Paris before emptying into the English Channel at Le Havre. As the Seine nears Paris, it is joined by one of its largest tributaries, the Marne, on the right bank.

It eventually flows into the English Channel, a part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates northern France from southern England.

Source

Source-Seine in northeastern Burgundy, Langres Plateau, France.

Mouth

The Seine Estuary between Le Havre and Honfleur at the English Channel, arm of Atlantic ocean.

Length

754 km

Basin

75,976 km²

Tributaries

Left: Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle.

Right: Ource, Aube, Marne, Oise, Epte.

Major Dams

Lac d’Orient, Lac des Settons, Lake Der-Chantecoq, and Auzon-Temple and Amance.

Major Cities

Troyes, Melun, Paris, Mantes-la-Jolie, Rouen, Le Havre.

Estuary

The estuary  experiences the phenomenon of the tidal bore, which is known as the mascaret, although continued dredging since 1867 has deepened the river so that the mascaret has gradually diminished.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites on the Seine River

 

Le Havre, Palace and Park of Versailles, Chartres Cathedral, Palace of Fontainebleau, Provins.

In 1991, UNESCO added the banks of the Seine in Paris—the Rive Gauche and Rive Droite—to its list of World Heritage Sites in Europe.

Pollution threat

Untreated sewage being directly discharged into during heavy rain leading to increase in concentration of the bacteria E. coli in the river.

Initiatives taken

Swimming in the Seine had been banned since 1923.

In 2015, the French government invested $ 1.5 billion in a project to clean up the river.

Creation of a giant underground rainwater storage tank.

Flooding

The 1910 Great Flood of Paris.

2016 and 2018 Paris’s last major flooding.

 Current Olympics Situation

  • Paris is hosting the Olympics for the third time. The first was in 1900, and the second was held in 1924.
  • The two disciplines namely swimming and triathlon are scheduled to take place in the Seine.
  • The river’s cleanliness is currently compromised by issues such as failures in the sewage network, sewage dumping during the rainy season, and houses lacking connections to the sewage system.
  • The goal is to get the river clean enough so that high-performance competitions can take place normally.

Sources:

Indian Express: Reference link, Wikipedia, Britanica, Save the water,

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q.  Consider the following rivers.

1.       Danube River

2.       Dnieper River

3.       Seine River

4.       Rhine River

How many of the above River/s flows into Black Sea?

A.      Only one

B.      Only two

C.      Only three

D.      All four

Answer B

Danube River and Dnieper River drains into the Black Sea.

 

Related Articles

FINLAND 07 Dec, 2024
FEATHER MITES 06 Dec, 2024
DROUGHT ATLAS 06 Dec, 2024
TIKHIR TRIBES 06 Dec, 2024
ALEPPO IN SYRIA 06 Dec, 2024
HOMO JULENSIS 06 Dec, 2024
ICIMOD 05 Dec, 2024

Free access to e-paper and WhatsApp updates

Let's Get In Touch!