Physical limnology of Bardawil Lagoon, Egypt.

Abstract

Bardawil lagoon is suffered from many problems, which might lead to environment degradation, shortage in fish catch and substantial changes in its ecosystem. The present study was carried out to evaluate Bardawil Lagoon from a physical limnology, through investigation of; climate bathymetry and salinity. Bardawil is a costal lagoon located along the Mediterranean shore of the Sinai region (31°09 N, 33°08 E), Egypt. Over Bardawil Lake, there are two climate periods, rainy season (November to April) and dry season (May to October). The lagoon extends for about 76.37 km length and has a maximal width of 16.65 km, with area of approximately 518.99 km . Bardawil Lagoon is extremely shallow; the average water depth is of 1.2 m. The whole 2 water supply of the lagoon comes from the Mediterranean Sea which flows constantly through two openings. The spatial variability observed in the water salinity of the lagoon. The highest salinities reached along the southern shore. The temporal variations of water salinity in the lagoon are in equilibrium between the evaporation and the sea water exchange. There are difficult to determine the annual trend in the water salinity of the lagoon.