How deep is the West Lake in Hangzhou?

Hangzhou West Lake covers an area of 6.39 square kilometers, with a width of 2.8 kilometers from east to west, a length of 3.2 kilometers from north to south, a maximum depth of 6.52 meters and an average depth of 1.2 1 meter.

Located in the west of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, West Lake is the first batch of national key scenic spots in Chinese mainland and one of the top ten scenic spots in China. It is one of the main ornamental freshwater lakes in Chinese mainland, one of the few lakes in the World Heritage List, and the only lake cultural heritage in China.

The reasons for the formation of the West Lake are briefly recorded in ancient books. The Travel Notes of the West Lake in the Ming Dynasty has a volume: "The West Lake is surrounded by mountains, streams and valleys on three sides, and there are more than 100 deep springs under it, which is a lake." Modern scholars have made textual research on topography, geology, sedimentation and hydrodynamics, among which the general view is that the West Lake is a lagoon gradually evolved from a bay.

In the ninth year of the Republic of China (1920), the scientist Zhu Kezhen published "The Reasons for the Formation of West Lake in Hangzhou" after investigating the topography of the West Lake, which said: "The West Lake was originally a small bay on the left side of Qiantang River. Later, due to the siltation of Qiantang River, the mouth of the bay was slowly blocked and turned into a lagoon." Zhu Kezhen also inferred from the sedimentation rate that the West Lake began to form before 12000. Zhu believes that at the beginning of the formation of the West Lake, due to the injection of streams surrounded by mountains on three sides, the West Lake was gradually filled with sediment and the lake surface gradually narrowed. The West Lake would have been abandoned long ago if it hadn't been dredged continuously through the ages.

1924, geologist Zhang published "The Solution to the Genesis of the West Lake in Hangzhou", which supplemented Zhu's view that the formation of the West Lake began in tidal force, piled up into a lake embankment, and then maintained the lake surface with the change of beaches, which were two important conditions for the formation of the West Lake.

Extended data

The origin of the name

Geography of Hanshu: "Qiantang, Governor of the West. Wulin Mountain, where Wulin water comes, goes east into the sea and travels 800 miles. " Later, there were various names such as Qianshui Lake, Qiantang Lake, Ming Sheng Lake, Jinniu Lake, Hanshi Lake, Shang Hu Lake, Kongtong Lake, Release Pool, Xizi Lake, Gaotu Lake, Xiling Lake, Longchuan Lake, Xiaojinguo Lake, Ren Mei Lake, Sage Lake and Yueming Lake.

However, there are only two names generally recognized in the past dynasties and found in the literature: first, because of the ancient name of Qiantang Lake in Hangzhou, it is called Qiantang Lake; First, because the lake is west of Hang Cheng, it is named West Lake. The earliest name of "West Lake" appeared in Bai Juyi's two poems. The West Lake returned to Gushan Temple in the evening to present guests, and Hangzhou returned to the boat.

After the Northern Song Dynasty, most famous poems were named after the West Lake, and the name of Qiantang Lake was gradually unknown. Su Shi's Seeking the West Lake in Hangzhou is the first time to use the name "West Lake" in official documents.

Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-West Lake