Lake Cerknica Sinkholes no Longer Carry Water to the Underlying Aquifers and the Terrestrial Vegetation Has Replaced the Aquatic One in What is Potentially the Largest Lake of Slovenia with a Max Surface of 38km2; Cerkniško Jezero, Notranjska, Slovenija
03-october-2021: this is the lowest/deepest area of the (ghost) Lake, a small zone where the main sinkholes/springs of this intermittent karstic lake are located, close together.
So it is, therefore, the last part of the Lake (except the artificially embanked one to save a part of the abundant fish fauna from increasingly long and frequent dry periods) to have water and the first to fill up when the aquifers are full after a period of consistent rain.
The absence of water starts from July 2021 and at the moment (28-October-2021), without intervals, it is still empty.
In the Karst area, this is one of the clearest visible effects of the change in the meteorological trend of the area, certainly linked to Global Warming.
In fact, it should be pointed out that the Lake Cerknica, although with variations in water level, in the past was present for most of the year (there have been many years in which it has always been present), often reaching the dimensions that make it, temporarily, the largest lake in the State, while the periods of emptying were very rare and short (from a few days to a maximum of 2-3 weeks), resulting, at least until the 1990s, the ONLY EXAMPLE in the World of fish adaptation to survive in the aquifers in complete darkness for even 15-20 days; the fish re-emerged, alive, when the rains returned, together with the water coming out of the sinkholes that become resurgences.
For about twenty years now, and more and more markedly year after year, the water disappears for ever longer times (now we are talking about months, not days or a couple of weeks) and with great frequency, even in the wettest seasons, such as spring and autumn, naturally fish fauna that ends up in the sinkholes today, dies.
Volunteers and foresters lend themselves to saving fish as much as possible, but those who manage to bring to the perennial part of the lake are a very small minority.
The problem of the decrease in the frequency of precipitation meant that the underlying aquifers had less and less water, so, today, for the water to re-emerge on the surface, greater amounts of precipitation are required and for longer times, while 40-50 days of dry weather are sufficient to empty the lake.
Lake Cerknica Sinkholes no Longer Carry Water to the Underlying Aquifers and the Terrestrial Vegetation Has Replaced the Aquatic One in What is Potentially the Largest Lake of Slovenia with a Max Surface of 38km2; Cerkniško Jezero, Notranjska, Slovenija
03-october-2021: this is the lowest/deepest area of the (ghost) Lake, a small zone where the main sinkholes/springs of this intermittent karstic lake are located, close together.
So it is, therefore, the last part of the Lake (except the artificially embanked one to save a part of the abundant fish fauna from increasingly long and frequent dry periods) to have water and the first to fill up when the aquifers are full after a period of consistent rain.
The absence of water starts from July 2021 and at the moment (28-October-2021), without intervals, it is still empty.
In the Karst area, this is one of the clearest visible effects of the change in the meteorological trend of the area, certainly linked to Global Warming.
In fact, it should be pointed out that the Lake Cerknica, although with variations in water level, in the past was present for most of the year (there have been many years in which it has always been present), often reaching the dimensions that make it, temporarily, the largest lake in the State, while the periods of emptying were very rare and short (from a few days to a maximum of 2-3 weeks), resulting, at least until the 1990s, the ONLY EXAMPLE in the World of fish adaptation to survive in the aquifers in complete darkness for even 15-20 days; the fish re-emerged, alive, when the rains returned, together with the water coming out of the sinkholes that become resurgences.
For about twenty years now, and more and more markedly year after year, the water disappears for ever longer times (now we are talking about months, not days or a couple of weeks) and with great frequency, even in the wettest seasons, such as spring and autumn, naturally fish fauna that ends up in the sinkholes today, dies.
Volunteers and foresters lend themselves to saving fish as much as possible, but those who manage to bring to the perennial part of the lake are a very small minority.
The problem of the decrease in the frequency of precipitation meant that the underlying aquifers had less and less water, so, today, for the water to re-emerge on the surface, greater amounts of precipitation are required and for longer times, while 40-50 days of dry weather are sufficient to empty the lake.