Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

LADOGA (formerly NEvo)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 61 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

LADOGA (formerly NEvo) , a See also:lake of See also:northern See also:Russia, between 59 56' and 61° 46' N., and 29° 53' and 32° 50' E., surrounded by the governments of St See also:Petersburg and See also:Olonets, and of See also:Viborg in See also:Finland. It has the See also:form of a See also:quadrilateral, elongated from N.W. to S.E. Its eastern and See also:southern shores are See also:flat and marshy, the See also:north-western craggy and fringed by numerous small rocky islands, the largest of which are Valamo and Konnevitz, together having an See also:area of 14 sq. m. Ladoga is 7000 sq. m. in area, that is, See also:thirty-one times as large as the Lake of See also:Geneva; but, its See also:depth being less, it contains only nineteen times as much See also:water as the Swiss lake. The greatest depth, 730 ft., is in a trough in the north-western See also:part, the See also:average depth not exceeding 250 to 350 ft. The level of Lake Ladoga is 55 ft. above the Gulf of Finland, but it rises and falls about 7 ft., according to atmospheric conditions, a phenomenon very similar to the seiches of the Lake of Geneva being observed in connexion with this. The western and eastern shores consist of See also:boulder See also:clay, as well as a narrow See also:strip on the southern See also:shore, See also:south of which runs a See also:ridge of crags of See also:Silurian sandstones. The hills of the north-western shore afford a variety of granites and crystalline slates of the Laurentian See also:system, whilst Valamo See also:island is made up of a See also:rock which See also:Russian geologists describe as orthoclastic hypersthenite. The See also:granite and See also:marble of Serdobol, and the See also:sandstone of Putilovo, are much used for buildings at St Petersburg; See also:copper and See also:tin from the Pitkaranta mine are exported. No fewer than seventy See also:rivers enter Ladoga, pouring into it the See also:waters of numberless smaller lakes which See also:lie at higher levels See also:round it. The Volkhov, which conveys the waters of Lake Ilmen, is the largest ; Lake See also:Onega discharges its waters by the Svir; and the Saima system of lakes of eastern Finland contributes the Vuoxen and Taipale rivers; the Syas brings the waters from the smaller lakes and marshes of the Valdai See also:plateau. Ladoga discharges its surplus water by means of the See also:Neva, which flows from its south-western corner into the Gulf of Finland, See also:rolling down its broad channel 1o4,00o cubic ft. of water per second.

The water of Ladoga is very pure and See also:

cold; in May the See also:surface Temperature does not exceed 36° Fahr., and even in See also:August it reachesonly 500 and 530, the average yearly temperature of the See also:air at Valamo being 36.8°. The lake begins to freeze in See also:October, but it is only about the end of See also:December that it is frozen in its deeper parts; and it remains See also:ice-See also:bound until the end of See also:March, though broad ice-See also:fields continue to See also:float in the See also:middle of the lake until broken up by See also:gales. Only a small part of the Ladoga ice is discharged by the Neva; but it is enough to produce in the middle of See also:June a return of cold in the northern See also:capital. The thickness of the ice does not exceed 3 or 4 ft.; but during the alternations of cold and warm See also:weather, with strong gales, in See also:winter, stacks of ice, 70 and 8o ft. high, are raised on the shores and on the icefields. The water is in continuous rotatory See also:motion, being carried along the western shore from north to south, and along the eastern from south to north. The vegetation on the shores is poor; immense forests, which formerly covered them, are now mostly destroyed. But the See also:fauna of the lake is somewhat See also:rich ; a See also:species of See also:seal which inhabits its waters, as well as several species of See also:arctic crustaceans, recall its former connexion with the Arctic Ocean. The sweet water See also:Diatomaceae which are found in See also:great variety in the See also:ooze of the deepest parts of the lake also have an arctic See also:character. Fishing is very extensively carried on. See also:Navigation, which is practicable for only one See also:hundred and eighty days in the See also:year, is rather difficult owing to fogs and gales, which are often accompanied, even in See also:April and See also:September, with See also:snow-storms. The prevailing winds See also:blow from N.W. and S.W.; N.E. winds cause the water to rise in the south-western part, sometimes 3 to 5 ft. Steamers ply regularly in two directions from St Petersburg—to the monasteries of Konnevitz and Valamo, and to the mouth of the Svir, whence they go up that See also:river to Lake Onega and See also:Petrozavodsk; and small vessels transport See also:timber, firewood, planks, See also:iron, See also:kaolin, granite, marble, See also:fish, See also:hay and various small wares from the northern shore to See also:Schlusselburg, and thence to St Petersburg.

Navigation on the lake being too dangerous for small See also:

craft, canals with an aggregate length of 104 m. were dug in 1718–1731, and others in 1861–1886 having an aggregate length of See also:lot m. along its southern shore, uniting with the Neva at Schlusselburg the mouths of the rivers Volkhov, Syas and Svir, all links in the elaborate system of canals which connect the upper See also:Volga with the Gulf of Finland. The See also:population (35,000) on the shores of the lake is sparse, and the towns—Schlusselburg (5285 inhabitants in 1897) ; New Ladoga (4144); Kexholm (1325) and Serdobol—are small. The monasteries of Valamo, founded in 992, on the island of the same name, and Konnevskiy, on Konnevitz island, founded in 1393, are visited every year by many thousands of pilgrims. (P. A. K.; J. T.

End of Article: LADOGA (formerly NEvo)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
LADO ENCLAVE 		[next]
LADY (0. Eng. hlaefdige, Mid. Eng. ldfdi, lavedi; t...

Site © 2006 - Net Industries