River in London: name, description, features, flora and fauna

The River Thames in London is the largest and most popular water body in the UK. Its source is on the heights of the Cotswold Hills, in the western part of England. It falls into the North Sea with a funnel-shaped mouth, forming the estuary of the Thames. The width of the final section is 16 km, and it is considered to be one of the largest in Europe. Often the Thames is quite dangerous for England, because the height of the tides can reach 6 meters or more. Because of this, the river in London undergoes a rise in the water level and floods the nearest territories.

Economically, the role of the Thames is also great. The main means of distributing drinking water in the capital is the Thames Water Ring. Also the river is navigable, but not along its entire length, only to the town of Leclade.

Fishing for industrial purposes (with the help of traps) has been banned in recent years. But the Thames is very popular among the English. On the shore, guest houses and cottages overlooking the river are built all over the place.

The Thames is widely used for public transportation. There are several routes. Some of them are used by the state for tourist excursions, the rest are used by residents as ordinary transport (for example, to get to work).

For the 2012 Summer Olympics, a cable car leading to Greenwich was launched over the river. The implementation of this project involved the company specializing in air transport - Emirates. The construction was conducted less than a year (it was completed in 2012). At the moment the transportation of 2500 people per hour.

The emergence of hydronyms

The origin of the name of the river has the two most common variants. According to one version, the word "Thames" has a Celtic origin, which means "dark". In support of this theory are the current translations of the word from the Irish and Welsh - "darkness", "darkness." According to another version, the name of the river has an even older origin, and from the pre-Celtic dialects the word is translated as "thawed".

For the first time the mention of the Thames goes back to the Roman era. Julius Caesar, making one of his campaigns, founded the commercial city of Londinium on the Thames. The river in London was used to transport goods from England and back.

Characteristic

The Thames has a length of 334 km. On the Cotswold Upland, the width of the channel is small. The beginning of the pond has a height of 108 meters above sea level, and coming down from the hill, it spreads through a wide valley. Of particular importance is the fact that the river flows through London, the capital of the Kingdom. This is what plays a big role in the economic and economic activities of the country.

The source is often called "7 keys". Here, one more reservoir, Chern, begins. It, together with the Thames, constitutes a single stream, interrupting only on the Cotswold hill. If you add the length of Chern (23 km), then the water area of the two rivers will be the largest in England, exceeding the value of the Severn River by 14 km.

Shore and land

The bed of the reservoir is meandering, often branched, and islands form in the water area. They number about 80. The river in London receives food from tributaries, which it has more than 20. The main branches are located in the northern part of the Thames. The banks of the river are different. The right is low, gently sloping, a valley with small hills. The left one is tall and steep. However, when the pond reaches the limits of the London basin, both boundaries of the land are leveled, the gentle slopes spread out. At this moment the river has a width of 250 m.

Fauna

The current flow of this stream is not entirely natural. To ensure that the river in London provided the entire capital with water, special channels were built that slightly changed the direction of the river. The Thames in its composition has both fresh and salt water. There is a lot of sea water here because of the wide mouth of the river. Due to this feature, the Thames is rich in diversity in flora and fauna.

London stands on the river, which is inhabited by both marine and freshwater fish. Of the marine species in the Thames, salmon and eel live, freshwater species are represented by perch, pike, flounder, and dace. Abundance of crustaceans, crabs.

It is quite common for Englishmen to be swans. They nest and feed on the river everywhere. In England, even there is a special custom - a "census of the swan population." A special book is written down by all the swan families. In addition to these important birds, cormorants, silver gulls, English geese and mandarin ducks nest on the waters of the Thames.

Vegetation on the river is very impressive. Here are collected specimens (rare) that are found by units around the world. Among them there are early-springing species and those that conquer their beauty in late autumn.