THE MORPHOBATHYMETRIC FEATURES OF THE CUCIULAT LAKES (SĂLAJ COUNTY) AND THEIR WATERS’ PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Csaba HORVATH¹, Stefan BILASCO², Victor SOROCOVSCHI^1
1Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. csaba.horvath@geografie.ubbcluj.ro, svictor@geografie.ubbcluj.ro
²Romanian Academy – Cluj Branch, Geography Department of Cluj-Napoca, Romania sbilasco@geografie.ubbcluj.ro

Abstract

The lake units analyzed in this study are located in the Purcăreţ-Boiu Mare plateau, specifically in the formerly Cuciulat quarry (Salaj County). To the origin of the two lake basins, have contributed mostly anthropogenic factors and to a smaller extent natural ones. The lakes formed next to the quarry are significantly influenced by the spoil bank: this can be seen in the lakes’ form, in their bathymetry and also in some of their physical characteristics. The identification of the lakes’ morphobathymetric features and of the waters’ physical characteristics relied on measurements taken in the summer of 2009 (August 17). In the field, we used a Hannah HI 9828 multiparameter instrument to measure the waters’ physical characteristics and a GPS to pinpoint the measurements’ position. Also for the depth measurements, because they are shallow lakes, besides the GPS, we used a Seechi disk. To capture the best possible spatial variation of the mentioned characteristics, we used interpolation as modeling method.

Keywords: lake bathymetry, Cuciulat quarry, waters’ physical characteristics