Pfäffikersee

The Pfäffikersee is a 3.3 km ² large lake in the Zurich Oberland, Switzerland, with a catchment area of 40 km ².

Topography

The Pfäffikersee located in a Talniederung on the western edge of the hill region in the Zurich Oberland. The lake extends in a north-south direction between Pfäffikon and Wetzikon with a length of 2.5 and an average width of 1.3 kilometers. The average lake level is at 537 m above sea level. M.; the deepest point of the lake bottom reaches 501 m above sea level. Level, which corresponds to a maximum depth of 36 meters; the average depth of the lake is 18.5 meters. The distance of the ZAW trail around the Pfäffikersee measures nine kilometers.

Only significant tributary is the Kemptnerbach ( in dialect also called Chämtnerbach ), which rises in the western Tössbergerland between Bäretswil and fish valley below the Allmen and empties into the Pfäffikersee after about 9.5 km run in the southeast. In the south the Ustermer Aa leaves the Pfäffikersee, first flows south and then in a northwesterly direction to the Greifensee. The lake shore is very flat on all sides except the west.

Seeanteil have the eponymous Pfäffikon Its old town center is close to the north shore and the farming village Seegräben in the southwest and the city Wetzikon in the south. The area around the Pfäffikersee was inhabited in the Neolithic period, as many finds of prehistoric and early historic settlement residues ( stilt houses ) is proved. Near the eastern shore of the lake are the ruins of the Roman fort Irgenhausen.

Formation

The Pfäffikersee emerged during the last Ice Age, when the glaciers Linth back left a tub in übertiefte Molasseuntergrund, which was filled with water after the ice receded. Through a terminal moraine at the north-west and the north shore of the lake is dammed so that its discharge can not take place to the northwest in the direction of Winterthur. Over time, the sedimentation progressed. It formed almost around the lake a reed and swamp belt, which reaches a width of about one kilometer to the south in robes Huser Riet. From the beginning of the 18th century until about 1950 here peat was cut.

Eutrophication

The Pfäffikersee suffers from a strong eutrophication by plant nutrients. Already in the 1950s, a constructed by him, internal ventilation system with a suspended buoys tube was installed on private initiative of the cable car engineer Gerhard Mueller. Today, the oxygen circulation is stimulated by compressed air.

Seegfrörni

For long lasting, very cold weather the Pfäffikersee can freeze in winter. This requires on average a cold sum of 120 degrees (compared to 320 Lake Zurich, Lake Constance for the 370 degrees necessary). For the official release of the ice a ice thickness of 12 cm is required.

The ice on February 11, 2012. Prior to that was the last time released in 2006 from 26 January to 8 February and from 10 to 14 February. The frozen lake surface was celebrated by tens of thousands of people from near and far and used for ice skating. The first time this century, the lake in the winter of 2002 was walkable.

Nature reserve

The lake with its reed belt is a popular nature and recreation area in the canton of Zurich. He is protected and belongs since 1977 to the landscapes of national importance (Object number 1409 ). In the most protected and not accessible Riet areas you will find a unique flora with typical upland and low-moor plant communities.