LOCH NESS 169 



differences of barometric pressure a point which appears to be 

 still under discussion it is quite possible that they may accompany 

 changes in the fortunes of fishermen. 



So far as superficial area of water goes, Loch Ness comes second 

 to Loch Lomond. The area of Loch Ness is 21 square miles, of 

 Loch Lomond 27 J square miles. 1 The maximum depth of the loch 

 is, however, 754 feet (in the centre of the loch about a mile south of 

 Castle Urquhart) and, what is even more remarkable, the mean 

 depth is 433 feet, or 57 '4 per cent, of the maximum depth. Loch 

 Morar, the deepest loch, has a mean of only 284 feet. On account 

 of this great mean depth, the volume of water is surprisingly great. 

 " The volume of water contained in Loch Ness is estimated at 

 263,000 millions of cubic feet, or If cubic miles. In no other 

 Scottish loch does the bulk of water amount to a cubic mile in 

 fact Loch Ness contains about three times as much water as the 

 two lochs which most nearly approach it in this respect, viz. Loch 

 Lomond with 92,800 million cubic feet, and Loch Morar with 

 81,000 million cubic feet. ... As far as we are aware the 

 volume of water contained in the large lakes of Ireland has 

 not yet been carefully worked out, but, taking Loch Neagh, for 

 instance, which is said to cover an area of 153 square miles (or 

 seven times greater than the area of Loch Ness), and to have a 

 maximum depth of only 48 feet, a rough calculation will show 

 that the bulk of water in Loch Neagh must be less than that 

 in Loch Ness. It seems quite possible, therefore, that Loch Ness 

 may be the largest body of fresh water, not only in Great Britain, 

 but in the United Kingdom." 



Another remarkable feature about the loch is the steepness of 

 the shore in many places. The contour lines drawn at each 100 

 feet of soundings show this. 2 



The 100 feet basin is 22 miles long. 

 200 21 o 



903. 



A\J- 



OVV, 



400 

 500 



400 20 



18J 



" Gradients exceeding 1 in 1 are of frequent occurrence, and in 

 certain places the slope approaches the precipitous. Near the 

 southern end of the loch, off the south-western shore at the entrance 



1 " Bathymetrical Survey of Fresh Water Lochs of Scotland," Scottish Geographical 

 Magazine, xxiv., No. 4, April, 1908. 



2 Ibid. 



